I don't think people at the council could get any sense out of Allam. He seems a total buffoon. Maybe when he was younger and making a success of his business he was different but now he seems to have difficulty talking sense. I am basing this on TV interviews.
Having met him a few times now I never got the impression that he was nothing but a smart man, I must admit that when I see him on the TV I do not think they are the same person, he has fooled a lot of folks with his public persona.I still think he wants to get back at Geriatric of HCC.
This will be my very last post, nothing to do with Remembrance, as I don't want to overstay my 'welcome'. I thought comments from a complete outsider, who loves football & tradition, might be of some interest. As I mentioned I've had dealings with Ken Bates although, I have to confirm, not in any football matters. I compared him to Assem Allam and, PLT, among others recognised the comparison. I've lived in the south of France for years and dealt with many incredibly difficult people including Abramovich and Boris Berezovsky ......... so know what you're up against at Hull. Bates, as your man seems to be, is a one-man dictatorship who says the most outrageous things, accepts no advice and runs roughshod over promises and agreements. He's in his 80's but stomps around Monaco, which is wall to wall with the mega-rich and famous, like a wounded bear. He has no friends, that I've seen, and couldn't care less. In the past he's ridiculed supporters groups & deliberately insulted his own club's fans, banned fellow directors from the boardroom, banned press from the club and sued anyone he felt like, on a whim. He was called a buffoon by thousands yet won almost every battle. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ken_Bates) (Ashley, at Newcastle, is another perfect example who keeps winning despite mock funerals, death threats, protests, marches, etc etc etc ...... all totally futile and seen as pathetic by many outsiders.) IMO, taking on your man 'at all levels' as some of you suggest will further disrupt the club, bring you little real credit or support from outside and ultimately fail. What he'll do is to string things along to exhaust your energy, patience and funds ............. that's how these people work, believe me. You'd be better off, again IMO, in saving your time, effort & money and just support your club. Use the cash to produce a massive flag with Hull City AFC on it and pass it round at every match or whatever. All football supporters know who you are and will soon forget this marketing ploy if you just show your pride in your club and support the players on the pitch. None of my business but your campaign group is making you all look worse than the owner. Supporters, 'attacking' their own club, in whichever way, never looks totally dignified to those outside that club. These 'supporters' groups tend to look like a handful of self-important self-anointed 'intellectuals' imagining support from around the world and reporting on their 'progress' while, in reality, being beaten at every turn. Enjoy your season by whichever name you're called by the marketing department, you know who you are.
We have the biggest game of our season coming up, lose and we are in trouble. Any protest or distraction from the "group" will lose it any mass support.
So far, the protest has been very supportive of the team and even the chairman, so I doubt that would change now. Even the 19:04 is encouragement to players and raises the atmosphere a bit.
We are talking about Allam aren't we? I salute the council for not gifting a stadium to David Allam Tennant.
I feel like I have to ask, what's going to happen when the club does change it's name? It seems like a glaring inevitability that the name is going to change unless something radical happens, so: a) What can we do that's so radical (within reason) that they won't change the name before early 2014? And b) If they go ahead with it no matter what (which is now looking increasingly likely), what's people's stance going to be? I don't think I want to stop going, I've been going to the games for so long now that it'd kind of ruin my Saturday if I didn't get to go watch City. I'm missing the Palace game because, annoyingly, I'm at Hull Royal that day and that's already pissed me off something chronic. That said, I'm so against the name change that I could be driven to Ferriby for a few weeks. So, are people still going to begrudginly go to support the team but protest fully, or are people just going to boycott the club completely?
Personally, I doubt very much a boycott would happen. I suspect the challenge will take several fronts, including a look at the legalities.
Robo I completely agree he should have been allowed to get the stadium and hate our council as much as you do. I don't think it makes Allam's actions acceptable though. The two things don't need to be related, only Allam has suggested they are which is nonsense. I wish they'd have let him buy the stadium as his plans were amazing, but I can certainly imagine he was impossible to deal with and probably as bad as the council themselves during those discussions.
Well there are too many indifferents to have a noticeable boycott, but I think doing it at away games would hurt the team morale more than anything. If our club's name does become Hull City Tigers, does that mean we can start a Hull City AFC and enter them into the Northern Counties East League (can ground share with Hall Road Rangers), get Nick Barmby/Deano/Ash in as a management team and work our way up the leagues?
I know there are some looking into setting up a new team and starting from the bottom. I can see why they'd want to do that, but even if it had the name, it wouldn't be the Hull City AFC would it? Likewise a fair few are looking to Ferriby, but for me the same thing applies. It's sad that we're where we are, and I think some will be like me, and see this nonsense as one more nail in my football experience and one more negative when I consider if I'm replacing my passes.
I think you have to look at the man involved. Question: Do you think any amount of protesting, boycotting, marching, etc etc etc is going to affect Assem Allam? If the answer to that is no, then what's the point of doing it? Instead, concentrate on what CAN make a difference ; what will stop him from doing what he wants to do. Now, in my view, that would be to look at the laws that govern what can or cannot be done in football and who is responsible for implementing those laws and put pressure on them so that if the name change goes ahead, they are publicly associated with that decision. Also, it would be worth analysing what the legal situation is so that there is n way that the FA can get away with not implementing their own rules and regulations. Having said all that, and that is the best option, in my view, if it boils down to a battle between the Premier League and the FA there is only ever going to be one winner.
I think you're right in that protests etc won't make him change his mind, but I do think dignified protest has a place in keeping the issue live, raising the profile and raising awareness of the issues. It's not something that people can grasp with a quick glance. I agree that the main focus is a more formal objection, but I'd like to think there's a way of angling that to avoid offending Mr Allam. I think it's worth repeating that the issue is the name change, not the personality pushing for it.
If you're on about me thinking hard if I'll replace my pass, I don't like the fact it looks like he takes us for fools and seems to have lied to us, I also see it as a very damaging and backward step, and one I don't want to be associated with. There's plenty of other issues I don't like with the modern game. If I wasn't hooked way back when I was, the experience as it is today wouldn't have got me coming back.
But the campaign is already starting to paint him in a bad light and make out he's some sort of antichrist. Recent statements are calling him a liar, an oath breaker, stupid, irrational. It's easy for people to read those and start to hate the man.
I'll take your word that those comments were made, but there's a decent argument that each one is valid in the context. IF it ends up being about the man himself, and I hope it doesn't, there's only one person driving it there.
