More Gus-related disclosures from Paul Barber; if this stuff bores you, do not open thread

SI 4 BHA · Aug 9, 2013

The Large One said:
If you go to Madrid or Barcelona, the presence of Real or Barcelona FC is everywhere. Admittedly, it's slightly ludicrous to make a direct comparison between Brighton and Real, but the point is - the football club is a major part of the city's culture.

Brighton is a go-to city for people from all over the UK, Europe and the world - tourists and overseas students. We have a certain captive audience (locals mostly) who would use the Amex, but it's also very important for showing civic pride, marketing and prominence to have a high profile establishment in the city centre, especially when the club itself is in a place that people wouldn't ordinarily go to.

New business never hurts.

I appreciate what you are saying, but actually new business can hurt and in extreme situations, destroy a business. On many occasions in my job I have seen small businesses dash for growth without a business plan in place and although turnover increased substantially, in fact they actually make losses on each sale or project and wind up worse off than before. Yes, there is a trade off between civic pride, marketing etc, and losing money and presumably PB and his staff have done their sums and decided the losses are greater than any intangible benefits of keeping the shop open.

Personally, I haven't used the shop since the Amex opened, it's far more convenient to drive to Falmer or visit on a match day and I suspect that is the case with the vast majority of fans, so I can well understand the decision.

As you say, your comparison between Brighton and Real is "slightly" ludicrous, but on a more relevant level, do the likes of Reading/Shef Wed/Leeds/Derby etc have city centre stores as well as a "megastore" at the ground?

J2 BHA · Aug 9, 2013

Bwian said:
Point me in the direction of anything positive you've said about the club. It seems whenever your name appears in a thread you are slagging off Barber or leading the campaign for Poyet's sainthood. Where exactly has Barber f**cked up our football club? He may be making a few tough decisions whilst attempting to bring the losses down but I see no evidence of the club being f**cked up. We are no longer 'little old Brighton' playing at Withdean. We are in a brand new stadium that is, despite huge ST Sales, draining money from the club at an alarming rate. I have no allegiance to Barber, nor do I despise him as you (and a few others) clearly do. He has a tough job and some will not like what he HAS TO DO to bring the losses down. If Barber does what he has been employed to do we will have a football club that complies with FFP. The Albion is no longer a cottage industry-it is a multi-Million pound business and that is something many of you fail to grasp. Tony Bloom has single handedly invested more in The Albion over the last few years than, probably, the club has had invested in it since 1901-he is looking to protect his investment en route to the Premier League. The Premier League where we might have been now had Saint Gus completed the job.

Best post I have read on here in AGES, absolutely spot on

ozzygull · Aug 9, 2013

SI 4 BHA said:
As you say, your comparison between Brighton and Real is "slightly" ludicrous, but on a more relevant level, do the likes of Reading/Shef Wed/Leeds/Derby etc have city centre stores as well as a "megastore" at the ground?

I can't say about the others but Reading open one in the Town centre in a temporary location around Christmas time then close it again soon after. It's never gets very busy though or at least in's not when I would walk passed it on my lunch break.

The Large One · Aug 9, 2013

SI 4 BHA said:
As you say, your comparison between Brighton and Real is "slightly" ludicrous, but on a more relevant level, do the likes of Reading/Shef Wed/Leeds/Derby etc have city centre stores as well as a "megastore" at the ground?

The principle difference I'd say between Brighton and those places is that - in summer especially (and a football club is a year-round business) - Brighton is a destination city, rather than a commerce city like Leeds or Sheffield. The main issue I have with the Queens Road shop is that is pretty... nothing-y. It's a bit - no, a lot - drab.

Of course, just because other clubs don't have them, it doesn't follow we shouldn't. How many aspects of business and merchandise are there where football has been reluctant to show initiative...? Selling real ale at a stadium springs to mind, for example.

I also feel that a combined shop of Albion and SCCC merchandise could have some merit - shared costs etc.

Goldstone1976 · Aug 9, 2013

Mustafa said:
I bloody hate Barber's wording "There MAY be a new club shop" - which clearly translates as there is absolutely no intention of a replacement club shop.

Or, alternatively may mean "We plan to open a new shop, but we're in negotiations with a landlord and I don't want to tell them we're committed to it, thus ensuring a higher rent". Negotiation 101: Don't tell the party on the other side of the table what your position is until you absolutely have to.

Or, alternatively may mean "We're losing money hand over fist on the existing shop. We therefore thought it would be a good idea to stop the losses while we figure out what we should do next".

glasfryn · Aug 9, 2013

mustafa said:
that's not honesty, that's accusing a fellow albion fan of being cynical about a ceo who seems to be coming in and ****ing up our football club so by the end of it he can boast that he cut expenses on his c.v.

I do suspect that the gus sacking had something to do with barber & i will get flamed for having this suspicion, but oh well.

you are not alone

Seagull73 · Aug 9, 2013

Not Andy Naylor said:
The issue as far as I understand it is not with the changes and cuts that Barber has implemented. But there are ways of doing things ...

Indeed.

symyjym · Aug 9, 2013

We have a good and big enough shop at the Amex. We're a football club not Primarks :lolol:

Guy Fawkes · Aug 9, 2013

Mustafa said:
That's not honesty, that's accusing a fellow Albion fan of being cynical about a CEO who seems to be coming in and ****ing up our football club so by the end of it he can boast that he cut expenses on his C.V.

I do suspect that the Gus sacking had something to do with Barber & I will get flamed for having this suspicion, but oh well.

