Why does Bloom escape criticism on here?

[kevtherev]

I thought player recruitment was done in conjunction with the manager who retains the right of veto regarding any particular player?

Who signed Toko (rumoured for a lot of money) and O'Grady then We didn't even have a manager then. Contract extensions, retained list etc etc...Burke we have been told a million times does all that. We maybe told Hyypia has a say in these things, but by his own admission when he came, he knows nothing about the transfer market and player recruitment. I would think that is a pretty major part of a mangers job. But then we didn't want a manager, we just wanted a head coach with the title "manager".

 

[Goldstone1976]

so you are telling me that the whole 200m came from his personal fortune ?

I have no idea, given I'm not privy to his personal financial circumstances; any more than you are.

Personally, yes, I think it most likely did, since any bank lending £Ms would want security over assets of at least that value and would charge interest. Given the loans from TB to the club are interest free (which they definitely are), why would TB do that if he was paying interest himself?

 

[Hillian1]

Do you know any different?

The stadium was being built during the credit crunch. Banks weren't lending at all.

Especially to a Football Club.

A business that is almost certain to lose money, whatever league you play in.

 

[DavidinSouthampton]

Because he's put in a fairly decent overall management system which I trust. The current situation is just a minor hiccup on the way to world domination (maybe slight exaggeration there).

And that is without thinking about the money side of things. Just go to the AMEX or the training centre and look around you!

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

Everyone is quick to criticise Barber, Burke, Hyypia and Jones yet the man who employs these people is forever talked about like some sort of god. I fully understand that without Bloom we could well be in a very dark place, but why does he escape the criticism?

Because TB has got many other business aspects going on in his life and he needs to delegate? Plus he has pumped more money into the club than beggars belief, with (on the face of it) not much chance of ever getting much of it back. If we'd relied on the banks funding the stadium (as Martin perry always claimed) in the depths of the credit crunch of 2008, we wouldn't have a club to follow and bitch about today.

For what its worth i feel really sorry for Sami Hyypia, He was sold this vision that quite frankly does'nt exist.

F*ck him. Took the only job on offer when he got sacked from his last job. Keeps him off the dole and little more, as he's more or less admitted. He's made little effort to embrace the Albion, looks for all the world like he considers the job beneath him. Probably gone in a couple of games to sit on the bench in the Sky punditry panel.

 

[DavidinSouthampton]

This seeks to presume you've correctly read the issues of what's going on and what's not going as well as it could or should be.

Everyone has their own take on what the issues are, and some might be apparent and obvious. The stand-out one is of course that the team is mis-firing.

But legitimate criticism must take into account the fact that (a) those who wish to criticise understand the structure and hierarchy (and I'm not sure people do), (b) everyone knows each individual's remit, and where does that remit cross over with someone else's (c) the extent to which a given individual is responsible for a given task or issue where (d) some responsibilities are shared out amongst a team of board members.

For example, David Burke, as Head of Football Operations, is responsible for setting the playing budget - and that doesn't just include salaries and contracts, but the cost of running the training facilities, the medical staff, the acquisition of equipment, insurance and everything to do with players' professional requirements. That said, he works very closely with Tony Bloom, Paul Barber, Martin Perry, David Jones et the rest of the board as part of a bigger team. And yet those individuals have other responsibilities too, of course. So where exactly can the finger-pointing be directed at then, assuming you wished to round on that particular issue...?

Such criticisms of the running of the club ONLY become acute when the team isn't playing as well as it could or should be, nor is it picking up the points. If we're top of the table, no-one seeks to know that there is an issue. And yet, when we were flying away to achieve promotion by the play-offs over the past three seasons, the books say we've been making lorry-size losses. But they were never questioned until the figures came out, because no-one knew the intimate details of the day-to-day running of the club. To know EXACTLY where the problems lie is to intimately know the structure, hierarchy and professional relationships of those deemed responsible for running the club. In this instance, the club feel it has identified that problem, and has sought - and is continuing to seek - to remedy this issue.

Until such time as the full day-to-day structure, goings-on and responsibilities are fully understood in fine detail, the sureness of any finger-pointing can't be absolute.

