Phileas Fogg

3 hours ago, Countryfile said:

Agree with this, the idea that a fans group are in discussion with the club means very little to me. 

The club have made a rod for their own back with this, is there another club in the football league where the most vociferous homes fans are herded into a corner?
 

Its all part of the sanitised atmosphere the club wants to promote, hence why a huge swathe of seats in the central Lansdown are regularly empty, being kept back for ’hospitality’ that is supposed to generate extra income, but is rarely sold out.

 

Exactly - i’m like a broken record on this but it’s entirely the club’s doing. They had a unique opportunity to get this right once and for all - and picked perhaps the worst possible location. Bravo.

6 minutes ago, ZiderEyed said:

Of course I agree with the thrust of your post. I uoted @ChippenhamRed who made the case about how the flat rate for discounts for pensioners is a bit silly considering the economic situation of the country. 

I do also meet every day pensioners who struggle to pay bills and struggle to pay for gym membership, where being able to offer a discount is a delight, and I do feel proud to give those people a realistically very good price to use a gym and pool. 

I think we agree that the 60+ group deserve something from their eternal support of a shit football team, and a discount to ST prices is absolutely reasonable. I just think it should be built as a percentage from how many years you've had a ST (surely the club will have this data)?

Or maybe a properly means tested model - those that can pay more do, those that can’t get the reduced rate.

It would be wrong if minted pensioners with multiple properties pay the same as those on the breadline.

18 minutes ago, milo1111 said:

I can’t prove it of course but I bet there’s loads in that age bracket who have selective memory when it comes to their age ie. They lie and buy a u19 one.

Good for them, we need that demographic and at the moment it’s too expensive.

1 hour ago, ChippenhamRed said:

I won’t be popular for saying this but OAP discount is a completely outdated notion given the distribution of wealth by age group in the UK in 2024.

There are - of course - many who are not well off across all age groups, including pensioners. But a broadly applied discount based solely on age must be broadly applicable, and it simply isn’t any more. It would be fairer to distribute that reduction across all age groups, and introduce a loyalty discount increasing with each year which would recognise the long serving (suffering) nature of our oldest supporters.

https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/personalandhouseholdfinances/incomeandwealth/bulletins/distributionofindividualtotalwealthbycharacteristicingreatbritain/april2018tomarch2020

 

Completely agree - the group they need to nail down are the 18-30 group. That’s a group of people who are going without parents, and eventually become/will become parents that will introduce their own children to the club.

They have been really rough hand - and don’t have the disposable income lots of pensioners do. They do an awful lot for young kids and pensioners - but not much for young adults.

33 minutes ago, Robbored said:

I completely agree Tim. Like you and many fans of my generation have experienced far worse times. Several relegations to start with……..Ive also seen better times, several promotions.

Football fans are by and large a fickle bunch whose opinions fluctuate on how the clubs doing at any particular time. It wasn’t that long ago that Arsenal fans were calling for Arteta’s head - now he’s the best thing since sliced bread.

I’ll renew as I always do - I won’t be having a hissy fit over the way the club is being run.

 

I know it’s all a bit of an act, but you don’t half come across as blinkered and self centred.

34 minutes ago, Silvio Dante said:

And to add into the mix, section 82 have started a petition requesting they are moved.

Tell you what lads, nothing against you but I assume you want to go to a place where people already have season tickets in place, unless you’re asking for upper Lansdown. Respect what you do, but it doesn’t give you the right to demand a move and unseat other fans, assumedly from South Central or Dolman nearest Atyeo?

If you want to move, buy a ticket in a different part of the ground. Good enough for everyone else.

 

To be fair to them, the petition is tabling the idea rather than setting out how they’d want it done. Obviously something like that needs input from anyone it impacts.

It is yet another huge gaffe on behalf of the club resulting from poor planning in the first instance - so a self inflicted problem once again. 

Just now, Bat Fastard said:

We all deal with people who are not always good at expressing themselves but we can still see that they have great quality. I believe that Brian is a bit like that. And I was joking about the foreign language!

? Are you purposely being contrarian or do you not understand what’s being said by many posters?

His role requires skill in expressing himself, it’s not a ‘nice to have’ thing.

1 minute ago, Bat Fastard said:

I agree with your post but I am prepared to make allowances for any shortcomings in Brian's communication skills because I have a high regard for his overall contribution to our club. Judging by his accent he was clearly brought up speaking a foreign language, so it must be hard for the chap.

I just don’t think he’s particularly academic and, judging from his spelling, potentially dyslexic. Can’t tell if you’re joking about the foreign language thing. 

