Paul Barber's programme notes

[Spun Cuppa]

Also would anyone care to compile a list of everything that people have complained about since we have moved into the Amex - It will be a very long list and start from the first game of the first season in this new ground. - They just sound like a very ungrateful bunch and no matter what anyone would do for the club in their efforts to secure the clubs long term future and not just live in the here and now, it will never be good enough for them.

It makes you wonder if Bloom regrets doing that if thats how the fans have reacted to this generous act. he wante to build something for future generations, so they can come and watch the club in comfort and have an enjoyable time. They have listened and responded to the fans thoughts and sugegstions (from having Harveys to selling chips, to having an outside area for fans to meet up, have a beer and mingle before the game.

They have been proactive in responding to potential problems in the squad (Stockdale getting injured so brough in Al Habsi as cover, Brought in Bent to try to add more goals, etc) but are getting criticised for this - had they not bothered i'd bet the same people would be complaining because they hadn't reacted.

Some people are just not happy unless they are complaining, and this complaining spreads out and puts other people off (no smoke without fire, etc) and soon myths become facts in peoples minds and it spreads even further until it reaches a fever pitch.

The truth is there is a law of diminishing returns, and as you go to more and more games, your enjoyment of each game goes down in the same way as your 5th beer doesn't seem as good as your first. A lot of the unhappy fans since the summer and before are, from what i can see, the ones who have followed the club for a long time so this the case.

Then coupled with reading complaint after comlaint and criticism and moaning constantly, is it any wonder they arn't enjoying the football? there has been an underlying air of confrontation and hostility towards the club and certain members of staff since the summer and before and i'd like to know how this is supposed to work to benefit the other fans that go to games?

As people have hinted above, had Bloom not invested £200m+, they would be protesting against him and wanting him out. Why would anyone want to take over if he ever goes if thats how fans treat investors?

It seems your views are as blinkered as the ones from other fans that you don't agree with. Everyone's view is as valid as the next person's. Just because we don't sometimes agree with something, it doesn't make it wrong (IMHO of course...)

 

[BrianWade4]

He sums up everything that I hate about modern football with his corporate business platitudes, cliched sound bites and spin doctoring.

Thank you for not printing out his notes in their entirety. I would have felt compelled to read them, and that would have left me more pissed off than I already am.

This.
What a corporate turd.

 

[Seagull73]

Also would anyone care to compile a list of everything that people have complained about since we have moved into the Amex - It will be a very long list and start from the first game of the first season in this new ground. - They just sound like a very ungrateful bunch and no matter what anyone would do for the club in their efforts to secure the clubs long term future and not just live in the here and now, it will never be good enough for them.

It makes you wonder if Bloom regrets doing that if thats how the fans have reacted to this generous act. he wante to build something for future generations, so they can come and watch the club in comfort and have an enjoyable time. They have listened and responded to the fans thoughts and sugegstions (from having Harveys to selling chips, to having an outside area for fans to meet up, have a beer and mingle before the game.

They have been proactive in responding to potential problems in the squad (Stockdale getting injured so brough in Al Habsi as cover, Brought in Bent to try to add more goals, etc) but are getting criticised for this - had they not bothered i'd bet the same people would be complaining because they hadn't reacted.

Some people are just not happy unless they are complaining, and this complaining spreads out and puts other people off (no smoke without fire, etc) and soon myths become facts in peoples minds and it spreads even further until it reaches a fever pitch.

The truth is there is a law of diminishing returns, and as you go to more and more games, your enjoyment of each game goes down in the same way as your 5th beer doesn't seem as good as your first. A lot of the unhappy fans since the summer and before are, from what i can see, the ones who have followed the club for a long time so this the case.

Then coupled with reading complaint after comlaint and criticism and moaning constantly, is it any wonder they arn't enjoying the football? there has been an underlying air of confrontation and hostility towards the club and certain members of staff since the summer and before and i'd like to know how this is supposed to work to benefit the other fans that go to games?

As people have hinted above, had Bloom not invested £200m+, they would be protesting against him and wanting him out. Why would anyone want to take over if he ever goes if thats how fans treat investors?

