AlSaeed 'confident' in Rovers' development plans
Bristol Rovers owner Hussain AlSaeed said he understands fans have been disappointed by broken promises in the past but that he is "confident" in the club's work so far to redevelop the Memorial Stadium.The Kuwaiti businessman purchased a majority 55% stake in the club's holding company in 2023 before acquiring the full shares last November from Wael and Samer Al Qadi."I always said you guys are the fans, you've been promised so many times but then nothing was delivered," AlSaeed told BBC Radio Bristol."We're not going to promise, but even until now, we have not shown the plans for the Memorial because of that. "We're not sure what the council will approve and will not approve, so we don't want to get their [fans] hopes up and then have them disappointed again."We are confident that we are doing the work as we should be, and we're going with the right people, and once that is approved, we are going to show it to the fans."The proposed work at the Mem, which Rovers has called home since 1996, includes upgrades to stands to increase capacity from 12,500 to 16,500 and also change the capacity from majority standing to seating.The club are preparing to submit a second pre-application to Bristol City Council in March for approval, AlSaeed confirmed, after making amendments recommended following their first application. "We are hopeful that soon after that we will get the approval for it," he added.
AlSaeed said he expected the work, when it does begin, to take "at least a season or two".The plans also include changes to the training ground, known as The Quarters, which will see the men's team, women's team and academy all based "in one place" rather than separately.A covered pitch is being built with the aim of moving the academy up a level from category three to two."Now we have only two pitches there, and we will make them six; that will allow the academy, and it will allow the first team and the women's team to train at the same time," AlSaeed said."We really feel the academy is very important, and we really feel this is the best thing for the club to have a good academy and to advance in that side, and the best way to do it is to do it in-house and to have them all in one place."
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The National
a day ago
- The National
Scotland have suffered a system malfunction
The national team's diabolical record in friendly matches continued when they were beaten 3-1 by Iceland – the first time they have ever suffered a reverse at the hands of their Nordic rivals – in front of a far from impressed home support. Losing goalkeeper Angus Gunn early on and having to bring on the uncapped Cieran Slicker to replace him was far from ideal for manager Steve Clarke. Still, Andy Robertson and his team mates could have no complaints about the final scoreline. This was another dire display and a wretched result. Here are five talking points from a bitterly disappointing night for Scotland. Nightmare debut The last thing that Clarke, who had been at pains to point how few goalkeepers Scotland have playing at a decent level when he named his squad for this double header last month, was to see his first choice goalkeeper pick up an injury. But that is exactly what happened. In just the third minute too. Gunn was clattered by Andri Gudjohnsen as he tried to pluck a high ball out of the air and landed awkwardly. He failed to respond to medical attention and hobbled off with the help of a physio. It was a devastating setback for a man who has not had his problems to seek fitness wise this term. Read more: The 15-times capped 29-year-old had not featured in an international since the narrow Nations League loss to Portugal in Lisbon back in September and he was eager to make amends for lost time and stake a claim for a start in World Cup qualifying. It was not to be. Gunn's knock meant an unexpected debut for Slicker of Ipswich Town. The 22-year-old, who is eligible to represent Scotland because of his Glaswegian father, made just one appearance in the season which has just finished. He came on for the final nine minutes of an FA Cup win over Bristol Rovers in January. His lack of game time showed. He played the ball straight to Stefan Poroarson shortly after taking to the field. The Iceland midfielder nodded down to Gudjohnsen who did superbly curl a left foot