Puts me in mind of Steve Foster's conversation with Bellotti at the height of the troubles

[Lower West Stander]

Back step taken
OP points considered
Yep I think he is right / going to be right

Best start the protests now then. Maybe we should have a word with Liam Brady about putting together a bid for the club as well......

Jeez - I can't believe I'm actually defending Barber on this thread.

 

[Seagull73]

Jeez - I can't believe I'm actually defending Barber on this thread.

Neither can I

 

[Lincoln Imp]

Ok I'm ready to get shot down in flames here! To a point I think barber is doing a fairly good job. At the end of the day his job is to keep the club on a sound financial footing. Hell we may not all agree with everything he has done but at least we still have a club to support. Football is now big business like it or not.

Sport is all about money these days. Here in sussex we've already lost our top basketball side and recently the owner of our elite league speedway team took the decision to remove Eastbourne Eagles out of the top league to the bottom league because of money. Better to have a team to support at the lower end than no team at all.

Yes it's penny pinching in there by barber but at the end of the day that's his job.

..and the evidence that he is doing a good job is...?

He is not the finance director, he's the chief executive. Even if he is tightening up the finances there is more to his job than money. He is leading an organisation with a vast turnover of staff, poor morale, bad PR, a collapsing customer base and a terrible product. I don't think he's doing a good job at all.

 

[Bry Nylon]

For me this is less about Barber and more about Harty's need to constantly define himself by something that happened nearly 20 years ago, looking for tenuous parallels where none exist to give himself a purpose above and beyond just being a fan. The fact that he always refers to that period as the 'war years' or the 'troubles' would be meat and drink to a therapist. Give it up. It's over. You won, they lost and today's situation is light years away from the scenario back then.

 

[Lincoln Imp]

For me this is less about Barber and more about Harty's need to constantly define himself by something that happened nearly 20 years ago, looking for tenuous parallels where none exist to give himself a purpose above and beyond just being a fan. The fact that he always refers to that period as the 'war years' or the 'troubles' would be meat and drink to a therapist. Give it up. It's over. You won, they lost and today's situation is light years away from the scenario back then.

You know I've stared and stared and stared at Harty's opening post and nowhere can I see that he is comparing the mid-90s with now. He is saying that there are some aspects of what is happening now that remind him of what was happening then. Like Bellotti, Barber started off well and then became seriously disliked by more and more of the supporters. Like Bellotti he is chief executive at a time when the playing side is going down the tubes. And like Bellotti he is depressing the poo out of Lincoln Imp.

 

[portlock seagull]

I understand the point completely.

You don't need to be so patronizing to disagree with me. Just take a step back and look at the point the OP is trying to make - the logical conclusion being that Barber will ultimately be as bad as Bellotti.

Talk about hysterical reactions because the club is on a bad run.....

Do you even know what patronising means? Anyway,you're in a huff so that's why you're using words like hysterical reaction (the irony!) so maybe when you've calmed down you'll be able to see there's a bit of truth in Hartys comparisons as many of us do. Don't think anyone is saying he is belloti. But maybe there are parallels one of which is he's perhaps hoodwinked a few....not naming any names mind but...

 

[ewe2]

So just what is happening behind the scenes ?Will someone enlighten me with "Facts". I can ,like all of us make my own judgement on what is happening on the pitch .(and that is not good !! )

 

[portlock seagull]

For me this is less about Barber and more about Harty's need to constantly define himself by something that happened nearly 20 years ago, looking for tenuous parallels where none exist to give himself a purpose above and beyond just being a fan. The fact that he always refers to that period as the 'war years' or the 'troubles' would be meat and drink to a therapist. Give it up. It's over. You won, they lost and today's situation is light years away from the scenario back then.

In fairness to Harty, this country and football especially SIMPLY LOVES a military metaphor. Nothing wrong with that, perfectly natural. So to call our darkest hours the war years or troubles, what's wrong with that? more to the point, it's perfectly natural for most people to be defined by a certain period of their life (unless you're cliff Richard) and it's usually when they were younger. Again, nothing wrong with that. However your remarks smack of an ungrateful 'punk' or baby boomer telling old veterans in the 60s and 70s to "shut up grandpa / Uncle Albert, no one cares about your war stories anymore...." Except now more than ever they do. It's called RESPECT.