The issue here is that his current role requires a public speaking element. This isn’t his skill set. He’s expected to explain the club’s thinking on macro issues - and it’s clear he is weak in this area. You can’t just give him a pass because he was a good player and was successful in an academy role. Both are totally different.

23 minutes ago, Bat Fastard said:

I think the bean counters will be of the opinion that a PR person would be an expensive luxury.  I reckon that they could get a more enthusiastic following with better communications, but what do I know?

It doesn’t have to be a “PR Person” hired for a specific role - it can be as simple as having someone in the boardroom who has a basic understanding of comms and messaging - which we clearly don’t. 

Tinnion’s strengths seem to be in roles which aren’t public facing - his new role has taken him outside of his comfort zone and forced him into something he’s clearly not very good at.

3 hours ago, SecretSam said:

Learning is a life-long process. Pep's still learning, everyone should be. I'm still learning after doing my job for 23 years. The world changes, you need to change with it. I don't see a problem in this.

That’s true but it’s not quite the same. You wouldn’t describe Pearson as ‘still learning’ (even if, like Guardiola, he probably is) - in that context it means he is at a point in his development where he still has opportunity for rapid development. 

In this context, that’s an enormous risk to take. 

I can’t think of one example of a successful club which has such an absurd model.

I’m sure SL wouldn’t fill the HL boardroom with nodding dogs and yes men - challenge and accountability is required for success. 

At the top end, Liverpool and Brighton clearly have a harmonious cultures - but I can't imagine they operate in a bubble whereby difference of opinion and tough conversations are discouraged. It’s just ridiculous. Neither JL nor Tinnion have the appropriate experience for their respective roles - JL could probably do a similar role with the Flyers or something, but not in such a competitive industry as football. 

In days gone by, further back even when Colin Sextone was here, I can’t imagine he just went along with the party line.

I honestly think the current regime’s would be satisfied with us being

1) mid table in the championship

2) successful youth setup

3) the occasional cup run

4) winning ‘social media club of the year’ or whatever it’s called

5) winning ‘family club of the year’ 

That wouldn’t require many tough conversations and is very comfortable measure of success. This is obviously completely different from what fans want as most would trade all of that for promotion. 

I feel a tiny bit sorry for Tinnion - he’s in a role which has a public relations requirement and he just doesn’t have the skills/experience for it.

I remember being a bit unimpressed by Richard Gould’s interviews at the time - but in hindsight what an enormous loss he was. We’ve significantly downgraded our boardroom - and done so wilfully.

I appreciate Gould left by his own volition, but losing Alexander too (and not replacing him?), plus Pearson’s experience.. then filling it with Jon’s mates - it’s crazy. No checks and balances, no accountability, just groupthink. It’s a crazy approach and clearly won’t be successful.

1 minute ago, StGeorge said:

Totally agree

I also said this a few months ago - would mean Pearson can take a step back given his health issues but still provide his experience and gravitas.

I also think he’d be able to fulfil such a role without stepping on Manning’s toes. Lots of others would be too egotistical.

Such a shame an arrangement that would likely be much better than the current setup would never be a possibility under such a weak board.

4 minutes ago, Marina's Rolls Royce said:

which yielded 3 points much to the disgust of the "everyone out" brigade.

Are you going to contribute anything about the topic or just be contrarian to try and get a rise out of someone as per? 

3 minutes ago, George Rs said:

His exact words: 

“A lot of fans are asking, quite possibly to your face, how much involvement you had in the appointment of LM and… is there as much pressure on you as him to succeed?” 

“I’ve been in this football club for 30 years, i’m a supporter of the club, i want the club to be successful and i’m working very very hard at it. I’ve earned the right to be where I am, I worked 12 years in the academy making it as successful as it’s ever been and i’m working as hard in the first team department to do the same. I work really close with the recruitment department who have been fantastic… I work to supplement and help the HC… I work the exact same with Liam as I did with Nigel” 

A response charged by emotion and probably shows his inexperience in a role as public as this but not as bad as some describe imo. 

The comments on TC signing a new deal followed by mentioning having 3 strikers for a coach who plays 1 next season was worse imo. As was the comments about Bajic and some of the U21s. 

It’s a terrible answer because it answers neither of the questions 

24 minutes ago, Mr Popodopolous said:

Geoff would..Owers might.

Don't have any faith in the rest from that angle.

Owers would but he’s not a journalist. Someone like Ali Durden would be great for a show like this, unfortunately as he was a talented local journalist he got better opportunities.

It was very impressive how 20man won City fans over despite being a Rovers man. I always felt he was very balanced considering. 

