How much of the problem is down to Tony Bloom?

[GT49er]

Can't get Latest TV - not on Freeview or on my Virgin package. Any chance of it showing up on YouTube any time?

 

[Seagulls Downunder]

http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2010/dec/15/poker-victoria-coren

Victoria Coren is a very close friend of his

If she's that close, then she'd know if he has some horses. He's lucky if he spends 6 weeks here, let alone 6 months, what a load of rubbish. This article is 4 years old and this is what your basing your comment on, get the facts not the fiction.

 

[Bwian]

She's in such a bad mood!

You are a very strange person.

 

[Springal]

If she's that close, then she'd know if he has some horses. He's lucky if he spends 6 weeks here, let alone 6 months, what a load of rubbish. This article is 4 years old and this is what your basing your comment on, get the facts not the fiction.

Riiiight. She mentions him a lot on her blogs. Do you have anything to back your theory up?

I also recall a fans forum since being at the Amex where he explained he spent *a lot* of money for private feeds from the Amex so he didn't miss a game when he was in Aus.

 

[symyjym]

What experience can Dick Knight impart to Tony Bloom, he's no knowledge of running a football club of the size and shape that the Albion is now. It's a completely different type of business from what the Albion was in 2004 and the constraints that both TB and DK have/had were miles apart.

Player contracts? DK is a man of many great qualities but he is hardly a master in this regard. Hammond and O'Callaghan spring to mind straight away. Dealings with the manager? I'd rather TB didn't take advice on managers from the man who sacked Dean Wilkins. Both men are of their time and now it belongs to TB. I really don't think there's much practical advice that DK could give him.

Bloom had no experience of running a football club of this size He didn't even have any experience of running a football club when he took over at the Withdean.

I liked Deano, but he was best suited within the setup not manager, otherwise he would be managing now. You forgot to mention Gareth Barry, Zamora and more recently Murray. Nothing wrong with Hammond unless you hold grudges.

Who put the plan of action in for Falmer? The Amex was designed pre Bloom. DK had a great relationship with our sponsors and getting Skint involved was a great move. He also paved the way for the American Express deal.

Dick Knight led from the front, Bloom employs people so he can dictate from the back.

In projects of this size you need people by your side, and I am not talking about the ones you employ. Delia Smith hasn't been successful on her own, she has genuine Norwich fans by her side. Who has Bloom got? For all intents and purposes Bloom stands by himself and all other board members are silent ones.

Knight was a fantastic negotiator, had great charisma, was hands on, and pulled a lot of rabbits out of the hat, so your comment is a little disingenuous towards him considering the really tough times he pulled us through.

 

[Seagull73]

I

Bloom had no experience of running a football club of this size He didn't even have any experience of running a football club when he took over at the Withdean.

I liked Deano, but he was best suited within the setup not manager, otherwise he would be managing now. You forgot to mention Gareth Barry, Zamora and more recently Murray. Nothing wrong with Hammond unless you hold grudges.

Who put the plan of action in for Falmer? The Amex was designed pre Bloom. DK had a great relationship with our sponsors and getting Skint involved was a great move. He also paved the way for the American Express deal.

Dick Knight led from the front, Bloom employs people so he can dictate from the back.

In projects of this size you need people by your side, and I am not talking about the ones you employ. Delia Smith hasn't been successful on her own, she has genuine Norwich fans by her side. Who has Bloom got? For all intents and purposes Bloom stands by himself and all other board members are silent ones.

Knight was a fantastic negotiator, had great charisma, was hands on, and pulled a lot of rabbits out of the hat, so your comment is a little disingenuous towards him considering the really tough times he pulled us through.

Absolutely spot on.

 

[Buzzer]

Bloom had no experience of running a football club of this size He didn't even have any experience of running a football club when he took over at the Withdean.

I liked Deano, but he was best suited within the setup not manager, otherwise he would be managing now. You forgot to mention Gareth Barry, Zamora and more recently Murray. Nothing wrong with Hammond unless you hold grudges.

Who put the plan of action in for Falmer? The Amex was designed pre Bloom. DK had a great relationship with our sponsors and getting Skint involved was a great move. He also paved the way for the American Express deal.

Dick Knight led from the front, Bloom employs people so he can dictate from the back.

In projects of this size you need people by your side, and I am not talking about the ones you employ. Delia Smith hasn't been successful on her own, she has genuine Norwich fans by her side. Who has Bloom got? For all intents and purposes Bloom stands by himself and all other board members are silent ones.