 

[London Irish]

Met a director this week.
Asked him about the meeting ( which was Monday not Tuesday as reported in arsegas) and if there was vote on hyypia.

He said it's not down to us. It's the chairmans decision.

Just saying like.

Of course - the Albion is not a democracy but much more akin to a royal court - the courtiers don't ever get to vote on what the king wants

 

[Captain Sensible]

The Albion is becoming a closed shop, 1 man at the helm and his minion below that hold all the power. I wonder how long before Virgo is barred from the Amex for saying what we all think or Naylor for writing something the club don't like. It's ok to compare. We'd be idiots not to, you must always learn from your past. Is bloom Archer? No of course not, a million miles away but under the Bloom Barber watch we are in free fall. What if we slip to L1 and Bloom sells part of his share? Or worse? 1 man controls everything, we can all see the playing side isn't working, the finacial side (according to the club) isn't working and therefore the club isn't working. Fans are disillusioned, attendances down, team going down. Yet no word from our chairman apart from he's off to Austrailia soon. Look I love TB for what he's done, but when he took up the mantle and financed the Amex he can't just leave it to someone else to run things, he needs to be involved. At the moment he's not and like Bellotti, Barber is closing the shop door pretty quickly. I wonder how many fans will storm the directors box this time?

 

[London Irish]

I think the Belotti comparisons are just Harty being provocatively mischievous again, as he has been pretty much since he figured out football was a brilliant way for a young working class lad to poke a bit of fun at those in charge. He did it just as much when Knight was in charge, he isn't going to stop now Bloom is.

Barber is just the front man of a corporatised strategy that has hit the buffers because Bloom doesn't want to spend big money like the current contenders at the top of the Championship. For me, he has got the look of a fall guy about him, as has Burke.

In a kingdom, it's always safer to have a go at the courtiers than a king.

 

[Chicken Runner61]

You can blame Paul Barber for the cut backs, you can blame him for the corporate and match day experience he promotes, you can blame him for the catering and you can probably blame him for the loss of Gus and his replacements but he takes his orders from higher up and he didn't build the ground and infrastructure or agree to the travel, planning and parking restrictions. The recruitment of players and wages structure set up and footballing strategy does not seem to be down to him and whilst its pretty obvious the club are struggling with the running costs of the Amex I doubt Paul Barber has much input apart from a financial aspect and in his position the rest of his job would be easier if the club were winning games, scoring goals and signing flair players that attract the crowds his job requires.

Whilst I'm not defending him entirely I find it strange that he gets most of the blame and from what I have seen a lot of the problems and changes that have riled supporters so much happened or were instigated before his arrival. I was told the day we started building Falmer that from now on the club would be run differently than it had previously and to expect changes in the family approach it had. The inference was that it had to be professional, businesslike and to make a profit.

You can argue that that approach hasn't worked but it wasn't Paul Barbers directive and I'm pretty sure he has inherited it and whoever was or is in that position is told what to do.

 

[portlock seagull]

The Albion is becoming a closed shop, 1 man at the helm and his minion below that hold all the power. I wonder how long before Virgo is barred from the Amex for saying what we all think or Naylor for writing something the club don't like. It's ok to compare. We'd be idiots not to, you must always learn from your past. Is bloom Archer? No of course not, a million miles away but under the Bloom Barber watch we are in free fall. What if we slip to L1 and Bloom sells part of his share? Or worse? 1 man controls everything, we can all see the playing side isn't working, the finacial side (according to the club) isn't working and therefore the club isn't working. Fans are disillusioned, attendances down, team going down. Yet no word from our chairman apart from he's off to Austrailia soon. Look I love TB for what he's done, but when he took up the mantle and financed the Amex he can't just leave it to someone else to run things, he needs to be involved. At the moment he's not and like Bellotti, Barber is closing the shop door pretty quickly. I wonder how many fans will storm the directors box this time?

Some sensible points except the last sentence - of course no ones going to storm the directors box. My fan card doesn't even swipe me into that stand.

