Dick Knight

[Hillian1]

Including some people employed by the club who have spent the last few weeks seemingly trying to prove that the amex is twinned with Disneyland.

Please expand.

I have no idea whats going on but am very interested.

 

[ROSM]

I have no idea what goes on behind the scenes but Bloom pays the piper so I have no problem with him calling the tune. The alternative to him doesn't bear ( or is it bare?) thinking about and this apparent power struggle would pale into insignificance without the good things that Bloom has brought to this club.

So there are a few negatives it seems, but looking at what we've got now I find it hard to criticise the man personally. Just as I went with the flow on all things DK when he was running the show, I'll do the same for Bloom. People who were integral will be moved on if the new man wishes it, that's the way it is in just about all walks of life.

I agree with this

I just think its a real pity that something so integral with the culture of the club and fundamental to the fact we now have a new stadium will lose a part of that identity. I suspect the next move will be to take it out of charitable status and to look at it as an income stream.

 

[ROSM]

Please expand.

I have no idea whats going on but am very interested.

I'm referring to the pr fiasco over the disciplinaries. If anybody doubts this, they should read the summary provided in yesterdays Argus by Midnight. communications who are leading pr people (and no, I don't have a connection with them).

 

[maltaseagull]

When will Dicks bar become Chez Tonys ?

Paul's place or the Barbershop?

 

[Blue Valkyrie]

Thought it was going to be Ernestos

 

[maltaseagull]

Usual suspects mindlessly defending the boards actions again, despite the possibility that it may effect the long-term interests of the fans.

affect!!!!!

 

[The Birdman]

Dick should have cult status amongst Albion fans however sentiment is a dangerous thing in Business the AITC is a very important part of the club and needs to be run by proffisionals. Thank you Dick Knight for saving our club and thank you Tony Bloom for taking our Albion Forward.

 

[Green Cross Code Man]

affect!!!!!

Thanks. That's very nearly as bad as 'definately'.

 

[hans kraay fan club]

Thanks. That's very nearly as bad as 'definately'.

I defiantly agree with that.

 

[Kalimantan Gull]

Dick should have cult status amongst Albion fans however sentiment is a dangerous thing in Business the AITC is a very important part of the club and needs to be run by proffisionals. Thank you Dick Knight for saving our club and thank you Tony Bloom for taking our Albion Forward.

Fortunate to have someone of the calibre of Dick Knight at the AITC. This isn't about 'proffisionalism', this is about power-struggles inside the club - or tying up loose ends from the 2009 revolution

 

[Icy Gull]

Fortunate to have someone of the calibre of Dick Knight at the AITC. This isn't about 'proffisionalism', this is about power-struggles inside the club - or tying up loose ends from the 2009 revolution

Sounds to me, from your recent posts, that you'd rather not have had the revolution? I don't think you're alone either. Me? Viva Bloom

 

[ROSM]

Sounds to me, from your recent posts, that you'd rather not have had the revolution? I don't think you're alone either. Me? Viva Bloom

I should hope he is alone. Despite all the wing play wizardry from knight that ran from defence and crossed the ball into the box, it would have been for nothing if we didn't have bloom to put the ball away.

 

[hans kraay fan club]

Fortunate to have someone of the calibre of Dick Knight at the AITC. This isn't about 'proffisionalism', this is about power-struggles inside the club - or tying up loose ends from the 2009 revolution

Firstly, I have no idea whatsoever, whether Dick Knight is brilliant in his role at the AITC or utterly dreadful. I suspect you don't either. What we all do know, is that Dick Knight fully deserves his legendary status for what he did for the club, at its lowest ebb, and should always be treated with the utmost respect.

I cannot accept the concept of a 'power struggle' between Knight and Bloom, though. Bloom is already all-powerful. He doesn't need to flex his muscles.

 

[Kalimantan Gull]

Sounds to me like you'd rather not have had the revolution? I don't think you're alone either. Me? Viva Bloom

Yeah, I'll admit it, I have never been totally on board. I'm not ungrateful, not anti-TB, ambivalent more like, but I didn't like the way that a mere ten years after Archer we were back in majority ownership again, despite everything the board had committed to since those fateful days, and I didn't like that our club's saviours and those responsible for winning the Falmer battle had been replaced by a bloke with money that we knew very little about - other than he saw BHAFC as part of the Bloom-family.

However I had largely been won round to him by the end of the season, he made an excellent management appointment, backed him to the hilt (ha!), was patient and hands-off in regard to the footballing side, his investments in the club are substantial and apparently have been made in a way that, whilst he can recoup his investment it won't hurt us if he leaves, he is serious about not running up massive debts, and the fans concerns for a long time remained at the forefront of the planning - it wasn't just about profit but quality too, and the vision of a community club that respects its history was continuing. On paper he made a good CEO appointment too. All of this is different to your average mega-bucks football owner. Clearly in recent weeks there are some question-marks arising on a few issues, however, so yeah, sure in my hypothetical world I'd be happier if DK was still chairman.

