I just want to watch football, now I have to cconsider my Albion supporter "aspirations"

[Commander]

I just want to watch football, now I have to cconsider my Albion supporter "asp

Am I the only one who thinks that Barber is simply at the wrong club?

Chelsea is the club for him. He's made for them.

 

[Westdene Seagull]

No.

Seconded ( or is that thirded ? ).

 

[teaboy]

Am I the only one who thinks that Barber is simply at the wrong club?

It depends whose club he's at. Is he at "our" club, or Tony Bloom's club?

 

[Greavsey]

I'm really confused how this has become 5 pages of slagging off Barber when there has actually been nothing concrete announced, merely a loosely worded outline of a proposal. Can someone point me to where he has stated he wants to make an additional mandatory charge for existing season ticket holders at the Amex?

I sometimes wonder if some of you would prefer we were still operating in front of 4000 fans in a stadium with no roof, and a tiny pot to p1ss in!

 

[The Merry Prankster]

Am I the only one who thinks that Barber is simply at the wrong club?

He is a sort of anti-Brighton. It is his Birt-speak that annoys me. Tony Bloom doesn't talk like a business automaton, neither do any of his family that I've met. Non of the other employees I've dealt with at the club do. Players don't.No fans of my acquaintance do - so who is Barber attempting to communicate with?

 

[Postman Pat]

Just for a bit of background, after a quick google I can see the following clubs are launching membership schemes this season:
Arsenal
Leeds
Bristol City
Barnet
Torquay
Liverpool
Man City
Norwich

That is without the likes of Spurs, Man Utd, Stoke etc... that already have them in place.

This isn't Barber's brainchild, this is becoming the norm at football clubs at all levels and of all sizes.

 

[Gazwag]

I wonder if he has thought of auctioning Loyalty Points on eBay?

Good idea?

There certainly seems to be more and more signed stuff being auctioned which, in the good old days. was for charitable purposes, doesn't seem the case nowadays

 

[maglers]

I'm confused now. As a ST holder do I have to pay out the extra £30 to become a member or is the Loyalty Point Scheme still working. I thought that by being a ST Holder you got a Fan No. and this entitled you to order extra tickets for home cup / Play Off games an away games.

Has anything actually changed?

Sorry to be a numpty.

You are not being a numpty. Absolutely nothing has changed. Yet. I think is what is termed a binfest.

 

[Hotchilidog]

Am I the only one who thinks that Barber is simply at the wrong club?

I don't think he is at all. I think he is at the right club. This club has changed virtually overnight, and faces a whole new set of challenges for which the old guard and indeed old ways are not suited. This club needed someone with experience at the top level (I think Spurs and England will do nicely) and also with the transition of a small club to a big one (Vancouver).

If it wasn't Barber, it would be whoever was in his job getting the flack for changing things around, or even Bloom himself attracting some criticism. Considering we still have no details on what the scheme entails the over-reaction on here has been yet again mystifying to me.

That's not say there are not issues for which Barber/the club should answer i.e. the seemingly inexplicable way they release matchday tickets for sale for example; or the shoddy treatment that some 1901 members receive. But just going into overdrive at the merest mention of anything new does nothing to help anyone.

 

[imissworthing2]

You don't put 100mil into a club without doing everything possible to ensure its run as financially soundly as possibly. Possibly on dangerous ground here saying anything negative about TB but IMHO everything PB is doing is with the approval of TB.

 

[Goldstone1976]

who is Barber attempting to communicate with?

The Board,
TB specifically
The Argus
National Press
The Football League
The FA
The LMA
Other Clubs' CEOs
BHA playing staff
BHA admin staff
BHA volunteers
Us

No priority order assumed. Just making the point that he's actually communicating with a HUGE number of people, all with totally different agendas.

Can anyone name a single CEO at a Championship or Prem club whose fans think is doing a brilliant job?

 

[Rookie]

I sometimes wonder if some of you would prefer we were still operating in front of 4000 fans in a stadium with no roof, and a tiny pot to p1ss in!

Why whenever criticism is aimed at the club is this the standard response from some? Wanting the club to progress while also remembering where we came from does not mean going back to Withdean

Personally I'm not sure what people are moaning about at the moment, none of the details are known. Wait until the details are announced, it might surprise us all and be like blue membership when we at Withdean.

 

[Greavsey]

Just for a bit of background, after a quick google I can see the following clubs are launching membership schemes this season:
Arsenal
Leeds
Bristol City
Barnet
Torquay
Liverpool
Man City
Norwich

That is without the likes of Spurs, Man Utd, Stoke etc... that already have them in place.

This isn't Barber's brainchild, this is becoming the norm at football clubs at all levels and of all sizes.

Yep and talking to my brother in law the other day who's a Man City fan, apparently they run a Cup season ticket that you have to buy to guarantee access to Champions League games etc in addition to league season tickets.

 

[Greavsey]

Why whenever criticism is aimed at the club is this the standard response from some? Wanting the club to progress while also remembering where we came from does not mean going back to Withdean

Personally I'm not sure what people are moaning about at the moment, none of the details are known. Wait until the details are announced, it might surprise us all and be like blue membership when we at Withdean.

Yep and we have progressed from Withdean to a 30k stadium and 4th in the Championship, with a 3rd year of the associated revenue that comes from being in the Championship. So all Barber is saying is that in order to make the next step then he has to look at other ways to increase the budget. I'm sure the same people that are wanting to protect the memory of the club's past by not being commercially savvy, are the same ones moaning that we can't pay wages to attract Premier standard players.

 

[Guy Fawkes]

I was as angry as everyone else after reading HT's post but you make a valid point; the membership scheme will make sense when we are in the prem and filing the ground most weeks, this could be seen as a trial and error season to have a well run, efficient system in place for the PL.

Saying all that, the current loyalty points system would probably work just aswell in the PL; you go to more games, you get more points and are entitled to priority for big games.

What if the only reason you can't get to more games is because we sell out away games to the higher loyalty point holders who are are buying all the tickets (especially in the PL) meaning that those lower down on the scheme miss out and can't catch up and it becomes a closed shop type system?

 

[Guy Fawkes]

Come on, ticketing should not need a season of trial and error. It's the most simple of things, most models are already used and can be plucked off of a shelf and implemented quickly.

And if we waited to introduce anything until we were promoted to the top flight it could cause resentment as it would be seen as only being brought in because of promotion and getting more money off fans due to our success.

 

[Man of Harveys]

Yep and talking to my brother in law the other day who's a Man City fan, apparently they run a Cup season ticket that you have to buy to guarantee access to Champions League games etc in addition to league season tickets.

This is Manchester City...who won the Premiership last season but one, finished second last year and who had a massive fanbase even when struggling in Div 3?

I don't actually think that, by blindly importing some of the more shamelessly commercially exploitative habits of much bigger, richer clubs than us, we'll inevitably perform better financially. I'm actually surprised some people think it works that way.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

Chelsea is the club for him. He's made for them.

I think he should work for Ryanair.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

And if we waited to introduce anything until we were promoted to the top flight it could cause resentment as it would be seen as only being brought in because of promotion and getting more money off fans due to our success.

If a new scheme is needed (which I doubt), the simple solution to your argument is to tell supporters a new membership scheme will be needed if we reach the Prem.

 

[Not Andy Naylor]

If he and TB don't act to sort out the managerial mess pretty soon, I think we can rest assured that there will be more than enough tickets available next season to suit any aspirations ...