Exclusive interview with Paul Barber.

[Brian Fantana]

Even the shirt sponsorship deal was with a company we already have links with.

Personally, I think that Barber will have had to display a certain degree of commercial nouse to secure the deal. If AMEX thought that he was making a hash of things, I doubt they'd have committed.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

I think you're being very naive if you think all Barber has done is increase prices. He alludes to the fact in the interview, that our running costs are higher than he would expect so he will be trying to improve the whole infrastructure of the club to try and make it as financially viable as possible.

But this is all he has done to date as far as I can see. This and write patronising pieces in the programme. Even you say "he will be trying" to reduce costs ie future tense. Maybe once he has done this I will reevaluate my view. Until then I will judge him on what he has actually achieved.....which in the past few weeks in to annoy me.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

Personally, I think that Barber will have had to display a certain degree of commercial nouse to secure the deal. If AMEX thought that he was making a hash of things, I doubt they'd have committed.

I didn't say he had made a hash. And it is our biggest shirt deal, but then it was always going to be.

 

[Arthur]

I think we're talking at crossed purposes here. I am not neccessarily disagreeing about raising revenue , but there are many approaches to this. I'm slowing turning against Barber's.

Ok fair enough. What should be be doing then?

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

Biggest sponsorship deal in our history, biggest kit deal in our history for 2014

Sure. But this was always going to be the case given the 23,000 extra season ticket holders. My point is that none of this is particularly special is it, many people can tender and secure sponsorship. Maybe I was naive in expecting a fresher, imaginative and smarter approach to football admin?

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

Ok fair enough. What should be be doing then?

I'd replace that shiny puffa-jacket for starters.

 

[Mad as my Mother]

Excellent interview, great challenging questions and professional reassuring replies.
I believe our club is in great hands.

 

[stss30]

But this is all he has done to date as far as I can see. This and write patronising pieces in the programme. Even you say "he will be trying" to reduce costs ie future tense. Maybe once he has done this I will reevaluate my view. Until then I will judge him on what he has actually achieved.....which in the past few weeks in to annoy me.

We'll have no idea how he has fared until the next set of accounts are released though, surely? Maybe he has already begun cutting costs, who knows?

 

[Brighton Breezy]

Thank you for the positive feedback. Have a few more pieces lined up which might possibly interest people but don't want to spam up NSC.

Tweet details from @NotWorthThat so if you are on Twitter, give us a follow.

A few previous bits on Paul Barber, including an earlier interview, can be found HERE

 

[Iggle Piggle]

The best piece I’ve read on the Albion for a long time although as others have noticed Barber didn’t really answer the question about potential damage to next season. As someone who has worked Corporate for 20 years, I get where he is coming from and what he wants to change (as well the culture he is trying to get rid of). It’s just simply that the manager in limbo situation is so huge that membership schemes and the like are sideshows to the main event. It’s not so much as an elephant in the room but a woolly mammoth the way we are going.

Incidentally, I remember everyone taking the piss out of Walt’s Journo aspirations in NSC days gone by (myself included), the well crafted questions show Walt scribing has risen in line with the Albion’s rise since the Withdean days and the abortive attempts to get a fanzine off the ground. (I’d love to read some of those threads again).

 

[Eddiespearritt]

I agree that the interview is good and the answers are carefully thought through, they should be, they are written down. He didn't have to reply in such detail if he didn't want to. But the whole discussion is a distraction. The Amex will feel cavernous if it is only half full, and that's what will happen if a last minute coach comes in and tries to pick up the pieces as the season start heads towards us. A half full stadium will not ease the losses, that's for sure. We'll only get crowds towards 30,000 if the team is extremely successful.

Understand that Barber can't talk about the fiasco - but at the risk of being repetitive there is only one thing that really matters, and it isn't a membership scheme, or the price of pies. It is quality players and a talented imaginative coach. Outstanding planning and preparation for the season on the pitch helps a lot. A major requirement of a CEO is to have a solid relationship with the head coach. He didn't / doesn't - and we're in a total mess - with potential team additions drfiting away.

 

[Brighton Breezy]

A half full stadium will not ease the losses, that's for sure. We'll only get crowds towards 30,000 if the team is extremely successful.

Agree with your senitment but for the Amex to be half empty this coming season, around 8,000 season ticket holders would have to not turn up. And, as they will already have paid for their tickets, won't impact too much on finances in the short term.

 

[kevo]

I agree that the interview is good and the answers are carefully thought through, they should be, they are written down. He didn't have to reply in such detail if he didn't want to. But the whole discussion is a distraction. The Amex will feel cavernous if it is only half full, and that's what will happen if a last minute coach comes in and tries to pick up the pieces as the season start heads towards us. A half full stadium will not ease the losses, that's for sure. We'll only get crowds towards 30,000 if the team is extremely successful.

