Khaled’s explanation re Horsham game

Is Khaled still here.

 

What about if Collins has said ‘right Khaled, I’m going to play a full strength team so let’s play Friday so lads can have a days extra rest before our big game at derby week after’ ????

Like I put last week, if we win no none batters and eye lid but if we lose or draw or THE CLUB do something that SOME folk don’t like they can’t wait to stamp there feet like bairns!!!

 

Well I can't imagine anyone including our club not wanting this game to be on Saturday at 3pm.

The club will blame the SYP and that's that.

 

I've read it's on gate receipts, otherwise a club could ramp up "expenses" to diddle the other team and the fa out of their end of it. Even if it isn't, I did make the point on exact figures and tried the point that the club probably see this as an encumbrance. Someone will doubtless chip in with what club now regard as a break even crowd to stage a first team match at oakwell. I'd venture the anticipated gate is below that figure.

 

It is **** that they’re opening up the East Lower.

We went to the Man City game & sat in the lower tier & the view was crap compared to what we’re used to. We agreed that we’d not do it again.

I doubt we’re the only ones who would like to sit where we regularly sit.

For whatever reason the club don’t want fans coming to the Horsham game. They’re making it obvious. I feel for their fans because it’ll be a terrible atmosphere when it could’ve been a bit of an event for them on the weekend.

 

From everything I’ve seen, this looks like yet another financial decision by the club, same as shutting the West Stand was (does anybody really believe there were ‘structural issues’ and it was nothing to do with suddenly being able to rake in income from another 1500 away supporters?). Zero consideration for the Horsham fans and players and, with the complete lack of communication, zero consideration for us. I presume they are fine tuning a crock of…sorry, an explanation. Just like the debacle with the pyramid scheme sponsors, once again the values of the board and the supporters are some distant apart.

It makes us look pathetic. Should we get through to the third round and draw one of the big clubs away, let’s hope they have more consideration for us that the decision makers at Oakwell have shown to Horsham. The sooner we have a new CEO the better. I would suggest we start looking tomorrow morning. The current one clearly doesn’t want to be here, so why are we keeping him here? Is Dane Murphy still available?

If any Horsham fans or club employees are reading this, I’m sorry that our club is treating you with a complete lack of respect. Don’t worry though, they’ve done the same to us quite regularly over the past few years. Please be assured that the supporters and the town itself will make you feel very welcome and hopefully both sets of players will give us a good game to watch, even if a large percentage of you can no longer see it. It would be nice if our board could also offer you an apology, rather than an excuse, but I wouldn’t hold your breath.

 

What leads you believe it's a financial decision?

There will undoubtedly be fewer Horsham fans travelling to Barnsley for a game on a Friday evening than there would had the game taken place on either Saturday or Sunday afternoon.

A Friday evening kick-off will also have some impact on the number of Barnsley fans, although this won't be as significant as it is for Horsham fans. However, the decision to only open the East Stand Lower Tier will deter many Barnsley fans from attending. It's November, it's almost certainly going to rain, the East Lower is basically open air. Those who choose their usual seat in the East Upper and towards the back of the Ponty may have several reasons for that choice, but always being dry is definitely part of that consideration for a lot of fans.

I can't see anything other than gate receipts being significantly lower by moving the game to Friday evening, so I'm interested to learn why you think this is for financial reasons?

 

You're not the only ones. I want to sit in East Upper. That's where I have had my season ticket for many years. Whatever the extra stewarding costs might be, and I can't imagine that they would be that significant, I suspect they will be outweighed by losing revenue from those who decide simply not to go. More important than that, the decision is showing very little regard for the preferences of loyal supporters. I find the whole thing, both the move to the Friday night, and the opening of just one half of just one of the three available stands, appalling and off-putting. I write as someone who has been attending Oakwell for 68 years.

 

Net Gate Receipts shall be divided as follows: 221.1. save for the Competition Matches referred to in Rule 221.2 [from the 3rd round on], a Semi-Final or the Final, Net Gate Receipts shall be divided equally between the competing Clubs; and

In respect of any Competition Match, Net Gate Receipts means total ticket sales less (i) VAT, (ii) travelling expenses of the Away Club (where applicable) calculated in accordance with Rule 241 and Rule 242, (iii) accommodation expenses of the Away Club (where applicable) calculated in accordance with Rule 243 and Rule 244, (iv) fees and expenses of the Match Officials calculated in accordance with Schedule 1, and (v) any other Competition Match expenses permitted and calculated in accordance with Rules 236 to 265

(Rules 236 to 265 = Matchday staff, medical cover, police and up to £100 for floodlighting, plus other provisions in the event of bad weather)

Given ticket sales will likely be markedly lower on the Friday as opposed to the Saturday and Horsham's travel and the floodlighting costs potentially higher on the Friday than the Saturday I'd hope that any decision made by the club to make the move to Friday was not made on financial grounds! In the absence of any definitive comms I think I'm subscribing more to the 'don't really think they thought about it that much' theory.

 

If that's the case (and I'm not suggesting otherwise, I don't have a theory, and of those I've heard this seems the most likely) I wish they'd employ someone who does think about these things.

 

Employing a CEO who actually wants to be at the club would be a start.

 

How do you know he doesn’t? Have I missed something

 

Yes i think his head has been turned that's probably the big news anyway. He's off

 

Well let's hope its sooner rather then later and get one in who WANTS to work for the club.

 

His attitude to communication has, publicly at least, been this poor from the moment he joined the club and boasted that he'd turned his phone off after cancelling a friendly so the club he let down couldn't contact him.

 

He’s moving to a job in Sweden isn’t he. Pretty sure I heard that he was staying “till the end of the season” or something.

 

Feels more and more like he's staying away from his in-tray.

 

Cos it’s an FA Cup game, so the impact of the reduced attendance won’t be noticed as much. The FA take their slice and then we split the rest 50-50 with Horsham. However, an increase in fans means an increase in staffing costs (turnstile operators, stewards, etc), so any additional income is probably swallowed up by other costs to the point that it’s financially better off for us to play the game on Poggy Rec with no fans. Previous owners have said before that we tend to lose money on the early rounds of Cup competitions. It seems that we just want to get the game over and done with, when this game, had it been played on the Saturday and publicised well, could have been a great occasion. Horsham are coming to one of the biggest and best grounds in the FA Cup first round to see one stand open down the side of the pitch, and only the bottom tier. Not a great look.

But also, in the vacuum created by the complete silence from Oakwell, all theories are correct, because they are not being proved incorrect!