Dick's book officially not stocked at the club shop.

[Buzzer]

Ha! I can see how people might think that - but I understand from close friends of the journalist in question that he's not that big a chum of CS's, he hasn't got an anti-Bloom/Perry agenda (never met Ray Bloom, always got on very well with Perry) and has no particular reason to publicise the book as he's not on a royalty.

Plus it was news to him that RB and MP had objected to anything in the book.

So you had no contact with Sale about this prior to Sale writing the article? If the directors are as obscure as you say then I would have thought that the first contact Sale would have tapped for a bit of inside info would be the journalist that he knows and who ghost-wrote the book.

I may have misread your posts regarding any agenda but it certainly appears that way. Your previous comments about Chapman for example.

 

[hans kraay fan club]

I don't think there is a person alive who thinks 'Dick can do no wrong'.

I disagree. I think there are. Or least people who think that Dick did enough good for the club, that nothing he does or says now 'counts'.

 

[Simster]

I disagree. I think there are. Or least people who think that Dick did enough good for the club, that nothing he does or says now 'counts'.

It's a good point. Nobody is ever going to SAY "Soandso can do no wrong" but it's all in their actions. And others behave in exactly the same way towards Tony Bloom.

 

[Questions]

I disagree. I think there are. Or least people who think that Dick did enough good for the club, that nothing he does or says now 'counts'.

By that I presume you mean things said that are detrimental to the club or whatever ? You are right, there are but during the days when DK was 'saving the club' they were just as evident if not more so then.

 

[The Large One]

I disagree. I think there are. Or least people who think that Dick did enough good for the club, that nothing he does or says now 'counts'.

It's a good point. Nobody is ever going to SAY "Soandso can do no wrong" but it's all in their actions. And others behave in exactly the same way towards Tony Bloom.

Fair points. I was more referring to the FFA team that BW is constantly whining about.

You're right Simster, and further to that, there are far too many people who still believe that it's either Tony who is the hero OR Dick is the hero, without realising that, if you take away ONE of the following list (and it's not an exhaustive list)...

Dick Knight
Martin Perry
Derek Chapman
Richard Hebberd
Ray Bloom
Fatboy Slim
Tony Bloom
Brighton & Hove City Council
The Brighton supporters (incl. the FFA team)
The supporters of other teams
CEDR
John Prescott

... there's a good chance there wouldn't be a hero because there's a good chance there wouldn't be a stadium. Everyone, to a lesser or greater degree, played their part.

But if you must narrow it down to just two (Dick and Tony), you cannot have one or the other, because you cannot have one without the other.

 

[Not Andy Naylor]

So you had no contact with Sale about this prior to Sale writing the article? If the directors are as obscure as you say then I would have thought that the first contact Sale would have tapped for a bit of inside info would be the journalist that he knows and who ghost-wrote the book.

I may have misread your posts regarding any agenda but it certainly appears that way. Your previous comments about Chapman for example.

Neither before nor since. As I've said, the journalist in question doesn't know Charlie Sale that well. Plus there's no anti-DC agenda beyond being critical of an apparent judging of a book without having read it and wondering if someone who can afford a helicopter thinks the same way about money as someone who can't. I wondered the same about a helicopter-owning estate agent friend of mine.

 

[Questions]

I disagree. I think there are. Or least people who think that Dick did enough good for the club, that nothing he does or says now 'counts'.

By that I presume you mean things said that are detrimental to the club or whatever ? You are right, there are but during the days when DK was 'saving the club' they were just as evident if not more so then.

 

[Buzzer]

Neither before nor since. As I've said, the journalist in question doesn't know Charlie Sale that well. Plus there's no anti-DC agenda beyond being critical of an apparent judging of a book without having read it and wondering if someone who can afford a helicopter thinks the same way about money as someone who can't. I wondered the same about a helicopter-owning estate agent friend of mine.

Fair enough. FWIW, From the stories I've heard regarding DK's departure from AITC, I can fully understand why DK feels bitter about the certain parties and I think I would feel the same too.

Regarding your apparent cynicism - this worries me and the reason is that you're a professional journalist whose job is to distill the truth from the hyperbole, so I do wonder what else has happened that you can't say. It probably confirms TB's nickname.

 

[Lord Bracknell]

Fair points. I was more referring to the FFA team that BW is constantly whining about.

You're right Simster, and further to that, there are far too many people who still believe that it's either Tony who is the hero OR Dick is the hero, without realising that, if you take away ONE of the following list (and it's not an exhaustive list)...

Dick Knight
Martin Perry
Derek Chapman
Richard Hebberd
Ray Bloom
Fatboy Slim
Tony Bloom
Brighton & Hove City Council
The Brighton supporters (incl. the FFA team)
The supporters of other teams
CEDR
John Prescott

... there's a good chance there wouldn't be a hero because there's a good chance there wouldn't be a stadium. Everyone, to a lesser or greater degree, played their part.

But if you must narrow it down to just two (Dick and Tony), you cannot have one or the other, because you cannot have one without the other.

