Club statements today an insult to fans' intelligence

[Beach Hut]

I think supporters were lied to and misled so many times in the not so distant past that supporters have rightly become suspicious and statements containing bland, meaningless platitudes like those issued today do not go down well. We cannot expect blow-by-blow accounts of what went on but I feel we should be given some reasons for today's events, particularly since it appears that Oscar's departure had been on the cards for some time. How about a bit of honesty, Mr Barber? Or are you Bellotti in disguise?

What honesty do you expect as a customer, if you use a service which is how we are now seen as then they can test your patience to the point where you withdraw from that service or tough titties.

 

[Barrel of Fun]

He wanted more money spent on the squad, he didn't get what he thought was a fair amount, he quit.

So why not tell us that?

 

[Brovion]

I'm outraged that the club isn't airing its dirty washing in public.

I dunno, I think it needs to be out in the open. That's two seasons running we've reached the play-offs, played poorly and then found out that the manager told the club weeks beforehand that he wanted to leave. Obviously some stuff will be confidential, but if the broad reason(s) are out in the open then at least the new man knows what he's getting into and we won't got through this a third time. I broadly agree with Tooting: all we're being given is the anodyne crap that divorcing parents tell their young children.

 

[Beach Hut]

Yup.

But that is where there appears a massive difference of opinion.

 

[Beach Hut]

So why not tell us that?

It is not really the best statement to make, perhaps we blew it big time on a certain forward.

 

[TWOCHOICEStom]

I find it staggering that you think a professional football club would give anything other than the sort of statement they gave. I mean, what were you expecting - "Oscar has simply had enough of working with David Burke, isn't happy with the budget he's been given, had a first taste of next year's pies and spat it out and hated our new strip therefore we are glad to see the back of him and look forward to welcoming a new manager to work under the same conditions soon."
It's unrealistic, unprofessional and undignified. If they can't, for obvious reasons, tell the truth then a dignified "silence" is far better.

Totally agree.

 

[Behind Enemy Lines]

Agree with Tooting, it's very arrogant.

But the bottom line is that by now we know both Poyet and OG left because of the budget. They perceived it wasn't enough for Brighton and Hove "premiership ready" Albion, to continue to compete at the top end of the Championship. OG knows with the club's losses and adherence to FFP, it's going to take a miracle to go up. He was a very unlucky Albion manager, can now walk away, head held high, with most people in the game thinking he did a good job in the circumstances of chronic injuries with little money to spend on new players and players who really the club ought to have signed but somehow didn't. He's now in a good position for a good job somewhere in Spain or maybe even the Premiership, who knows.

 

[spring hall convert]

Everyone's so desperate to have a scapegoat, it's pathetic. Try becoming comfortable with a bit of ambiguity, it'll do you a lot of good in the long run.

 

[Man of Harveys]

I'm sure TB will provide us with a reassuring communication in the fullness of time, just like he did last year.

Did he? What reason did he give for sacking Poyet?

I think the point here is that genuinely reassuring communication might need a bit more substance to it than "just keep calm (and keep paying)".

 

[Ernest]

Easy, Oscar doesn't think he can achieve what Bloom wants with the budget on offer

 

[Guinness Boy]

Some fans, a vociferous minority who appear to live their lives like an episode of Eastenders.

I was more meaning that a sweeping political / corporate approach was what undid Bellotti. People trusted him to start with but as soon as the walk didn't match the talk he was found out.

That's not the situation here, not at all. The club is in a comparatively healthy state. However, fans who spent years being lied to, cheated on and generally treated like idiots are not likely to be the most trusting of fellers.

 

[El Presidente]

So why not tell us that?

I quit my dream job a year ago, there were some unpleasant issues behind it, mouthing off about them in public wasn't in anyone's interests, so I said nothing. I'm sure many others have been in similar situations and have done the same.

Oscar's unhappiness with some things behind the scenes at the Albion have been known for a while, but Naylor talking about them in the Argus or people breaking the story on a message board serves no benefit to our playoff chances, so it didn't happen.

 

[Beach Hut]

The test of this continuous merry-go round of managers might come when 1901 renewals come up......