Knight was a fantastic negotiator, had great charisma, was hands on, and pulled a lot of rabbits out of the hat, so your comment is a little disingenuous towards him considering the really tough times he pulled us through.

I know that Bloom had plenty of experience of subsidising a football club when we were at Withdean. And when he took over he already knew all the board and the club setup. He didn't come in cold. And the big point I made that you've not commented on is that the Albion now is completely different from the Albion then. Dick Knight dealt with a local Albion-friendly Skint Records. Tony Bloom dealt with global business Amex. DK ran a small club scrapping around on a shoestring budget in a borrowed running track. Completely unrecogniseable from where we are now. That's not anti-DK bias, that's just a cold hard fact.

And you completely misunderstand the point about Hammond. Losing Hammond when he wanted to stay can be put largely down to DK's ego. I'm not being disingenuous to DK here, even his most ardent supporters admit that he got far too closely involved in contract negotiations. The sacking of Dean Wilkins is something that DK should be extremely ashamed about IMO - the fact that he was sacked in the first place, the way in which it was handled and the whispering campaign against DW that DK ran for months before that.

Lastly, the project management (of which Martin Perry might have had one or two things to do with in regard to the Amex) is absolutely nothing like managing a business on a day-to-day basis. The DW sacking aside, DK was a brilliant chairman but a chairman of a different beast entirely. So even if Bloom had come in completely cold with zero experience (we know that's not true by the way - well it can't be if London Irish is claiming that Bloom was instrumental in sacking McGhee) it still wouldn't make the experience that DK had as chairman any more relevant.

 

[smudge]

Yeah let's get rid of him; great idea.

 

[GT49er]

Yeah let's get rid of him; great idea.

If you read this thread, you won't find anybody calling for Bloom out. That would be nonsense - he's a fan as well as the Chairman.....and yes, he has also paid for the whole shebang.

The question under discussion is, has he made mistakes? There are various candidates for the 'Who's to blame' award - Burke, the recruitment set-up, Hyypia, the inferior players we got in to replace better ones (and who possibly aren't performing to their potential anyway). TB has done a fantastic job for this club, and of course he's got an awful lot absolutely spot-on right. But, as they say, the buck stops...............

 

[symyjym]

I know that Bloom had plenty of experience of subsidising a football club when we were at Withdean. And when he took over he already knew all the board and the club setup. He didn't come in cold. And the big point I made that you've not commented on is that the Albion now is completely different from the Albion then. Dick Knight dealt with a local Albion-friendly Skint Records. Tony Bloom dealt with global business Amex. DK ran a small club scrapping around on a shoestring budget in a borrowed running track. Completely unrecogniseable from where we are now. That's not anti-DK bias, that's just a cold hard fact.

And you completely misunderstand the point about Hammond. Losing Hammond when he wanted to stay can be put largely down to DK's ego. I'm not being disingenuous to DK here, even his most ardent supporters admit that he got far too closely involved in contract negotiations. The sacking of Dean Wilkins is something that DK should be extremely ashamed about IMO - the fact that he was sacked in the first place, the way in which it was handled and the whispering campaign against DW that DK ran for months before that.

Lastly, the project management (of which Martin Perry might have had one or two things to do with in regard to the Amex) is absolutely nothing like managing a business on a day-to-day basis. The DW sacking aside, DK was a brilliant chairman but a chairman of a different beast entirely. So even if Bloom had come in completely cold with zero experience (we know that's not true by the way - well it can't be if London Irish is claiming that Bloom was instrumental in sacking McGhee) it still wouldn't make the experience that DK had as chairman any more relevant.

If any Brighton fan had £200m in their back pocket they would have done as well as Bloom has done, but not many people could have done the job that DK did.

Yes good old Brutus, his work hasn't come without great reward.

Sometimes when people run things by themselves they become blinkered so it is good to have someone you can bounce off. The only people Bloom now works with are the yes men he employs.

 

[Buzzer]

If any Brighton fan had £200m in their back pocket they would have done as well as Bloom has done, but not many people could have done the job that DK did.

Yes good old Brutus, his work hasn't come without great reward.

Sometimes when people run things by themselves they become blinkered so it is good to have someone you can bounce off. The only people Bloom now works with are the yes men he employs.

