Max Ehmer signs

The Club is happy to announce the signing of German defender, Max Ehmer.

The centre-back links up with the Gas on a two-year deal, with his signing adding to a busy period at the Club, as Ehmer becomes the 3rd addition to the squad in 4 days.

Ehmer joins the Club having lead as captain at fellow League One side Gillingham. There, the German has been credited for a well-rounded approach to defending in the heart of the Kent side, capable of picking a pass and holding possession, whilst well versed in the principles of defending courtesy of years of experience.

Despite being born in Frankfurt, Germany, Ehmer began his career in England with QPR, where he rose through the ranks from the age of 11. However, Ehmer's first taste of professional football didn't come in blue and white hoops, but green and white, as he joined Yeovil Town initially on a short term loan in January of 2011. Ehmer went on the impress for Yeovil, at the time playing in League One, and re-signed in summer for another 6-month spell with the Club. A run of loans at other EFL sides followed his stint at Yeovil, with Ehmer turning out for Preston North End, Stevenage, Carlisle and finally Gillingham, in a series of moves that served to supplement the defender's experience in the game over four years. It was at his final loan destination, Gillingham, where Ehmer really captured attention, after signing in November of the 2014/15 campaign. He went on the make 29 appearances in all competitions for the League One side, scoring once as the Gills finished in 12th.

In the following summer, Ehmer was signed permanently by Gillingham and has gone on to make over 200 league appearances for the club. The defender's consistency stands out from his time with the Kent side, never making less than 30 appearances in the league since joining permanently, including the curtailed 2019/20 campaign.

The German is also capable of chipping in with goals from time to time, finding the net on 15 occasions for Gillingham in his 6 years with the club, including an impressive total of 7 goals in the 2016-17 League One season.

Following the expiration of his contract with Gillingham, the Gas are delighted to have secured the services of Ehmer, who will now link up with the squad ahead of their imminent return to training.

On the signing, manager Ben Garner said:
“Max is a very good defender who is proven at this level. He is strong & robust being virtually ever-present for Gillingham over the past few seasons. Max is also a good passer of the ball & effective from set-pieces at both ends of the pitch. The other thing Max brings to us is leadership, as soon as I spoke to him that was very evident. I think we are signing a centre-back in his prime, who has the desire to get to the championship. I am very happy that Max has joined us."

Speaking about his decision to join the Gas, Max said:
"I'm ecstatic to be joining Bristol Rovers, speaking to the gaffer I got a sense of the direction of the club. He's a young coach who's looking to play the right way and that really excites me! I've played here four or five times in the past and every time it felt like a sell-out, the fans are so loud. It makes me excited and I can't wait to get started."

https://www.bristolrovers.co.uk/news/2020/july/max-ehmer-signs/

 

Gillingham chairman Paul Scally has taken a swipe at Bristol Rovers after the Gas confirmed the signing of Max Ehmer on Tuesday.

The former Gills captain moves to the Mem on a two-year deal after his contract at Priestfield expired last month.

Scally admitted he was eager for his captain to stay, but took a shot at Rovers’ financial position in an interview with BBC Radio Kent.

“Interestingly, Bristol Rovers lost £24million last year,” Scally said. “They have an owner whose family is involved in a bank in Jordan. I’m not sure what they’re financial position is, but they made combined losses of £24million in the past three or four years which we wouldn’t be able to do. There again is what I was talking about, the disparity in football between each club and each division. Now I don’t what Bristol Rovers’ personal situation is. They’ve clearly got the funds to be able to take that risk, and that really is there concern. My concern is Gillingham Football Club and its long-term future and sustainability, and therefore we have to take tough decisions. The club isn’t based around one player.”

Rovers’ debts, published in March, have since been cleared after a change in ownership structure.

Gillingham are yet to offer any of their out-of-contract players new deals due to the uncertainty over the new season, and Scally said he respected the German-born centre-back to move to the Gas. But the Kent club have been criticised by fans, and BBC Radio Kent asked Scally why Ehmer – who made 250 appearances across six years at Priestfield – was allowed to leave.

“It’s not about it being allowed to happen,” Scally replied. “Myself and the manager sat down when we had the shutdown and worked out a strategy for survival, and that strategy was we wouldn’t offer any player any contract until we knew what the future held. It would be suicidal to do that. Max has been a fantastic servant to the club, we very much wanted him to stay. We did feel that we would be able to give him an offer before the end of July. I spoke to Max on a regular basis, as did the manager (Steve Evans), but we also have to accept that there are clubs that have got funds that they’re prepared to take the risk that they’ll offer contracts now and we may not play football until possibly after Christmas. We weren’t in a position to do that. Max has got a family, we have to respect the fact that we are in unusual times, and the future of his family must come first, which we fully accept.”

https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/sport...gillingham-chairman-paul-scally-takes-4349595

 

He seems to think he knows our business but also admits he doesn't know our situation. Sour grapes to me as he is annoyed that we took Ehmer away from his club.

 

Jealously got him now where but got us a very good central defender I believe

 

Time will tell I guess, don't really know too much about the bloke so it will be very interesting to watch him play for the Rovers after the exchange of words that we have all read this week.
We do seem to have a lot of players now in that central rear guard area and I just hope that we will play attacking football next term and not a holding game !

