Where is our CEO...who is he?

[ohhhshauntaylor]

Just now, exAtyeoMax said:

I guess we were expecting some news re the kit fiasco, some acknowledgement for the work the Tins and Nige have done over the last three years - hence the questions/concerns for OTIB.

And for that- the blame must lie with either-

A- Radio Bristol/SOTC 

B- BCFC for refusing to answer those questions. 

[exAtyeoMax]

1 minute ago, Mr Popodopolous said:

True but even so I have less faith in him than I did Gould but of course the CEO of a business (club) doesn't critique the strategy or criticise the owner.

RG seemed a lot more honest, open and straight talking with his input.

[lenred]

8 minutes ago, ohhhshauntaylor said:

You’re kind of missing my point…

What did you honestly expect him to say in an interview (pre recorded) with the interviewer being someone who isn’t experienced or probably brave enough to really put the foot down. 
 

So (again, my devils advocate/pedantic point) we moan we never heard from him, then when we do hear from him (as expected it’s scripted, it’s safe and it blows smoke up SL’s arse) we moan we don’t like what we heard (which is what we expected we would I hear, if we ever did hear from him….) 

You can expect a CEO to challenge upwards where necessary.  Or at least not just limply tow lines.   A challenge doesn’t have to be as you suggest - it may be as subtle as just saying ‘Nige is doing a great job given the circumstances, talks haven’t happened yet but plan to do so at a later date’ ’.  If something like that causes issues behind the scenes with our esteemed owner then he’d be more of an egomaniacal control freak than I think he is already.   

Edited September 4, 2023 by lenred

[Sheltons Army]

3 minutes ago, Mr Popodopolous said:

Overcorrection, boom and bust, feaat and famine etc etc.

Nobody is yet well most anyway aren't yet saying surely we should return to the Ashton and Johnson days but this is too much.

Spot on

People like Tony Bloom stuck to plans and actually had a plan

Overcorrection is a perfect summary

£10 on red.......damn

.....£10 on red.......damn

.....£10 on red.......damn .... that Brighton blokes gone black the last 3 times......

£10 on black.......damn....

Getting fed up with this .... that Brentford Owner looks to be raking it in on the blackjack table......I’ll have a bit of that........

 

PS If somebody bumps into Steve , just say

‘Blimey Steve imagine if you hadn’t had your pants down and wasted millions and millions under Ashton, backing a lame horse as a personal pet project , just think what a good situation we’d be in now with such a good manager steering the ship ‘

[Davefevs]

1 minute ago, Sheltons Army said:

Spot on

People like Tony Bloom stuck to plans and actually had a plan

Overcorrection is a perfect summary

£10 on red.......damn

.....£10 on red.......damn

.....£10 on red.......damn .... that Brighton blokes gone black the last 3 times......

£10 on black.......damn....

Getting fed up with this .... that Brentford Owner looks to be raking it in on the blackjack table......I’ll have a bit of that........

 

PS If somebody bumps into Steve , just say

‘Blimey Steve imagine if you hadn’t had your pants down and wasted millions and millions under Ashton, backing a lame horse as a personal pet project , just think what a good situation we’d be in now with such a good manager steering the ship ‘

Effing brilliant

[W-S-M Seagull]

The bits that stuck out for me were - 

Stuck to the plan rigidly and the Scott money was part of that plan. Most of us would have said our recruitment this summer was using the Semenyo money but Phil kinda dodged that when put to him and said something about we spent money in January. 

The HNM compo was anticipated. I found that strange considering we didn't know if he was going abroad or remaining here which means different amounts of compo. 

Says he doesn't know much about the upcoming development. Bs. Whilst it's not his remit as it's a different group company doing the development, to pretend like he knew nothing is ridiculous. 

When asked the situation about investment/take over, once again completely dogged it by pretending he knew nothing. To suggest the CEO doesn't know about that situation is again really ridiculous. I can understand him not wanting to comment due to the sensitive nature of these things (just like Niges contract) but to expect us to believe he knows nothing is taking us for idiots. 

And I wasn't impressed that it was pre-recorded so fans couldn't question him. 9 months he's been here and he's still not had any two-way dialog with our fans. 

[ohhhshauntaylor]

1 minute ago, Sheltons Army said:

Overcorrection is a perfect summary

£10 on red.......damn

.....£10 on red.......damn

.....£10 on red.......damn .... that Brighton blokes gone black the last 3 times......