I'd add a few more names to that list - the Club's legal advisors, the planning consultants, Sussex University, those nice folk who organise health walks in Sheepcote Valley ...

And I'd also say that the way that everyone pulled together is conclusive evidence that refutes any suggestion that DK's time as Chairman was "amateurish". If there were any amateurs around in those days, it was those people who imagined that a rich benefactor would have been ALL that we needed to achieve a stadium by 2005.

 

[AZ Gull]

Hey Chas, I'm not using this term in a negative sense, more a neutral one, but its how I'm trying to make sense of whats going on here. At one end he's invested 150 million in Brighton, he's completely rejigging the club to be PL-ready - which in essence means moving towards a more customer-focused model than fan-focused; and he's also apparently sitting on top of any dissent, summarily dismissing Gus, removing DK from AITC and now this book thing. So is it pure altruism - hardly or DK would still be chairman - is it a business deal - well there'll be a profit if he sells on to a sheikh somewhere with us mid-table in the prem, but hardly seems worth the risk - so I'm left with Abramovich-esque vanity project with a dollop of fan-based altruism and a healthy side of family heirloom.

To your point - is a vanity project something that is frivoulous or adds little value - sure, and as far as TB's business empire is concerned, acquiring the Albion is clearly frivolous and of little value. Vanity is also about making someone look good and feel good in the adoration of others, big tick there. Is he that reclusive, he's doing fans forums and so on.

No-one is hoodwinked, are they? If I had that money I would also have invested, and for sure it would have been in much the same way, I'm sure I would have lapped up your praise

Don't worry Simon, if you were Chairman of the Albion you certainly wouldn't be getting any praise from me, given how you would have handled the Poyet business

It does make me chuckle, how you and I seem to look at Albion-related stuff from completely opposing viewpoints. Summarily dismissing Gus due to dissent? No, protecting the club when one of it's biggest assets unilaterally decides he wants out, and makes his position untenable. "Removing" DK from AITC due to dissent? Knight himself stated it was time for him to stand down because the club wanted to take AITC in a different direction.

I never claimed Bloom was reclusive; I simply stated he was low profile (by which I mean he isn't a showman; he doesn't do things simply for publicity, he does what he needs to do in order to run his business as effectively and efficiently as possible). His appearances at fans forums suggest to me that he values the viewpoints and feedback of fans very highly (as does his appointment of Paul Barber, who seems to be one of the most approachable and responsive chief executives in football).

You seem to suggest that a big motivation for Bloom investing so much money in the club is for the adoration of the fans; only Bloom will truly know what his reasons are, but that simply doesn't ring true for me.

 

[Kalimantan Gull]

Don't worry Simon, if you were Chairman of the Albion you certainly wouldn't be getting any praise from me, given how you would have handled the Poyet business

It does make me chuckle, how you and I seem to look at Albion-related stuff from completely opposing viewpoints. Summarily dismissing Gus due to dissent? No, protecting the club when one of it's biggest assets unilaterally decides he wants out, and makes his position untenable. "Removing" DK from AITC due to dissent? Knight himself stated it was time for him to stand down because the club wanted to take AITC in a different direction.

I never claimed Bloom was reclusive; I simply stated he was low profile (by which I mean he isn't a showman; he doesn't do things simply for publicity, he does what he needs to do in order to run his business as effectively and efficiently as possible). His appearances at fans forums suggest to me that he values the viewpoints and feedback of fans very highly (as does his appointment of Paul Barber, who seems to be one of the most approachable and responsive chief executives in football).

You seem to suggest that a big motivation for Bloom investing so much money in the club is for the adoration of the fans; only Bloom will truly know what his reasons are, but that simply doesn't ring true for me.

Yeah, you're right, that last bit doesn't sound right to me, Bloom is of course a fan which immediately places him different to the Abramovich's of the world. Just a thesis really.

Nevertheless, suggesting DK left AITC amicably doesn't correlate with many of the accounts we read on here, from people I'm happy to trust, and surely Gus left because he fell out with TB - I don't get the 'protecting the club' business - makes no sense to me as we've been hurt more by going through this process than by allowing him to leave for a premiership club. But we've done that one to death...!

I guess you and me both are on opposite sides of the world to Brighton and so we have to filter everything we read and hear to get a picture of whats going on. In some ways I find it helps get some clarity - its easier to see the wood without the trees in the way - and yet we have come to opposite conclusions so we're obviously filtering stuff differently.

I'm not negative on TB at all - but I find myself coming across that way when I defend DK against those belittling him. Ditto with Gus and Oscar. If people just left off these past Albion heroes it would be a lot easier to fully embrace the present

 

[AZ Gull]

Yeah, you're right, that last bit doesn't sound right to me, Bloom is of course a fan which immediately places him different to the Abramovich's of the world. Just a thesis really.

Nevertheless, suggesting DK left AITC amicably doesn't correlate with many of the accounts we read on here, from people I'm happy to trust, and surely Gus left because he fell out with TB - I don't get the 'protecting the club' business - makes no sense to me as we've been hurt more by going through this process than by allowing him to leave for a premiership club. But we've done that one to death...!

