Paul Barber writes a rather magnificent letter to the FL re: Player's failings

[Buzzer]

BTW - Barber was the subject of some jeering at Boro yesterday, something along the lines '...he might have bought us a beer but he's still a c**t.....' .

I know he gets stick from certain quarters but that seemed a bit harsh, maybe the singers had been on the sauce all day, maybe they thought it was funny. Ok it was only a handful of punters singing but seems a bit sad to travel on 700 mile round trip, only to spout that sort of bile - rather than focus on supporting the team.

If true, then that is pretty damn pathetic.

That is pathetic - good on those fans for making the trip, f**king s**t of them for spouting such abject crap.

No idea who was singing that but most people (myself and mates included) took it for the ironic chant that it (probably) was and laughed. Just a bit of gallows humour and nothing to get your knickers in a twist about.

 

[Return of the Rev]

I THINK THE CLUB NEED TO SORT OUT THEIR OWN HOUSE FIRST,ITS BEEN AWFUL TRYING TO GET THROUGH ON 8049 RECENTLY

 

[eastlondonseagull]

Bloody right, too. Player hardly ever works for me these days - lucky to get more than 40 minutes' commentary during a game.

 

[Albion Dan]

No idea who was singing that but most people (myself and mates included) took it for the ironic chant that it (probably) was and laughed. Just a bit of gallows humour and nothing to get your knickers in a twist about.

I saw exactly who it was and the group contained several heavy NSC users and those who'd probably put themselves in the superfan category. Thought it was pathetic personally.

 

[Buzzer]

I think I can guess who you mean. In which case I take it back. It does seem churlish.

 

[Westdene Seagull]

Got this message from 'Guru'

I've bet him 50p it doesn't work.

What sort of idiot company changes a circuit during live time ? I work in IT and if we made changes during the working day we'd get shot. That's why we employ dozens of out of hours engineers !

A suggestion to those on NSC who have complained / are complaining about the Player - why not all send in fresh complaints to Perform and the FL attaching PBs excellent letter, copying in PB and stating you have cancelled or will cancel because of the shocking service ?

 

[Iggle Piggle]

Could some clever person run me through how the broadcast works?

I am guessing the BBC have a box or laptop that has an app a bit like Skype they put in a number in that goes to a server at perform which we then log in to and listen. Is this about it and where does the issue lie?

Cheers.

Ps nice one barber.

I was thinking about this over the weekend (I have in the past fixed such things for a living albeit in the fraction of the timescales this has been going on for)

According to Insider, the broadcast is transmitted to Perform via ISDN from the BBC which is then hosted on a server by Perform so, to me, the problem is likely to be in one of 2 areas ;

1. The server hosting the content. This could be a number of things
a. Incorrect software patches
b. Incorrect network settings (speed / duplex) or just not enough bandwidth
c. A faulty server – If we knew the IP address of it, you could test this relatively straighforwardly during the next game or if other teams were hosted on the same server (i.e if the commentary went down but the IP address was still reachable, the server hardware is not at fault)
d. Some kind of concurrency limit incorrectly set (which is where my money is given it occurs more often at games with less away fans)

2. The feed from the BBC. ISDN is pretty reliable but isn’t exactly cutting edge technology. Given the low cost of dedicated bandwidth one could argue this should be in play. At the very least I’d expect more than one ISDN link with some kind of monitoring software on it to check when it is up /down and the BBC to be able to prove it’s not them (or equally perform to prove that it is)

3. Lastly, we could all have rubbish broadband connections and duff browsers and mobile phones. Obviously, this is what Perform think is the issue and have been saying so for years. FFS.

With a methodical test plan, you could get to the bottom of this quite easily and quickly.

As also you say, excellent letter Barber (but also about time)

 

[Not Andy Naylor]

Out of interest, what is the deal on this Template FL website?

Are we not allowed to say stuff it and do our own thing regarding the website and Seagulls Player?

That would be the next obvious target for PB's righteous anger.

 

[Iggle Piggle]

I saw exactly who it was and the group contained several heavy NSC users and those who'd probably put themselves in the superfan category. Thought it was pathetic personally.

Spill the beans

 

[strings]

3. Lastly, we could all have rubbish broadband connections and duff browsers and mobile phones. Obviously, this is what Perform think is the issue and have been saying so for years. FFS.

