A couple of thoughts after last night

[Knotty]

FFS, what is this prattle? We're talking about a football club with deep roots in the community. Which branch of Asda are you talking about?

Which bit of what I said is not true, then?

We have every right to criticise the club, but no right to run it or even be informed about the details of employment matters.

Of course we are a club with deep roots in the community, but I don't see how that gives us a right to a say in the running of the club, much as I'd like it to.

 

[Simster]

Which bit of what I said is not true, then?

We have every right to criticise the club, but no right to run it or even be informed about the details of employment matters.

Of course we are a club with deep roots in the community, but I don't see how that gives us a right to a say in the running of the club, much as I'd like it to.

Two things:

1) Your initial premise is completely flawed. We all have an emotional investment in the club, whereas you're talking about the Albion as if it's a supermarket. I'll never really be able to walk away from the club and neither will you.
2) Who is actually asking for a say in the running of the club? I'm certainly not, but when things go wrong I want a few more scraps than the feeble silence we've received so far. And lets not forger this works both ways - if the board don't want people having a say in the running of the club, they have a funny way of showing it. The 40 note fund and other fund raisers, letters to various councils and bodies, the begging buckets etc. I don't recall us all being treated with such dismissive disdain back in those days, do you?

 

[Knotty]

Two things:

1) Your initial premise is completely flawed. We all have an emotional investment in the club, whereas you're talking about the Albion as if it's a supermarket. I'll never really be able to walk away from the club and neither will you.
2) Who is actually asking for a say in the running of the club? I'm certainly not, but when things go wrong I want a few more scraps than the feeble silence we've received so far. And lets not forger this works both ways - if the board don't want people having a say in the running of the club, they have a funny way of showing it. The 40 note fund and other fund raisers, letters to various councils and bodies, the begging buckets etc. I don't recall us all being treated with such dismissive disdain back in those days, do you?

My initial premise is not flawed at all - it is the simple fact.

You may want it to be flawed and, to an extent, I'd like it to be too, but it isn't. An emotional investment gives you no rights.

I want to know more than we've heard too, but I simply can't make a case for us having the right to know. And the letters and 40 notes fund, etc. still don't give us that right. Whoever said it did?

We'll just have to agree to disagree.

 

[The Large One]

One thing to clarify - while the club benefits from the coffers of the 40 Notes Fund, it in no way has anything to do with the running of said fund. It is run entirely independently of the club.

Other than that, Simster, I agree.

 

[El Presidente]

Just to repeat what many on here have said, this is not malicious nor is it trying to hound out MA or re-instate DW. It's simply an explanation of why a winning formula ON THE PITCH (which is where it matters) was changed.

I'm with you 100% on this. What I can't get my head around is the level of abuse that seems to be the FIRST option taken by many fans, and the lack of thought that goes into what they are saying. I've said things on NSC that I regret, but the level of righteous indignation expressed by some is bewildering, or perhaps I'm just getting old and have seen it all before, or simply don't care enough any more to get so angry as in the days of Archer and Bellotti.

I've probably lost count of the times I've gone "f***ing hell Kerry/Bomber/Tommy etc, pass it to FEET" as yet another long/high/inaccurate ball goes to the opposition or drifts out of play, and suspect I will be saying the same for the next 30 years or until I die.

We should question the decisions, but there is a world of difference between that and the joy of seeing us underperform. Glenn Murray has been subject to abuse, Nicky Forster, Kerry Mayo etc. EVERY manager (including Coppell, Taylor, Adams when first here as well as current, McGhee, and certainly Wilkins in his first season and sometimes his second) has been given ridiculous grief at times, out of all proportion to their 'crimes'.

As for people claiming that Dean Wilkins has contributed more to the Albion than Dick Knight, I'm left scratching my head. I have no problem with DW, but he is not exactly a messiah.

ALL Albion managers have the problem of trying to shine shit and call it gold, to justify the £24.50 price tag, and it's simply not possible. Whether you like DK or not he has put together a board of directors who have loaned (actually pissed away is a more realistic viewpoint) the club £13-15million, and that is a hell of an achievement, but he gets no credit for it from many on here.

 

[attila]

Which bit of what I said is not true, then?

We have every right to criticise the club, but no right to run it or even be informed about the details of employment matters.

Of course we are a club with deep roots in the community, but I don't see how that gives us a right to a say in the running of the club, much as I'd like it to.

We have had more than a say in the running of the club, we threw out the people who were destroying it! The present board are fully aware of how they got where they are and very conscious of the feelings of supporters. We most certainly have and will have a say, for instance, in facilities at Falmer. Not as much as I would like, but that is down to government policy on stadia rather than BHAFC: trust me, if the bloody government hadn't outlawed them there would have been an energetic campaign, for instance, for terracing at Falmer from day one.

I'm about as pro fan involvement as you can get but I honestly don't see how we can get involved in manager or team selection further than making our views clear to people who are keen to listen to us. That is what i have done and will continue to do - on all issues concerning the Albion.