Take a bow.
Least subtle club employee post of 2014

 

[clapham_gull]

The size of your posts. "Are you Barber in disguise".

20% of Internet forums contain posts by the corporate wih a vested interest in the topic. I assume the club like most corporates do this as well. I assume you are one of them. Not a very subtle one either.

Actually I questioned a large company on here once and they contacted me via PM

They were very nice.

 

[Deleted member 22389]

What exactly has Barber done wrong, I don't get it?. His job is to look after day to day operations of this club, he does not take training with players, he is not the manager, nor does he suggest the players to bring in.
If you are offended by the programme notes what do you expect him to say? "Sami Hyppia is utterly rubbish and he should be sacked" lol, he has got to be professional or is just his tone?

 

[spanish flair]

What exactly has Barber done wrong, I don't get it?. His job is to look after day to day operations of this club, he does not take training with players, he is not the manager, nor does he suggest the players to bring in.
If you are offended by the programme notes what do you expect him to say? "Sami Hyppia is utterly rubbish and he should be sacked"

Actually why does he need to write programme notes at all, most clubs it is the manager isn't it?

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

Actually why does he need to write programme notes at all, most clubs it is the manager isn't it?

Because he likes the sound of his own voice? His ridiculously long email suggest this is the case.

 

[Captain Sensible]

Neither of those have post match beers available at the ground.

We don't really have it either anymore. The shutters come down, the harveys went off ages ago and you get told to go to the north for a beer. Yet more penny pinching.

 

[Mayfair Seagull]

The size of your posts. "Are you Barber in disguise".

20% of Internet forums contain posts by the corporate wih a vested interest in the topic. I assume the club like most corporates do this as well. I assume you are one of them. Not a very subtle one either.

Exactly! A little too obvious this time Mr Fawkes.

 

[smudge]

Seeing as all he understands are spreadsheets & corporate bollox, can someone make a graph showing our downward curve in all areas since he came in.
I have heard that that GP stated when PB came in, "Barber will undo everything we have achieved here within 2-3 years".
If this is true, you have to hand it to PB; we'll back where we were when Gus came in soon enough. The league table makes extremely bleak reading.

 

[Spun Cuppa]

Actually why does he need to write programme notes at all, most clubs it is the manager isn't it?

There was some dissent, so he responded to that. Then there was a bigger amount of it, so the response got bigger. Then the dissent got even larger, and the response got even larger. Etc., etc! Think of a graph of y = x squared and you'll get the gist...

 

[Beach Hut]

What is the buzz word bingo name for fecking cock-up of the highest order ?

 

[Bwian]

We don't really have it either anymore. The shutters come down, the harveys went off ages ago and you get told to go to the north for a beer. Yet more penny pinching.

Sad isn't it? All of Martin Perry's hard work and dreams being undone by somebody but we're not allowed to mention names...

 

[Bwian]

Take a bow.
Least subtle club employee post of 2014

Do you know, I hadn't even considered that he might work for the club .

 

[Bwian]

There was some dissent, so he responded to that. Then there was a bigger amount of it, so the response got bigger. Then the dissent got even larger, and the response got even larger. Etc., etc! Think of a graph of y = x squared and you'll get the gist...

So the Boxing Day Programme will be all of Barber's current 'responses' with a guest column written by a fan of pyrotechnics?

 

[Giraffe]

Do you know, I hadn't even considered that he might work for the club .

I believe there are several posters on here and other forums that either work for the club/corporate or are contracted by the club/corporate. It's common place for businesses to do that either to promote a new product or counter negative comment. Given the success of this forum it would be bonkers for the club not to do that. However most are very subtle particularly he contracted ones as they are professional.

I suspect therefore that Guy Fawkes is more likely to be a club employee than a contracted poster. Either way he is not very good at his job.

Just add him to your list, I have a dozen on it so far, and they all say exactly the same thing. It's quite fun to spot one and then look back at their previous posts. Very interesting method of marketing/spin. Very typical of a corporate.