1 hour ago, Robbored said:

Why was Nige sacked and how much involvement did you have in the decision Brian?

I don’t think you’d get good answers to either of those. The ‘why’ has already been answered, so it would just be a repeat of what Jon said at the time. 

The involvement question he’d just say decisions like that are made as a collective blah blah.

If he answered them honestly under truth serum they’d be worth asking. not in this context though.

20 minutes ago, Travis said:

Felt like it tbh  

I doubt someone who’s been watching as long as you claim would use ‘tbh’

2 minutes ago, Robbored said:

The guy who sits next to me and the guy behind me weren’t there yesterday.

I’d texted my mate 10mins before kick off that the attendance looked smaller than usual, making a guesstimate of 20k.

As others have said - the actual attendance was nowhere near the one announced.

OS says 20,995 i’m afraid so you are wrong 

It’s a poor interview. It obviously isn’t his forte, but he takes no personal responsibility.

He just deflects most of his answers to this perceived idea that the players need to adjust to his methods 

The answer about the impact he can have on games was clumsily worded, listened to it back a couple of times and I think he does ultimately mean things like set pieces rather than as a whole.

He doesn’t seem like a motivating character at all, and I can see players becoming frustrated with him.

I also didn’t like the implication that fan concerns are vapid and fickle - yes they can be reactionary, but cut away the hyperbole and the key points many people raise are usually valid and considered. Especially as they include the context of the competency of the decision makers and reasons for those decisions.

I’m not quite sure he ‘gets’ us as a fanbase. The only other managers in recent-ish history I also thought this about were McInnes and SO’D. 

Pearson was obviously a far better communicator, and I think this likely gained him some leeway with support - but I do feel he made the effort to understand our fanbase - for example he’d have known the significance of the Cardiff game in terms of rivalry.

He’s really got to get a win on Sunday. It’s perhaps even more significant considering Swansea appointed Williams recently who was seen as another likely pick for our vacancy. Losing again would just reinforce that the appointment, and the decision makers behind it, just don’t make correct calls.

3 hours ago, Tim Monaghan said:

I just said to KITR that SOD has a great rep within the football community. Eddie Howe raves about him all the time. He thinks hes a genius. Funny old game. 

He’s probably very good within his own niche - just wasn’t the right role for him at the time.

Pound for pound his signings were very good. He could clearly spot a player

6 hours ago, lenred said:

I actually was quite surprised that the atmosphere was pretty decent at the start of the game.   It soon waned after about 10 mins of complete and utter dire football (from both sides)! 

Agreed - Cardiff were probably the quietest i’ve seen them until the goal. The positioning is just all wrong - there’s no chance of interaction between home and away fans with S82 where they are - and as a result the atmosphere overall is bad.

If Manning were to be fired, i’d have no confidence that JL, SL and BT would pick anyone better. I’d actually have more confidence in Ian Gay, Robbored and Tony Wilkins picking next manager.

18 minutes ago, Open End Numb Legs said:

Indeed. I bumped into a L1/L2 manager several times a few years ago. No names! We had a good chat one day, I explained my background and we got to discuss how he felt about supporters. He was scathing about forums! Not supporters who have committed huge time and money into their club, just the way the anonymous supporter can over react to a win or a loss in a polarised way, calling for instant changes like a computer game. Also not understanding the realities of the professional game and the impact that criticisms can have on players or coaches (and their families) away from the pitch.

I am not trying to take the moral high ground here, I can be the same, but his words did make a mark and I try to be reasonable and not over react.

I would never say 'that shouldn't be posted', forums are here for that reason and players/coaches would be well advised not to read them, but when you hear someone in that role saying he was steering his children away from football as a career it does make you think.

Is this manager just not suited to that role? I don't think so. At the time his team was in the top 6 of their division and life was pretty good but he had seen how fickle supporters can be.

In my opinion, criticism of game time, instantaneous actions of players, coaches and refs can be unfair whereas slow time decisions of boards or a DoF made around a meeting room is more fair game.

It’s just a bit odd all round. It is understandable that people have concerns about Manning - and one of them is a lack of experience. Then in this thread you have people backing the idea of appointing a manager with even less experience? 

I imagine it’s seen as a way to continue Pearson’s legacy - but since when has it been a binary choice between a Pearson model or a Manning model? Seems very reductive.

Why stop at King? If the prerequisite is being a former Pearson favourite with 0 managerial experience why not approach Wes Morgan or Robert Huth?

If the prerequisite is to be a fan - what about Louis Carey or Scott Murray?

Just a bit of a strange lurch which seems very reactionary.

What a bizarre thread