Steve Waggott

[lraC]

7 hours ago, AllRoverAsia said:

Thanks for your responses. I'm really glad you went to the second meeting so you could get to see through the failed football agent conman.

These past years have sadly made me ultra cynical about most things Rovers so it is refreshing to see your detailed review.

What we all must NEVER forget is people like Waggott have all been appointed by Venky’s. When you look at the first set of people plonked into these positions, including their first manager, it is very clear that the badly advised narrative is not one that fans in the know will swallow.

I think almost everyone on here knows most of what has gone on, so the painful days like Saturday, just continue. The only real change is the people who are tasked with fronting it all. 

[lraC]

It’s not Rovers related, but two years ago, would anyone have taken this as anything like plausible?

https://shewore.com/2022/03/04/chelsea-ownership-was-always-a-money-laundering-project-for-abramovich/

[Upside Down]

1 hour ago, lraC said:

It’s not Rovers related, but two years ago, would anyone have taken this as anything like plausible?

https://shewore.com/2022/03/04/chelsea-ownership-was-always-a-money-laundering-project-for-abramovich/

Absolutely. 

[jim mk2]

The London money laundromat. Russia is corrupt. The Uk is corrupt. Football is corrupt. Why the surprise? 

[tomphil]

2 hours ago, lraC said:

It’s not Rovers related, but two years ago, would anyone have taken this as anything like plausible?

https://shewore.com/2022/03/04/chelsea-ownership-was-always-a-money-laundering-project-for-abramovich/

Something goes on here i don't care what anybody, accountant or otherwise says.

Because unless they have direct access to the payrolls and accounts then nobody actually knows except those operating it.

I don't think it's criminal at all but more like taking advantage of corporate loopholes to gain some sort of advantage be in tax/movement of money or investing it elsewhere.  There is reasons so many foreign entities and even British ones are happy to pour so much money through the books of UK football clubs.

This country is well known for all its banking. laundering and loopholes it's the dirtiest place in Europe for that.  Just look at the City of London Corporation !

Even if not they are still funding Akon through VLL to the tune of a good few million.  Who knows what else the money they put into the club loses funds as well.

[AllRoverAsia]

1 hour ago, tomphil said:

Something goes on here i don't care what anybody, accountant or otherwise says.

Because unless they have direct access to the payrolls and accounts then nobody actually knows except those operating it.

I don't think it's criminal at all but more like taking advantage of corporate loopholes to gain some sort of advantage be in tax/movement of money or investing it elsewhere.  There is reasons so many foreign entities and even British ones are happy to pour so much money through the books of UK football clubs.

This country is well known for all its banking. laundering and loopholes it's the dirtiest place in Europe for that.  Just look at the City of London Corporation !

Even if not they are still funding Akon through VLL to the tune of a good few million.  Who knows what else the money they put into the club loses funds as well.

Agreed, and something that is suited best to the Championship level of scrutiny.

The rush to get there, the lack of real intent to get out,apart from getting out of the lower turnover of L1.

For every financial rule and regulation there has ever been or will be there will be "ways and means".

And we had the weeks long visit from 2 of the world top financial practices firms ... Not there to check the petty cash tin...although hopefully they did that too.

[lraC]

Bob along nicely in the second tier. Wash whatever cash we can and that should keep us all nicely for a decade or two. If it ever looks like we are looking too good on the pitch, give a few players away for nothing and we will soon reverse that trend.

Not lets have a sift through the people who can make that happen, for the top to the bottom. Get them in, keep them there for 5 years or so and then move onto the next batch.

Cushty. 

[tomphil]

16 minutes ago, AllRoverAsia said:

Agreed, and something that is suited best to the Championship level of scrutiny.

The rush to get there, the lack of real intent to get out,apart from getting out of the lower turnover of L1.

For every financial rule and regulation there has ever been or will be there will be "ways and means".

And we had the weeks long visit from 2 of the world top financial practices firms ... Not there to check the petty cash tin...although hopefully they did that too.

And we are owned by a company that was raided by Indian tax authorities over 'cash'.

There was all sorts of things a foot in the early years we know that for a fact but since it calmed down i think their accountants found another use for club ownership within their empire. Hence the happiness the lose 10/20 million a year, which is the ball park figures they talked about chucking the club per season anyway over transfer windows.

That money instead of buying/leasing Prem players like at first planned has since been used to fund the loses in the Championship.   Seems it was always intended to be spare cash to use anyway although maybe not the eye watering amounts it became for a while.

It's more under control now that's why they aren't bothered about water treading projects and journeys.  For me though there will always be something at the heart of all this that isn't what it seems although we can probably say that about many football clubs.