£10 on black.......damn....

Great analogy- always enjoy people saying “it can’t be black again, the last 5 have been black” 

[GrahamC]

Just listened;

A couple of observations, firstly I don’t understand his contention that signing Gardiner-Hickman on loan wasn’t “part of the plan” & was only done because of injuries, because that then implies we were always selling Scott (he admitted as much) but going to go with just the 4 signings from the summer. Wasn’t picked up on this.

Next the £20m reference confused me, was he saying we had reduced our wage bill to £20m or our losses? I didn’t get why there were no follow up questions, especially as Hoskins seemed to run out of them well before the end & started asking stuff that had already been said.

Didn’t see the Pearson contract bit in quite the same way as others, just didn’t want to say anything on it.

Overall I thought it was poor, no attempt was made to ask him how come we have lost so many in numbers, shaved a sum off the wage bill & brought in 2 big fees yet we are supposed to still be aiming for top six on a tiny squad.

An opportunity lost for me.

Edited September 4, 2023 by GrahamC

[Slack]

Anybody got a link for the interview?

[spudski]

2 minutes ago, GrahamC said:

Just listened;

A couple of observations, firstly I don’t understand his contention that signing Gardiner-Hickman on loan wasn’t “part of the plan” & was only done because of injuries, because that then implies we were always selling Scott (he admitted as much) but going to go with just the 4 signings from the summer. Wasn’t picked up on this.

Next the £20m reference confused me, was he saying we had reduced our wage bill to £20m or our losses? I didn’t get why there were no follow up questions, especially as Hoskins seemed to run out of them well before the end & started asking stuff that had already been said.

Didn’t see the Pearson contract bit in quite the same way as others, just didn’t want to say anything on it.

Overall I thought it was poor, no attempt was made to ask him how come we have lost so many in numbers, shaved a sum off the wage bill & brought in 2 big fees yet we are supposed to still be aiming for top six.

An opportunity lost for me.

Not only that... correct me if I'm wrong...but hasn't NP implied that no player has been signed as a replacement for Scott?

 

[Sheltons Army]

1 minute ago, GrahamC said:

Just listened;

A couple of observations, firstly I don’t understand his contention that signing Gardiner-Hickman on loan wasn’t “part of the plan” & was only done because of injuries, because that then implies we were always selling Scott (he admitted as much) but going to go with just the 4 signings from the summer. Wasn’t picked up on this.
 

Next the £20m reference confused me, was he saying we had reduced our wage bill to £20m or our losses? I didn’t get why there were no follow up questions, especially as Hoskins seemed to run out of them well before the end & started asking stuff that had already been said.

Didn’t see the Pearson contract bit in quite the same way as others, just didn’t want to say anything on it.

Overall I thought it was poor, no attempt was made to ask him how come we have lost so many in numbers, shaved a sum off the wage bill & brought in 2 big fees yet we are supposed to still be aiming for top six.

An opportunity lost for me.

Because ....because .....Graham ......some Club did it last year......

Il think of their name in a minute ......

He repeated that Knight , Roberts , Dickie were brought basically on basis of Scott may go and said several times how good it was that Steve was prepared to back this , even if we didn’t sell Scott

So basically the Scott money was spent on the cost of those incomings , and , the majority taking a large chunk out of any potential losses SL may need to fund this year

[GrahamC]

2 minutes ago, spudski said:

Not only that... correct me if I'm wrong...but hasn't NP implied that no player has been signed as a replacement for Scott?

 

He did.

Just now, Sheltons Army said:

Because ....because .....Graham ......some Club did it last year......

Il think of their name in a minute ......

He repeated that Knight , Roberts , Dickie were brought basically on basis of Scott may go and said several times how good it was that Steve was prepared to back this , even if we didn’t sell Scott

So basically the Scott money was spent on the cost of those incomings , and , the majority taking a large chunk out of any potential losses SL may need to fund this year

Which is why I thought Hoskins so poor.

GT would have done his research & said our 4 summer signings were a total of £4.5m say, but Scott went for £25m.

He was also allowed to go unchecked mentioning we spent money in January (£1.3m) when we got over £9m for Semenyo. Hard not to draw the conclusion SL is pulling up the drawbridge, but he was allowed to spin the “we’re still ambitious” “Luton did it” nonsense.

If SL wants to stop funding us fine, sell up & **** off then.

