Clarification from Paul Barber on Dick Knight Selling his shares

[Beach Hut]

Dick has always been full of self promotion, he even had desperate middle aged ladies trying to flog his book at Brighton station last Saturday, hardly selling like hot cakes.

Not sure the Brand Dick Knight, is as big as his ego.

About where I am with this as well. Those same middle aged ladies were on the railway bridge at Falmer last Saturday handing out flyers.

Go quietly would be better.

 

[bhadebenhams]

Dick TIGHT (HISS!) should of give all the money to Dean WILKINS (He may not be Father Christmas but he come come down my chimney whenever he wants, may have to clear some soot out of it first though) for the TRUAMA of sacking him when he took us to the highest finishing position of 2007/8 of ANY manger who manged us that season, and you CAN,T get bettered than that.

 

[Bevendean Hillbilly]

Dick can do and say whatever he likes as far as I'm concerned. No Dick=No Brighton and Hove Albion. Message ends.

 

[Thunder Bolt]

About where I am with this as well. Those same middle aged ladies were on the railway bridge at Falmer last Saturday handing out flyers.

Go quietly would be better.

If it's who I think it is, then one of them would be very flattered to be called middle aged.

 

[AZ Gull]

IF the club says 'no' then the only reason they will have to do so is to stop shares being owned by the common and garden fan - if this is the outcome then I will be very disappointed in the other shareholders and ultimately TB, the major share holder.

I take it then, Creaky, that you are very, very, VERY disappointed that Dick Knight, during his 12 year reign (yes, that's TWELVE years) running the club, failed to make shares available to the "common and garden fan"? And I assume that you must be questioning the motive of Mr Knight, in that by offering HIS shareholding now, he would stand to profit personally (rather than the club) by selling something that probably has very little (if any) value in a normal investment sense?

 

[Napper]

I suspect Dick knows that if he informed the other shareholders of his intent to sell the shares, they would have wanted to buy them. By not giving prior notice, Dick is forcing the club to either allow fans to be shareholders or score a massive PR own goal (by refusing to allow fans to be shareholders).

Seems this .

Not a bad move as clearly he is concerned about how the club is alienating itself rightly or wrongly from those that saved it .

Shit storm but clever move

 

[Stat Brother]

Dick has always been full of self promotion, he even had desperate middle aged ladies trying to flog his book at Brighton station last Saturday, hardly selling like hot cakes.

Not sure the Brand Dick Knight, is as big as his ego.

About where I am with this as well. Those same middle aged ladies were on the railway bridge at Falmer last Saturday handing out flyers.

Go quietly would be better.

The problem for Dick, is he did all the ground work.
His ego must have been inflated to epic proportions (rightly so).
He was (is) the white knight that rode into battle.
But, even after slaying the dragon, he could never be crowned king.

A young 'upstart', then (bank) rolling into town, pops the cherry on the cake, and strolls around with all the glory.

It doesn't seem fair, but money talks.

 

[Creaky]

I take it then, Creaky, that you are very, very, VERY disappointed that Dick Knight, during his 12 year reign (yes, that's TWELVE years) running the club, failed to make shares available to the "common and garden fan"? And I assume that you must be questioning the motive of Mr Knight, in that by offering HIS shareholding now, he would stand to profit personally (rather than the club) by selling something that probably has very little (if any) value in a normal investment sense?

Why wold I be disappointed that DK didn't make shares available to the ordinary fan?

I said I would be disappointed in TB if he STOPPED shares being made available - NOT the same thing. I have not, nor would I, criticise TB for not offering any of his share for sale.

As for your second point I fail to see how DK is profiting by selling shares for the same price or less than he paid for them

And finally when you say the club doesn't benefit from the sale the question has to be, "why should it?". The club "benefited" when DK bought the shares.

 

[timco]

I raised the idea of the club doing a share issue a few times in the DK days but it was always considered too expensive to run and maintain.

If Dick suddenly feels that the fans should own the shares why not put the price of the book up £5 and give 10 shares with each purchase of the book.

Personally I think that the shares, all of them, should go into a fans trust along with some from TB (maybe to the total of 5%) which gives the fans some sort of feeling of ownership if no actual power.