I guess you and me both are on opposite sides of the world to Brighton and so we have to filter everything we read and hear to get a picture of whats going on. In some ways I find it helps get some clarity - its easier to see the wood without the trees in the way - and yet we have come to opposite conclusions so we're obviously filtering stuff differently.

I'm not negative on TB at all - but I find myself coming across that way when I defend DK against those belittling him. Ditto with Gus and Oscar. If people just left off these past Albion heroes it would be a lot easier to fully embrace the present

I wouldn't suggest DK left AITC amicably; unfortunately, "amicable" does not seem an appropriate word to describe the relationship between DK and TB. It would appear that Knight and Bloom now have distinctly different views on how the club should be run, and seeing as Bloom is the man who actually DOES run the club, that clearly puts Knight's nose out of joint. However, I don't go along with the view that TB ruthlessly deals with anyone showing "dissent".

Dick Knight is indisputably a true Albion legend for what he did to wrest control of the Albion from Archer, gain planning permission for Falmer, and achieve the success we did whilst playing at Withdean. Which is why, like a star-struck fan, I got my picture taken with him when he happened to be in Dick's Bar the day before the Doncaster game in August 2011. But he is also egotistical, a showman, and a marketeer-supreme. And he is open to criticism for the way he has handled his book launch and share-sale offer.

Gus Poyet - I will always be grateful for the footballing success he brought to the club, but he definitely has feet of clay. I don't see the issue with criticising past "Albion heroes" if the criticism is well-founded. And current officers of the club should likewise be rightly held to account.

 

[Uncle Spielberg]

The good news is you can meet Dick for 45 minutes in a one to one personal meeting and get a book signed by him by putting a bid on the sticky at the top of the page for the REMF

 

[Not Andy Naylor]

Fair enough. FWIW, From the stories I've heard regarding DK's departure from AITC, I can fully understand why DK feels bitter about the certain parties and I think I would feel the same too.

Regarding your apparent cynicism - this worries me and the reason is that you're a professional journalist whose job is to distill the truth from the hyperbole, so I do wonder what else has happened that you can't say. It probably confirms TB's nickname.

I think I'm fairly idealistic about the Albion. Nothing I've heard prevents me from supporting the club or being optimistic about the future. Okay, there are things I'd change, but that's true of almost everyone on NSC.

My biggest fear has always been that they'll become something hateful and despicable, as happened to Blackburn Rovers and Portsmouth - something I saw at close quarters in the latter case, where genuine supporters were powerless to stop the club they loved being taken from them in the name of ambition, 'moving the club to the next level' and other nonsense, and put in the hands of chancers and crooks - then eventually handed back in ruins. Or Manchester United, where it will never be handed back at all and long ago stopped being a football club and became a global leisure brand. You'd almost prefer to be a Portsmouth fan, because at least the fans now matter to them again.

But we're not just a long way from that, we're not even on the same road system. Refusing to stock a book may be yet another clumsy and unnecessary PR own goal, but it's hardly the first step on the road to perdition. And saying it's clumsy and unnecessary isn't exactly burning the board members in effigy either.

 

[Stat Brother]

The good news is you can meet Dick for 45 minutes in a one to one personal meeting and get a book signed by him by putting a bid on the sticky at the top of the page for the REMF

Christ, what's the bad news!?!*







*Purely a comment for comedy effect, not the views of this corespondent.

 

[Uncle Spielberg]

christ, what's the bad news!?!*






*purely a comment for comedy effect, not the views of this corespondent.

lol !

 

[Springal]

I see Dick is STILL complaining about the club not stocking the boom. The fact he is still doing it, purely makes me think he is doing so for PR and book shifting purposes. Very sad.

 

[Creaky]

I see Dick is STILL complaining about the club not stocking the boom. The fact he is still doing it, purely makes me think he is doing so for PR and book shifting purposes. Very sad.

Why sad? - DK is an advertising man - why wouldn't/shouldn't he use everything at his disposal to promote his book - if the current board don't like it they can easily defuse this particular situation.

Nothing DK says can harm the club and I'm sure he wouldn't want it to - his actions won't stop fans from going to games and supporting the club.

 

[Westdene Wonder]

There is no disputing Knight stepped in to save the Albion however the various delays led to him being unable to provide the necessary finances to keep us afloat, he was prepared to allow others to put money into the club but wanted to remain top dog, a great pity he spoilt his efforts.

 

[Springal]

Why sad? - DK is an advertising man - why wouldn't/shouldn't he use everything at his disposal to promote his book - if the current board don't like it they can easily defuse this particular situation.

Nothing DK says can harm the club and I'm sure he wouldn't want it to - his actions won't stop fans from going to games and supporting the club.

Because he keeps towing out the same line, the books been out what 3 weeks now and still having a go at the club for not stocking it. In all honesty if anyone was going to buy it, they would have by now I imagine. He's coming across as a bitter old man, chipping away at the club, who clearly don't care.