bpmarko

Totally trustworthy Sunday papers? You have got to be having a larfff!! Ten hours on, I can't believe I'm the first to say that!

Unbelievable! It's not like any of the rest of us, after a bad day at the office, want to go out and get rat-arsed! And as for a twenty-three year old doing that, he must be the only one in Oldham, bet he stuck out like a sore thumb!

I think I see what you are getting at, but really must object at your apparent mixing up of ignorance and intolerance. They are two very different things. Personally I grew up in the further reaches of High Crompton, and didn't see asians, or indeed blacks, till going on to High school, if I recall. Therefore I tended to be ignorant of the multicultured nature of our modern society. However, that did not cause, and nor would it excuse, any streak of intolerance towards people based solely on the colour of their skin. True enough, greater understanding does lead to greater wisdom, but please don't try to make ignorance an excuse fo racism, because it just isn't. Sorry, rant over!

Bear in mind there's most likely a fair proportion of mischief makers / non-Latics fans in that seventeen. Still, if it were anywhere near accurate, very sad.

Thinking back on the conversation with Alan Hardy, the time to taken to make money could have been related to paying out the half million pounds for the stop in the first place. The impression I got from Alan was (and I personally agree) that half a million quid is way too much just for a stop outside the ground; he mentioned the possibility of a Car Park and Ride scheme, and said that it would take very long to make any money. Just trying to crystallize the brief conversations I had, apologies if it's unclear.

Apparently the park and ride scheme would take a massive amount of time to even turn any sort of profit.

That was my first reaction. But then the whole point of this development is off the field/non-match time profit from other commercial ventures, therefore meaning that really you want the Metro stop full time, for cinama, bowling or whatever etc etc.

One thing that does not seem to have been brought up, Alan Hardy mentioned the fact that creating a Latics MetroLink station would apparently add two minutes overall to the journey time to/from Manchester, another reason why they would be unwilling to build the station, and possibly a reason why the cost is so high.

Isn't that a bit negatively presumptuous? Maybe he's just on Jury service!

No, what you WILL see in the brochure is the Quattro model with leather seats, SatNav and the 18" wheels etc etc, no Popular Plus models in there!! You are expected to understand that different levels of money buy different upgrades.

Class!

Can't argue with that. But I just hope that keeping him in the side reaps the long-term benefit that it seems is being looked for, and he explodes into being the player his potential hints at. Because I think that Deane CAN be a very very good player.

To be fair, we traditionally do better against the top teams rather than the lesser ones, and if we can just keep that bit of confidence going and growing, you never know, what will happen.

You sort of can see the 'before' and 'after' like you say by mirroring either end from the pictures given. Though bear in mind, from what AH said, Phase One could include one or two corners filled in depending on getting commercial partners; more than that is probably stretching the optimism a little too far.

IIRC The architects' scale drawings were solely covering Phase One. Only the Artists Impressions showed Phase Two, and Phase One is clear on them by mirroring the 'disconnected' end over to the other side.

That is very impressive, would love that, though probably way too nice for Failsworth or Oldham!

Yes, you could always add layers on top of stands but that is expensive, and I think would take a massive upturn in our fortunes to envisage.

How about an option to say that we hate having to leave BP, or go to Failsworth, that nothing about OAFC at the moment is how we would choose it to be, but this is what we've got for the future of the club, so we go with it, or we die? Or is that a tad long for a poll option?

Or a few thousand less because presumably more legroom equates to less rows for a standard depth/rake stand, something I neglected to ask about stupid me!

Obviously, just how active they are in looking is something that only they can answer, but we can presume a couple of things; a. They do not want to shaft us, or they would have done so already b. They don't want to just pour money down the drain, as it has been made abundantly clear that they are not going to leave BP having made anything out of their time here. so... c. Either there is a firm resolve and expectation that moving to Failsworth will make us able to stand on our own two feet, or as near as dammit. or d. They are trying darn hard to get someone in to add money to the club, and stop them needing to fund the club. or. e. Any mix of the two above. And before anyone says about what level we will be self-suffiecient at, you only needed to see the enthusiasm in Alan Hardy's eyes at the consultation to realise that this is meant as a good thing for the club.

Similarly though you could go out on a Saturday night around Oldham centre (not that I would advise it!) and ask people if they consider themselves to be part of Manchester. Am sure a fair proportion, without other prompting, would say yes. Indeed many will claim to be fans of either Manchester club.

TTA have said that they will sell to anyone who will move the club forward and upwards. Granted their plans have not come to fruition as expected, but I don't think you can claim it is not from lack of trying. What I cannot understand is how some people can lambast them for running out of big money. What they could easily do is just give up and leave now, and that would recover far more money than any stadium plan ever will. THAT would be Project Runaway, this most certainly is not.

I asked Anna Kocerhan specifically about the orientation of the Main Stand as this was almost the first thing I noticed. She made it clear that they had considered the roadside view already, and due to the sun setting in the west, and the glass fronted coproate boxes, that is the way it would have to face. Having said that it would be interesting to see if anything could be done on the actual roadside or between roadside and stadium as you suggest.

As for my personal opinions on the presentation and ground etc..... The ground looks pretty standard, what do you want in a 12k stadium that's not just going to be a frivolous misuse of money. Uniqueness seemed to be built in to the facade of the Main Stand, though the pictures provided do a very poor job of showing it. What was way more encouraging was seeing Alan Hardy's enthusiasm, it seemed like he sees this as a personal thing, and a success, which was great to see. Was very disappointed to not see any of the owners present, though excuse was given, sort of. Was also a little disappointed to not see at least ine name of a commercial partner, though I know we still have to get a lot of things decided yet, but it would have been great to see, say, an M&S badge up there, or Harvester, or anything really just to show that commercially, there is keenness on the development. I think end of Feb will be a lot more pivotal in terms of concrete plans, can't wait for that. I thought the floodlights look a bit peculiar, was surprised they are not to be integrated into the lip of the roof. The red-brick facade to the main stand, coupled with the modern glassy centre sounds good, and unique, and the arch topped windows to the side look good too, and in a subtle inconspicuous way. However, sorry Alan, but I think the 'Mill top corners' just look plain silly. However, if that's the worst I can come up with, I' happy. Was nice to see a couple of faces from on here, and even put a face or two to IDs too. Having said that, I was a tad disappointed with the turnout.

Alan seemed very insistent that even if the Charity Commission came back negative, that would just be the Council's problem. Maybe I misunderstood what he was saying.