Personally I would love some shares as a gift (birthday present etc) just to have in my portfolio Brighton and Hove Albion shares, not a good investment and I would rather they were new issue shares that give the club some money but....

I would also see it possible the club would consolidate the shares at some point maybe a 1/1000 share consolidation to make this one share offer pointless as it kills your share holding.

 

[portslade seagull]

All down to sour grapes i'm afraid

 

[Creaky]

Dick has always been full of self promotion, he even had desperate middle aged ladies trying to flog his book at Brighton station last Saturday, hardly selling like hot cakes.

Not sure the Brand Dick Knight, is as big as his ego.

Ay?

There were lots of people selling programmes on Saturday - does that make the club or the people selling them desperate?

 

[HawkTheSeagull]

Ay?

There were lots of people selling programmes on Saturday - does that make the club or the people selling them desperate?

The people selling programmes werent shoving it in your face like these women, thats for sure.

 

[*Gullsworth*]

The people selling programmes werent shoving it in your face like these women, thats for sure.

I can't see all the negativity against DK on here, for gods sake he is selling a book and if anyone else wanted to sell a book they would use the same methods he is. Dick Knight does not deserve all the flak he cops on here. He stirs nearly as much hatred from certain posters you would think he was instrumental in the downfall of our club as much as Archer and Bellotti.
Some posters really need to grow up!

 

[Not Andy Naylor]

About where I am with this as well. Those same middle aged ladies were on the railway bridge at Falmer last Saturday handing out flyers.

Go quietly would be better.

I'm reliably informed those ladies were working for City Books.

 

[Barrel of Fun]

Seems this .

Not a bad move as clearly he is concerned about how the club is alienating itself rightly or wrongly from those that saved it .

Shit storm but clever move

That's my take on it. He clearly does care for the club (and has an axe to grind) and is sending that message out. A community club, owned by the fans, was never going to happen - particularly a club with no assets to their name.

He's being a grumpy old man.

Where are we going from our move to the new ground? What sort of club have we become or will we become? Despite what his subtitle of his book says, the fans saved the club as much as his bank balance (and time) did.

 

[BensGrandad]

I think that I may apply for some of the shares but wonder of DK would sell them to me

 

[Ernest]

I think that I may apply for some of the shares but wonder of DK would sell them to me

He will get his HEAVIES to throw you OUT like he did BEFORE

 

[Deleted User X18H]

as far as i'm concerned there are a small number of posters on this thread who have a shocking lack of respect and perspective. Any true bhafc fan knows dk is a legend and there is nothing he can possibly do to tarnish his reputation. The man is a hero. It is one thing putting up £125m when you have billions in the bank, but it is quite another putting your entire life and a far greater proportion of your wealth into a football club when nobody else wants to know. I am stunned to read so many people whining about dk going to lengths to promote his book. Have you not realised how releasing a book works? It is generally a good idea to let people know it is available. It is also a good idea to reveal one or two snippets of information that whet the appetite of your potential audience and grab some headlines. Just look at sir alex only a few weeks ago, or sven the other day. Dk is not as well known as them, so using every marketing trick in the book is a shrewd move. He has played a blinder today and his book will do well. His is a fascinating story and it will be a hit not only in sussex. I read simon jordan's autobiography on holiday in the summer and it was brilliant (despite my obvious loathing of his club), and i consider dk's story to be comparable in terms of appeal and readership but actually more interesting and amusing than his.

One other thing, to all those who make sarcastic comments about dk milking the money out of this book, may i just ask why on earth that is a problem? I'm sure he does want to sell lots of copies and make plenty of money, that is generally the point of writing a book. But more importantly than that, after he paid out several million pounds to keep bhafc going over the years, i think a good return on his book is the least he deserves. Even if the book was rubbish (which i am convinced it won't be), i'd more than happily hand over £15 to buy it anyway as a token of my appreciation. It's a pretty small price to pay to recognise the achievements of a man without whom thousands of us wouldn't be going to football every saturday afternoon.

this

 

[BensGrandad]

He will get his HEAVIES to throw you OUT like he did BEFORE

Would he still have the same people acting for him or have they moved on since the rise of TB.