Tony Bloom

[Withdeano]

Maybe the conversation was something like "it has been known since March that you want to leave BHAFC. We have reached a decision about your departure and you will be receiving a confirmation email later today"? Of course I have no idea if the conversation went like that at all but I bet it was along similar lines.

The phone call in March by Poyet also explains his post match comments after the Palace.games. He had no intention of staying at the club.

Yes - the whole thing falls into context now. At the time it seemed to be a "goodbye" message despite Andy Naylor telling fans not to misinterpret it. After what TB said on Tuesday, it's clear that Gus was mentally leaving the club even if he wasn't being released. It also explains why he hardly ever did media from then on. Basically he was sulking.

Having thought things through after hearing what TB said (it takes a while for things to to sink in with me ) I can't help feel that as Gus had made his intentions to go clear prior to the Palace game and as Reading came in a few days later, would it not have been better for the club to accept some compensation and cut ties.... hindsight and all that, but if he had already shown his desire to leave perhaps it would have been better to use the Reading approach to everyone's advantage rather than insist on retaining someone as manager who didn't want to be there (and who it could be said didn't really throw himself into the final 2 months of the season as we'd hoped he might). I suppose had that been the case, we'd have Adkins in charge now though....

Not a criticism of the club's stance, just an observation. I was mightily impressed with Tony Bloom on Tuesday - the club's in good hands.

 

[KZNSeagull]

Yes - the whole thing falls into context now. At the time it seemed to be a "goodbye" message despite Andy Naylor telling fans not to misinterpret it. After what TB said on Tuesday, it's clear that Gus was mentally leaving the club even if he wasn't being released. It also explains why he hardly ever did media from then on. Basically he was sulking.

Having thought things through after hearing what TB said (it takes a while for things to to sink in with me ) I can't help feel that as Gus had made his intentions to go clear prior to the Palace game and as Reading came in a few days later, would it not have been better for the club to accept some compensation and cut ties.... hindsight and all that, but if he had already shown his desire to leave perhaps it would have been better to use the Reading approach to everyone's advantage rather than insist on retaining someone as manager who didn't want to be there (and who it could be said didn't really throw himself into the final 2 months of the season as we'd hoped he might). I suppose had that been the case, we'd have Adkins in charge now though....

Not a criticism of the club's stance, just an observation. I was mightily impressed with Tony Bloom on Tuesday - the club's in good hands.

I thought Gus turned Reading down?

 

[Working class pride]

Given that the Albion are back getting 26,000 to 30,000 for second tier football, then if the Albion go up, then how can the Amex be expanded to accommodate the extra demand that playing Man U, Arsenal, Liverpool, Spurs ect will bring instead of Watford, Yeovil and Barnsley? Will safe standing be considered and / or can the North Stand be made larger and steeper so to give the Amex a good end the behind the goal ? If safe standing then perhaps the lower East, so bring back a good old fashioned East terrace? Oh and thanks for everything, its a long way since Mr Archer.

Wondered if this was asked and if so what the reply was?

 

[Return of the Rev]

Swerved any answer on the 83 cash

 

[Westdene Seagull]

For what purpose would the FL prevent stadium clocks going past 90 minutes - bizarre !

 

[KZNSeagull]

For what purpose would the FL prevent stadium clocks going past 90 minutes - bizarre !

Fergie Time?

 

[Goldstone1976]

For what purpose would the FL prevent stadium clocks going past 90 minutes - bizarre !

I've read somewhere else that the reason is that the ref tells the 4th official how much added time there is at 90 mins, but it's always announced as "a minimum of n minutes" to allow for further stoppages in the extra time. The FL don't want the refs to be under any more pressure than they already are from the fans to blow for full time. They feel that if the stadium clock shows 94 mins (say) when it's already been announced the extra time is 4 mins, the crowd will bay at the ref to blow up, even if he has added a further two minutes during extra time for an injury/time wasting/whatever....

 

[Not Andy Naylor]

That's not answering the question I asked! Can we take it that he didn't confirm that he'd told Gus he was fired in that conversation then? I have absolutely no axe to grind on this topic; merely seeking clarification, s'all. At the moment, it reads like TB was irritated that people think that Gus was fired live on TV, confirmed that he'd spoken to Gus some 7 hours previously, but did not specify what was said in that conversation.... is that right?

