Tony Fernandes discusses new stadium plans

[Essexsteve]

Nice on Stan,cheers for putting that up enjoyed listening to it!! PF should stayed on Topic instead of banging on about the badge made himself look like a ****! Twitter has its uses when gauge fans opinions but I am hoping as a ST holder they send us out/Email us a some sort of survey to let us put across our opinions and concerns about The Move.or even a Email everyone on the clubs database to gauge a broader range of opinions ideas as I expect everyone of the clubs database would have brought a ticket at one time or another.

[DeepcutHoop]

You're wrong and you've moved the goal posts with regard to the timeline of the contentious issues that were raised on this board.

When the announcement was made that the stadium was 40k, a few posters queried this, me being one.

The points we raised was how did the club come to the figure of 40k. I with a few others queried whether any consulation, feasibility test or feedback had been sought by the club. At that point we had majority of posters saying the 40k was fine and particular posters saying the club must of done a feasibility test, I recall one particular poster challenging W12 for daring to have a view and that TF must of come to the 40k by using professional consultants and this was all thought out and obviously TF wouldn't base the size on fans feedback but would listen to professionals.

So by way of timeline, this board kicked off because the few posters thought the 40k was plucked from thin air and the only evidence we had was what our past crowds were, however posters were having a go a me and others for being naive and lacking ambition.

The reality from the podcast was the few were correct and it is clear from TF that pre the announcement, no formal feedback had been gathered and by way of time line from now on ie post announcement feed back will be gathered via twitter, forums and offy as to size. TF particularly discounted the view that business consultants should be involved with the size and really the fans are best placed to provide this feedback. In his interview he said how his 12k staff for his airline are his main source for feedback being good or bad and he sees the fans the same. What Tony says completely discredits Richards and others critiscm of W12 that Tony wouldn't listen to fans and must of spoken to business consultants before the 40k announcement.
Also Dave said to me that TF would build what he wanted and I responded that he wouldn't as he didn't want to be like T and C, admittedly Dave conceded the point but the podcast did confirm the position I took that consultation must be at the heart of this and this appears to be what TF is doing.
So when posters go against the grain instead of the happy clappers jumping on the band wagon and saying we are out of sync with the rest of the club and we are Dinasours, the reality is we are occasionally more in line with the thinking of the club and I think TF wants people to be critical if that critiscm is warranted rather than surround himself with happy clappers who make no effort to scratch the surface and just agree that Tony must have done feasibility tests, hired expensive consultants blah blah ...because in reality he didn't and some of us worked that out before he confirmed it on the podcast.

This is why after listening to the podcast I'm happier but I will always question.

How am I wrong there?

I've made no comment on the work done by the board before this announcement. My problem was with W12's weird obsession with the club getting Twitter feedback. The fact that they talked about fans involvement and input in the initial release was a pretty big sign that the artists impressions were just that, not the finalised plans.

40k is on the high side of what most of us would have expected a new stadium to be, lots seem to be telling him that.

They've said they now want feedback, let's give it to them.

[vblockranger]

You in particular were the most vocal with your views when the 40k announcement was made but the reality following Tony's podcast was nothing you said in your endless posts mirrored what Tony said.

1) you say business consultants or similar must of been involved in getting the 40k figure.Wrong. Tony says no.

2) you tell W12 that tonys a successful businessman and he would listen to consultants over fans. Wrong Tony says no point in expensive business consultants it will be fan driven.

3) you say club must of done feasibility tests to get to 40k. Wrong nothing has been decided . Size hasn't been decided could be 30 or 40k he will listen to fans.

4) you endlessly went on about other usage for the stadium.whether it's the case or not Tony makes no mention on podcast so not a priority as you see it. It's a football stadium so it follows the capacity will be based on how many the club can get in on match day not whether 1D are touring on Wednesday.

5) wants to hear from fans not just good but bad. He doesn't want Gareth types from the office who are yesmen bit even the boss doesnt agree with what they are going on about.

6) your view is not to be critical. Wrong Tony accepts fans are going to be worried and is reassuring us. He doesnt think it's a problem to have concerns, why do you? Some fans have been st holders for over 20 yrs, QPR and LR have been part of life for generations. Whats wrong with querying and questioning. People weren't doing it enough early in his tenure and looked what happened.

You say solutions, wrong again he don't want solutions he wants feedback which can be critical which is what some of us our airing.

Now thats a good post with some good points...well done that man.