 

[AllRoverAsia]

2 hours ago, lraC said:

Bob along nicely in the second tier. Wash whatever cash we can and that should keep us all nicely for a decade or two. If it ever looks like we are looking too good on the pitch, give a few players away for nothing and we will soon reverse that trend.

Not lets have a sift through the people who can make that happen, for the top to the bottom. Get them in, keep them there for 5 years or so and then move onto the next batch.

Cushty. 

With a longer tenure for a "Weisselberg"

[lraC]

2 hours ago, AllRoverAsia said:

Agreed, and something that is suited best to the Championship level of scrutiny.

The rush to get there, the lack of real intent to get out,apart from getting out of the lower turnover of L1.

For every financial rule and regulation there has ever been or will be there will be "ways and means".

And we had the weeks long visit from 2 of the world top financial practices firms ... Not there to check the petty cash tin...although hopefully they did that too.

The only time they have shown any haste in getting rid of a manager, was when they appointed one, who managed to take us within striking distance of the third tier. Granted he did last less than a year, but after that, a streak of games with no win and a plummet down the league, seems to cement the manager place, rather than lead to a termination of his contract.

[Upside Down]

On 16/01/2023 at 13:22, glen9mullan said:

Didnt drink it first time lol.

However, on self-evaluation, maybe i've lost my edge, maybe the empathy and complete lack of fight i've seen over the last 5 years has taken its toll on how far i will go nowadays especially with my own health not the best.

10 years ago , 365 days , 20 hours a day, travelling thousands of miles, investing £1000's of pounds and having a clear mandate as an elected chair of a group, i had a mandate and duty to find the truth no matter what and fight for what was right. I just do not see that now within the supporter base in the main. 99% are very much reactive to results and couldnt care less about the Venkys or who is in the boardroom.

I will always fight the "good fight" if there is one to fight. I just don't see the desire from the majority, which in turn is the drug which lights the fire in my belly, to risk anymore than what I've previously given up.

I will go back to watching from afar and hopefully someone will rise from the ashes and give us all something to get behind, to get our club back

I must say I was genuinely surprised with your positive response to the first meeting as the image that is projected of Waggott is that of a lazy, incompetent buffoon that can spin a few good yarns.

[lraC]

2 hours ago, Upside Down said:

I must say I was genuinely surprised with your positive response to the first meeting as the image that is projected of Waggott is that of a lazy, incompetent buffoon that can spin a few good yarns.

He certainly seems to have taken a few in, but thankfully most still see through it. The best one was how good selling the training center would be, but there have been plenty more. 

Edited January 17, 2023 by lraC
Typo

[roverstdt]

I have to say i am not terribly surprised by everything that Glen mentioned. One story I can share is about how the club focuses on the bottom line. 

I had reached out to the club around September time offering to create a small budget between 2k to 5k to sponsor fans who were previous season ticket holders but with the rise in inflation were unable to go. It was a small task but immediately while the response was obviously positive the approach was someone disappointing. Firstly they tried to charge me a full season ticket for each member, i then had to go back to point out some games had already been played and if it was simpler we could work towards doing the half season ticket offer to get more people into the stadium. I then got a rejig offer. After identifying one family with four kids i tried to offer to get the adults the latest shirt and I thought it could be nice for the club seeing as the tickets were being offered they could do a gesture for the children by given then a shirt for free or at a reduce rate. They were unwilling to do so. As time went on through multiple dialogues I just came to conclusion that I felt personally they were trying to suck me for every cent that I could give and it wasn't at all the approach I was hoping for. I was looking to build a collaboration between the club and the fans who were desperate to go and during these hard times a small gesture from the club would go a long way. In the end I sadly pulled myself away from the interaction from after not feeling comfortable that the relationship was to develop something more than a money making scheme. The idea was to year on year slowly increase contribution to bring in more children and future generations but to be honest I felt like there was absolutely no care or desire to do this. While I love the badge my connection to the club is at an all time low and i wish i could have done more but today i just wouldn't trust them with a penny.  

Edited January 20, 2023 by roverstdt

[RevidgeBlue]

That's horrendous tdt. Well done on your sterling efforts. Those on the ground at the Club don't deserve supporters like you, then again I don't suppose they give two hoots as long as they are drawing their salaries

 

 

 

 

 

[bluebruce]

On 15/01/2023 at 23:51, glen9mullan said:

I'd done the sizing in the first encounter, took stock, given him a little too much credit and once i'd regrouped my thoughts attended a second meeting, where the inaccuracies from the first meeting shone through like the best summer day i'd seen, it was blatantly obvious that even engaging was a mistake

It wasn't a mistake. It's valuable for others in the fanbase to have this sort of information and viewpoint. I'd also suspect Swag got a different vibe from this meeting too, and saw that he can't always pull the wool over people's eyes.