People are missing the point here. It doesn't matter at all when Gus was told. What is significant was that the sacking was announced while Gus was working on a live TV show. So while people can argue backwards and forwards as much as they like about when Gus knew or didn't know, as far as the media was concerned, he was publicly sacked while on TV and that was the story that went around the world. Nothing the club can ever say will change that.

 

[Hotchilidog]

People are missing the point here. It doesn't matter at all when Gus was told. What is significant was that the sacking was announced while Gus was working on a live TV show. So while people can argue backwards and forwards as much as they like about when Gus knew or didn't know, as far as the media was concerned, he was publicly sacked while on TV and that was the story that went around the world. Nothing the club can ever say will change that.

Wow the media soups makes a meal of the story and Gus milks the sympathy vote for all he can. In hindsight the fax should have been sent at a different time, but for Gus to say it's the first he heard of it is clearly nonsense. I couldn't careless what anyone thinks about it now to be honest, he has a new job and I wish him the best in it, and we have some rebuilding to do, let's move on.

 

[Goldstone1976]

People are missing the point here. It doesn't matter at all when Gus was told. What is significant was that the sacking was announced while Gus was working on a live TV show. So while people can argue backwards and forwards as much as they like about when Gus knew or didn't know, as far as the media was concerned, he was publicly sacked while on TV and that was the story that went around the world. Nothing the club can ever say will change that.

I think there are two points.

Your point, principally about the PR handling of making the announcement when Gus was on TV (which was p*ss poor timing, though the club have said they didn't know he was when they made the announcement), is absolutely correct.

However, there is a separate point about integrity and how you deal with your staff. When Gus was told on TV, he said (iirc) that he didn't know before that point that he'd been fired. If TB had told him 7 hours previously that he was fired, that is new and material news.

I wasn't at the meeting that TB attended and was attempting to clarify whether he had in fact said that he told Gus he was fired in that call or not. It's not clear from what has been said on this thread whether he said that he had or not, and I'm fine with that. If he did say that, that's pretty damning....

 

[trueblue]

People are missing the point here. It doesn't matter at all when Gus was told. What is significant was that the sacking was announced while Gus was working on a live TV show. So while people can argue backwards and forwards as much as they like about when Gus knew or didn't know, as far as the media was concerned, he was publicly sacked while on TV and that was the story that went around the world. Nothing the club can ever say will change that.

One potential alternative would have been Gus announcing his own sacking on TV before the club had told the fans. That would have been worse.

I don't think people are missing the point at all. The media bang on about it because of Poyet's apparent astonishment and claim that he knew nothing about his dismissal, which to most fans doesn't seem credible.

Just because something is misreported initially and then that becomes accepted, convenient 'fact' for the rest of the media, doesn't make it right. It's just sloppy journalism.

 

[Working class pride]

Given that the Albion are back getting 26,000 to 30,000 for second tier football, then if the Albion go up, then how can the Amex be expanded to accommodate the extra demand that playing Man U, Arsenal, Liverpool, Spurs ect will bring instead of Watford, Yeovil and Barnsley? Will safe standing be considered and / or can the North Stand be made larger and steeper so to give the Amex a good end the behind the goal ? If safe standing then perhaps the lower East, so bring back a good old fashioned East terrace? Oh and thanks for everything, its a long way since Mr Archer.

Gus used to manage us, as did Liam Brady, Barry Lloyd, Allan Mullery and Charlie Webb. Gus wanted out, and he certainly got his wish, how why or whatever is chip paper, yesterdays news and if he was upset then who was it who said "be careful what you wish for as it might come true".. Now for the future. Was TB asked about this..?

 

[Acker79]

One potential alternative would have been Gus announcing his own sacking on TV before the club had told the fans. That would have been worse.

Why would "the club have waited a little bit to tell the fans, but gus announced it first" be worse than "the club fired gus while he was on TV"?

I don't think people are missing the point at all. The media bang on about it because of Poyet's apparent astonishment and claim that he knew nothing about his dismissal, which to most fans doesn't seem credible

At least until the club released a statement saying he knew it was "pending" at which point a lot of fans started to wonder if gus was surprised by the confirmation that he had not yet received.

 

[Not Andy Naylor]

One potential alternative would have been Gus announcing his own sacking on TV before the club had told the fans. That would have been worse.