 

I'm actually going to stick up for Scally on this one, he gets way more abuse than he deserves at time (referrring to our own fans).

The situation is we never completed the season, we lost a quarter of it. A club cannot operate without finances coming in, and way before this Ehmer debate, I personally said, I want my club to get all the wage bills off the books. Yup, that's right, clear the decks, it's either that or risk losing your club.

As I see it, any lower league club that has not followed in the same way, can then not complain if they go under. And clubs are going to go under, I will not get into an argument over Ehmer, but I will say, I wouldn't want him costing my club it's future, what Bristol Rovers do is their business, on that point alone, Scally needs to butt out.

So there is no misunderstanding, we had only 9 players, but 2 of them were allowed to go, if we get relegated next season, I'd rather watch L2, then no football at all.

Just wanted to put the balance of the story right, because sometimes Scally comes from the wrong angle, as supporters, we tend to say it as it is. You've got yourself a good player. However, he aint no Jack Tucker, now he will be the one, you might want to get your hands on in the future, and then my tune may be different

 

You are right, Scally should butt out especially when he doesn't know the full facts, as he admitted himself. Why report on our finances and then admit he doesn't know all the info. Strange. Which doesn't make him look very good from our end. Looks just like sour grapes as he mentioned he was regularly in contact with Ehmer and added he was going to offer him a new contract at the end of July but now too late as he joined us instead.

As for the rest of your post, I am in complete agreement with you. In this climate we are in, we need to be very careful financially, especially lower league clubs who literally are surviving by the skin of their teeth. We were such a club until recently. We were probably in the top 5 clubs who would have been next to disappear like Bury. But our owner has stepped up and showed his commitment to our club right when it was needed the most. Obviously there is a lot of luck that came with that. Perhaps luck is the wrong word as our owner was only able to step up since his father passed away, guessing our owner got a good chunk of inheritance. As you can see by the sad passing of his father, the word luck is a wrong choice of words, but what other word can I use? Our owner and his family owns a company called Dwayne Sports. When they took over Rovers, they took on all existent debts and we have since incurred more debts, like most clubs. We were in big trouble. The family wanted out and was not committed but the owner was. Since his fathers passing, he has bought out his family and is now the sole owner of the club. So im guessing he has done this from inheritance! No idea as im not privvy to his personal money. Just fits the time period. As the sole owner, the debts the club owes to him, he has decided to write them off and turn them into shares instead, leaving us next to being debt free. We are very lucky to have such a committed owner to us, especially in this time period of where finances are so poor in the lower leagues. We are now pretty much (at a guess) in the best financial position out of the 48 league 1 and 2 clubs and probably better than some championship clubs too. So we are able to take advantage of these times we are in to take the better players available when other clubs are not in that position. We were not far from being the next Bury. But now its such a relief where we don't have that worry now. But I am not counting my chickens or getting ahead of myself. Feet are firmly on the ground. We are Bristol Rovers. Nothing good or lucky happens to us. So I am expecting something to go wrong. But it's nice at the moment that we are where we are and that for once we are able to take advantage of that.

 

Sorry mate, but none of this makes sense, which is probably why Scally is suspicious. You somehow got rid of £24M debt, because of a very generous benefactor, when we've had no football for the final quarter and I very much doubt there will be any match day revenue when the season starts.

If you want to know about finances, speak to fans from the following clubs, Wigan, Southend, Bury, Charlton...the list is endless mate. The problem is with supporters, we see Millions as just mere numbers, sometimes we need to take a step back and ask ourselves, would I put £24M into a football club, in L1 in the year of the Coronavirus, when everyone is going under....hmmm

Enjoy it while it lasts that bit of luck, I've got a feeling at some point it's all going to end in tears.

 

That's fine, just because you personally wouldn't put £24 million into a football club in L1 in the year that is 2020 - when everything bad is happening, doesn't mean no one should. Like I said I am not privvy to his wealth. It is something he refuses to speak about. If I had the money, say I had £30 million or £50 million, I wouldn't put £24 million of it in a club in L1. In fact I wouldn't put it in any club in any division. Definitely the wrong time for sure and would lead to financial suicide for sure. But if I had say £300 million or £600 million, then what is £24 million then? Of course its a lot of money still but if I had hundreds and hundreds of millions and I was extremely committed to my club, wiping their debt clear in a time where the financial climate everywhere is not stable, especially for lower league football clubs, I wouldn't hesitate to do it. To be able to show financial certainty at a time when not many can, is a great achievement for us. Are are without a shadow of a doubt in a very lucky position. To have such a committed owner doing his bit for what he owns to make sure they are financially stable in the hard times is what any club could dream of.

Hopefully we get to enjoy it and we certainly are taking advantage of it snapping up good players. But as already said, we are Bristol Rovers. Nothing lasts good for us. Im sure you won't find a gashead who hasn't got their feet firmly on the ground still, expecting something to go wrong. I hope it doesn't but we know it does like the list of clubs you have mentioned where it has gone wrong. But right now, thankfully we are not them and we look like we are set up to be far more sustainable than them too with plans for the future. New training ground to attract better players. New stadium - which will be used for other things to gain more and regular revenue to the club. We have improved massively over the last 12 months commercially that will help too. Exciting times but not getting ahead of ourselves.

