I asked Dick Knight a few questions last night.....

[Dave the OAP]

Actually he didn't. Ian knows better than to criticise the pl;ayers or the manager as he can't afford to fall out with them.

Instead he picked on his easy target and laid ALL of the blame at the feet of DK

didn't he, ah I must get my ears syringed as I was sat next to him and it was the first question he asked me.

 

[desprateseagull]

lets take the team out for a few beers, and let their haor down- perhaps thinking about the matches TOO much is affecting their natural rythmn..

 

[Mr Banana]

I am a regular phone-in listeneer and I am CONVINCED that Ian is much happier and gets much more excited when we lose than when we win.

Is that a honest reaction of a true fan, or is it someone who actually derives some perveted gratification from seeing the club struggle because it gives him an axe to grind and he would rather be able to grind that axe than celebrate success on the field.

The man thrives on disharmony.

I think you're being unfair if you're suggesting it's a personal thing. Ian's attitude is a product of the media culture he has been a part of for years. Bad news sells and provokes - how many times do you see the BBC putting positive stories at the top of the agenda? How many fanzine/opinion articles are there gushing about how fantastic everything is when the team is on a winning run?

The phone-in would have been nauseatingly tedious if it had simply played host to caller after caller patting everyone at the club on the back during the Championship seasons.

I would agree that Ian overplays it sometimes in marauding unconvincingly after controversy for the sake of debate (the non-issue about dropping Sussex By The Sea being a fine recent example, although we all know some of the fruitloops who ring in give him enough ammunition), but it is part of his job.

 

[the Realist]

didn't he, ah I must get my ears syringed as I was sat next to him and it was the first question he asked me.

That may well be the case ....... but of course if it was then HE would not be criticising them HIMSELF.

I can't recall your reply but I do recall him very quickly steering the subject round to DK as he did every time a caller rang to berate players or manager.


dont get me wrong - I'm a big DW supporter and he needs time to "mend" the team; I also believe DK made a fatal mistake in not replacing MM in the summer


But I do get fed up with the constant sniping

 

[Guinness Boy]

I think you're being unfair if you're suggesting it's a personal thing. Ian's attitude is a product of the media culture he has been a part of for years. Bad news sells and provokes - how many times do you see the BBC putting positive stories at the top of the agenda? How many fanzine/opinion articles are there gushing about how fantastic everything is when the team is on a winning run?

The phone-in would have been nauseatingly tedious if it had simply played host to caller after caller patting everyone at the club on the back during the Championship seasons.

I would agree that Ian overplays it sometimes in marauding unconvincingly after controversy for the sake of debate (the non-issue about dropping Sussex By The Sea being a fine recent example, although we all know some of the fruitloops who ring in give him enough ammunition), but it is part of his job.

Thanks. You put that miles better than I did.

 

[Man of Harveys]

I think you're being unfair if you're suggesting it's a personal thing. Ian's attitude is a product of the media culture he has been a part of for years. Bad news sells and provokes - how many times do you see the BBC putting positive stories at the top of the agenda? How many fanzine/opinion articles are there gushing about how fantastic everything is when the team is on a winning run?

The phone-in would have been nauseatingly tedious if it had simply played host to caller after caller patting everyone at the club on the back during the Championship seasons.

I would agree that Ian overplays it sometimes in marauding unconvincingly after controversy for the sake of debate (the non-issue about dropping Sussex By The Sea being a fine recent example, although we all know some of the fruitloops who ring in give him enough ammunition), but it is part of his job.

You're plain wrong, I'm afraid and the evidence is there every week after a match, whether we've won or lost - it's the reason I've generally stopped listening, for one. He's no fearless seeker of the truth, like some latter day Woodward and Bernstein. He's undermining Dick Knight and, sadly, it works.

 

[attila]

Bottom line is: I'm damned sure that DK realises the downward spiral which is happening right now. Performances like last Sunday are the worst possible PR for the club. It's absolutely the case that we can't blame everything on Falmer, and the rot has to be stopped soon. Let's hope against hope that it is. Otherwise we have all got the right to be bloody angry - we shouldn't be in this position with the players we've got at the moment, let alone any new signings. Falmer is vital for the future. But we're football fans, and what happens on the pitch every week is of vital importance too. There is no way we should have to put up with that shit.

 

[Guinness Boy]

You're plain wrong, I'm afraid and the evidence is there every week after a match, whether we've won or lost - it's the reason I've generally stopped listening, for one. He's no fearless seeker of the truth, like some latter day Woodward and Bernstein. He's undermining Dick Knight and, sadly, it works.

He didn't suggest that Harty's a fearless seaker of truth. He said that stirring things up is his job. Which it is.

 

[Man of Harveys]

He didn't suggest that Harty's a fearless seaker of truth. He said that stirring things up is his job. Which it is.

By unjustifiably slagging off a thoroughly decent chairman who's busting a gut for this club at every opportunity, whether the game we've just watched merits it or not? How deliciously provocative of him...

