Dick Knight in today's Argus

[Mellor 3 Ward 4]

Wonder what people's views are on this part of the interview:


Knight added: "We still have the unanswered issue of Charlie Oatway, whose suspension is still in the air. It has been over six weeks. To deal with a true servant of the club in that way is absolutely wrong.


* "It's his testimonial this year and he pledged to give 50 per cent of his takings to Albion In The Community. He has already given us several thousands of pounds, but the big one would have been the Liverpool friendly match.


* "That would probably have attracted a crowd of around 20,000 and AITC would have received something like £60,000 from that, which highlights Charlie’s very generous offer, and that match has now been cancelled.


* "They need to resolve the Charlie issue now and resolve it positively for him."

I think he should have said nothing until the outcome of the investigation is known.

 

[looney]

All Dick TIGHT needs to talk about is the missing FA cup final money.

 

[B.W.]

Disagree - it wouldn't matter how much money someone had, if DK hadn't saved the club and then got planning permission there would be no BHA for TB to invest in.

Agreed.

 

[B.W.]

I think he should have said nothing until the outcome of the investigation is known.

Yes, but maybe covered the lost monies for AITC.

 

[looney]

Not bad, 8 pages and it hasn't turned into a "Barber Out!" thread.

 

[Lord Bracknell]

Who?

Sorry, Al ... I wanted to implicate everyone.

 

[The Large One]

Sorry, Al ... I wanted to implicate everyone.

Oh, OK. 'Everyone' paid for the portrait currently hanging in Dick's Bar.

 

[Lord Bracknell]

The only options I could see that we're available LB were the banks or the back of Knights sofas. With the financial banking crisis at its peak I think the sofa option would have left us somewhat short. What other options were there without Blooms involvement ?

A more modest stadium, for a start. And a much more expensive finance package. Tony Bloom wanted better than this, which is why he stepped in. And we can all be glad he did. The downside (in terms of the Albion's sensitivities over the previous 15 or so years) was the control of the Club ending up in the hands of just the Bloom family. I'm not arguing that this has necessarily created a problem in practice, but it's a reason for taking seriously Man of Harvey's point about the constant need for a critical eye.

 

[Beach Hut]

A more modest stadium, for a start. And a much more expensive finance package. Tony Bloom wanted better than this, which is why he stepped in. And we can all be glad he did. The downside (in terms of the Albion's sensitivities over the previous 15 or so years) was the control of the Club ending up in the hands of just the Bloom family. I'm not arguing that this has necessarily created a problem in practice, but it's a reason for taking seriously Man of Harvey's point about the constant need for a critical eye.

I am AMAZED, what exactly do you think the Blooms will do to shaft the club when investing £125M or or so ?

 

[Lord Bracknell]

I am AMAZED, what exactly do you think the Blooms will do to shaft the club when investing £125M or or so ?

How ON EARTH do you draw that conclusion from what I have posted?

 

[Beach Hut]

How ON EARTH do you draw that conclusion from what I have posted?

By the fact you agree a critical eye needs to be kept on the club, for what reason ?

Apart from the old guard being eased out

 

[Lord Bracknell]

By the fact you agree a critical eye needs to be kept on the club, for what reason ?

Apart from the old guard being eased out

I'll simply requote Man of Harvey's post.

Maybe it's just me but...at a time when the club is clearly behaving in a much more autocratic and dictatorial way, seeking to control aspects seen previously way beyond its remit (like the ticket exchange on here, for example), as well as playing fairly fast and loose with employment procedures at the risk of surrendering good-will, threatening these silly writs etc etc etc, and all for the sake of squeezing the last financial pip dry, under the catch-all excuse of this under-explained FFP....then it's absolutely VITAL that someone, anyone exists to cast a critical eye over them and provide something of a reality check. Doing so does not mean they're just embittered.

Despite what the club's more desperate sycophants on here might argue, they're not perfect or flawless, nor IMHO does having coughed up all that dosh for the ground make every subsequent action beyond question or scrutiny. Good on Uncle Dick for speaking up. I hope he continues to. It's important.

 

[Beach Hut]

I'll simply requote Man of Harvey's post.

Which means you cannot let it go.

It is over the good old days of the Theatre Of trees, Uncle Dick and the little titbits of info to be leaked to the masses.

I like you a lot but just move on.

 

[HovaGirl]

Why would he upset the apple cart now, we are just getting sorted!

I think the apple cart has lost a couple of wheels.

 

[Chicken Runner61]

Life is always about timing - knowing when to get into something and knowing when to quit.

I like Dick Knight, sound bloke but Tony Bloom knew exactly when to step in and I expect him to to know exactly when to get out, I'm not sure that DK has the same timing skills.

 

[Lord Bracknell]

Which means you cannot let it go.

It is over the good old days of the Theatre Of trees, Uncle Dick and the little titbits of info to be leaked to the masses.

I like you a lot but just move on.

Eh? If you're talking about me (and I don't see the relevance), I have more frequent working contact with the Club under the current set up than ever I had when DK was Chairman.

 

[Buzzer]

But it doesn't mean that other finance options weren't available and being actively explored. It is a huge oversimplification to say that "raising the funds without Bloom wasn't going to happen". We might not have had cushioned seats, of course.

We'd still be at Withdean without Tony Bloom's money. It really is as simple as that.

I seem to recall that you were claiming that TB making up any shortfall that DK couldn't raise was always Plan B. Are you now saying that there were alternative funding options still available but that DK let TB fund the entire project, remove him as Chairman and take over full control of the club as his preferred option rather than seek these other finance options you claim were there?

 

[Buzzer]

Maybe it's just me but...at a time when the club is clearly behaving in a much more autocratic and dictatorial way,

Dictatorial? Under DK, he effectively was THE voice and face of the club. A benign dictatorship maybe but a dictatorship nonetheless.

seeking to control aspects seen previously way beyond its remit (like the ticket exchange on here, for example)

Seen by us as way beyond their remit because they chose to ignore it previously but actually well within their remit (unfortunately).

as well as playing fairly fast and loose with employment procedures

You know this for a fact, do you?

and all for the sake of squeezing the last financial pip dry, under the catch-all excuse of this under-explained FFP....

So all the Gus, Tanno, Charlie suspensions are about squeezing money out of people and the club are using FFP as an excuse? Really?

then it's absolutely VITAL that someone, anyone exists to cast a critical eye over them and provide something of a reality check.

I think there's a few reality checks needed all round.

Doing so does not mean they're just embittered.

But it helps.

Good on Uncle Dick for speaking up. I hope he continues to. It's important.

But a DK interview laying into the current Brighton board is an irrelevance outside of NSC and the Dick's Bar cognosecenti. How many of the 30,000 fans who will turn up next season will give DK's words a second thought?

 

[Seagull73]

Eh? If you're talking about me (and I don't see the relevance), I have more frequent working contact with the Club under the current set up than ever I had when DK was Chairman.

I wouldn't worry LB. It's his jealousy if your involvement per sae he can't let go of.

 

[Surf's Up]

I think he should have said nothing until the outcome of the investigation is known.

Totally this. It's difficult to criticise Knight because of all he's done for the Albion but its not impossible when he starts to stir it up like he has done in this interview. OK he's feeling resentful about the way he's been marginalised over the last three years but he more than anyone should know that the club is bigger and more important than any one individual. Greater corporatism is the way football is going, like it or not, and we have to find our own new identity in the changing landscape. Knight should've kept his thoughts to himself.