 

[Uncle Spielberg]

I find it incredibly sad that people who were so integral to BHAFC over the last 15 years, Dick and others who know who they are are now being swept away with the new broom and all the things that made BHAFC so unique seem to have been disregarded. The way things seem to be going at the moment, I think the phrase below sums it up

" knowing the price of everything and the value of nothing "

I am not happy with the direction this club is going and don't want us to become a soulless Chelsea or the like. Maybe I am old school but results are not the be all and end all. However as Bloom has put in the Wonga he makes the decisions with his new CEO. The club is now a business, a money making exercise, with profit, the be all and end all. This seems to be the way of Football now , not just BHAFC and that is why I am falling out of love with both.

 

[Kalimantan Gull]

Firstly, I have no idea whatsoever, whether Dick Knight is brilliant in his role at the AITC or utterly dreadful. I suspect you don't either. What we all do know, is that Dick Knight fully deserves his legendary status for what he did for the club, at its lowest ebb, and should always be treated with the utmost respect.

I cannot accept the concept of a 'power struggle' between Knight and Bloom, though. Bloom is already all-powerful. He doesn't need to flex his muscles.

True, I don't. He is a successful businessman though, who was brilliant running the Albion through our toughest days, which is why I imagine he is an asset to AITC.

Bloom is certainly all-powerful. But it does, on the face of it, look like he's being driven out of any meaningful role at the club. What were the OP's original words? Asked, Forced, Pressured?

 

[Westdene Seagull]

Yeah, I'll admit it, I have never been totally on board. I'm not ungrateful, not anti-TB, ambivalent more like, but I didn't like the way that a mere ten years after Archer we were back in majority ownership again, despite everything the board had committed to since those fateful days, and I didn't like that our club's saviours and those responsible for winning the Falmer battle had been replaced by a bloke with money that we knew very little about - other than he saw BHAFC as part of the Bloom-family.

However I had largely been won round to him by the end of the season, he made an excellent management appointment, backed him to the hilt (ha!), was patient and hands-off in regard to the footballing side, his investments in the club are substantial and apparently have been made in a way that, whilst he can recoup his investment it won't hurt us if he leaves, he is serious about not running up massive debts, and the fans concerns for a long time remained at the forefront of the planning - it wasn't just about profit but quality too, and the vision of a community club that respects its history was continuing. On paper he made a good CEO appointment too. All of this is different to your average mega-bucks football owner. Clearly in recent weeks there are some question-marks arising on a few issues, however, so yeah, sure in my hypothetical world I'd be happier if DK was still chairman.

I find it incredibly sad that people who were so integral to BHAFC over the last 15 years, Dick and others who know who they are are now being swept away with the new broom and all the things that made BHAFC so unique seem to have been disregarded. The way things seem to be going at the moment, I think the phrase below sums it up

" knowing the price of everything and the value of nothing "

I am not happy with the direction this club is going and don't want us to become a soulless Chelsea or the like. Maybe I am old school but results are not the be all and end all. However as Bloom has put in the Wonga he makes the decisions with his new CEO. The club is now a business, a money making exercise, with profit, the be all and end all. This seems to be the way of Football now , not just BHAFC and that is why I am falling out of love with both.

Excluding US' last sentence both these posts sum up my current feelings too.

 

[ROSM]

Bloom is certainly all-powerful. But it does, on the face of it, look like he's being driven out of any meaningful role at the club. What were the OP's original words? Asked, Forced, Pressured?

In terms of asked, I believe it was suggested a year or two ago that he should stand aside. The other trustees didn't want him to.

There was a rumour recently that a vote was forced and when it came to that vote again the majority of the trustees wanted him to stay.

What has happened subsequently in terms of pressured, well in business there are many ways to pressure someone into leaving. Refusing credit, use of facilities, removing support etc. I don't know what has happened in this circumstance or whether he has just had enough and walked

 

[dougdeep]

I guess they just want younger people running it. It sounds like a good idea to me.

 

[hans kraay fan club]

True, I don't. He is a successful businessman though, who was brilliant running the Albion through our toughest days, which is why I imagine he is an asset to AITC.

Bloom is certainly all-powerful. But it does, on the face of it, look like he's being driven out of any meaningful role at the club. What were the OP's original words? Asked, Forced, Pressured?

On the first point, as you admit, you are making an assumption (which may or may not be true). In terms of what Knight brought to the role of Albion Chairman, he was a brilliant figurehead and marketing man, which makes sense, given his background. He cajoled from various benefactors (Bloom crucial amongst them) critical investment to the club, and he used his advertising industry nous to steer a clever and inventive Falmer campaign. Whether he was actually good at RUNNING the football club, I have no knowledge. Whether his skills transfer well, to make him good in his role at AITC, again, I don't know.

What I do know is that any decsion taken by Bloom (if this is true) to remove him from his role, will have been taken in his belief, in the best interest of the Albion and AITC, and not, as you are suggesting, to demonstrate that he is king, in some pointless 'power struggle'. There is no struggle.