 

[JoeAman08]

His right not to spend money but football isn’t something you get into to make money. You do it from a personal pride standpoint. You are competitive and want your teams to do as well as it can under the constraints you have.
 

It is a slap in the face to fans to bring in between 35-40m in fees and possibly close to halving the wage bill under NP. Then turning around and saying there isn’t money to spend. We should be livid as a fanbase. The fact that he put in money doesn’t excuse his piss poor decision making year after year. 

[eardun]

17 minutes ago, Mr Popodopolous said:

Overcorrection, boom and bust, feaat and famine etc etc.

Nobody is yet well most anyway aren't yet saying surely we should return to the Ashton and Johnson days but this is too much.

Yes I’m not saying it’s right - but i just feel that what has gone on before is now colouring the here and now. (So we can still blame Ashton!) I suspect Covid has had a bearing too, ie the financial hit that he had to cover; I recall some of his interviews at the time. I suspect that might also be making him more cautious now. 

[gamon]

I think SL is a coward.

Really he should go on record and explain this change of direction.

But he won't, I don't think his ego would allow him to do that.

[Kid in the Riot]

When you've lost @Davefevs then the writing really is on the wall. 

[Superjack]

20 minutes ago, Sheltons Army said:

Spot on

People like Tony Bloom stuck to plans and actually had a plan

Overcorrection is a perfect summary

£10 on red.......damn

.....£10 on red.......damn

.....£10 on red.......damn .... that Brighton blokes gone black the last 3 times......

£10 on black.......damn....

Getting fed up with this .... that Brentford Owner looks to be raking it in on the blackjack table......I’ll have a bit of that........

 

PS If somebody bumps into Steve , just say

‘Blimey Steve imagine if you hadn’t had your pants down and wasted millions and millions under Ashton, backing a lame horse as a personal pet project , just think what a good situation we’d be in now with such a good manager steering the ship ‘

I really can't like this enough.

[Mr Popodopolous]

7 minutes ago, GrahamC said:

He did.

Which is why I thought Hoskins so poor.

GT would have done his research & said our 4 summer signings were a total of £4.5m say, but Scott went for £25m.

He was also allowed to go unchecked mentioning we spent money in January (£1.3m) when we got over £9m for Semenyo. Hard not to draw the conclusion SL is pulling up the drawbridge, but he was allowed to spin the “we’re still ambitious” “Luton did it” nonsense.

If SL wants to stop funding us fine, sell up & **** off then.

 

I mostly agree with this but at the same time woukd there be a willing benefactor as such, how will thst mesh with the new movement towards stability th at is being planned ie more targeted financial controls aligned with a redistribution between the EFL and PL aligned again with a huge reform or abolition of Parachute Payments.

I suppose a good counter argument is the time to strike us now before those new variables kick in. If that new vision does come in that will somewhat restrict a lot of owners.

Feels like the time for a change has come however.

Edited September 4, 2023 by Mr Popodopolous

[MrRedRobin]

15 minutes ago, Slack said:

Anybody got a link for the interview?

Sound of the City - 04/09/2023 - BBC Sounds

[grifty]

What a bunch of wet wipes.

[Superjack]

"Oooh! Oooh! But we're scared!

We have an owner that tells is what we should think, so we don't have to. 

When he talks to us, of course. Which isn't often. But we are sure he still loves us and doesn't at all think that we are plebs".

F***'s sake, wake up people.

Edited September 4, 2023 by Superjack

[spudski]

1 hour ago, Davefevs said:

Ta.

Yep, especially when he’s backed and backed and backed previous “regimes”.  It doesn’t sit well with me either.  I’m very disappointed, that after all the hard work he chooses now to constrain the football club.

(Those are by understated feelings!)

His decision making is woeful. 

How many times can he get it wrong. 

Gets the right manager in...now's the time to back him.

[fisherrich]

1 hour ago, One Team said:

Good summary Fevs. This really isn’t sitting well with me; it feels like he’s putting our success and position at risk to reduce his inputs into the club. You could argue that’s up to him, even that he’s entitled to do so; but let’s stop any notion of him being some sort of super fan with the club in his heart. This is being looked at purely from a business perspective, and as we all know a football club is far more than just a business. 

Hallelujah, at least everyone can now see what Lansdown is up to. This is a business for Lansdown. Now is a great opportunity be a bit more flexible in the transfer market to help Nige P. No doubt the accountant supports Lansdown’s approach.

[GrahamC]

Final one on the Gardiner-Hickman comment.

