Time to back Mr Barber and The Board?

[detsknil]

I will of course CONTINUE to back them in the way I already am, ST holder paying for additional Cup tickets, buy pies and drinks at pretty much every game I go to and buy the odd Albion scratchcard thing on my way to my seat from the station; there is not much more as a fan I can do other than that!

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

I will of course CONTINUE to back them in the way I already am, ST holder paying for additional Cup tickets, buy pies and drinks at pretty much every game I go to and buy the odd Albion scratchcard thing on my way to my seat from the station; there is not much more as a fan I can do other than that!

This. And given there are thousands also doing this I'd say WE ARE backing Barber and Bloom.

 

[Return of the Rev]

having (finally) read the various programme notes on the subject of finances and listened to mr barber's interviews on the radio i don't think 'the club' could have been more open and honest about the challenges ahead and what the implications are. I very much doubt many chairman, ceos or boards of other clubs give this much respect to the fans.

If we want our club to be successful and move forward whilst also achieving stability for the long term then everything they have said makes sense. Moreover there is really no alternative under ffp, so credit where it's due for being open and trying to engage the fans in the process.

So is now the time to stop complaining and get behind the club?

works out at £320 extra each season ticket holder to dig them out of this operational loss,ok hands in pockets

 

[brighton_tom]

Having (finally) read the various programme notes on the subject of finances and listened to Mr Barber's interviews on the radio I don't think 'The Club' could have been more open and honest about the challenges ahead and what the implications are. I very much doubt many Chairman, CEOs or Boards of other clubs give this much respect to the fans.

If we want our club to be successful and move forward whilst also achieving stability for the long term then everything they have said makes sense. Moreover there is really no alternative under FFP, so credit where it's due for being open and trying to engage the fans in the process.

So is now the time to stop complaining and get behind the Club?

Agreed.

There will always be some things we dont agree on but generally Barber and Bloom are doing what is necessary for the future of our club. We cant have really cheap match tickets, but also spend millions on new players. They have to run things as a stable business.

 

[Rugrat]

I'll back them to a point. I'd still like some transparency around the cost base as I've a suspicion we have got a huge back room/admin cost. Hopefully Barber has the savvy to be able to generate a whole load more income from things like Advertising, Sponsorships, Corporate deals, Merch, Use of stadium for other events etc. TBF any clown can whack up the prices, I'm hoping we've bought a bit more capability than that

 

[Commander]

I don't give a crap about any excuses they make about how the club is losing money, ripping off the fans should never be an option when there are single players earning better money than 99% of us. If they want to improve revenue streams they should utilise our fantastic stadium, the biggest & best in several counties, to generate revenue.

Ooh goo idea, I bet they never thought of that. Maybe you should be on the Board?

It maybe, as you hint at, they should pay the players less? That will help is attract top talent eh?

 

[Turkey]

Don't care. The fans should never be ripped off nor should the Albion drive itself into debt during the pursuit of top talent.

Well I for one, don't think we're being ripped off. The amount we pay for the facilities we have, compared to what we paid in the facilities we used to have, are excellent.

Still, you're welcome to think you're being ripped off. At the end of the day, if the club charge less (or even the same by the looks of it) we won't be able to afford the current quality of players we have.

So if everyone thinks we're being ripped off and votes with their wallet, we may as well prepare for relegation to League One and playing in a half empty stadium.

 

[Turkey]

I don't currently think that we're getting ripped off, like I said I'm sitting on the fence. I'm just highlighting how important it is that the fans never let ourselves get into the position where we are, like other clubs have.

Season tickets are great value (at the moment) & food and drink is as expected. Match day tickets & merchandise is horribly overpriced though. We'll see how the price changes in the future, but if we ever feel like we're getting ripped off we should let the board know how we feel about it straight away.

Fair enough and I have no doubts at all people will make their thoughts known! At the end of the day people will pay what they can afford. If the club charges too much, people won't pay and they'll have to rethink things.

 

[Turkey]

What worries me the most is that we are becoming a big club, very big in fact, if we make the Premier League something tells me that we won't have any trouble filling the ground, regardless of whether many fans are priced out or not.

It would be terrible if all the fans who were there at Goldstone, Gillingham and Withdean - the ones who campaigned for years to make the stadium possible - were being ripped off or priced out of going because the club could easily get the money elsewhere from tourists & day trippers.

I know I'm jumping the gun, but it's something that worries me a lot. IF prices do become irrationally high then I would hope the fans would stand up & nip it in the bud before it was too late.

I'm pretty sure there would be some priced out, and whilst that sucks, if the club can fill the ground at a higher cost they will, as it'll benefit the playing budget. On the other hand, those priced out would have access to more coverage of the club than ever before. Essentially every game would be live if you accessed the naughty internet streams!

 

[detsknil]

Having American Express as our main shirt sponsor next season is going to help immensely I am sure

You heard it here first! (but it makes sense doesn't it?)

 

[Hamilton]

What worries me the most is that we are becoming a big club, very big in fact, if we make the Premier League something tells me that we won't have any trouble filling the ground, regardless of whether many fans are priced out or not.

It would be terrible if all the fans who were there at Goldstone, Gillingham and Withdean - the ones who campaigned for years to make the stadium possible - were being ripped off or priced out of going because the club could easily get the money elsewhere from tourists & day trippers.

I know I'm jumping the gun, but it's something that worries me a lot. IF prices do become irrationally high then I would hope the fans would stand up & nip it in the bud before it was too late.

That just comes with the territory though doesn't it. I support the emotional appeal of your argument, but alongside this sits another emotional reality - every fan wants success.

At the moment success is not measured in fairness off the field, it's measured by success on it. With that comes the demand for the best players and with that comes the necessity to pay a bigger wage bill.

The modern day thinking fan is stuck with this conundrum: fairness and success. It's an impossible circle to square under the current set of rules and regulations.

We're like lemmings desperate to throw ourselves over the edge and all the while blindly hoping that it can be done without it hurting.

 

[Blackadder]

I personally think it's silly that people are full of hate and negativity for Barber, yet full of love and positivity for Bloom. Bloom employs Barber, and Barber does what Bloom tells him.

Bloom know what he's doing and us fans are indebted to him for what he (and his family) have done to the club.

This witch hunt for Barber is pathetic, Albion fans need to face the fact that the cost of football will rise for us over the next few seasons, but this is purely so that the club is on a sound financial footing. Don't you trust Tony?

To be fair it's the usual suspects, Trolls/people who don't understand the full picture that get on Barber's back. The (admittedly silent) majority of us support him,

 

[Blackadder]

works out at £320 extra each season ticket holder to dig them out of this operational loss,ok hands in pockets

I've heard that ESU seats, near the away fans, are going up by a MINIMUM of £750 per HALF Season! The club are also introducing a release fee of £10 for ESU members that want to leave before 96 minutes!

 

[Surf's Up]

We are now operating in a highly competitive marketplace and the higher we go the more competitive it will get. I doubt there are many that don't want us to get to the Premiership so there's no point in harking back to the good old days of the Goldstone, or even Withdean come to that, because those days are gone. The higher we get the more we will have to spend and the higher the level of income required. This is a crossroads season and it is inevitable that prices are going to rise, in my view quite steeply, over the next couple of seasons. Unfortunately that may mean some people, either as a matter of principle or economics, can't afford to come as regularly or at all. But the nature of the business these days is that if the product is right it will sell so others will take their place.