 

[Bry Nylon]

In fairness to Harty, this country and football especially SIMPLY LOVES a military metaphor. Nothing wrong with that, perfectly natural. So to call our darkest hours the war years or troubles, what's wrong with that? more to the point, it's perfectly natural for most people to be defined by a certain period of their life (unless you're cliff Richard) and it's usually when they were younger. Again, nothing wrong with that. However your remarks smack of an ungrateful 'punk' or baby boomer telling old veterans in the 60s and 70s to "shut up grandpa / Uncle Albert, no one cares about your war stories anymore...." Except now more than ever they do. It's called RESPECT.

Perhaps you're right? But for me, the ones who retained the greatest dignity and gained the most respect were the ones who rarely spoke of what they did but instead quietly slipped back into normal life. That's true class.

 

[Lenny Rider]

For me this is less about Barber and more about Harty's need to constantly define himself by something that happened nearly 20 years ago, looking for tenuous parallels where none exist to give himself a purpose above and beyond just being a fan. The fact that he always refers to that period as the 'war years' or the 'troubles' would be meat and drink to a therapist. Give it up. It's over. You won, they lost and today's situation is light years away from the scenario back then.

With respect back then all you probably had to worry about was homework diaries and gameboys, unless you actually lived the ongoing saga each day please dont preach your psychobabble to me.
As a group collectively, we were threatened, sued, verbally abused, paid people's fines etc, to this day I don't know how I got through it all remaining married and not having my daughter, whose not keen on football, resenting me for the sacrifices my young family made.
I'm not saying that Tony Bloom is anywhere near the same as Archer and Stanley, far from it, but bear in mind Uncle Ray was in on it all from Day One, and as various posts on this thread prove I'm not alone in my comparisons to the Albion careers of the respective CEOs.

 

[Lower West Stander]

Do you even know what patronising means? Anyway,you're in a huff so that's why you're using words like hysterical reaction (the irony!) so maybe when you've calmed down you'll be able to see there's a bit of truth in Hartys comparisons as many of us do. Don't think anyone is saying he is belloti. But maybe there are parallels one of which is he's perhaps hoodwinked a few....not naming any names mind but...

No - haven't got a clue what patronizing means. I just used the word in the sentence because I thought it sounded good.

Why compare him with Bellotti then? As I originally stated, I have no time for Barber but it is only when the club are losing games that comparisons like this start to be made. The fact is that we have recruited poorly and have a manager who is useless. Is that Barber's fault? Probably yes. Who has he hoodwinked - the fans? Loads of people on here have been complaining about him for ages.

Bellotti is a scumbag, Barber a corporate yes man. Don't confuse the two.

 

[portlock seagull]

Perhaps you're right? But for me, the ones who retained the greatest dignity and gained the most respect were the ones who rarely spoke of what they did but instead quietly slipped back into normal life. That's true class.

So anyone who talked about it wasn't 'class'? Boy is that a strange Conclusion.

 

[Captain Sensible]

Some sensible points except the last sentence - of course no ones going to storm the directors box. My fan card doesn't even swipe me into that stand.

It was a tongue in cheek comment. as was yours no doubt, but I think we can really create a movement for change. Maybe not with the aggression of the past but our organising skills have not gone anywhere. One thing I always heard opposition fans say about us, was we were organised and had a purpose.

 

[portlock seagull]

No - haven't got a clue what patronizing means. I just used the word in the sentence because I thought it sounded good.

Why compare him with Bellotti then? As I originally stated, I have no time for Barber but it is only when the club are losing games that comparisons like this start to be made. The fact is that we have recruited poorly and have a manager who is useless. Is that Barber's fault? Probably yes. Who has he hoodwinked - the fans? Loads of people on here have been complaining about him for ages.

Bellotti is a scumbag, Barber a corporate yes man. Don't confuse the two.

Are they both men?

 

[portlock seagull]

It was a tongue in cheek comment. as was yours no doubt, but I think we can really create a movement for change. Maybe not with the aggression if the past but our organising skills have not gone anywhere.

Yes yes yes...But how are we going to deal with these menacing swipe card turnstiles? Surely we need a plan to overcome these first? Otherwise we'll never get out of the North into the West