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Statement from Mr Barber



LamieRobertson

Not awoke
Feb 3, 2008
46,487
SHOREHAM BY SEA
Dear
On behalf of Tony Bloom, our board, and all of the club's staff, thank you for your patience and support during a very challenging few weeks for everyone associated with Brighton & Hove Albion. The overwhelming support you have shown for your club during a period when we have been legally able to say very little and offer only minimum insight has been a huge help for everyone concerned. Your kind messages of support and encouragement have been gratefully received by me and by everyone here, and they speak volumes for this community's fabulously strong and supportive spirit.

I hope you will understand that it is still not possible for us to provide you with any detail of the processes or circumstances that led to Gus Poyet's dismissal on Sunday, or to Charlie Oatway's ongoing suspension. I appreciate that this will frustrate some and it will, no doubt, lead to more speculation, rumour, and misinformation. I regret this very much because of course it creates more uncertainty, but we are still engaged in internal processes, including Gus's right of appeal, and we must ensure we continue to manage those processes with the utmost professionalism, dignity and confidentiality. You can however be sure that the club has followed - and continues to follow - very careful legal advice. You can also be sure that the club's communications have been both timely and entirely appropriate at every stage.

Our pre-season preparations have, as you would expect, been very high on our agenda since before the end of last season. And, as you will have seen from Sunday evening's announcement, we do intend to appoint an experienced interim manager to oversee first-team training, working with our existing staff. Given the uncertainty of recent weeks, we have had to consider and plan for every eventuality to ensure we eliminate any possibility of disruption to our preparations for the new season. We will of course update you once these interim plans are finalised and we are in a position to provide you with more details. Meantime, the players have reported back from their summer breaks today as planned. The first few days of pre-season involve the usual physical and medical testing, overseen by our medical staff and sports scientists, while technical sessions don't start until Thursday.

Recent events have not stopped our recruitment team, led by David Burke, our head of football operations, identifying player targets and we can expect to see some movement on this front over the next few weeks. As usual, this is something the chairman continues to be heavily involved in too. Similarly, we continue to work behind the scenes on new contracts for those players who were with us last season and we want to retain. Again, as is normally the case, these discussions take place over a number of weeks and typically accelerate as pre-season commences. And, despite the issues we have faced of late, we are not behind with any of this work.

Our investment in our player budget will be in line with last season. However, Financial Fair Play (FFP) is one challenge facing us that simply won't go away. With it comes the need to drive our revenues as hard as possible and to keep our overall operating costs at a minimum in order to ensure we remain competitive on the field. I'm sure many of you may well be fed up with hearing and reading about it. I can make no apology for reinforcing this message, as it is an essential one to ensure our continued progress as a club. It is also something that Tony and the board have made an absolute priority for all of us. This season is the first with the new rules firmly in place, and our aim at all times must be to operate within the guidelines.

One important date for your diary - and it's a great opportunity to discuss FFP and other topics in more detail - is Thursday 1st August when we will host another Fans' Forum at the Amex. We look forward to another evening of lively debate and to meeting those of you who can join us for this very popular annual event ahead of the new season. Tony and I will be available to answer your questions, direct from the floor, via our website, or via BBC Sussex. In addition, we hope to see as many of you in person as possible in the months ahead as we look to increase the number of supporter group meetings we host and attend throughout next season.

Sadly, these past few weeks have seen our club in the headlines for all the wrong reasons. We are well aware that our approach to a difficult situation has surprised many and has divided the opinion of some of our supporters. We are also well aware that an information vacuum creates a void that invariably gets filled somehow. However, it has been – and remains - very important for us to follow legally correct process, to remain calm, and to be professional. As such, it has also been necessary for the club to bite its tongue while some have rushed to judge our actions and reputations, regardless of the lack of information in their possession.

I can assure you that our absolute priority has been – and remains - to ensure that the very difficult processes we have had to follow have been handled with as much professionalism, confidentiality and dignity as possible and, just as importantly, that they have been managed within both the club's guidelines and the laws of the land. We have balanced this while doing our very best to keep you, our supporters, informed of matters when it has been possible and appropriate for us to do so, not least because it is neither our style nor our preference to conduct our private business or that of our employees in public.

All that remains is for me to thank you once again for your great support and understanding during this very challenging period. Our primary focus now is the season ahead and ensuring that we prepare as well as we possibly can. We look forward to seeing you back at the Amex next month.

Kind regards,
Paul Barber
Chief Executive



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Man of Harveys

Well-known member
Jul 9, 2003
18,731
Brighton, UK
big-brother-1984.jpg
 


dougdeep

New member
May 9, 2004
37,732
SUNNY SEAFORD
Thank you.
 














bWize

Well-known member
Nov 6, 2007
1,676
Barber is just good with words and damage limitations. I didn't feel any sincerity from that email and think the guy is a cock if i'm honest
 


Wardy

NSC's Benefits Guru
Oct 9, 2003
11,219
In front of the PC
There's nothing reassuring about that. It's damage limitation after royally shooting ourselves in the foot.

I never ceased to be amazed by some people on here. They moan because the club tell us nothing and "fail" to communicate. Then when they do they moan.
 




Bob!

Coffee Buyer
Jul 5, 2003
11,062
I'm liking that statement . Just need to appoint Oscar now.
 


soistes

Well-known member
Sep 12, 2012
2,643
Brighton
I think it's reassuring that he says they're still working behind the scenes to hang onto Lopez, El-Abd (and Upson?).
 


Wardy

NSC's Benefits Guru
Oct 9, 2003
11,219
In front of the PC
Barber is just good with words and damage limitations. I didn't feel any sincerity from that email and think the guy is a cock if i'm honest

I am sure he will be pleased to discuss that with you at the Fan's Forum
 




Icy Gull

Back on the rollercoaster
Jul 5, 2003
72,015
Marking time, not sure that we could expect anything else. Won't stop people having a pop though.


It's so unfair, shambles, sort it out NOW :angry: :jester:
 




Thunder Bolt

Ordinary Supporter
I never ceased to be amazed by some people on here. They moan because the club tell us nothing and "fail" to communicate. Then when they do they moan.

It's not moaning, just making an observation.

I wonder how long Barber will be at the club. Two years at the most is my estimate after he has finished his hatchet work.
 


Hungry Joe

SINNEN
Oct 22, 2004
7,636
Heading for shore
Seems fair enough to me, not an easy time to be in charge of any football club

Yet, apparently, there are so many experts on here that would have handled this so much better. Makes you wonder how these experts in running a professional football club and associated PR get the time to come on here doesn't it?
 









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