Phone in Saturday - Dick Knight

[The Great Cornholio]

Anyone who posts on the subject of Knight either thinks he's a God or thinks he's full of empty promises. Surely the truth lies somewhere in between?

Knight has done so much good for this club but he has also made mistakes, and while I still think he is the man for the job and I'll back him 100% I am privately worried that he will not deliver.

It was clear he should have appointed Coppell instead of Hinshelwood, he should also have given the job to Dowie instead of McGhee, 5 years on and no extra 2,000 seats at Withdean, Falmer is 50/50 at best and, by his own admission, there is no Plan B.

I get the impression the club are under-staffed and struggling with all off-field issues, like the technicalities of the planning application, the season tickets, the redesign of the kit, website etc.

If the club are to move forward he needs help.

Fair points but there still remains the question - help from who?

As for Hinshelwood - maybe he was concerned at the adverse reaction Coppell would get being Ex Palace. Dowie was always a non starter due to Knight's ethics - you can't really knock a man for that.

I think the Ticket Office have improved immeasurably so that point is a bit unfair. I can't defend the kit situation - I still haven't got one. The Falmer situation is caused by geography - like it or not it is the best site available South of the bypass and in the Brighton & Hove conurbation. It is not Knight's fault there are no brownfield sites.

 

[Pavilionaire]

As I understand it, Dowie was on the shortlist and was also the fans' favourite to take over. It didn't happen and the rest is history.

As far as the 2,000 extra seats is concerned, I know there are obstacles, but he's had 5 years to sort it, unlike the Falmer Application which has taken a lot of time and money to put together.

Those 2,000 seats are critical, and that income could be the difference between staying up and being relegated. We're talking about £1 million here, after all.

 

[Marc]

As I understand it, Dowie was on the shortlist and was also the fans' favourite to take over. It didn't happen and the rest is history.

whys that DKs fault though? So what if he was fave, did he actually categorically (sp?) state that he wanted to join BHA? I never read that and if he did then fair enough...but maybe DK saw something better in McGhee..he did get us promoted afterall!

 

[Pavilionaire]

Cornholio, I believe that the chairman must appoint the best man for the job and if that man was a Palace legend then so be it.

And as for ethics stopping Knight appointing Dowie, yes - all very noble - but he knows better than any other chairman it's a dog eat dog world and managers like Dowie don't come along too often, so the club could have lost out on a quality manager because of Knight's pre-ITV Digital code of chivalry.

And as for the 2,000 seats and Falmer I think both are deliverable if the case is presented well and the club has the knowledge and influence to drive the schemes through. The former is not happening while the latter is in the balance, at best.

I would have expected more at this stage of the proceedings, that's all.

 

[BensGrandad]

Why all this crap about Dowie? What is to say MarkMcGhee will given the money to spend do better than Dowie, I think that he will. Palace only got to the finals by a poor referreeing decision, Shipperleys foul on the goalkeeper to score the equaliser. Sop why is Dowie suddenly a god?

Furthermore why shouldnt people highlight DK mistakes of which he has made many, he is not totally beyond critisiscm just because the men he employed to do a job did it well.

IMO he has donme well but should accept responsibility for gaining further investment from whatever source to push the club on the next step. If he can't find that then he is failing in his job and should question his fuiture.

 

[Virgo's Haircut]

Can you get SCR in Thailand old bean ?

Yes you can SCR

 

[Tom Bombadil]

Sop why is Dowie suddenly a god?

Well it could have something to do with him turning a relegation bound team into play-off winners in six months. Not bad by any standards.

Still it's debatable whether Dowie would have come here. An ambitious man like that was probably waiting for a bigger job (or Palace)

 

[BensGrandad]

Well it could have something to do with him turning a relegation bound team into play-off winners in six months. Not bad by any standards.

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Is there a guarantee that he would have done the same here? Is it not possible that the players were already at Palace and just needed fine tuning.

 

[Tom Bombadil]

Is there a guarantee that he would have done the same here? Is it not possible that the players were already at Palace and just needed fine tuning.

That's some pretty fine, fine tuning.