Understand that Barber can't talk about the fiasco - but at the risk of being repetitive there is only one thing that really matters, and it isn't a membership scheme, or the price of pies. It is quality players and a talented imaginative coach. Outstanding planning and preparation for the season on the pitch helps a lot. A major requirement of a CEO is to have a solid relationship with the head coach. He didn't / doesn't - and we're in a total mess - with potential team additions drfiting away.

Good post. I have no doubt that Barber is a very good businessman who is doing his best to make the club financially stable and viable. But the whole thing falls apart if we don't have a successful team, and that means getting a decent manager in who can attract and retain good players. We were on an upwards spiral and now it feels that at best we have stalled. There's going to have to be some considerable rebuilding when (if?) Gus's team have departed - I really can't see us being anywhere higher than mid-table next season. This will mean lower attendances and less spend on match-day tickets and merchandise, all of which will negatively impact on the financial model Barber wants to achieve.

 

[Pavilionaire]

I think some people under-estimate the size of Barber's task. Just because we get big crowds it is no guarantee that the money will flow in. Other that 4 seasons in the top flight and a Cup Final the club hasn't achieved an awful lot in its history, so getting a multinational like American Express to throw loads of cash at the club takes some selling.

The same can be said for attracting top quality players, coaches and backroom staff.

Other clubs like Leicester, Derby and Sheff Wed have history and get big crowds, but are losing money hand over fist and struggling to be in the promotion mix.

 

[Hungry Joe]

Good stuff Richie, well done. Barber's alright, he's got a tough job and appears to be doing it very well so far. The most important thing to remember amid all this insecurity is that Barber was a Tony Bloom appointment, and will have to continue to impress TB if he wants to succeed here. That'll mean delivering success in terms of reducing costs and maximising revenue in order to have as much funds available for competing on the field as possible. As others have alluded to, you simply can't have one without the other in the modern game, and even less so now FFP is here.

As supporters we need people like Richie and the Fan's Forums to keep asking the difficult questions. So far I've been impressed by the length and depth of Barber's answers, not sure what more he can do at this point. There are things about the 'old days' that we have lost that I miss, but far more that I'm glad to see the back of. And anyway, there's still plenty of lower and non-league football available if you do need a fix of terracing and chips every now and then.

 

[Man of Harveys]

Just on one thing: he can brag about attendances all he likes but if you think about it, they're not REAL attendances, are they? Just tickets sold.

So if we were crap next season because we didn't have a manager for half the summer and some season ticket holders started not bothering to attend because their kids were cold or whatever, it wouldn't be reflected in these "crowd" figures until people stopped renewing their season tickets.

Couldn't we have actual crowd figures back? Are they that potentially damaging to the business model?

 

[dejavuatbtn]

I didn't say he had made a hash. And it is our biggest shirt deal, but then it was always going to be.

The shirt sponsorship deal was done before Barber arrived.

 

[Weststander]

We'll have no idea how he has fared until the next set of accounts are released though, surely? Maybe he has already begun cutting costs, who knows?

TB and Barber have already revealed on more than one occasion that the 2012/13 losses will be at least £8m.

This includes the era of paying/acquiring quality players, in Gus's big push for promotion, which failed. Now that those losses being met by a benefactor are outlawed, it will be in 2013/14 that we will see the necessary cost cutting to comply, and those accounts won't be published until say March 2015 ..... so it will be a long wait to see if Barber gets there.

Get there he / TB will, but that will be bad news for the whingers, who will have to get used to a squad with less stars. It's the new rules of the game, but no doubt irrational characters will blame Barber.

 

[The Sock of Poskett]

Good stuff Richie, well done. Barber's alright, he's got a tough job and appears to be doing it very well so far. The most important thing to remember amid all this insecurity is that Barber was a Tony Bloom appointment, and will have to continue to impress TB if he wants to succeed here. That'll mean delivering success in terms of reducing costs and maximising revenue in order to have as much funds available for competing on the field as possible. As others have alluded to, you simply can't have one without the other in the modern game, and even less so now FFP is here.

As supporters we need people like Richie and the Fan's Forums to keep asking the difficult questions. So far I've been impressed by the length and depth of Barber's answers, not sure what more he can do at this point. There are things about the 'old days' that we have lost that I miss, but far more that I'm glad to see the back of. And anyway, there's still plenty of lower and non-league football available if you do need a fix of terracing and chips every now and then.

Entirely agree.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

This includes the era of paying/acquiring quality players, in Gus's big push for promotion, which failed.

I think this is at the root of my issue with this membership thingy. I'm starting to resent being bled dry so some footballer can be paid some eye watering weekly salary.