[h=3]Albion urged to be 'Premier League Ready'[/h]10:00am Sunday 13th October 2013 in Sport By Brian Owen
Paul Barber
Paul Barber wants every Albion employee to be ready for life in the top flight.
Which is why the Seagulls chief executive has urged people to remember three letters – PLR.
It’s not the latest light railway system which might get their fans*to Upton Park or the Emirates.
Instead it is their route to survival amid esteemed company.
PLR stands for Premier League Ready. And it is the in-house motto Barber has been extolling to his staff.
Barber chose a timely occasion to talk about PLR. It was the day the club showed off the new training complex rated by Oscar Garcia as good as anything across Europe.
And he did so when asked by The Argus whether there was any element of risk attached to the outlay should the club suddenly hit harder times on the pitch.
“One of things I have been keen to instil in the football club is what I call club confidence,” he said.
“That’s not just about confidence on the pitch. It is about making sure we are comfortable in the company we keep.
“We have had a project running in-house for some time now called Premier League Ready and that is not an arrogant project.
“It’s about ‘What does it take to be a Premier League club?’.
“What kind of infrastructure do we need? What kind of staff? What kind of procedures? How do you run matchdays?
“We have been to the Premier League and said ‘Okay, tell us what it is going to take to be in the Premier League?’.
“I think the Premier League reaction to that was we weren’t the only club to have asked that question.
“We want to be ready and when it happens we know we will be in the best possible shape to cope with it.”
Barber talks about ‘when’ rather than ‘if’ Albion get to the Premier League. He sees the 40-acre training ground as further evidence as to where the club is going, despite a tough week on the pitch recently.
He added: “PLR covers everything from how we manage car parks to what are the seats like? What are the floodlights like. Are they good enough for a match that will go live around the world?
“Are the dressing rooms big enough?
“Are our security procedures as good as they could be. Obviously we had a couple of incidents last year which forced us to go back and review some of those things because they weren’t good enough.
“The Crystal Palace dressing room incident forced us to review our security and one or two people have been caught out since then because they haven’t had the right accreditation to be in that area – and quite rightly because they don’t need to be.
“I always say to staff that our job as the suits as opposed to the tracksuits is to try and make it as easy as we can for the players to win football matches.”
Barber is wary of PLR being taken the wrong way.
He added: “We have kept it internal because, if you are not careful, it can be interpreted the wrong way externally.
“It can be seen as arrogant and it is not about that. It is just about being ready. Having worked in the Premier League for five seasons, I know it is a big difference from the Championship.
“The scrutiny, the crowds, the expectations of visiting teams, the type of players that come, the media’s expectation – it is a world apart.
“It can be a really big shock but we don’t want it to be a shock.
“It’s like the LED adverts we have around the pitch now. In the Premier League, they are mandatory. You could have a group of players who have never played with LED at The Amex.
“All of a sudden, their next game at The Amex is against Arsenal in the Premier League and there are all these flashing advertising signs.
“If they are not used that being at The Amex, it is one opportunity you have missed to take away a risk.”
All of which is a long way from a building site near Shoreham Airport. Or maybe not.
Barber wants to get away from a mindset which saw some off-field employees stand back in awe of Chelsea players when they visited for a friendly last summer.
He wants the club to become used to working in top facilities and mixing with the best.
He said. “Our goal and our ambition is to play at the highest level and I think everybody at the football club believes it is possible.”
Original article
Paul Barber wants every Albion employee to be ready for life in the top flight.
Which is why the Seagulls chief executive has urged people to remember three letters – PLR.
It’s not the latest light railway system which might get their fans*to Upton Park or the Emirates.
Instead it is their route to survival amid esteemed company.
PLR stands for Premier League Ready. And it is the in-house motto Barber has been extolling to his staff.
Barber chose a timely occasion to talk about PLR. It was the day the club showed off the new training complex rated by Oscar Garcia as good as anything across Europe.
And he did so when asked by The Argus whether there was any element of risk attached to the outlay should the club suddenly hit harder times on the pitch.
“One of things I have been keen to instil in the football club is what I call club confidence,” he said.
“That’s not just about confidence on the pitch. It is about making sure we are comfortable in the company we keep.
“We have had a project running in-house for some time now called Premier League Ready and that is not an arrogant project.
“It’s about ‘What does it take to be a Premier League club?’.
“What kind of infrastructure do we need? What kind of staff? What kind of procedures? How do you run matchdays?
“We have been to the Premier League and said ‘Okay, tell us what it is going to take to be in the Premier League?’.
“I think the Premier League reaction to that was we weren’t the only club to have asked that question.
“We want to be ready and when it happens we know we will be in the best possible shape to cope with it.”
Barber talks about ‘when’ rather than ‘if’ Albion get to the Premier League. He sees the 40-acre training ground as further evidence as to where the club is going, despite a tough week on the pitch recently.
He added: “PLR covers everything from how we manage car parks to what are the seats like? What are the floodlights like. Are they good enough for a match that will go live around the world?
“Are the dressing rooms big enough?
“Are our security procedures as good as they could be. Obviously we had a couple of incidents last year which forced us to go back and review some of those things because they weren’t good enough.
“The Crystal Palace dressing room incident forced us to review our security and one or two people have been caught out since then because they haven’t had the right accreditation to be in that area – and quite rightly because they don’t need to be.
“I always say to staff that our job as the suits as opposed to the tracksuits is to try and make it as easy as we can for the players to win football matches.”
Barber is wary of PLR being taken the wrong way.
He added: “We have kept it internal because, if you are not careful, it can be interpreted the wrong way externally.
“It can be seen as arrogant and it is not about that. It is just about being ready. Having worked in the Premier League for five seasons, I know it is a big difference from the Championship.
“The scrutiny, the crowds, the expectations of visiting teams, the type of players that come, the media’s expectation – it is a world apart.
“It can be a really big shock but we don’t want it to be a shock.
“It’s like the LED adverts we have around the pitch now. In the Premier League, they are mandatory. You could have a group of players who have never played with LED at The Amex.
“All of a sudden, their next game at The Amex is against Arsenal in the Premier League and there are all these flashing advertising signs.
“If they are not used that being at The Amex, it is one opportunity you have missed to take away a risk.”
All of which is a long way from a building site near Shoreham Airport. Or maybe not.
Barber wants to get away from a mindset which saw some off-field employees stand back in awe of Chelsea players when they visited for a friendly last summer.
He wants the club to become used to working in top facilities and mixing with the best.
He said. “Our goal and our ambition is to play at the highest level and I think everybody at the football club believes it is possible.”
Original article