So who do you think should be making the savings to prevent us from losing millions? or do you want to stick your head in the sand and let it continue until the club ends up in dire financial difficulty (just like we did at the Goldstone and ended up homeless and very nearly out of business?

Don Quixote · Aug 9, 2013

Surely Bloom has brought Barber in so Barber can be the one everyone hates, while Bloom can be the good guy who saved the club, while doing nothing wrong. I am not saying Bloom has done anything wrong, but it is a clever thing to do.

Grombleton · Aug 9, 2013

Mustafa said:
I bloody hate Barber's wording "There MAY be a new club shop" - which clearly translates as there is absolutely no intention of a replacement club shop.

Does it? I sometimes wonder if English is your first language. You can read whatever the hell you like (you often do) so why not try and take the words at face value, rather than try to make this into a hatchet job?

That's not specifically against you, it's to all the people who can't grasp the business concept of 'if it's not making money, it isn't doing its job'. I don't necessarily like it, but i appreciate that is has to be done if we are going to continue to be competitive as a club and a business.

Drumstick · Aug 9, 2013

I do still find it strange how some people think that as they buy a season ticket or three believe they have the right to know the inner workings of the club?

Can people really not go along to the games, sing, do whatever and enjoy a match and not get so worried? The club is in good hands in TB and I'm sure none of this would be happening if it wasn't for the best of the club.

When something concerning happens (I doubt it now) then we can question. Enjoy the good times.

Bwian · Aug 9, 2013

Grombleton said:
Does it? I sometimes wonder if English is your first language. You can read whatever the hell you like (you often do) so why not try and take the words at face value, rather than try to make this into a hatchet job?

That's not specifically against you, it's to all the people who can't grasp the business concept of 'if it's not making money, it isn't doing its job'. I don't necessarily like it, but i appreciate that is has to be done if we are going to continue to be competitive as a club and a business.

It's not a difficult thing to understand is it? Although for some it clearly is.
Everybody needs to understand that The Albion and The Amex are now complex businesses. As much as I appreciate everything Dick Knight did for the club I'm glad he isn't running things now. His business model for The Amex said that we only needed 12000 season ticket holders to cover all costs-including the huge mortgage that would have been needed. If Mustafa and co think Barber has f**ked up the club they only need look at DK's financial plans. We'd be so far up shit creek...f**ked up wouldn't begin to describe the situation if we're struggling with 23000.

Jim in the West · Aug 9, 2013

Mustafa said:
That's not honesty, that's accusing a fellow Albion fan of being cynical about a CEO who seems to be coming in and ****ing up our football club so by the end of it he can boast that he cut expenses on his C.V.

I do suspect that the Gus sacking had something to do with Barber & I will get flamed for having this suspicion, but oh well.

Gus wanted out of BHA before Barber arrived.....he made it very clear we were only a stepping stone to something bigger and better like, er, Leeds or Reading. If Gus's departure was Barber's fault, do you honestly think TB would take Barber's side over that of the most successful manager in our history? Just face up to it - Gus did not want to be here....he is now gone, and we can look ahead with a huge amount of promise.

I really can't understand this constant harping on about Barber and his apparent ulterior motives. You are never going to make friends when taking tough decisions, but if Barber was concerned with being popular we'd be eating up all the revenue on running the stadium, etc, instead of investing in the team. Thankfully, because judicious cuts are being made, and the commercial activity is improving, we actually have a BIGGER budget for the playing side this year.

Lord Bracknell · Aug 9, 2013

Kids are wearing Albion shirts around town. Their friends want one. Their granny promises them they shall have one on their birthday. She's not going to schlep out to Falmer. Once the kid has the shirt, she'll want to start going to games. The income is starting to mount up.

symyjym · Aug 9, 2013

Lord Bracknell said:
Kids are wearing Albion shirts around town. Their friends want one. Their granny promises them they shall have one on their birthday. She's not going to schlep out to Falmer. Once the kid has the shirt, she'll want to start going to games. The income is starting to mount up.

But does it cover the rent, rates and wages, which could be around or upwards of £50k. If the sales don't cover the expenses it's not worth the shop.

If granny wants to, they are fairly clever these days, she would buy online at SeagullDirect in the comfort of her own home http://www.seagullsdirect.co.uk

Just a thought

Sergei's Celebration · Aug 9, 2013

symyjym said:
But does it cover the rent, rates and wages, which could be around or upwards of £50k. If the sales don't cover the expenses it's not worth the shop.

If granny wants to, they are fairly clever these days, she would buy online at SeagullDirect in the comfort of her own home http://www.seagullsdirect.co.uk

Just a thought

But that doesn't cover the Saturday morning 'can i have' from young seagulls or the £10 pocket money impusle buy from the young teens that a prominent shop presence in the centre of town can get.

portslade seagull · Aug 9, 2013

All top teams have a presence in the town centre, this would be a extremely bad move if ours was closed and not re-opened elsewhere. The Christmas pressie visit would be lost to them and that must amount to a fair bit

Thunder Bolt · Aug 9, 2013

Jim D said:
I doubt that costs for setting up a club shop will come under FFP rules and we have a previously spared no expense on infrastructure - so I would think Churchill Square is exactly where they're looking.

I mentioned Churchill Square in my post for a reason as I was at the meeting. I said the rents are going to be too high because that was a direct quote from Paul Barber. He has already ruled that out.

BensGrandad · Aug 9, 2013

Rents and rates will be the killer hence most High St in most towns are losing shops except charity shops and coffee shops. Probably said in jest but London Rd rents would be cheaper or a combined venture with SCCC and a shop in George St/Blatchington Rd. Last resort a mobile shop/caravan parked up near Brighton Station.

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