So to finally answer your question, Tony has received enough of an advance pardon by being as generous as he has been (and will continue to be) to preclude him from any apparent criticism. But, in my opinion, to know whether on a day-to-day basis he is part of any ongoing problem, is to intimately know what I've suggested above.

My educated guess, on the back of what I've just said, is of course that Tony is - and always will be - part of the solution.

I have just replied that I trust what is going on, but nowhere near as eloquently or well thought through as this.

And the final point about Mr Bloom being part of the solution is absolutely nail on head territory.

 

[Springal]

I must admit, it amazes me with our history, how we now have a chairman that appears to be immune to questioning or criticism.

 

[Westdene Seagull]

so you are telling me that the whole 200m came from his personal fortune ?

Obviously like anyone else on here I don't know but I doubt anyone with any business savvy would have borrowed the money personally against their own assets and then not charged any interest to the club ( oh and be prepared to pay the loan plus interest from the bank off themselves by converting the loan to the club to shares ).

ADDITION : and in answer to the original question, Bloom hasn't been immune from criticism on here. Go and look at the threads around Gus' sacking. The difference is that he has more slack than any other club official before being criticised ..... and rightly so.

 

[glasfryn]

Err, how do you whether TB got a bank loan to fund the club? If he did it's not in the public domain. The club's accounts show that the cash they've received came from TB.

Shows that you know bugger all that.

Do you know any different?

The stadium was being built during the credit crunch. Banks weren't lending at all.

I have no idea, given I'm not privy to his personal financial circumstances; any more than you are.

Personally, yes, I think it most likely did, since any bank lending £Ms would want security over assets of at least that value and would charge interest. Given the loans from TB to the club are interest free (which they definitely are), why would TB do that if he was paying interest himself?

two things to say here Ok it might not have been banks but investors maybe
it also beggers the question why did we not stay at the Goldstone and develop that, the Blooms were there then
and surely to protect his investment we should have kept Leo and some of the others we have not replaced, if its gets any worse there will be no investment.
10m against lowering crowds and not money coming in spells disaster, I am no economist but even I can see that.
investing in the hotel experiment hmmmm! maybe some money should go into players so as we can improve or position, I might ad we might be lucky and the team will gel .............but what if it does not

 

[Billy the Fish]

I fully understand that without Bloom we could well be in a very dark place,

If you fully understood I rekon you'd have stopped typing right there!

 

[Goldstone1976]

The current situation is just a minor hiccup on the way to world domination (maybe slight exaggeration there).

No exaggeration at all. Total global domination is my fervent desire for the club too.

Let's define that: back to back quadruple (PL, FA Cup, Mickey Mouse Cup and Champions' League) with the entire World Cup winning England starting 11 as our first eleven, with the likes of Messi and CR7 sitting it out on our bench, having beaten Palace 11-0 in the first round of the Cup with our U16s. That'll do.

We might have to wait a season longer than I was hoping however...

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

I doubt anyone with any business savvy would have borrowed the money personally against their own assets and then not charged any interest to the club ( oh and be prepared to pay the loan plus interest from the bank off themselves by converting the loan to the club to shares ).

Same. No astute businessman, no matter how big a fan, is quite that daft. There's patently something else going on under the surface that we're not yet aware of, but will find out in due course. Sincerely hope it's something good. Pretty sure it will be, if only because the Bloom family has deep Albion roots and it appears highly unlikely that TB would bring shame on his family by selling the Albion down the river.

 

[Commander]

Everyone is quick to criticise Barber, Burke, Hyypia and Jones yet the man who employs these people is forever talked about like some sort of god. I fully understand that without Bloom we could well be in a very dark place, but why does he escape the criticism? He made a promise to fans that by the end of the transfer window we would have a squad capable of finishing in the play offs, when instead we have a team that would struggle to make the play offs in the womens league. Im not saying for 1 minute that he should go, course not. I just think its unfair to blame everyone else when in reality the buck stops with him. For what its worth i feel really sorry for Sami Hyypia, He was sold this vision that quite frankly does'nt exist.

Personally I do think we have a squad capable of finishing in the play-offs. I'm not convinced Sami can get them there though.

