Tbf he consistently said 99.9% of Club decisions were his. So it’s hardly a surprise that he took the flak. West Stand, Hex, Stretch, catering, Horsham, Fanatics, comms, probably other things I’ve forgotten. I wouldn’t be surprised if the kit shambles was the final straw. Just guessing like.
Yet various suits/sponsors/journos were allowed to sit in it? So it looks like it was safe if you had bags of money, but if you were a loyal fan (sorry customer), then you got the heave ho.
Probably different levels of safety certificate though? There’s a difference between a few people who are known and invited compared to thousands of fans who paid to be there.
The West stand issue still isn't clear to this day. I worked somewhere where we had a fire safety issue. There was a very clear timeframe and report about what had to be done when, before action was taken to close the building. As this was never produced or referred to I think he was being somewhat economical with the truth in order to solve the temporary lack of stewards problem after Covid. That does not make Beth a liar, anyone wishing to close the building I was in could have used the report findings to do so, even though the fire safety officers did not state this as a requirement.
If a there's a hole in the floor and a wall just about to fall, then surely it's a binary decision? Suppose we'll never know due to Khaled Pimpernel going into hiding.
Not necessarily though? Take the bridge over the railway for example. It's safe for normal usage but not for the amount of people on a football day, hence why it's closed. A lift might be safe for up to 10 people, but if 100 people crammed into one it would be unsafe. It also might be that the people who were in the west stand were briefed on any issues with the stand and how to avoid problem areas, which could have been a requirement for letting them in there. Can't easily do that with thousands of people. Could also be that only part of the stand was usable. Either way, seems a silly thing to be upset about.
Could it have been, very early in his tenure he read a report saying if this is not done it will lead to and he reacted thinking he was being proactive without fully understanding the implications, then when he/club looked further into it realised the reaction was more than needed, that doesn’t make what he said untrue but like you suggest not 100% factual. In terms of Beth, I would be very surprised if she was involved/privy to that level of detail so would most likely be explaining what she understood to be true as explained to her and other employees.
With less people you can cordon those areas off though or brief people on how to avoid them. Also, there's a difference in attitude between people there to work at the game and people there as fans. Journos/scouts/executives are far less likely to be jumping up and down when a goal is scored. Even compared to people in the West Stand.
I'll stand corrected on this. But I seem to recollect there are rules regarding visiting directors and facilities provided. Or the game would have been off. So the only choice was to certify or ok the unaffected parts of the west stand. As regards the rest I've no idea. The north side has been shut due to lack of facilities not sure how much it would cost to put right. But apparently it's a lot more than just cosmetic. Someone on here went through a list. Dont shoot the messenger. But that was what was stated at the time.
Silly thing to get upset about ! Try telling that to the affected season ticket holders that have sat there for years and suddenly told to find alternative seats in other areas of the ground in which all the decent seats had been already taken
I'm pretty sure one poster on here actually had someone sitting in his seat - the one that was unsafe for him to sit in. Our Town. Our Club.
If you compare the way the west stand was closed and the way the east stand was closed last year it was chalk and cheese. A clear reason was given for the east stand with timescales yet to this day no one really knows why the west stand was closed down or the remediation work that was undertaken (if any), you can tell this as everyone has a different story to why it was closed. Granted the works in the east stand were relatively small scale but the principle is still the same Despite all the noise around this, i'm still pretty sure closing the west stand was a cost cutting exercise and the club were taken aback with the response they received.
I was talking specifically about Journalists and Executives being in the stand. It seems obvious to me that there’s a massive difference.
Yes, but a journalist/executive who isn’t going to jump into the air when a goal happens and who can be briefed about safe areas of the stand sitting in one part of a stand is so different to thousands of fans sat in the entire stand. They’re not even comparable