shot into the top left corner. The son of former Barcelona Chelsea star Eidur is a chip off the old block. It was hard not to feel sympathy for the newcomer. But he settled the nerves he would inevitably have been feeling when he saved a long-range Jon Dagur Porsteinsson attempt. His distribution improved thereafter too. Not that it could have got any worse. Could Slicker have done better at the visitors' second goal on the stroke of half-time? Possibly. But the Albert Gudmundsson corner came off John Souttar, Grant Hanley and finally Lewis Ferguson before it trundled over his line. It was a comedy or errors. The Oldham-born keeper, too, flapped at the header Victor Palsson got on target at a Gudmondsson free-kick and failed to keep it out. There was a lengthy VAR check to see if the scorer had been offside. The defender, though, was on when the ball was played through to him. System malfunction With Kieran Tierney considered fit enough to start once again, Clarke reverted to the five man defence which had served him so well during the opening games of the Euro 2024 qualifying campaign. He positioned the Celtic full-back on the left of three centre-backs and deployed Robertson at wing back outside him. (Image: Jane Barlow) It did not work, either defensively or offensively. Yes, the hosts created a few chances and levelled when John Souttar held off Mikael Egill Ellertsson and nodded a Max Johnston corner home. But the players looked uncomfortable in the system and there were far, far too many open spaces for their opponents to exploit. Billy Gilmour, Scott McTominay and Lewis Ferguson, who have picked up silverware in Italy with Napoli and Bologna respectively this term, started together in midfield for just the third time. But they proved incapable of turning things around. Clarke needs to have a rethink. Tierney and Robertson and have played in a flat back four together at international level in the past and can do so again in future if required. At this moment, a move to a 4-2-3-1 or a 4-3-3 is worth trying. There is no point persevering with a system which functioned effectively in the past if it is not working now. Scotland switched to a back four when Clarke made a triple substitution in the second half and looked better for it. Bright Hirst It may take Scotland supporters a little time to get used to a striker called Hirst playing up front for them even if his surname is spelt differently from a certain former England centre forward. But members of the Tartan Army may have to get used to the Ipswich Town man George, who was preferred to Che Adams, James Wilson, Kieron Bowie and Tommy Conway up front, leading the line for them. Clarke is clearly an admirer of the former England age-group player, who qualifies to play for this country through his paternal grandfather, as this was the third game in a row he has fielded him. He came on in both of the Greece games back in March. Read more: But this was a first start for him. He showed why was given the nod despite failing to find the target during his time on the park. He headed a John McGinn chip over, forced a one-handed save from Elias Rafn Olafsson after meeting a Scott McTominay cutback with a first-time shot and had a goal, correctly, chalked off for offside. He received a warm round of applause when he was replaced by Adams. Rightly so. He showed he has much to offer despite the result. To the Max Johnston, who helped Sturm Graz to retain their Bundesliga title in Austria this season, caught Clarke's eye in training at Lesser Hampden this week and started at right wing-back ahead of both Anthony Ralston of Celtic and the returning Nathan Patterson of Everton. He had some good moments and set up the Scotland goal. It was also nice to see Lennon Miller, the teenage Motherwell midfielder, make his first appearance for his country. He came on for Tierney as Scott McKenna replaced Hanley. Patterson later took over from Johnston and Tommy Conway came on for McTominay. But none of the replacements made a significant difference. Tartan Army boo boys The boos and jeers which rang out at the half-time and full-time whistle told a story. The Scotland supporters were furious with the insipid performance they had witnessed. A vast improvement against Liechtenstein in Vaduz on Monday is now needed to get the fans back onside ahead of the World Cup qualifying opener against Denmark.
