Pondicherry
Well-known member
For those who weren't there here is a rough summary of what I can remember. Any errors are mine.
VAR: TB thought handball vs Sheff Utd was marginal. Dunk assault should have been a red card. Club are in dialogue with the Premier League on a regular basis. Its a work in progress. TB is not anti VAR. Thinks it needs to be refined. Thinks VAR is here to stay and will get better over the next few years. Re the touchline TVs that the refs don't use a lot - they can use them but are not encouraged to use them as it slows the game. However it is their choice ultimately.
TB was asked what was his biggest mistake as chairman. He wanted time to think. Someone mentioned letting Murray go. TB said it was a Poyet decision. He could have overruled but it would have been a choice between keeping either Murray or Poyet. We had the funds to keep Murray if we had wanted to. Steve Cook was another regret. Would not happen now.
Strikers. Why did we let Andone and Locardia go? Was a Potter decision. They would not have got significant game time as did not fit into GP's plans. As they are experienced players it was best to let them go out on loan. GP was happy with the squad he had. TB trusts GP.
Why did we give GP such a big contract extension? Was not to protect our investment. They are confident in GP. They think he will be successful and want him long term. TB says this has been a difficult season for GP. He has had to adapt to Premier League after Sweden and Swansea which is a big change and he has had personal problems (father I presume).
Why is the atmosphere at the Amex declining? TB says the club spend a lot of time thinking about how to improve the atmosphere. He is not sure about a dedicated singing section as wants multiple areas being vociferous. He said fans can take the lead on ideas and the club will consider. So i guess get organised with ideas and e-mail Tony or PB and they will listen.
Penhill. It will run at Cheltenham if fit.
Percy Tau - will he play for Brighton? TB said rules in the summer may help (Brexit etc) but not clear. They will try to get him here. (TB did not sound confident in my opinion). Percy is a lot harder to get here than Alexis Mac.
Amex Expansion. Someone asked about this but unfortunately tied it in with people being forced to move seats (which I think is the family stand split). So this clouded the response from TB. He was not specific on where the extra seats were going. Later someone asked about improving facilities outside the ground. Again TB and his assistant (Paul Camlin?) were very cagey about what is going on. I think they are still in discussions with the council and don't want things public at this stage (despite the Falmer PC minutes)
Ben White. We had no recall and would not have recalled even if we did. He is on a long contract. Club very happy with him.
Squad. GP is very happy with the squad. It has great depth. TB was asked to name his first 11 from the current squad. He refused.
Jose Isquierdo: Knee was a big problem. TB thinks he will not play this season. The aim is to get him ready for a full pre season. My opinion was that TB was pretty downbeat on his prospects. I hope I am wrong.
Who has the best hospitality for TB at other clubs? All PL clubs are good. Man City is the best probably. One championship club which he would not name gave him a soup and sandwich.
Chris Hughton: Great coach and person. Bournemouth and particularly Cardiff game last season were the turning points. Could have gone after Cardiff but TB, PB and DA decided best to keep till end of the season which they still think was the correct decision. CH had not lost the dressing room. TB thinks it was right to make the change at the end of the season. Timing is always an issue. Announcement was sudden as news had started to leak and wanted to give CH and club the most time to plan for the future.
TB's day to day involvement. PB does all the non football stuff. TB talks to GP a couple of times a week normally. Also keeps a close eye on other key football areas: academy, recruitment, medical, Dan Ashworth, loans out. Seems TB is pretty hands on as time allows (with other business interests).
Womens Team. TB is delighted to support. Aim is to be top 4.
How do we attract youngsters to the club? Difficult with young players as there are travel time restrictions which vary by age. Basically we recruit in Sussex but we have the sea on one side and recruitment is limited there.
How will we become a top 10 club? By improving everything basically. Staying in the PL is a priority (obviously)
And finally coming back to biggest mistake. Mentioned Hypia. TB said circumstances conspired against SH. When they recruited him they spent a lot of time trying to work out who had made Bayer Leverkusen a success. Was it SH or his assistant at the time. It was not clear and they may have got this wrong. Also losing Sammy Lee did not help. This could have made the difference. Anyway he said in the end his biggest mistake / regret was the way Poyet left. He felt very let down by Poyet and the circumstances surrounding his leaving (which he did not go into detail on). He felt the whole thing should have been handled better (by both sides I think).