So basically you want DK still involved at the top not through having any particular insight but because you think he was stabbed in the back by TB and that TB has no-one but yes men around him. Have you any evidence for this? Have you any evidence that DK didn't try to run his own chairmanship the same way? Reading Derek Chapman's comments in the Argus last year it would seem that DK wasn't the greatest at delegating or taking advice either.

As for your comments about having £200m to spare - it's worth mentioning that aside from the money that TB has put in and the big names he's got involved, his first two managerial appointments have got us League One winners and Championship play-off contenders two years running so TB hasn't done too shabbily. And I will say once again that they are different chairmen for different times and for different types of club. That Brutus comment of yours is very revealing as to your true feelings on the matter IMO.

 

[Not Andy Naylor]

I know that Bloom had plenty of experience of subsidising a football club when we were at Withdean. And when he took over he already knew all the board and the club setup. He didn't come in cold. And the big point I made that you've not commented on is that the Albion now is completely different from the Albion then. Dick Knight dealt with a local Albion-friendly Skint Records. Tony Bloom dealt with global business Amex. DK ran a small club scrapping around on a shoestring budget in a borrowed running track. Completely unrecogniseable from where we are now. That's not anti-DK bias, that's just a cold hard fact.

Surely the cold hard facts are that the naming rights deal for the stadium was done with global business Amex by DK.

 

[Buzzer]

Surely the cold hard facts are that the naming rights deal for the stadium was done with global business Amex by DK.

I may be wrong but although the initial discussions were with the club when DK was chairman, wasn't it all done and dusted under TB's chairmanship? And wasn't there a small matter of American Express keen to align themselves with a club of sufficient stature that what really swung it for them in terms of signing the sponsorship deal was that they were extremely impressed with TB's vision for the club. That was certainly what I was told by a senior manager at American Express?

I was also aware that American Express were getting very cold feet with the idea of sponsoring us when the club was going round the City banks with its business plan for the stadium and getting short shrift from every single one of them.

 

[Biscuit]

Quite a lot to be honest. He hired the wrong man.

Hopefully he'll correct it soon. He's only human and humans make mistakes. Hiring Sami is one such example.

 

[Thunder Bolt]

I know that Bloom had plenty of experience of subsidising a football club when we were at Withdean. And when he took over he already knew all the board and the club setup. He didn't come in cold. And the big point I made that you've not commented on is that the Albion now is completely different from the Albion then. Dick Knight dealt with a local Albion-friendly Skint Records. Tony Bloom dealt with global business Amex. DK ran a small club scrapping around on a shoestring budget in a borrowed running track. Completely unrecogniseable from where we are now. That's not anti-DK bias, that's just a cold hard fact.

And you completely misunderstand the point about Hammond. Losing Hammond when he wanted to stay can be put largely down to DK's ego. I'm not being disingenuous to DK here, even his most ardent supporters admit that he got far too closely involved in contract negotiations. The sacking of Dean Wilkins is something that DK should be extremely ashamed about IMO - the fact that he was sacked in the first place, the way in which it was handled and the whispering campaign against DW that DK ran for months before that.

Lastly, the project management (of which Martin Perry might have had one or two things to do with in regard to the Amex) is absolutely nothing like managing a business on a day-to-day basis. The DW sacking aside, DK was a brilliant chairman but a chairman of a different beast entirely. So even if Bloom had come in completely cold with zero experience (we know that's not true by the way - well it can't be if London Irish is claiming that Bloom was instrumental in sacking McGhee) it still wouldn't make the experience that DK had as chairman any more relevant.

Dick Knight had the idea of the community based stadium with which Amex was happy to be involved. They sponsored Albion in the Community which had DK at the head. Paul Barber then took it forward after Brighton & Hove jobs went to the cricket sponsorship.

The Dean Wilkins sacking was a board decision, and the only one who voted to keep him was Martin Perry, it wasn't down to DK alone. There were a lot of man management issues which I have heard directly from three ex players.