 

Sounds as though you haven't done any research. The reason I say that is because you are plucking figures out of thin air, ie £300-600M, rather than do that, surely the right way about the discussion is to give me actuals.

By that I mean you've mentioned about Dwayne Sports, link me to them, tell me what they are worth, what other assets they own, what is their financial history is it credit worthy. Can they afford to throw £24M away to clear debts?

 

I cant give you "actuals" for the reasons I have already stated. He doesn't discuss his own wealth. He has been asked countless times by the media since his arrival a few years ago and he refuses to answer and just says it's his business and no one else's. He had to show the EFL during the takeover process but its all confidential. Trust me, research has been attempted by myself and by many gasheads who are nosy buggers that is frustrated by not knowing! And by many who have the resources (like the media) to get a lot further than me to find out his wealth. But without any joy. There has been one press report by a national paper that our owner is a billionaire. Our local rag has estimated his wealth around £300 million. But where these figures come from, I have no idea. Someone else said his wealth is not money at all but instead is in assets like in shares of banks and hotels etc etc. What may sound to you as no research is far from the truth. He is very difficult to get any info on about his finances as he is very private about it.

Also, me using £300-£600 million was just an example to answer your question. Would I clear £24 million debts for a L1 club in this financial climate? I "plucked" out the £300-£600 million figure to say if I had that amount available then yes I would clear our debts of £24 million. What figure would you like me to use to answer your question instead? I have already said no one has an actual idea of his wealth. So I can't use actuals i'm afraid. My examples were if I had £30 million, no I wouldn't cover those debts. If I had £300 million then yes I would.

As for linking you to Dwayne Sports and give you all that info, I've not done that because I didn't think you actually wanted to delve into it that much. Certainly something I am not bothered with. Feel free to do that yourself in your own time for the actuals. But here is what I know about Dwayne Sports. It was formed by the family for the completion of the takeover of the club a few years ago and didn't exist before that point. It was owned by the family but is now owned by just our owner since he bought them out. Dwayne Sports own the club owning something around 90-95%. The rest of the shares is owned by the supporters club. I do not believe there is any other assets as it was formed just to purchase and own the club. I guess their new asset will be the training ground that is under construction. The land is owned by him. So Dwayne Sports money is what ever money the owner decides to put in of his own wealth, which we do not know. Hope that helps.

 

A lot of words, surely it would have been easier to link me to Dwayne Sports, and provide us with facts, rather than thoughts. Oh well. Good luck.

 

Lots of words indeed. Shows I respect you that I spent that time and effort to respond and clarify details. Yes I could have just linked you to them but I wanted to respond first. I could have also put "you can always use google to search yourself as its you who wants to know the info and its you asking the questions." But I don't want to be disrespectful and put that to you brb as you are worth more than that.

If its too long and you can't be assed to read it then oh well. If you cant see the obvious points that I have made in previous comments then fair enough. It is all simple to me as im on the inside. You are on the outside looking in. Cheers for the good luck wishes though and the same back to yourself of course

I found this for you, nothing special as its a few years old but might help your understanding. Quotes from the owner about Dwane Sports https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/wael-al-qadi-explains-role-299359

 

Scally should concentrate on his own club and stop making erroneous assumptions on how other clubs are run. Our attendances are around 50% higher than Gillingham’s which is a significant factor in our ability to offer Ehmer an attractive contract.

 

Slightly perdantic but how can your attendances be higher, in the current climate, we didn't play the last quarter of last season, and at the earliest supporters will not be allowed back into grounds until October, and under what covid conditions we have yet to see. I'd say that's at least minus anything upto six months gate revenue. My point being, anyone in lower leagues, such has our clubs, currently do not have any revenue to finance players, on the basis you stated in your comment, in the 'significant' factor of gate receipts being 50% higher.

https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/sport...s/gasheads-gone-bristol-rovers-crowds-3297869

 

I haven't read any of the links provided but the question I would ask which could be relevant is how many season tickets have both the clubs sold. I read somewhere that Rovers sales of shirts etc. were up 233% these figure might / or might not have a bearing on how we can offer contracts to players at the present time.
The new shirts have also been unveiled and seem to have been well received so pre orders for them could also make a difference as the above figure was seen before the unveiling of the new strip

 

It's a good question, and as I understand it, my club is currently closed for business, hence preventing any sales.

I do know the new ST purchasing for 2020/21 opened in February and was due to expire on the 30th June, obviously that deadline has now passed, and I would assume roughly from end of March onwards, no sales took place, because the UK went into lockdown. I can't imagine there would have been many sales in February, when you had until 30th June to reserve your seat, unforseen we was about to be hit by a pandemic..

I found this article dated the 3rd July, and I'm not aware of the situation changing, I hasten to add I'm no longer an STHolder...

https://www.gillinghamfootballclub.com/news/2020/july/202021-season-tickets-on-sale/

Difficult times for all of us.