 

[Rich Suvner]

With the vitriol being spouted on this board this evening It makes you wonder if some people have ever heard the name Archer or Bellotti around these parts. Though I guess there were only 3 or 4 thousand of us back in those days whereas there are an additional 20 thousand now. Build a bonfire, Bloom out.

need to pull you up on that - there were many more than 3-4000 back then.
anyway....

has anyone actually considered that the 'resignation' was merely an agreement between all parties that there was a parting of company without anyone being unnecessarily sacked, with all the negative connotations for each (ie Albion sack another playoff s/f manager, Garcia sacked on his CV). it certainly seems possible to me that Bloom may have not enjoyed the emerging Garcia style - as many other fans didn't - and wanted a change of direction.

under such circumstances you could expect both parties to leave with carefully constructed statements that sing broadly from the same hymn sheet, as these do, and allow for both parties to save face. the club gets what it wants - a new direction - and Garcia walks away as the principled manager who decided things weren't quite what we wanted moving forward. I imagine he would also get a generous pay off at club discretion.

 

[BensGrandad]

Easy, Oscar doesn't think he can achieve what Bloom wants with the budget on offer

That seems it in a nutshell.

 

[Tooting Gull]

need to pull you up on that - there were many more than 3-4000 back then.
anyway....

has anyone actually considered that the 'resignation' was merely an agreement between all parties that there was a parting of company without anyone being unnecessarily sacked, with all the negative connotations for each (ie Albion sack another playoff s/f manager, Garcia sacked on his CV)

under such circumstances you would expect both parties to leave with carefully constructed statements that sing broadly from the same hymn sheet, as these do, and allow for both parties to save face. the club gets what it wants - a new direction - and Garcia walks away as the principled manager who decided things weren't quite what we wanted moving forward.

I suspect you're probably right in your guess of what actually did happen. What I would have liked is in that meeting someone from the club piped up and said something like: "Look, this is two years in a row, we want to keep these fans with us, how can we in all conscience look at them and give them another load of corporate nonsense that doesn't say anything at all. They actually care what happens here, and we are continually asking them to spend more money to follow this club. They deserve a straight answer."

 

[Beach Hut]

I suspect you're probably right in your guess of what actually did happen. What I would have liked is in that meeting someone from the club piped up and said something like: "Look, this is two years in a row, we want to keep these fans with us, how can we in all conscience look at them and give them another load of corporate nonsense that doesn't say anything at all. They actually care what happens here, and we are continually asking them to spend more money to follow this club. They deserve a straight answer."

Corporate organisations with a brand do not do that, the reality is this is what we have become.

 

[Man of Harveys]

I dunno, I think it needs to be out in the open. That's two seasons running we've reached the play-offs, played poorly and then found out that the manager told the club weeks beforehand that he wanted to leave. Obviously some stuff will be confidential, but if the broad reason(s) are out in the open then at least the new man knows what he's getting into and we won't got through this a third time. I broadly agree with Tooting: all we're being given is the anodyne crap that divorcing parents tell their young children.

The right thing to do clearly is to release an anodyne official statement, then to leak all the "he wasn't up to it/he didn't have a clue/he hated Paul Barber's long, boring emails asking for more theme night suggestions"-type dirt off the record immediately afterwards. That way everyone's happy.

 

[Superphil]

need to pull you up on that - there were many more than 3-4000 back then.
anyway....

has anyone actually considered that the 'resignation' was merely an agreement between all parties that there was a parting of company without anyone being unnecessarily sacked, with all the negative connotations for each (ie Albion sack another playoff s/f manager, Garcia sacked on his CV). it certainly seems possible to me that Bloom may have not enjoyed the emerging Garcia style - as many other fans didn't - and wanted a change of direction.

under such circumstances you could expect both parties to leave with carefully constructed statements that sing broadly from the same hymn sheet, as these do, and allow for both parties to save face. the club gets what it wants - a new direction - and Garcia walks away as the principled manager who decided things weren't quite what we wanted moving forward. I imagine he would also get a generous pay off at club discretion.

Agree with most of that, and you've put it really well. However, in 95/96/97 there were still a number of those in the crowd that blindly followed the board, they didn't boycott when the rest of us did, they didn't walk out when we walked out, so there really were only 3-4k of us who were carrying out the direct action that eventually saw those scum out and DK in.

 

[BadFish]

There is a middle ground you know.

Shades of grey on NSC?, come on now.