[damo100]

Get out of our club Waggot before it gets toxic.

 

 

 

You're fooling no-one anymore.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Upside Down]

2 hours ago, damo100 said:

Get out of our club Waggot before it gets toxic.

 

 

 

You're fooling no-one anymore.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I was toxic the moment he arrived.

He is a toxic specimen.

[Blue blood]

For me it comes down to I'd expect better from a business studies undergraduate student. He's stealing a living. 

[lraC]

On 20/01/2023 at 15:36, roverstdt said:

I have to say i am not terribly surprised by everything that Glen mentioned. One story I can share is about how the club focuses on the bottom line. 

I had reached out to the club around September time offering to create a small budget between 2k to 5k to sponsor fans who were previous season ticket holders but with the rise in inflation were unable to go. It was a small task but immediately while the response was obviously positive the approach was someone disappointing. Firstly they tried to charge me a full season ticket for each member, i then had to go back to point out some games had already been played and if it was simpler we could work towards doing the half season ticket offer to get more people into the stadium. I then got a rejig offer. After identifying one family with four kids i tried to offer to get the adults the latest shirt and I thought it could be nice for the club seeing as the tickets were being offered they could do a gesture for the children by given then a shirt for free or at a reduce rate. They were unwilling to do so. As time went on through multiple dialogues I just came to conclusion that I felt personally they were trying to suck me for every cent that I could give and it wasn't at all the approach I was hoping for. I was looking to build a collaboration between the club and the fans who were desperate to go and during these hard times a small gesture from the club would go a long way. In the end I sadly pulled myself away from the interaction from after not feeling comfortable that the relationship was to develop something more than a money making scheme. The idea was to year on year slowly increase contribution to bring in more children and future generations but to be honest I felt like there was absolutely no care or desire to do this. While I love the badge my connection to the club is at an all time low and i wish i could have done more but today i just wouldn't trust them with a penny.  

This tells you all you need to know amount Waggott. He needs calling out for this properly. Not every Rovers fan reads these pages as we know, but every fan (especially those who may have lost out due to this) needs to know what has gone on here. It’s down right disgusting. 

[roverstdt]

I forgot to mention the last part was I literally have an email where they wanted to communicate on this as a PR story which i haven't got a problem with if there was some care on their side but PR based on what happened above mind-boggling. 

[damo100]

7 hours ago, Upside Down said:

I was toxic the moment he arrived.

He is a toxic specimen.

Very honest of you 🤣🤣

[Upside Down]

41 minutes ago, damo100 said:

Very honest of you 🤣🤣

What can I say, I'd had a curry the night before. 

[Mattyblue]

I’m afraid he’s fooling plenty.

Talk to supporters that don’t come on here. Plenty have only vaguely heard of him and don’t really have an opinion but are or aren’t aware of the bloke most would pin our revenue/commercial problems on ‘shit fans’, who ‘don’t get behind the club’.

[arbitro]

Waggott is a symptom of the Venky disease. He really doesn't care about the general health of the club and he knows he will ride into the sunset shortly without a backward glance. His attitude is typified by the revelation about meeting his financial targets on season ticket sales, in fact boasting about a record in the takings whilst Two of remains over half empty. If he cared in the slightest he would have reduced the prices and try to sell more to still meet his target but that would have meant doing some work. It would have been a gamble of course but with his lazy attitude he was never going to take up the challenge of selling more. The Easy Street that is Rovers allows him Carte Blanche to do what he wants and his masters must think he is wonderful by reaching his targets albeit by preying on the loyalty of the regular eight thousand or so. There are lots of other examples of his laziness and awful judgement.

I shudder when I think of the shysters who have been allowed to make crucial decisions during the tenure of these wretched owners. Waggott is up there with the lot of them and Rovers are paying him a fortune for that privilege. I would love to see him out on his arse but then who would the idiots appoint? I have said many times that there are a few posters who I know personally on here who would do a far, far better job for a fraction of the cost.

[tomphil]

Squeeze what you have is his mantra and always was so he's only working to type and we'll see more price rises in summer and more not buying a full ST.

It seems his target is like 9k fans paying as much as possible plus away followings and a cup runs to hit his projections. He gets paid regardless so he won't give a stuff and one day he'll be hitting those targets. 

Getting more money in for less Pune will love him probably think he's a genius. Meanwhile all other local clubs have taken action to redress the damage lockdown did to their fanbases.