[Robsondinho]

The company I work for as well as bfk & Vinci will be working on the Crossrail station at OOC. I wonder if the stadium and redevelopment will be added to our contract if it gets the go ahead, because at the moment nothing has been mentioned about a football stadium. Hope it is added to our works, would love to work on that.

[W12_Ranger]

The company I work for as well as bfk & Vinci will be working on the Crossrail station at OOC. I wonder if the stadium and redevelopment will be added to our contract if it gets the go ahead, because at the moment nothing has been mentioned about a football stadium. Hope it is added to our works, would love to work on that.

I would say the contract would need to be awarded fairly. A whole new station would need to be built I'm not sure it could be part of Crossrail 1.

A whole new project this far into Crossrail would be a massive commitment which could delay the final completion date.

[vespa]

Good post Brights. You have to wonder what Vespa, W12, Vblock and NW Hoopz actually want from the board. Not a single one of them has bothered to form an organisation to put forward their views when invited to do so. It's just moan moan moan for the sake of it. Perhaps they should get off their fat behinds and do something about it if they care so much about the issue.

Would they prefer owners like Portsmouth had, or some of our previous owners, or those of Hull, Blackburn or Cardiff? How about the Glazers, who put over half a billion debt on Man Utd's books?

As for ownership of the new ground, so what if it's owned by a stadium company that's part of QPR Holdings? Such a phenomenon is hardly a new thing. There are a number of new stadiums under similar style ownership. Multi-use? That's not a new thing either. We've done it ourselves at LR.

It's no good for the naysayers to keep abusing fellow fans that have bought into the board's vision. If they don't like what's happening, they should form an activists group. They should be presenting an alternative view instead of snide little comments on a message board.

Some of them whinge about so- called little sound-bites on twitter. Their posts on here are no different. We have a fantastic opportunity to be part of an exciting new development with a new state-of-the-art stadium. Our owners are forking out for a top of the range training ground/academy. They've supported the managers in the transfer market. Yet the naysayers continue to knock the owners. What more do they want?

A good example is Chris Samba. The majority on here wanted him. TF went out and got him. It's hardly TF's fault he didn't perform as expected.

I for one am looking forward to the next chapter in the club's history, both on and off the pitch. It looks like we're heading back to the top division at the first time of asking, and we have a new academy and stadium in the pipeline. What's not to get excited about?

Perhaps the naysayers should get together and put their views to the board instead of the constant sly little digs at fellow fans.

Read back your own posts Richard ( and mine for that matter ) the sly little digs are usually coming from you ,its like you just cant handle the fact anyone has a different opinion then you , how you get on in life with this attitude is beyond me .
Youve told me i dont understand the history of QPR ,because we disagree about the new ground , ive not once made such a disrespectful comment to you ,and as for some of the comments you made to V about being a Nazi .........Your get up off fat a rses comment above ,ok so youve seen NWs posterior ,i`ll give you that one
!
Just accept the fact we are not moaning on ,we are concerned ,that is all

[vblockranger]

Read back your own posts Richard ( and mine for that matter ) the sly little digs are usually coming from you ,its like you just cant handle the fact anyone has a different opinion then you , how you get on in life with this attitude is beyond me .
Youve told me i dont understand the history of QPR ,because we disagree about the new ground , ive not once made such a disrespectful comment to you ,and as for some of the comments you made to V about being a Nazi .........Your get up off fat a rses comment above ,ok so youve seen NWs posterior ,i`ll give you that one
!
Just accept the fact we are not moaning on ,we are concerned ,that is all

Vesp i think your flogging a dead horse with this one. Richard comes across as a bloke totally incapable of respecting other opinions if they differ from his own. Like you say we are concerned and for whatever reasons do not trust TF or the board to act 100% in the best interests of the club and to put the clubs affairs above their own. Havent seen NW in the flesh but i now know what to look out for :-)

[stanistheman]

I don't care whether its 35 or 40k I just want a seat where I ain't sticking me knees in the geezers head in front of me !!

yes, that is one of the reasons why I am so keen on a new stadium. My knees going into someone's seat and their knees hitting my seat or head is something that really annoys me and helps spoil the game for me.

[Hitman34]

Apart from that you're feelings towards TF & friends are like a new born lamb skipping along in the spring sunshine!!!....

i tip my hat to tony and the lads. all in all he is a top man.

someone asked about the kits. if i remember right, tony said he was not too happy with next seasons kit design but will look into sorting it out for the year after.

not sure which kit he means though.

