Dick Knight on the fans phone in after Mansfield game

[Yorkie]

went to hull away and saw you,im a super fan for going that far

I know which is why I said you had been at away games since.

 

[Seasider78]

An interesting exchange of views here.

On the outside is sir albion, who - quite correctly - analyses the state of the Club's finances as "potless". On the inside is Insider who - equally correctly - advises that the debt consists substantially of interest free loans poured into the Club by directors who are getting nothing in return, apart from shares in a potless club.

If only both sides of this argument could appreciate that there is common ground, there would be a chance of taking things forward in harmony.

What is absolutely certain is that a potless Club like the Albion could go bust at any time if the current board of directors decided to walk away from the debt that they have so manfully managed EVERY YEAR since they took over.

I'm not suggesting that sir albion and his chums actually THANK the directors, but it would be a start if they put a stop to the innuendo that what motivates the directors is a wish to get rich from their stewardship of the club.

Agree with all of that and this should be a time everyone is pulling together as we near Falmer. Everyone is very quick to judge DK without a full appreciation of what it takes behind the scenes to run a football club at this level with our finances. The accusations of money taking are just absurd and I for one am thankful to DK and the other directors for the tireless effort they have put in keeping the club afloat.

I am sure even DK would say on reflection there are some things he would have done differently but that happens in all business not just football. I also don't understand the comments that the stadium would have happened quicker without DK. Lets not forget the delay was caused by LDC and FPC are we seriously suggesting with a different chairman at the helm they would have just rolled over and said 'F*ck it just build it in our field'??!!

The attendances do need addressing but when the stadium gains momentum and the first brick is laid the surrounding media attention and hype towards the eventual move will see a lot of fans old and new coming out of the woodwork.

There are good times ahead now is not the time to turn on the club instead all pull in the right direction

 

[Nemesis]

so you spout factless rubbish for the sake of a pound !!

No-he spouts total rubbish because of his lack of functioning brain cells.

 

[The Auditor]

Its the principle you twat,what i see is a club homless for 11 years and mega in debt,we can all see you know unless you are blind?

Go get a bovril and stick you're slippers on

resorting to insults shows you have nothing to back up your argument..just look at the facts..its all there ..the difference between income and expenditure has to be funded somehow..in the albion case via loans..we have been making trading losses for years and years

 

[m20gull]

what i see is a club homless for 11 years and mega in debt,we can all see you know

We can all see it, what seems to separate us is our understanding of why it's happened.

 

[Tooting Gull]

No one has said the stadium WOULD have happened quicker with someone else. I think you can certainly ask if it MIGHT have happened quicker with a bit more financial muscle on our board. Money has a habit of making problems disappear, a cursory study of Arsenal's Emirates project tells you that, and many others besides.

But if you're saying we'd never know for sure either way, then of course you're right.

 

[Caveman]

It really amazes me the complete lack of any thought some people have as they type this sort of utter bollocks and press the return key. f***ing rolleyes my arse.

Explain to me how he is supposed to pay the wages and run the club on the gates we get and that the fact that we don't even own our own ground? How is that in any way comparable to Bellotti?

Indeed, its wankers like this who end up getting air time and ask a load of bollocks and spout unrealistic questions.

The main questions for me are what the ground will consist of / its make up, dates they are striving towards and are they confident on the finance front....any potential new investors?

 

[Caveman]

No one has said the stadium WOULD have happened quicker with someone else. I think you can certainly ask if it MIGHT have happened quicker with a bit more financial muscle on our board. Money has a habit of making problems disappear, a cursory study of Arsenal's Emirates project tells you that, and many others besides.

But if you're saying we'd never know for sure either way, then of course you're right.

With all due respect we ain't no Arsenal.

 

[Caveman]

resorting to insults shows you have nothing to back up your argument..just look at the facts..its all there ..the difference between income and expenditure has to be funded somehow..in the albion case via loans..we have been making trading losses for years and years

But you know why. Where have you been for the last 10 years? School?

We finally have the go ahead and we're talking about previous years...? Why?

 

[The Auditor]

The main questions for me are what the ground will consist of / its make up, dates they are striving towards and are they confident on the finance front....any potential new investors?

Far too sensible..

 

[Yorkie]

But you know why. Where have you been for the last 10 years? School?

We finally have the go ahead and we're talking about previous years...? Why?

Because twonks like sir albion still need it spelling out.

 

[The Auditor]

But you know why. Where have you been for the last 10 years? School?

We finally have the go ahead and we're talking about previous years...? Why?

Unfortunately working in accountancy for the last 25 years
But you are right its the future thats important... its just that some wont face up to why we are where we are financially

 

[Giraffe]

Giraffe should be held up as an example of how to make a plausible point without the need for silly name calling.

Thank you, the pathetic name calling on this board is at times like being back at school.

Talking of being back at school, don't forget Steggel is on soon!! Reminds me of my old history teacher.

 

[e77]

I think people nee to stop and reflect on the Falmer campaign. If it was purely a planning decision it is probable it wouldn't have been approved and to win over an initially disagreeable council was a major achievement.