The Herald Scotland
a day ago
- The Herald Scotland
Scotland have suffered a system malfunction
Losing goalkeeper Angus Gunn early on and having to bring on the uncapped Cieran Slicker to replace him was far from ideal for manager Steve Clarke. Still, Andy Robertson and his team mates could have no complaints about the final scoreline. This was another dire display and a wretched result. Here are five talking points from a bitterly disappointing night for Scotland. Nightmare debut The last thing that Clarke, who had been at pains to point how few goalkeepers Scotland have playing at a decent level when he named his squad for this double header last month, was to see his first choice goalkeeper pick up an injury. But that is exactly what happened. In just the third minute too. Gunn was clattered by Andri Gudjohnsen as he tried to pluck a high ball out of the air and landed awkwardly. He failed to respond to medical attention and hobbled off with the help of a physio. It was a devastating setback for a man who has not had his problems to seek fitness wise this term. Read more: The 15-times capped 29-year-old had not featured in an international since the narrow Nations League loss to Portugal in Lisbon back in September and he was eager to make amends for lost time and stake a claim for a start in World Cup qualifying. It was not to be. Gunn's knock meant an unexpected debut for Slicker of Ipswich Town. The 22-year-old, who is eligible to represent Scotland because of his Glaswegian father, made just one appearance in the season which has just finished. He came on for the final nine minutes of an FA Cup win over Bristol Rovers in January. His lack of game time showed. He played the ball straight to Stefan Poroarson shortly after taking to the field. The Iceland midfielder nodded down to Gudjohnsen who did superbly curl a left foot shot into the top left corner. The son of former Barcelona Chelsea star Eidur is a chip off the old block. It was hard not to feel sympathy for the newcomer. But he settled the nerves he would inevitably have been feeling when he saved a long-range Jon Dagur Porsteinsson attempt. His distribution improved thereafter too. Not that it could have got any worse. Could Slicker have done better at the visitors' second goal on the stroke of half-time? Possibly. But the Albert Gudmundsson corner came off John Souttar, Grant Hanley and finally Lewis Ferguson before it trundled over his line. It was a comedy or errors. The Oldham-born keeper, too, flapped at the header Victor Palsson got on target at a Gudmondsson free-kick and failed to keep it out. There was a lengthy VAR check to see if the scorer had been offside. The defender, though, was on when the ball was played through to him. System malfunction With Kieran Tierney considered fit enough to start once again, Clarke reverted to the five man defence which had served him so well during the opening games of the Euro 2024 qualifying campaign. He positioned the Celtic full-back on the left of three centre-backs and deployed Robertson at wing back outside him. (Image: Jane Barlow) It did not work, either defensively or offensively. Yes, the hosts created a few chances and levelled when John Souttar held off Mikael Egill Ellertsson and nodded a Max Johnston corner home. But the players looked uncomfortable in the system and there were far, far too many open spaces for their opponents to exploit. Billy Gilmour, Scott McTominay and Lewis Ferguson, who have picked up silverware in Italy with Napoli and Bologna respectively this term, started together in midfield for just the third time. But they proved incapable of turning things around. Clarke needs to have a rethink. Tierney and Robertson and have played in a flat back four together at international level in the past and can do so again in future if required. At this moment, a move to a 4-2-3-1 or a 4-3-3 is worth trying. There is no point persevering with a system which functioned effectively in the past if it is not working now. Scotland switched to a back four when Clarke made a triple substitution in the second half and looked better for it. Bright Hirst It may take Scotland supporters a little time to get used to a striker called Hirst playing up front for them even if his surname is spelt differently from a certain former England centre forward. But members of the Tartan Army may have to get used to the Ipswich Town man George, who was preferred to Che Adams, James Wilson, Kieron Bowie and Tommy Conway up front, leading the line for them. Clarke is clearly an admirer of the former England age-group player, who qualifies to play for this country through his paternal grandfather, as this was the third game in a row he has fielded him. He came on in both of the Greece games back in March. Read more: But this was a first start for him. He showed why was given the nod despite failing to find the target during his time on the park. He headed a John McGinn chip over, forced a one-handed save from Elias Rafn Olafsson after meeting a Scott McTominay cutback with a first-time shot and had a goal, correctly, chalked off for offside. He received a warm round of applause when he was replaced by Adams. Rightly so. He showed he has much to offer despite the result. To the Max Johnston, who helped Sturm Graz to retain their Bundesliga title in Austria this season, caught Clarke's eye in training at Lesser Hampden this week and started at right wing-back ahead of both Anthony Ralston of Celtic and the returning Nathan Patterson of Everton. He had some good moments and set up the Scotland goal. It was also nice to see Lennon Miller, the teenage Motherwell midfielder, make his first appearance for his country. He came on for Tierney as Scott McKenna replaced Hanley. Patterson later took over from Johnston and Tommy Conway came on for McTominay. But none of the replacements made a significant difference. Tartan Army boo boys The boos and jeers which rang out at the half-time and full-time whistle told a story. The Scotland supporters were furious with the insipid performance they had witnessed. A vast improvement against Liechtenstein in Vaduz on Monday is now needed to get the fans back onside ahead of the World Cup qualifying opener against Denmark.
