In terms of a building if you are saying there is a risk to public health and that there is a risk of the structure collapsing/ death. I don’t think there are levels of risk you would take. Either somewhere is that dangerous and you shut it or it isn’t and you don’t. We work in dangerous / unsafe structures and while under very strict controls you would allow professionals into buildings to rectify a problem you aren’t just going to let Joe public wonder around willy nilly. Agree about stewarding that’s relatively minor. It’s much more likely an attempt to strong arm the council that badly misfired.
I'm not really getting into anything on here buddy. All I will say, is that I've enjoyed working here for six years under various CEO's, different ownership and despite results on the pitch this current campaign, I've never been as enthused as I am right now, working for the club I love. Alongside great colleagues, and friends. I understand people have their issues and grievances. If we - as staff - have made mistakes, then we can only apologise and try to do better in the future. On Khaled, I love working with him. Day in, day out. Some interesting reading on here though. And thus, the work to do is ever-growing. Here's to three points for us and Cardiff tomorrow afternoon!
Imo the problem is that Mr El-Ahmad has had several opportunities to clarify the position and close this down. He's failed to do that because he hasn't answered the fundamental questions people want answers to: What was the issue(s) that caused the closure. Not generalisations, specifically what was it? Exactly what remedial work was undertaken that enabled it to be reopened? Given his vagueness when responding to those questions together with his suggestion during Loko and Gally's interview that there was some reallocation of stewards, it's hardly surprising that people are doubtful about the truth. The biggest reason to believe him appears to be because Beth said that she wouldn't want her family to sit in it. It doesn't reflect well on our CEO when the reason to accept what he says is a comment made by another club employee. His communication is at best poor, at worst deliberately opaque / confusing and questionably dishonest. And isn't this just one example? His faux pas are totting up. Last season wasn't a success because we didn't sell players (so we wanted to change style), him not expecting relegation, vouchers are at the printers, etc. And even today re out of contract players, “We are negotiations with some and some we’re not. All players that we think are good, we’re in discussions with”, imo is pretty clumsy. As the figurehead of the club, good communication skills are essential. He plays a really important role in maintaining and developing the relationship with supporters. Yes, he's faced with some challenges because of the actions or non-actions of our owners, but he's nevertheless responsible for communicating well about the things he can control and communicate about. But imo his communication skills are really poor. And it doesn't matter whether he speaks multiple languages and English isn't his first. He needs to communicate well in English and he's not doing that. His position is already untenable in my view and the errors and awkward and tactless comms will continue as long as he's in role.
Not so sure mate. Even my Sheffield and leeds workmates needed translations.. As Juddy G can testify to lol.
The word Pedantic springs to mind but just for you l will add the following words "rest of " Make sense to you now .....
PMG includes Paul Conway at 50% it seems. It can't be, PMG and Paul Conway can it. http://www.pacificmedia.cn/
But that wasnt stated as the reason at the time? It was all to do with the West Stand being structurally unsafe and the toilets inaccessible disability wise.
There were a number of issues mentioned. The main one relating to the council's request to certify the West Stand was on a solid base from a fire safety point of view. When investigated it was found it there was a void. They then had to wait for the first inspector to come out and certify etc. Not sure if remedial work was required. The second was relating to the roof which was fixed fairly quickly. Then there was the work around the bannisters etc. Some work to certify the wall after part of it had fallen down .
You've got that the wring way round. The media team put out what they're told or allowed to by the owners and the CEO So have the club told you the timetable for all that? Because the council said it was always safe.
I'm just repeating all the items have been explained at a number of different times by the CEO and the club safety officer. I don't have a breakdown of what happened when, if that's what you're asking. Some of the explanation has been on the club website since last October. The council requested a number of additional reports as a condition of the safety certificate. One is related to fire safety. It was always assumed the base of the west stand was solid. They asked for a report to clarify this. As part of this investigation, which involved removal of part of the floor at the north west and south west ends it was found this wasn't the case. A fire safety inspection/report was then required which couldn't happen until some point in November. As mentioned, I don't know what remediation was done upon inspection of this. Similar to the structural engineer report for the wall. On top of that, there were challenges around crowd safety and stewarding. Other issues around the Barrier Report required amendments to be made. And then the accessibility issues were also raised in September.
I don't think H&S legislation can differentiate between occupations. Can club employees and press run faster if the stand collapses? Tongue in cheek obviously, but it was a total disregard for long standing paying fans of the club. Until it's explained properly and he starts answering other questions with abit of honesty and substance then he will always be viewed with mistrust.
I personally wouldn’t have ever hired him due to his let’s say ‘checkered’ past. Sooner he’s gone the better, along with the head coach.
There's still been no acknowledgement of the fact that the lower tier 100% has no void and is a separate structure and doesn't have a roof either so the only safety reason left for it's closure is the wall but the wall excuse is just a blatant lie because the wall also has turnstiles for the ponty end in it and they remained open throughout. None of the wishy washy ********, drip fed, ever changing excuses for it's closure make any sense at all except the one that was at first outright denied but months later admitted which was reallocation of stewards to the away end
What works were carried out? Has Khaled actually answered this question? If this has been answered then I apologise as I've missed it.
Thanks for answering @Gally. I wasn't sure from your first reply if you'd been told more about it.As I understand it, the council despite asking for these things/reports still deemed it safe for use though? That was also in the Chronicle. And even now it's back open we still haven't had a timetable or costs for the reports or remedial action that supposedly took place. My gut feeling is if there hadn't been the outcry and all the fans had taken up the tickets in the other 2 stands it would still be closed, the initial letter didn't give any sort of a timetable either of when it might reopen.
Can’t agree with this Helen. I think the communication of it all was pretty dreadful, and the club have admitted as much at multiple meetings, but nobody wanted to shut the West Stand. Nobody wanted the threat of games being played behind closed doors or a points deduction, which at one point was a distinct possibility. It was a mess that should have been sorted out in the Summer, made worse by the global issue of stewarding and security at events. Who was in charge in the Summer? That same name that keeps cropping up. In regards to the council approving the health and safety certificate. Don’t quote me on this as we’re now nine months later, but I think our new safety officer might have questioned how quickly that was granted given the work that hadn’t been completed over the Summer. The club have always said multiple factors contributed to the closing of the stand. Lack of stewards was one but other issues did exist.