Before stardom with Nottingham Forest and England, Anderson had a spell on-loan with the Pirates in 2022, where he established his burgeoning reputation.
However, Al-Qadi admits the move almost never happened after Anderson was offered to Rovers by then Newcastle United loan chief Shola Ameobi.
Al-Qadi recalled to talkSPORT.com: “It was a very funny story there because we were looking for an attacking midfielder, and we had our targets.
“And because of Joe and Eddie's (Jennings, then CEO) strong footballing network and connections, you always get names thrown around from their colleagues in different clubs.
“So, Shola Ameobi, he called Joe up and said, 'Listen to me, just take this kid.' Joe, being Joe, was like, 'No, I'm not going to take him.
“'How come nobody else has taken him? Now he must be crap then if you're trying to push him onto us and nobody has taken him.'
“Shola was like, 'No, trust me, trust me, and just take him.'”
He also said: “First training session, our lads were just blown awa. All of them were talking about him. Usually, a kid coming in on loan that's so late in the window it takes time for him to get some minutes.
“But I remember he immediately made the first of the playing starting 11. And he's just never looked back.”