 

[The Great Cornholio]

Cornholio, I believe that the chairman must appoint the best man for the job and if that man was a Palace legend then so be it.

And as for ethics stopping Knight appointing Dowie, yes - all very noble - but he knows better than any other chairman it's a dog eat dog world and managers like Dowie don't come along too often, so the club could have lost out on a quality manager because of Knight's pre-ITV Digital code of chivalry.

And as for the 2,000 seats and Falmer I think both are deliverable if the case is presented well and the club has the knowledge and influence to drive the schemes through. The former is not happening while the latter is in the balance, at best.

I would have expected more at this stage of the proceedings, that's all.

Even if the best man turned 50% of the supporters against him and the board? My point was that no-one knows why he did what he did. But it is easy to criticise with the benefit of hindsight.

Ask a Wrexham fan if they would swap Knight for their chairman. He may not be the shrewdest but he is one of the few remaining chairman who is and always has been a passionate supporter of the team he runs. That counts for a lot in my book. As long as he doesn't run us into the ground, he will always have my backing.

 

[Kinky Gerbil]

why does everyone think mcghee is not the right man? he got us up with a average div 2 side with decent tactics

 

[The Great Cornholio]

Dowie was among four people interviewed for the job that McGhee got.

McGhee will be here for a long time unless he gets fed up with fans who have unrealistic expectations. He is trying to build a team but it won't happen overnight.

Well said. Even if we do go down, we will be stronger for it with players like Harding, Virgo, Molango, Jarrett et al all more experienced players. The youth team players Hinsh played were not up to the job - the current batch are much better prospects and can only get stronger from playing Leeds, West Hame and Sunderland.

What it all comes down to for me is this. If, before the Swindon game, you offered me the choice of going up and straight back down or staying in Div 2 for both seasons, I would go for the first option every time. We are boxing well above our weight. We have one of the best manager's for the job and a board that won't bankrupt the club by throwing money at overpaid has beens. That may well not be enough but we will give it our best shot.

 

[Pavilionaire]

If you want to fill Falmer you've got to put out a competitive team now. There will always be 7 or 8,000 who will turn up come what may, but you can't write off a season to groom young players who may not end up being good enough anyway. Casual fans don't want to watch rubbish.

Coppell realised this, so brought in experience. Messrs Wilkinson, Marney, Melton and Webb are on the football scrapheap, I hope the same will not be said of Harding, Hinshelwood, Virgo and Jarrett.

 

[Uncle Spielberg]

Bring it on !.

 

[Zebedee]

As far as the 2,000 extra seats is concerned, I know there are obstacles, but he's had 5 years to sort it, unlike the Falmer Application which has taken a lot of time and money to put together.

Those 2,000 seats are critical, and that income could be the difference between staying up and being relegated. We're talking about £1 million here, after all.

Agreed, but only if we can fill them. Playing as we are at the moment will hardly get the fair weather supporters through the turnstiles.

 

[b.w.2.]

I am a DK supporter... as has been said, he has presided over great success against all the odds... yes, he's made big mistakes... Tinselhead being the worst of them all...

My biggest conc3ern with his Chairmanship is that everything at the club takes too long... especially the 2k extra seats, and the required investments in the playing staff...

That said, you have to admire the 2 Championships and the promotion via winning the play-off's...

 

[Kryten]

Dick knight declined scr's invitation

 

[Beach Hut]

LB been on but Harty seemed in a hurry to get him off

 

[Beach Hut]

BTW was that Bens Grandad moaning about the 2000 extra seats ?

 

[Harty]

Didn't hurry to get LB off, just had another caller waiting and Hawesy was chomping at the bit to get his 'other sport' round up on.
As for Dick Knight as I said at 5.00 I was personally very disappointed he chose not to come on but I won't lose any sleep over it. For the benefit of my numerous detractors on NSC just to put the record straight I have no hidden agenda when it comes to DK, as a bloke I actually like him however I feel there are a number of questions and points that the supporters needed answers over. Today would have been a good opportunity to do so but sadly he declined the SCR's invitation, although hopefully that's not to say he won't come on next time we invite him.