I do think the crux of the problem is that people don't FEEL as involved as we
used to be, and some have a perception that there is an 'inner circle' of fans
('Knight's cronies?' No, people who fought tooth and nail to get him there, as we all did, and respect him for what he has achieved, with us, against all odds!!) who just do what they're told, while everyone else is shut out. I don't agree with that at all, and have never been like that, but I know some feel that way.

In my view there is a solution to this: if people feel excluded, not listened to, then let's revive an independent supporters' association and ask the board for regular fans' fora NOT hosted or chaired by club representatives. I am CERTAIN we'll get them.

But for that we need new blood, new people who love the Albion and are prepared to devote time and energy to making it work. It takes lots of both, I can assure you!!! And if it was to happen, a new ISA should NOT be fronted by those of us who have done it in the past. I know quite a few people out there who could take it on and do a grand job. I am as committed to the Albion as ever but I have extra responsibilites in my life at the moment and in any case some people might think I'm a 'club lackey' (ha!!!!!)

Over to you, folks.


(Incidentally, I'm a Luddite, and don't come on here often enough to have worked the following out. Why the hell do I log in, type a mesage and then find I've been logged out before I've even had time to post it?

 

[tedebear]

(Incidentally, I'm a Luddite, and don't come on here often enough to have worked the following out. Why the hell do I log in, type a mesage and then find I've been logged out before I've even had time to post it?

Because you prattle on so long it logs you out due to waiting..... (sorry you asked for that one)

 

[Simster]

I've not always seen eye to eye with you attilla, but that is another top post IMO.

 

[supaseagull]

I want to know more than we've heard too, but I simply can't make a case for us having the right to know. And the letters and 40 notes fund, etc. still don't give us that right. Whoever said it did?

We didn't have a right to know what was going on when the Goldstone was sold but we found out and the current board set a standard when they took over and made promises that there'd be no more cloak & dagger situations like there was when Archer & Stanley were in charge.

It was Dick Knight, when he took over, who said that there would always be clarity to avoid the mess the club had got itself into and that he would always listen to supporters. At the moment, there is no clarity, no listening to supporters and a general ignorance as to how the supporters feel.

Yes we don't have a right to know about everything that goes on and to be frank I don't want to know, but we do have a right as supporters who are spending hard earned cash watching their local football club, buying programmes, merchandise, etc during a recession & when money is tight to be kept informed by the club (not the local rag) of what's going on and the club simply are failing to do this and that is why people are getting fed up!

 

[tedebear]

I think some people on here need to re-think how NSC is being used. Historically if you wanted a say in the club, you got the fanzine, went along to meetings and the ISA, and had your say.

Now we have NSC, there are a heck of a lot more people who will moan all day long from behind their keyboards but never turn up to a darn tooting thing. Which is why the moaning threads on here are so many and so tedious. In fact I've started to ignore them. All it serves to do is wind me up.

Taking a view on the entire population of BHA support from NSC is really not the thing to do...

 

[El Presidente]

we do have a right as supporters who are spending hard earned cash watching their local football club, buying programmes, merchandise, etc during a recession & when money is tight to be kept informed by the club (not the local rag) of what's going on and the club simply are failing to do this and that is why people are getting fed up!

What exactly do you want to know?

 

[attila]

We didn't have a right to know what was going on when the Goldstone was sold but we found out and the current board set a standard when they took over and made promises that there'd be no more cloak & dagger situations like there was when Archer & Stanley were in charge.

It was Dick Knight, when he took over, who said that there would always be clarity to avoid the mess the club had got itself into and that he would always listen to supporters. At the moment, there is no clarity, no listening to supporters and a general ignorance as to how the supporters feel.

Yes we don't have a right to know about everything that goes on and to be frank I don't want to know, but we do have a right as supporters who are spending hard earned cash watching their local football club, buying programmes, merchandise, etc during a recession & when money is tight to be kept informed by the club (not the local rag) of what's going on and the club simply are failing to do this and that is why people are getting fed up!

See my suggestion above. NSC - an anonymous message board where no one is accountable or has to put a face or name to an opinion - is no substitute for face to face discussion.

tedebear - just over 1000 posts in four and a half years, that's a bit unfair http://nortr3nixy.nimpr.uk/images/smilies/laughcont.gif

 

[Barnet Seagull]

What's frustrating me the most is that it looked as if Deano was really focusing on bringing in and developing techinically able footballers at this club. I was actually optimistic that by going in that direction if we did go up a division, we might just be able to compete.

I don't see Adams in the same way and never did - which is why I didn't have any attachment to him first time round and was disappointed with his appointment.

 

[Bombadier Botty]

It seems as if everyone in the ground except MA could see that continually pumping balls upfield was producing absolutely nothing and yet he stuck with this approach to the bitter end on Tuesday night. PLAY IT ON THE GROUND, we're a team small on stature, and must have lost 80% of the 50/50 challenges for balls pumped forward during that game.

 

[Questions]

There are a lot of people on here who did not want to debate the Wilkins sacking earlier because they were glad to get Adams back. Now Micky is f***ing up they want to turn the clock back. I vehemently disagreed with that decision but it has no bearing on whether or not we keep Adams at the helm. Some people on here should remember how quiet they kept on the Wilkins issue in pre-season.

I also disagreed with the sacking of Pat Saward by the way.