 

[Mr Banana]

You're plain wrong, I'm afraid and the evidence is there every week after a match, whether we've won or lost - it's the reason I've generally stopped listening, for one. He's no fearless seeker of the truth, like some latter day Woodward and Bernstein. He's undermining Dick Knight and, sadly, it works.

I stand corrected if he does broadcast such pointless garbage to the point of rabidity most weeks - I don't often get to listen in.

But I would add that it also depends how much credence you give the phone-in. Harty shot to notoriety for his vigorous pursuit of the previous board, so it doesn't surprise me that he takes the same tack now. If you're honestly worried that it undermines Uncle Dick - who spent months negotiating with Bill Archer, has gone through more shit than a pigeon with explosive diarrhoea and has skin thicker than a metal banana - I'd suggest you need to take the whole thing a lot less seriously.

 

[Stumpy Tim]

If Dick Knight did go on the show, Harty would only shit himself and back down anyway... just like he did with McGammon last season

 

[attila]

I don't listen to the phone in much, but what strikes me when I do is that Harty is very quick to criticise DK, and not so keen on criticising players. In that sense DK is the easiest possible target - he won't have a go back at Ian, that would smack of unprofessionalism at best: whereas players will, and do (cf McCammon) and Harty wants to keep on the right side of them!

Harty still thinks he's running Gull's Eye.
For better or worse.....

 

[Man of Harveys]

I stand corrected if he does broadcast such pointless garbage to the point of rabidity most weeks - I don't often get to listen in.

But I would add that it also depends how much credence you give the phone-in. Harty shot to notoriety for his vigorous pursuit of the previous board, so it doesn't surprise me that he takes the same tack now. If you're honestly worried that it undermines Uncle Dick - who spent months negotiating with Bill Archer, has gone through more shit than a pigeon with explosive diarrhoea and has skin thicker than a metal banana - I'd suggest you need to take the whole thing a lot less seriously.

Mate, as their thin skin demonstrates when criticised, there's an almost comical banality to their hubris which is far from wasted on me - there's every time and place for funny irreverence, especially on the radio when pissed-off football fans are calling up. But there's just nothing remotely funny or irreverent about hounding out a good chairman just because you're used to hounding out bad ones.

 

[hans kraay fan club]

But there's just nothing remotely funny or irreverent about hounding out a good chairman just because you're used to hounding out bad ones.

 

[Lord Bracknell]

Performances like last Sunday are the worst possible PR for the club. It's absolutely the case that we can't blame everything on Falmer, and the rot has to be stopped soon. Let's hope against hope that it is. Otherwise we have all got the right to be bloody angry - we shouldn't be in this position with the players we've got at the moment, let alone any new signings. Falmer is vital for the future. But we're football fans, and what happens on the pitch every week is of vital importance too. There is no way we should have to put up with that shit.

That's no way for an acolyte to talk.

 

[Gritt23]

Thanks John, that's top stuff.

 

[Dave the OAP]

Mate, as their thin skin demonstrates when criticised, there's an almost comical banality to their hubris which is far from wasted on me - there's every time and place for funny irreverence, especially on the radio when pissed-off football fans are calling up. But there's just nothing remotely funny or irreverent about hounding out a good chairman just because you're used to hounding out bad ones.

are you including me in that "their"?

 

[Deportivo Seagull]

I would agree that Ian overplays it sometimes in marauding unconvincingly after controversy for the sake of debate (the non-issue about dropping Sussex By The Sea being a fine recent example, although we all know some of the fruitloops who ring in give him enough ammunition), but it is part of his job.

Point well made, I laughed when someone posted earlier that harty was a journalist, he isn't. His job is to make people listen, and he does that by stirring things up, I doubt very much that this was what he set out to do but it's certainly ended up that way. I've listen to the show on and off for the last few years and IMO it's no longer informed debate but more of a slagging session, it's entertainment, no more, no less.
If I was DK I would never go on the show, why? well you can guarantee that some dickhead from seaford will phone in accusing DK of using the transfer money to pay for his flights to Spain.

 

[the Realist]

If I was DK I would never go on the show, why? well you can guarantee that some dickhead from seaford will phone in accusing DK of using the transfer money to pay for his flights to Spain.

you mean he's not using it for that

 

[Mr Banana]

Point well made, I laughed when someone posted earlier that harty was a journalist, he isn't. His job is to make people listen, and he does that by stirring things up, I doubt very much that this was what he set out to do but it's certainly ended up that way. I've listen to the show on and off for the last few years and IMO it's no longer informed debate but more of a slagging session, it's entertainment, no more, no less.
If I was DK I would never go on the show, why? well you can guarantee that some dickhead from seaford will phone in accusing DK of using the transfer money to pay for his flights to Spain.

That's the thing, intit? The show has unwittingly become a lot more entertaining than more serious phone-ins. It's at it's best when you don't take it too seriously - like Gulls Eye was. I used to listen to Radio Sheff a lot when I lived up north, and every Satdi it was an hour of "next caller please", "it's a grumble about t'Blades/Owls" - horrendously boring.