 

[Bwian]

I believe there are several posters on here and other forums that either work for the club/corporate or are contracted by the club/corporate. It's common place for businesses to do that either to promote a new product or counter negative comment. Given the success of this forum it would be bonkers for the club not to do that. However most are very subtle particularly he contracted ones as they are professional.

I suspect therefore that Guy Fawkes is more likely to be a club employee than a contracted poster. Either way he is not very good at his job.

Just add him to your list, I have a dozen on it so far, and they all say exactly the same thing. It's quite fun to spot one and then look back at their previous posts. Very interesting method of marketing/spin. Very typical of a corporate.

I was trying to be subtly tongue in cheek with my comment. I've thought of him as an Albion suit.

 

[Cloughie]

If the bloody recruitment 'team' had done their jobs properly then there wouldn't have been a need to bring in cover for potential problems-the replacements would already be on the club's books. You can blame the supporters as much as you like for being miserablists and moaners but the underlying problems are all caused by people at the club being paid huge salaries to make sure the club didn't lose its momentum and that the first team squad was of sufficient quality with cover in all positions.

They have failed spectacularly and football supporters will, as they always do, let them know that they are unhappy.

As a club employee some of the crap wouldn't be too bad to take. Discounted season tickets, discounted everything. Meanwhile those of us in the real world are paying full price for everything and the majority are not happy.

They have every right to be unhappy. Although I'd wager that Barber, Burke and Bloom are also equally dissatisfied with the clubs current predicament. Scouting is not an exact science though. Each top club have had a succession of poor signings on top, top money. They employ more staff of an alleged "better" quality too but still manage to make mistakes.

Personally I do not agree with this scapegoating. Burke is not responsible for identifying the players. He delegates that to his scouts who trawl through umpteen reports of different players and they select ones that they feel best compliment the squad. Where I feel they did a poor job was in signing players who were not suited to what SH wanted to do (whatever that was). Toko is an excellent example of this. What was the point of bringing him to the club? Likewise Baldock. CMS struggled here because he is used to playing in a front 2 and chasing things turned around the corner. Baldock is a very similar player. Neither one has the specific tactical requirements or game intelligence to lead the line the way our system requires. Much of the build up play is wasted as the final pass isn't on when the opportunity to play it comes as the forward is incorrectly positioned. Baldock wants early passes in behind defenders. He's at the wrong club for that. Why they signed a carbon copy of CMS and expected anything different is a mystery to me. This isn't a big dig at Baldock either, because his goal record stands up in this division. He's certainly capable of playing at this level, just not the way we need him to.

All-in-all every club has horrible transfer windows. Each manager has made poor judgements when recruiting players. When SAF signed Veron, Kleberson, Bebe et al nobody batted an eyelid. It happens. You have to learn from these mistakes and ensure it doesn't happen again through this experience. This is why I see no value in blaming any of the three B's. If it was smooth all the way to the top chances are Burke and Barber would've been poached anyway...

 

[Horses Arse]

I shouldn't need to if it wasn't for such stupidity and negativity that is potentially very damaging to this club.

How many people do you think get put off going by this sort of comment and that there is something wrong at the club and the underlying feeling of discontent? - quite a few but the ones doing it seem to think they are acting in the clubs best interest when in fact they are doing the exact opposite by creating a toxic atmosphere.

How does looking for any little comment like this to twist constructive to the clubs long term future?

I have read comments where Bloom who has invested hundreds of millions into the club is supposedly as bad for this clubs future as Bill Archer and co who invested the square root of sweet FA. That the club is in a bad a shape as the bad old days and other untruths like the board don't care or doing nothing to help the team despite spending more on loan players like Bent.

Honestly, what more could they do to show they are infact the opposite of what some fans are claiming they are?

Some people just seem to like to protest and campaign and constantly have a hate figure and it seems that this is what football is all about to them rather than just watching a match in great surroundings and getting behind the team.

It's you creating the toxic atmosphere Paul.

 

[Spun Cuppa]

So the Boxing Day Programme will be all of Barber's current 'responses' with a guest column written by a fan of pyrotechnics?

Regarding PB's notes on Dec 26th., think War and Peace