 

[glasfryn]

Same. No astute businessman, no matter how big a fan, is quite that daft. There's patently something else going on under the surface that we're not yet aware of, but will find out in due course. Sincerely hope it's something good. Pretty sure it will be, if only because the Bloom family has deep Albion roots and it appears highly unlikely that TB would bring shame on his family by selling the Albion down the river.

best post on the subject and I hope in hope that you are right

 

[London Irish]

There is a degree of political correctness on here on criticising Bloom, a bit like how Russian serfs would always say "if only the Tsar knew" whenever they were starving to death, blaming his advisers for keeping from him the true state of the nation.

"If only Tony knew" just how terrible Burke, Barber, Sami, the pie-seller in Upper West and *insert this week's scapegoat* at their jobs, everything would be OK - seems to be the NSC version.

 

[Lower West Stander]

two things to say here Ok it might not have been banks but investors maybe
it also beggers the question why did we not stay at the Goldstone and develop that, the Blooms were there then
and surely to protect his investment we should have kept Leo and some of the others we have not replaced, if its gets any worse there will be no investment.
10m against lowering crowds and not money coming in spells disaster, I am no economist but even I can see that.
investing in the hotel experiment hmmmm! maybe some money should go into players so as we can improve or position, I might ad we might be lucky and the team will gel .............but what if it does not

Investors? You mean TB has a silent partner with no equity stake in the club? Yeah right.....

I think making suggestions about what we should have done during the Archer years is very dangerous. Firstly we have no idea as to TB's financial circumstance at the time, secondly the people running the club at the time were the lowest of the low, how could you rationally negotiate with them for the good of the club? and thirdly don't you think there were people involved at the time who were trying their best to get the club out of the mess they were in? Read Build a Bonfire.............

And its all very well saying we should have kept Leo, but he wanted to go and play in the Premiership and who can blame him for that? As I said earlier, you cannot blame TB for not adequately replacing him. I'm sure Man U wanted to keep hold of Ronaldo as well......

 

[glasfryn]

Investors? You mean TB has a silent partner with no equity stake in the club? Yeah right.....

I think making suggestions about what we should have done during the Archer years is very dangerous. Firstly we have no idea as to TB's financial circumstance at the time, secondly the people running the club at the time were the lowest of the low, how could you rationally negotiate with them for the good of the club? and thirdly don't you think there were people involved at the time who were trying their best to get the club out of the mess they were in? Read Build a Bonfire.............

And its all very well saying we should have kept Leo, but he wanted to go and play in the Premiership and who can blame him for that? As I said earlier, you cannot blame TB for not adequately replacing him. I'm sure Man U wanted to keep hold of Ronaldo as well......

I have read the book and was around at the time, what did they sell the Goldstone for 7m
we should never have sold Leo until we had a replacement

 

[Sweeney Todd]

Like every other Albion fan, I am profoundly grateful for what Tony Bloom has done for the club, but disappointed with his recent handling of team affairs. I feel that he has lost his aura of infallibility.

Of course, he is bound to make me regret that I ever doubted him.

 

[Lower West Stander]

There is a degree of political correctness on here on criticising Bloom, a bit like how Russian serfs would always say "if only the Tsar knew" whenever they were starving to death, blaming his advisers for keeping from him the true state of the nation.

"If only Tony knew" just how terrible Burke, Barber, Sami, the pie-seller in Upper West and *insert this week's scapegoat* at their jobs, everything would be OK - seems to be the NSC version.

Absolute rubbish.

Bloom employs people to run and play for the club. They are accountable end of. So far I think he's done a pretty good job, although as I said earlier the jury is still out on Hyppia as performances haven't been great to date.

But to be called politically correct and compared to a Russian serf for supporting a lifelong fan who has pumped £250m into the club and is a lifelong fan is frankly insulting.

 

[Springal]

I have read the book and was around at the time, what did they sell the Goldstone for 7m
we should never have sold Leo until we had a replacement

Its well known fact that Bloom only came into 'that' kind of money during the Withdean years. None of the Blooms had £7m+ they could sink into the Albion