He said it was “part of the plan” to sell Scott but “not part of the plan” to bring in TGH, that was only because of McCrorie’s injury.

By my maths therefore even if McCrorie, Weimann & Conway were all fit (Atkinson & Benarous were already injured at this point) we were always looking to run this season on a squad of 21 players, which is just one more than you can name in a squad & with one senior goalkeeper.

That is both madness & contradictory to Pearson’s comments about expecting to replace Scott.

Doesn’t add up & why Hoskin didn’t question him on this is baffling.

You’re no GT, that’s for sure.

 

Edited September 4, 2023 by GrahamC

[Sheltons Army]

1 minute ago, spudski said:

His decision making is woeful. 

How many times can he get it wrong. 

Gets the right manager in...now's the time to back him.

Or alternatively

If you’ve decided to raise the drawbridge ,which PA made absolutely quite clear he has 

And you are going to run on a strict budget , ok

Now we need a manager who can manage with a small squad , develop youngsters , and keep us competitive ........ who’s as good as it gets out there to do so at this level ............hmmmmmm

A good sensible owner making the financial decision would sit down with NP , level with him , praise the job he’s done , accept the scenario not perfect , and ask him if he would plough on .....

 

[Grey Fox]

Surely this interview only confirms everything SL said in his. In other words

 

, SL does not believe we can compete with parachute funded clubs (unless we call ourselves Luton) , so will not fund doing so.

The club will therefore need to look to sell players for say £25M each year to cover running costs,

Above £25M , what football makes , football can spend.

Therefore our plan going forward is simply to buy players with “potential “ from the lower leagues, develop them, and sell them on coupled with a few Championship grafters to ensure we stay up.

Which pees me seriously off

[RedRock]

Thought it was a pretty evasive performance, which is worrying as it begs the question why did he feel the need just to ‘dead bat’ fundamental questions concerning the Club’s future.

If, as he stated, he knows nothing about potential new investors (thought that was his specialism), very little about the Arena project and has not apparently engaged with Nige on an extended contract, for a Club CEO this isn’t just a bit worrying, it’s friggin alarming. Something’s, amiss here. 

While highly appreciative of what Steve has done and understanding his view that he’s put and continues to put £millions into the Club so he sees himself, quite justifiably, as the ‘main man’ this CEO interview just reinforced the Club’s ‘you’re customers, not fans’ approach. 
 

Edited September 4, 2023 by RedRock

[Lew-T]

3 minutes ago, Sheltons Army said:

Or alternatively

If you’ve decided to raise the drawbridge ,which PA made absolutely quite clear he has 

And you are going to run on a strict budget , ok

Now we need a manager who can manage with a small squad , develop youngsters , and keep us competitive ........ who’s as good as it gets out there to do so at this level ............hmmmmmm

A good sensible owner making the financial decision would sit down with NP , level with him , praise the job he’s done , accept the scenario not perfect , and ask him if he would plough on .....

 

Well one thing is clear, if SL were to lower the drawbridge once NP has been sent on his way, and he brings in somebody for ‘image’ to splash then that will be me done until SL sells up.

I’m sick and tired of his incompetence.

[Street red]

4 minutes ago, RedRock said:

Thought it was a pretty evasive performance, which is worrying as it begs the question why did he feel the need just to ‘dead bat’ fundamental questions concerning the Club’s future.

If, as he stated, he knows nothing about potential new investors (thought that was his specialism), very little about the Arena project and has not apparently engaged with Nige on an extended contract, for a Club CEO this isn’t just a bit worrying, it’s friggin alarming. Something’s, amiss here. 

While highly appreciative of what Steve has done and understanding his view that he’s put and continues to put £millions into the Club so he sees himself, quite justifiably, as the ‘main man’ this CEO interview just reinforced the Club’s ‘you’re customers, not fans’ approach. 
 

Beggers the question what's the club paying the CEO to do on a daily basis seems to me hes knows sod all.

[One Team]

18 minutes ago, Kid in the Riot said:

When you've lost @Davefevs then the writing really is on the wall. 

Was just about to post the similar mate. If you’ve lost arguably the most rational, measured, well researched contributor in @Davefevs on OTIB your days are numbered. 

I think @lenred said earlier that SL may not realise the depth of feeling in the future, I think that time is now. It’s like the manager equivalent of losing the dressing room. 

If it carries on like this then it’s going to get pretty toxic and not against NP.