I don't think people are missing the point at all. The media bang on about it because of Poyet's apparent astonishment and claim that he knew nothing about his dismissal, which to most fans doesn't seem credible.

Just because something is misreported initially and then that becomes accepted, convenient 'fact' for the rest of the media, doesn't make it right. It's just sloppy journalism.

No, the fact is that the official announcement on the club website came at 8.02pm, after the programme Gus was on had started. The media were alerted to the imminence of the announcement by text at 7.58pm. That was not misreported and is not a convenient or inconvenient fact. It's just a fact. The club publicly announced Gus's sacking - whenever they told him personally - while he was on TV. Ergo, in the eyes of the world, we are the club that sacked its manager live on TV. That genie cannot be put back in the bottle.

 

[Not Andy Naylor]

I think there are two points.

Your point, principally about the PR handling of making the announcement when Gus was on TV (which was p*ss poor timing, though the club have said they didn't know he was when they made the announcement), is absolutely correct.

However, there is a separate point about integrity and how you deal with your staff. When Gus was told on TV, he said (iirc) that he didn't know before that point that he'd been fired. If TB had told him 7 hours previously that he was fired, that is new and material news.

I wasn't at the meeting that TB attended and was attempting to clarify whether he had in fact said that he told Gus he was fired in that call or not. It's not clear from what has been said on this thread whether he said that he had or not, and I'm fine with that. If he did say that, that's pretty damning....

My point was solely about the announcement, which was when the media knew. The timing of Gus's knowledge is a different issue.

 

[Goldstone1976]

My point was solely about the announcement, which was when the media knew. The timing of Gus's knowledge is a different issue.

Indeed so. But you quoted my post in making your point. My post was about a different issue to the one you were making; specifically, exactly the point about the timing of Gus' knowledge!

 

[Creaky]

I think there are two points.

Your point, principally about the PR handling of making the announcement when Gus was on TV (which was p*ss poor timing, though the club have said they didn't know he was when they made the announcement), is absolutely correct.

However, there is a separate point about integrity and how you deal with your staff. When Gus was told on TV, he said (iirc) that he didn't know before that point that he'd been fired. If TB had told him 7 hours previously that he was fired, that is new and material news.

I wasn't at the meeting that TB attended and was attempting to clarify whether he had in fact said that he told Gus he was fired in that call or not. It's not clear from what has been said on this thread whether he said that he had or not, and I'm fine with that. If he did say that, that's pretty damning....

IF TB told GP in that phone call that he was fired then why the 7 hour delay before this was 'confirmed' via email? - seems unlikely.

I'm sure that if TB had informed GP that he was sacked in that phone call then he would have made that perfectly clear in his response to questions - he would have no reason not to and plenty of reasons to do so.

 

[Blue Valkyrie]

Well I guess Tony said to Gus 'reach a compromise agreement by xx.xx time, if not you are sacked'.

xx.xx came and went with no agreement in place and so the sacking was actioned as explained at time xx.xx

So in a way both public interpretations are correct.

 

[Goldstone1976]

IF TB told GP in that phone call that he was fired then why the 7 hour delay before this was 'confirmed' via email? - seems unlikely.

I'm sure that if TB had informed GP that he was sacked in that phone call then he would have made that perfectly clear in his response to questions - he would have no reason not to and plenty of reasons to do so.

I'm inclined to agree with you. That's why my first post seeking clarification started "Whoa!".

I can think of one reason why TB might only imply that he'd told Gus 7 hours before the TV appearance: to keep his and the club's powder dry in the event that Gus take the whole thing to Court. Why then would he even imply it? To let us (and Gus?) know that he had told Gus 7 hours earlier than Gus claimed.

Anyway - it would appear that Tony did not state at this meeting that he told Gus that he'd been fired in that call. Whether he did or not is thus unknown.

The only thing that is curious is what motive did Tony have to say that he had spoken to Gus 7 hours earlier? I think we can be assured that there was a motive; I'm not willing to speculate on what that might be further than I have done in this post.

 

[Goldstone1976]

Well I reckon Tony said to Gus 'reach a compromise agreement by xx.xx time, if not you are sacked'.

xx.xx came and went with no agreement in place and so the sacking was actioned as explained at time xx.xx

Also plausible. As, no doubt, are a few other possibilities.

I think I'm now done with this. I only ever wanted to find out what TB actually said in the meeting; s'all!