 

[Ernest]

Bloom needs to get rid of his lapdogs on the board for one and get somebody in who can give him some sound advice as well as tell him when he is going wrong and flogging a dead horse like he is with SEMI

 

[neilbard]

Before you start I fully realise the amount of money he has and is putting into the Albion. I also like the fact we have a fan in charge of our club and not a foreign owner. However there are some things I feel we have to question.
1. Firstly the appointment of SH. He has no experience of managing in the championship or England and his record, albeit at a big German club, was poor. He almost got them relegated. Similarly we waited ages to appoint him. I can only hope that the reality was that he was 5th choice or something. The problem lies in the fact that that he wants to employ a yes man who will do what he, Burke and Barber tell him. What do they really know about managing a team? Appoint someone who is Premier League or as our ghastly club phrase says, 'Premier League Ready'.
2. Why state we have a play off potential squad? I appreciate the optimism but if your so sure why are our results so bad.
3. Why give such a full on backing to SH recently in the press and at the Seagulls Over London event? You are shooting yourself in the foot. 3 nervy wins against teams who have since sacked their managers (says it all really) does not constitute hope and to say you have been encouraged by the displays was remarkable. We've got some good players so they will do some okay things in games but we NEVER WIN and don't look like doing it enough times to get 40 points, let alone 50. I really fear he will be very stubborn or loyal AND stick with SH until it is too late.
4. This seasons is a carbon copy of Adams take 2 with all these loanees won't in reality don't care about us going down. We are panic signing anyone. It's also just like the 91-92 when we sold our striker (Mike Small) in the summer after making the play offs but went down.
5. All the blame has gone to Poyet for leaving but I'm critical of the club for not massaging his ego more. Use him like he used us perhaps. I'm not his biggest fan but he was and is a great manager who would have got us up if we could have kept things harmonious. Not piss him off but stating how we would have no money soon, hence him wanting to leave before the end of the season. Bloom and PR Barber couldn't manage him. I realise this is a tad critical but it's always been easy to point the finger at Poyet and not at our management.
6. The appointment of Burke and Barber? We were doing pretty well until then weren't we and they seem completely removed from any criticism. Although outwardly I realise he can't do this, I hope inwardly he is questioning things instead of blind faith.
I know the points above won't be to everyone's taste but I feel his biggest responsibility comes NOW. If he sticks with SH for anymore time, we will go down. I just hope he is not too stubborn or loyal to appoint a new management team before we slide into League 1 while training at the best training ground in the country.

That's it in a nutshell

 

[Not Andy Naylor]

I may be wrong but although the initial discussions were with the club when DK was chairman, wasn't it all done and dusted under TB's chairmanship? And wasn't there a small matter of American Express keen to align themselves with a club of sufficient stature that what really swung it for them in terms of signing the sponsorship deal was that they were extremely impressed with TB's vision for the club. That was certainly what I was told by a senior manager at American Express?

I was also aware that American Express were getting very cold feet with the idea of sponsoring us when the club was going round the City banks with its business plan for the stadium and getting short shrift from every single one of them.

I only know what was allowed to go into DK's book.

 

[boik]

Well, I've just got in and waded through this thread. To save anyone else the hassle, here is the summary:

People don't like losing so we should sack everyone associated with the current regime as they're not as good as the old lot.

 

[Buzzer]

Dick Knight had the idea of the community based stadium with which Amex was happy to be involved. They sponsored Albion in the Community which had DK at the head. Paul Barber then took it forward after Brighton & Hove jobs went to the cricket sponsorship.

The Dean Wilkins sacking was a board decision, and the only one who voted to keep him was Martin Perry, it wasn't down to DK alone. There were a lot of man management issues which I have heard directly from three ex players.

As I've elaborated on above, the Amex sponsorship was far from a done deal until TB's chairmanship.

With regards to the DW sacking, I've heard from more than one source that DK was briefing people as far back as 6 months before Wilkins was sacked (immediately after the Hammond contract debacle), telling them DW would be gone at the end of the season no matter what. Now, all managers have run-ins with players - ALL managers, at Brighton, at Man U, at England, at Barcelona. Wilkins man-management skills can't have been too bad because he took a squad of youth teamers and got us to 7th when he was sacked. You don't pull off that sort of miracle if you have seriously bad relationship with your team. I'm not saying Wilkins was the easiest manager to deal with but I've also heard from more than one source that DW's attempts to turn the focus and control of sections of the club towards the first team and away from DK was not welcomed (and that's putting it diplomatically). As with all of these things, the truth probably lies buried somewhere in the middle.

Whatever the reasons, DK sacked a man who bled blue and white, who had stuck with us through our hardest times, who had given us some fantastic homegrown talent and replaced him with someone who, if he hadn't been sacked would have taken us down to League Two.

But I'll reiterate, aside from the DW sacking, DK was a quite brilliant chairman but his tenure was in a different time with a different type of club.