[stanistheman]

After listening twice to the podcast ,i`m still very concerned about the ownership of the new ground issue ,TF is saying it will probably be in the name of the shareholders , surely the only way to 100% guarantee we will never be kicked out of this new ground is to have it in QPRs name ,so that is still a major concern .

With respect to getting feedback from the fans ,forget twitter , the club has every ST holder and members email addresses , just send us all out a questionair ,cant be too hard ,then you wont get fans from other clubs sabotaging things ( like me ,when Palace was asking about a new badge in the Croydon Advertiser ! )

New kit is going to be pony next season , according to Tony , cant understand why we would put up with that .......
Badge wont be changing next season also , and when it does reading in between the lines ,we wont be getting any of the old badges back ......

Tony always comes across well ......He works the media well

I can see the value of the club owing the ground 100%, but can you really see investors spending £300M, or whatever the cost will be to build a new stadium, and then give it to the club?

Perhaps a way round it would be to give the club a 100 year lease on it at a gauranteed minimal cost, with perhaps an option to buy a shares in the ground along the way. this way eventually the club could buy the stadium outright if success and fortune comes the way of QPR. This way the investors can profit from the eventual sale and receive proceeds from concerts, events etc that are held at the stadium.

[vblockranger]

Wonder how much they will get for Loftus Rd? Whats property/land even worth round there in that area? Develop it themselves? They even mentioned what they intend to do with it?

[DeepcutHoop]

Wonder how much they will get for Loftus Rd? Whats property/land even worth round there in that area? Develop it themselves? They even mentioned what they intend to do with it?

Loftus Road will be turned into flats as part of redevelopment, looks like they'll be work on the White City estate too.

This was mentioned in the initial announcement.

[vblockranger]

Loftus Road will be turned into flats as part of redevelopment, looks like they'll be work on the White City estate too.

This was mentioned in the initial announcement.

Did they make it clear whether they will be developing the site themselves? the profit of which anyway i assume to go towards the new stadium? Anyone know if the the current ground is an asset for the club still? or is already in the names of the shareholders?

[PeterG]

"Did they make it clear whether they will be developing the site themselves? the profit of which anyway i assume to go towards the new stadium? Anyone know if the the current ground is an asset for the club still? or is already in the names of the shareholders?"

I imagine the land they have snapped up is in the vicinity by the way he was talking, its not being snapped up by QPR its being snapped up by the shareholders separately, then when the stadium and area developement plans move to the next stage the value will leap in value. sound business sense but probably onf no real benefit to QPR apart from the fact our owners will be a bit richer

I think people are jumping to conclusions re stadium ownership there is a massive difference between where the holding company owns the stadium but in a seperate company than the football club and QPR where it is likely that the stadium will be owned by the shareholders but outside of the QPR holdings and football club co's

Of course this all needs clarification. on the other side of the argument those that are concerned about LR as an assett, i think thats probably an argument that was valid pre briatore but not now because the value of the ground is far outweighed by the debt owed to the shareholders in loans etc. I think this all needs laying out in black and white in the spring when the next accounts come out so that everyone can see exactly where the club stands. That will be the time for serious discourse about ownership of the new stadium and development. We also have to consider financial fair play and how this will effect the club in the future and what positive benefits are to be obtained by the stadium development being funded and owned

I have enjoyed reading this thread mostly and its good to see we can debate this in ways which cant be explored in 140 characters, Twitter has its uses but it very limited in this regards, shame about the boring sniping and back biting which does nothing to further the cause of the argument on any side you care to look at it from.

[Connell10]

I think fans are right to be nervous.
I remember when NW went and posters were falling over themselves to undermine him, saying how bad the training was and how MH would make us into a top premiership club, posters were even saying top 10 and Europe were touching distance. Remember when MH mentioned mouth swabs at training sessions, some posters almost fainted with joy.
It was almost Stalinesque wiping away NW and the players that got us up, no one cared because we were now premiership and had players from Europe that no one ever heard off but they played for real etc and then came the champions league players .....happy clappers had taken over.
Any one critical of Rigg, MH, TF, transfer policy were shouted down as heathens and described as dinosaurs ...
Reality turned out we were a joke and therefore sometimes being sceptical isn't always a bad trait.

very good post mate, we must always question even if it means going out on a limb! as i said before im gonna wait and see when the real plans for our new stadia have been produced until then im not getting over excited!