I gave up complaining to perform years ago. They always said the issue was at my end even though several NSC'ers were complaining of exactly the same issues.

I am glad I left - I rarely listen to match commentary; but when I do listen, I expect it to work. I hasn't worked on the last 3 occasions I tried. Simply not good enough.

 

[TSB]

On the subject of the website, which Paul Barber stated to El P that he thinks it's crap (paraphrasing), we're tied into a contract along with 90% of FL clubs for both the website and player. This, Mr Barber stated, has been the case since Dick was in charge.

I sense they'd dearly love to cancel both but at present are not in a position to be able to do so.

 

[Guinness Boy]

I've now sent Paul Barber up in not one but two TSLR columns but honestly the club under his leadership have turned things round a great deal since May. There is this letter, the openness and attendance at supporter meetings, Reading game pricing and the buying of beer for away fans to name just four recent things. The club is in excellent hands all things considered. I'm going to have find some new jokes.

 

[Mowgli37]

Brilliant letter, thanks Paul.

 

[Springal]

I cancelled my subscription this month. The Wigan game, when I REALLY wanted it / needed it was a joke.

 

[Simster]

As also you say, excellent letter Barber (but also about time)

This, and I can't believe it took so long to be said.

Surely they must have complained well before now? You don't wait for subscription cancellations before you start to complain, surely? This should have been brought up years ago, and indeed maybe it was?


I cancelled last season, I thought it was that shìt.

 

[Rugrat]

Cancelled it today as had enough of the false promises and suggestions by Perform that it's a problem at my end.

I paid the annual subscription in September and have told them I want 100% of it back ... will be interesting to see how they respond.

 

[Willy Dangle]

i complained direct to Perform and cc'd Paul Barber. To his credit we have email exchanged a few things and I am confident he is doing what he can. I stand by my comment to him that I will be trying to listen on Boxing Day and if it happens then I will be giving it the old red card. It is shame because the club will suffer from the revenue loss if its not sorted but thats not my problem.

 

[Gilliver's Travels]

In the case of both Seagulls Player and the horrific 'Official Site' template, words like 'monitoring', 'performance criteria' and 'contract penalty clause' come to mind.

How can it be that anyone at the Football League ever saw fit to sign-off these pieces of absolute dog excrement?

More importantly, given such repeated, heavily-documented, abject failure, how can clubs still claim they are tied-in and unable to simply walk away from the car crash?

 

[glasfryn]

I was thinking about this over the weekend (I have in the past fixed such things for a living albeit in the fraction of the timescales this has been going on for)

According to Insider, the broadcast is transmitted to Perform via ISDN from the BBC which is then hosted on a server by Perform so, to me, the problem is likely to be in one of 2 areas ;

1. The server hosting the content. This could be a number of things
a. Incorrect software patches
b. Incorrect network settings (speed / duplex) or just not enough bandwidth
c. A faulty server – If we knew the IP address of it, you could test this relatively straighforwardly during the next game or if other teams were hosted on the same server (i.e if the commentary went down but the IP address was still reachable, the server hardware is not at fault)
d. Some kind of concurrency limit incorrectly set (which is where my money is given it occurs more often at games with less away fans)

2. The feed from the BBC. ISDN is pretty reliable but isn’t exactly cutting edge technology. Given the low cost of dedicated bandwidth one could argue this should be in play. At the very least I’d expect more than one ISDN link with some kind of monitoring software on it to check when it is up /down and the BBC to be able to prove it’s not them (or equally perform to prove that it is)

3. Lastly, we could all have rubbish broadband connections and duff browsers and mobile phones. Obviously, this is what Perform think is the issue and have been saying so for years. FFS.

With a methodical test plan, you could get to the bottom of this quite easily and quickly.

As also you say, excellent letter Barber (but also about time)

far,far to many people involved

This, and I can't believe it took so long to be said.

Surely they must have complained well before now? You don't wait for subscription cancellations before you start to complain, surely? This should have been brought up years ago, and indeed maybe it was?


I cancelled last season, I thought it was that shìt.

it was and I for one complained to many different people and got nowhwere
maybe PB will do better he has the muscle

 

[glasfryn]

double post