That's all folks.
VAR: TB thought handball vs Sheff Utd was marginal. Dunk assault should have been a red card. Club are in dialogue with the Premier League on a regular basis. Its a work in progress. TB is not anti VAR. Thinks it needs to be refined. Thinks VAR is here to stay and will get better over the next few years. Re the touchline TVs that the refs don't use a lot - they can use them but are not encouraged to use them as it slows the game. However it is their choice ultimately.
TB was asked what was his biggest mistake as chairman. He wanted time to think. Someone mentioned letting Murray go. TB said it was a Poyet decision. He could have overruled but it would have been a choice between keeping either Murray or Poyet. We had the funds to keep Murray if we had wanted to. Steve Cook was another regret. Would not happen now.
Strikers. Why did we let Andone and Locardia go? Was a Potter decision. They would not have got significant game time as did not fit into GP's plans. As they are experienced players it was best to let them go out on loan. GP was happy with the squad he had. TB trusts GP.
Why did we give GP such a big contract extension? Was not to protect our investment. They are confident in GP. They think he will be successful and want him long term. TB says this has been a difficult season for GP. He has had to adapt to Premier League after Sweden and Swansea which is a big change and he has had personal problems (father I presume).
Why is the atmosphere at the Amex declining? TB says the club spend a lot of time thinking about how to improve the atmosphere. He is not sure about a dedicated singing section as wants multiple areas being vociferous. He said fans can take the lead on ideas and the club will consider. So i guess get organised with ideas and e-mail Tony or PB and they will listen.
Penhill. It will run at Cheltenham if fit.
Percy Tau - will he play for Brighton? TB said rules in the summer may help (Brexit etc) but not clear. They will try to get him here. (TB did not sound confident in my opinion). Percy is a lot harder to get here than Alexis Mac.
Amex Expansion. Someone asked about this but unfortunately tied it in with people being forced to move seats (which I think is the family stand split). So this clouded the response from TB. He was not specific on where the extra seats were going. Later someone asked about improving facilities outside the ground. Again TB and his assistant (Paul Camlin?) were very cagey about what is going on. I think they are still in discussions with the council and don't want things public at this stage (despite the Falmer PC minutes)
Ben White. We had no recall and would not have recalled even if we did. He is on a long contract. Club very happy with him.
Squad. GP is very happy with the squad. It has great depth. TB was asked to name his first 11 from the current squad. He refused.
Jose Isquierdo: Knee was a big problem. TB thinks he will not play this season. The aim is to get him ready for a full pre season. My opinion was that TB was pretty downbeat on his prospects. I hope I am wrong.
Who has the best hospitality for TB at other clubs? All PL clubs are good. Man City is the best probably. One championship club which he would not name gave him a soup and sandwich.
Chris Hughton: Great coach and person. Bournemouth and particularly Cardiff game last season were the turning points. Could have gone after Cardiff but TB, PB and DA decided best to keep till end of the season which they still think was the correct decision. CH had not lost the dressing room. TB thinks it was right to make the change at the end of the season. Timing is always an issue. Announcement was sudden as news had started to leak and wanted to give CH and club the most time to plan for the future.
TB's day to day involvement. PB does all the non football stuff. TB talks to GP a couple of times a week normally. Also keeps a close eye on other key football areas: academy, recruitment, medical, Dan Ashworth, loans out. Seems TB is pretty hands on as time allows (with other business interests).
Womens Team. TB is delighted to support. Aim is to be top 4.
How do we attract youngsters to the club? Difficult with young players as there are travel time restrictions which vary by age. Basically we recruit in Sussex but we have the sea on one side and recruitment is limited there.
How will we become a top 10 club? By improving everything basically. Staying in the PL is a priority (obviously)
And finally coming back to biggest mistake. Mentioned Hypia. TB said circumstances conspired against SH. When they recruited him they spent a lot of time trying to work out who had made Bayer Leverkusen a success. Was it SH or his assistant at the time. It was not clear and they may have got this wrong. Also losing Sammy Lee did not help. This could have made the difference. Anyway he said in the end his biggest mistake / regret was the way Poyet left. He felt very let down by Poyet and the circumstances surrounding his leaving (which he did not go into detail on). He felt the whole thing should have been handled better (by both sides I think).
That's all folks.