The Herald Scotland
a day ago
- The Herald Scotland
Slicker the fall guy, but deeper problems for woeful Scots
It was hard not to bring this exchange to mind as we all watched poor Cieran Slicker's Scotland debut through the cracks of our fingers at Hampden. The young keeper was thrown in for his international bow after just six minutes, with Angus Gunn limping off following a collision with Iceland forward Andri Gudjohnsen. Barely a minute later, he was picking the ball out of the net as Gudjohnsen - son of Eidur - punished his poor clearance to bend a beauty past him into the top corner. As another clearance went astray soon after, and his head dropped, you couldn't help but feel for him. When he played his part in a calamitous second for Iceland just before the interval, the final touch coming off of Lewis Ferguson, you almost wanted to give him a hug. Then, when Victor Palsson's header somehow slipped through his grasp and into the net just after the break, you were almost willing Clarke to perform a mercy act and remove him from the action. Ironic cheers from the Tartan Army when he made a simple catch were hardly productive, either, and almost as much of a poor show as the Scotland players put on on the night. In Slicker's defence, he was anything but match sharp. It is quite the conundrum why Steve Clarke turned to a man who had made just one first team appearance this season - and even that was as an 81st minute substitute in an FA Cup tie against Bristol Rovers in mid-January – instead of Robby McCrorie, who had at least made 26 appearances for Kilmarnock. An illustration of the dearth of options, granted. Maybe he felt because it was a friendly, he could experiment a little. But then, that would be entirely out of character, with the rest of his line-up largely a reversion to the back three system that we thought may have been a thing of the past after the disastrous European Championship campaign. It was a mess. Not only did the Scotland players look as though they had never played the formation before, they looked as though they had never met. The presence of Grant Hanley at the centre of that backline, willing servant as he has been for his country, was just as puzzling as the fact that despite having five strung across the back when Iceland had the ball, Scotland still appeared wide open. And most worryingly of all, where once this was a formation that squeezed the best Scottish players into the line-up and mitigated the flaws of others, it now brings out less than the sum of the parts of what is, at least on paper, a talented group. On this pitch were the best midfielder in Serie A in Scott McTominay, his fellow Serie A winning teammate Billy Gilmour, Coppa Italia winning Bologna captain Lewis Ferguson, an English Premier League winner in Liverpool's Andy Robertson and Aston Villa captain John McGinn. But none of them performed anywhere near the levels they were capable of, and they were deservedly beaten by a side who, with respect, were made up of players from club sides who are largely paupers by comparison. There were one or two reasons to be mildly cheerful, over and above John Souttar's headed equaliser. George Hirst looked busy enough up front, putting a header just over, at least forcing a good save from Elias Rafn Olaffson and being denied his first Scotland goal only by a VAR check spotting McTominay offside in the build-up. Max Johnston got a run-out on the right, and it was his corner delivery that Souttar converted. Lennon Miller came on for his debut. But, erm, that was about it. Clarke had spoken in the build-up to this game about how he wanted to address the abysmal record he has had in friendly matches as the coach, with just two wins from 12 matches. And those were against Luxembourg and Gibraltar. Scotland overall have now won just three of their last 21. He joked he had stressed the importance of arresting that run to his players in colourful language. But it was the Tartan Army who were turning the air blue being forced to sit through this, having paid a pretty penny to do so too. This was as sparse as Hampden had been for a match in quite some time, and while there were some mitigating factors – the fact it was an end of season friendly, less than glamorous opposition, the game being live on the telly – there is no doubt that the pricing structure played a part in that too. Adult tickets were priced between £40-£45, and while this match was also folded into the five-match discounted package for Scotland Supporter's Club members, the Scottish FA were hardly encouraging walk-ups by pegging the prices at such a level. Had they known what they were about to be subjected to, even less would have bothered. You don't often get international friendlies these days, and thank the good lord for that. If the fans didn't get anywhere near value for money, Clarke certainly got plenty food for thought.