Any subsequent delays have been caused by external factors.

Anyone who asks why we are in debt is obviously completely ignorant of the money needed to run even a third tier club and that all the time we are at Withdean it will always be the case.

While I am sure there are areas of the club that could be run better, short of uncovering a Sussex based I struggle to think what more DK and the board could have done.

 

[Lord Bracknell]

It really amazes me the complete lack of any thought some people have as they type this sort of utter bollocks and press the return key. f***ing rolleyes my arse.

Explain to me how he is supposed to pay the wages and run the club on the gates we get and that the fact that we don't even own our own ground? How is that in any way comparable to Bellotti?

Indeed, its wankers like this who end up getting air time and ask a load of bollocks and spout unrealistic questions.

Yeah, Southy - what do you know about the struggle to save the Albion?

 

[BensGrandad]

possibility--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Quote:
Originally Posted by BensGrandad
Much as I agree with your 2nd comment a list of questions wouldnt work because he would refuse to answer some and would not go on the show if he thought the going would get tough. That is like Bellotti's days when he wouldn't go on the radio unless he had vetted the questions before hand and we do not want to return to that type of interview.

Reply by Insider

What absolute rubbish. To compare Dick Knight to David Bellotti is just rude and unneccesary. When has Dick (or anyone at the club) ever refused to answer questions. You have the option to do this 24 hours a day via Ask The Club on this very forum; plus there are fans' forums and direct email addresses for most people at the football club. If you have a question, any question, please feel free to ring the fans phone in or PM it to me and I will personally ensure Ian Hart asks the question to Dick Knight.

To Insider:

If you care to read my post correctly the only reference to Dick Knight and Bellotti was the possibility that he would vet the questions and only answer the ones that he wanted to and I also emphasised that we did not wish to return to that type of interview, as was the norm during Bellotti's time,. which I do not think DK would. If you or anybody else feel offended by me stating that we didint want preset, vetted interviews, then please accept my apologies
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

[The Clown of Pevensey Bay]

By the way: it's not uncommon to tell a radio interviewee about the sort of questions they might be asked. So that they're prepared and can answer them in the best way they can. No-one at the BBC should ever give an interviewee a list of questions that will be stuck to; and if an interviewee wants to pull out of a programme it's their prerogative. The programme will normally say that "we wanted to give them a chance to answer X and Y, but they didn't want to appear."

 

[cjd]

possibility--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Quote:
Originally Posted by BensGrandad
Much as I agree with your 2nd comment a list of questions wouldnt work because he would refuse to answer some and would not go on the show if he thought the going would get tough. That is like Bellotti's days when he wouldn't go on the radio unless he had vetted the questions before hand and we do not want to return to that type of interview.

Reply by Insider

What absolute rubbish. To compare Dick Knight to David Bellotti is just rude and unneccesary. When has Dick (or anyone at the club) ever refused to answer questions. You have the option to do this 24 hours a day via Ask The Club on this very forum; plus there are fans' forums and direct email addresses for most people at the football club. If you have a question, any question, please feel free to ring the fans phone in or PM it to me and I will personally ensure Ian Hart asks the question to Dick Knight.

To Insider:

If you care to read my post correctly the only reference to Dick Knight and Bellotti was the possibility that he would vet the questions and only answer the ones that he wanted to and I also emphasised that we did not wish to return to that type of interview, as was the norm during Bellotti's time,. which I do not think DK would. If you or anybody else feel offended by me stating that we didint want preset, vetted interviews, then please accept my apologies
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Glad you posted the above Bens Grandad. Your original post seemed a perfectly reasonable one to me, and I couldn,t understand some of the histrionic replies from some posters, particularly Insider.

 

[Gwylan]

Regardless of anything, Brighton is a club still competing below its "natural" level. That is acceptable because of the stadium issues, however sometimes DK and the general running of the club appears to be so secondary to the stadium issue that all things become farcical.

Why do you think this club is competing below its natural level? There was a thread a couple of years ago that showed the historical position of all clubs in the football league and, IIRC, Brighton were about midway in the third division, exactly where we are now. As you admit, our hands have been tied by the stadium issue so to be performing at slightly above our "natural" level is an even more remarkable achievement.

 

[hart's shirt]

Insider is right to give some a little history lesson and some perspective. I think, however, you can cut people a bit of slack for their frustration. I don't think there is a person on this board who, when we first went to Gillingham in 1997, thought that by 2008 (and probably 2010) we still wouldn't have a new ground.

There are two ways of looking at it where Knight is concerned. One is that he's a hero for eventually getting the new ground, despite the 13 years. The other is that that is very, very slow, someone else might have done it quicker, and we've really suffered in that time.

I'm honestly not sure what I think. I'll be as happy as anyone the first game I get to go to at Falmer, but I do know that I'm very battle-weary, and I don't regard it as quite the unqualified success that some seem to, because of the time taken and the damage done in that time.

Ah, the voice of reason and balance. My feelings echo Tooting's.