Mr Popodopolous

Funny thing is tbis is just s recurring theme. Cyclical, circular. Mid 2000s when campaign to reopen East End on a long term basis, was a block of the Dolman not commandeered basically by noisier fans, possibly Block G? A lot of supporting us seems to be circular and cyclical, recurring themes in all manner of ways

I will leave the stage to others but would ask. A) What sort of price for a takeover or B) Even a seat on the board? Takeover of clubs seems to vary vastly cost wise. Hull cost £20m reportedly, Millwall would cost £80m- these are both the club, lock, stock and barrel. Coventry there was a price reported I am sure but anyway 85 pct has been sold, subject to approval. Birmingham £30m and included the stadium/stadium company although that seems not to be happening now...wasn't for 100 pct anyway, was a staged deal- £5.4m for 21.64 pct in October 2020.

It seems unnecessary, the two away performances were a decent reaction as was the 2nd half v Swansea. Our ambitions for the season realistically are staying up, continuing to cut the wage bill and if we have to sell in January getting as good a price as possible and reinvesting as much as FFP will allow. That is about it. Clearly results need to improve but performances at home anyway have been mostly alright IMO. Where we have let ourselves down is our tendency to concede the odd appalling goal. 2 v Stoke were terrible, less said about the error yesterday the better. West Brom opener, oh they took it well but Vyner was badly off the pace! Seem to recall Millwall winner was very weak to concede not that we necessarily deserved anything. We have to make opposition goals hard earned however.

Different SAGs seem to get pissy about it, perhaps it varies by area. Do you remember in 2019 when season ticket holders received letters about standing persistently at the back of Dolman and South Stand? I suspect SAG had been onto the club. Club certainly implied as much at the time. From late August 2019. https://www.bcfc.co.uk/news/statement-persistent-standing/ Of course the other possibility is that they were neatly aligned with the SAG but ours seem quite pernickety. I think the biggest victory we can get is a large and suitably located safe standing area but from what I understand of the regs, thst would mean zero tolerance to persistent standing elsewhere in the ground. I get the impression that our SAG are quite content wirh the distance from away fans. What extra costs in police and stewarding? The club may not mind not having to shell out too!

Of course vocal home support makes a a difference, for the better. Nobody would argue against that. Would say the move to all-seater has had an impact across the board though in this area. In the sense that it is a modern accepted rule of thumb that away supporters will generally stand as a large proportion. Safe standing tips the balance a bit but our area is both too small and too far from the away fans to perhaps spread the atmosphere. I'm not sure I'm explaining this very well but all seater has given away fans a much bigger voice (proportionally) than home fans. Some clubs are much more badly affected than others, post redevelopment a typical game has perhaps been quieter even if bigger attendances.

We've had a couple of good atmospheres this season in addition. Watford, at times the Cardiff and Swansea and at times v Sunderland. That's about it.

When back for a couple of games in 2008, went away that years but got tickets near there in Autumn 2008. Enjoyed it- shows again livelier home fans near away fans helps the atmosphere.

Fully agree there, some claims have more merit than others but it does seem odd that a key incident in a game like a potential penalty is not shown on club produced highlights. These are probably shown but is not just penalties either. Granted not penalties but the non red csrd to Bennett, the red card to Sykes was fine but had a) The Atkinson penalty or b) More justifiably, the non foul called in the build up. Two players sandwiched Sykes, thst gets called as a foul and his challenge does not happen. Even then why a Sykes for red and not Freeman. See also the non red card for Norwood in November.

One v Luton and possibly one of th3 two v Wigan, the two v Watford are all in club highlights. Stoke one wasn't, the Middlesbrough shout(s) unsure, Watford ones were, don't think Sheffield United ones were. Not watched the Hull ones for a while.

Some of these are definitely available. The ones yesterday on BBC highlights are time limited. The ones v Nottingham Forest and QPR last season were on Robins TV/club highlights iirc? Am mistaken. Watched the QPR ones back and their penalty came after our non penalty call..reached the point of their penalty and yet 9 and a half mins of highlights did not show it. Some of this season's ones will also have been. Some won't.

There was a section of the Williams in the mid to late 2000s iirc that was close to the away part of the East End. Decent atmosphere there.

It's a good discussion to have tbh. Ideal world and perhaps even realish world away fans should be closer to the livelier fans from an atmosphere perspective. Other clubs manage it one way or another- club feet dragging could be a relevant factor too absolutely. It does seem like overkill all told.

Always thought he played it for Wigan but just checked and seemed he did not. Played a few positions but not CM.

Thanks. Damn. Thinking of backline too...sure am missing some but Vyner and Atkinson of course- if Kalas and Naismith have injuries well King back there, Pring back inside with DaSilva LWB? Revert to back 4 of Tanner-Vyner-Atkinson-Pring?

Naismith can also play CM although may not be his 1st position. Bit worried about possible injuries though, the squad is quite thin in places and inexperienced in others.

If there was such a clause, and it was triggered, god I sound a bit doom and gloom but needless to say it would eat into our remaining budget to strengthen this month whatever that is.

What the club should do and what may be permitted/feasible are two different things but they could do more I agree on that.

They have to work with and satisfy the Safety Advisory Group as I'm sure you know, it's not as simple etc. I know that Burnley and Sheffield United, potentially Coventry and Hull have had some issues too. Different Safety Advisory Groups have different standards, different interpretation etc but I'm fairly sure that they are an unseen hand here. The feasibility of your idea I dunno. From memory 2k or 10 pct of capacity if lower is to be allocated to away fans. How do you segregate off 2k seats in the Dolman e.g. How big would the safe standing area be? How big would we be allowed to make it by SAG? Lower v upper limits? Percentages?

@NcnsBcfc I still question as to whether and injuries are irrelevant to this, whether we are able to add anyone before wages leave the books. If we are working to some kind of arrangement with the League I don't see why we would be permitted to deviate from that- the League gained certain within the last 6-12 months. There is a relevant regulation pertaining to restrictions on future expenditure to prevent an upcoming breach.

Agreed. If Man City's 2nd was a penalty then wow both Atkinson and Semenyo claims were. I had doubts about the latter but if that's the benchmark.

Was really just in the round up of goals shown, one of that category of games tbh.

Just been on. All it showed was Swansea's goal, our equaliser and the late save from Wells.

I am sure I read something about Hull too a few months ago. All of this is open to argument and interpretation..SAGs do differ and apply/interpret the same rules and risk in a range of ways. Put it this way I suspect the SAG would not be receptive to less segregation, or the idea of a much closer gap between home and away fans, which e.g. our livelier fans moving to E34 may entail. The club may well be using it as a convenient holding position though for the reasons you state- ultimately neither me or you know for sure.

Nationally It varies. All local authorities, let alone public events- it stands for (assuming you know, not everyone Possibly does) Safety Advisory Group. Could make it for another thread but Sheffield United seem to have had some difficulties. https://www.examinerlive.co.uk/sport/football/news/sheffield-united-told-intervene-warning-25363658 I don't know the specifics up there, the backstory etc. Do you recall 3 and a half years back when those who stood at the top of the Dolman received letters about it? Was certainly a discussion point on here- believe SAG had an important role in that..ours appear to be or have been quite secretive. Could we be pre empting risk factors by taking a strict line in the first place? The distance between vocal home fans and away fans must be one of the highest in the country tbh.

I dunno, Steve eventually seemed to approve the reopening of the East End- I get the impression he was more open minded than Jon about this issue, but again could be wrong.