Are WHUFC right to ban kumb.com?

[Whufc06]

Rightly or wrongly it is their choice. Some of the cardings on this site are harsh in some peoples eyes so as mods on here say, they run the thing and thats that.

[upton o'good]

Welcome to New West Ham United.

THis sort of thing will become increasingly inevitable under the new regime. This merciless business efficiency, which so many hail when a "good" decision is made, means doing everything to protect the interests of the club. If fans can read the full press conference on Kumb.com, they are less inclined to visit the o/s, the o/s receives less traffic, and recieves less money from advertisers. Therefore the club will close down press conference access to kumb.

All those who have been praising Eggy's "business plan" and given full support to the new board should have no problem with this current decision as it is just an extension of the exclusive kit deal, increased membership prices, increased ticket prices, in that it maximises revenue for the club and makes us more competitve. That's what the Eggy fans have been hailing for months so they should welcome this decision just the same.

I feel that this is just ANOTHER step by the money men to take the club further away from it's more casual fan sector in the interests of increased profit. But we've been saying this for the best part of a year now, and no one's seemed too bothered so far.

Well in principle I can see the point.

But increasing your control over shirts/press conferences only really helps if you then actually produce the product!

So far we have shirts out of stock and they've failed to put full transcripts on their website.

[irish_hammer_87]

http://www.kumb.com/story.php?id=122835

Vote away ...

Is the outcome of his going to be sent to the club

[gavind]

think i did it wrong :shock: :shock:

[Sloop John B]

Really disappointing point of view from a club thats so closely linked with its fans.

Ban KUMB (and others) from the Press box/bar etc if needs be but at least give them access to our own bloody manager after the game!!

[hammer61]

Well i'm absolutely fuming with this decision to ban KUMB from the post match conferences!!

But now i've hit back at them!

I was about to spend a lot of money online at the club shop on new replica shirts and other clothing which were to be Christmas presents for some of my family and some for myself....until i read about this!!

After this decision i'll now buy them something different!!

WHEN WEST HAM THINKS OF US...I'LL GIVE 'EM MY MONEY!!

I trust a few others will consider doing the same!

EGGY, this is NOT A GOOD POLICY!!

[Valley Hammer]

If there was any reasonable justification for the ban then I would agree. But, the club seem unable to come up with anything and as said in the article does KUMB really pose a threat to the Sunday papers? I don't think it changes the way in which most of us lead our lives, I certainly still buy a paper and will continue to do so.
I agree with the above comments that the club is moving away from its traditional fan base and more towards the majority of £60k fans who fill the stands.

[Lez]

http://www.kumb.com/story.php?id=122835

Vote away ...

What a load of bull**** lying c****, they are really out to impress arent they

What, i ask , of over land and sea ?

[scatts]

I can't believe KUMB is a threat to either the papers or to WHO site. Irritation perhaps, but that's not enough. So, unless there is something more to this, that I'm not aware of, this strikes me as a VERY STUPID decision.

I could think of, hmmmmm, about 3,260 ways they could improve WHO site and increase traffic. Denying KUMB access is not one of them.

If you provide full and honest details of why this happened, I'll be happy to sign any on-line petition. (assuming the details match the current articles of explanation - which I expect they would).

[wolverine]

this seems to me as a little niave from west ham

doing this to all the main west ham sites will if anything alienate the fans (especially those living abroad)

[Countryboy]

Whilst on the surface we can all jump up and down and cry 'freedom of speech' and equal access for all and all that, West Ham United are an entity that has every right to prevent people attending press conferences or any other aspect of the club that it sees fit. That is the crucial point of this; what they decide is right for the club. As members of a fan forum, we demand a certain level of insider information about our team, but have no real rights to this information coming our way before anyone in the general media has access to it. Who are we to be able to report things said by our manager before they get into the Sunday papers?

I for one am all for our intrepid reporters having access to press conferences; but the club can't be seen to either condone nor condemn our site - they cannot control us and therefore probably feel threatened by our presence. Our reporter attending a post match press conference could come away and without the restraints of the press (some would see this as a bonus - at least we don't see things through claret and blue tinted glasses, nor make up stories to sell newspapers), could publish information which could and does spark off heated debates, not always in the favour of the club, its manager or its players. The fact that we can say pretty much what we want about who we want to on here is great for us, but for the club to officially seem to sanction our presence at press conferences would appear to create some form of acceptance of our methodology and ideology. The only way that this would happen in my opinion, happily from the club's perspective would be if we were to become the 'official' forum of West Ham United, and be subject to their rules and conditions about membership and posting.

I for one would rather we kept to our slight 'outsider' status and maintained the right to say that something is not right if it isn't right.

I completely understand that you're arguing about the way that a business like WHU is probably thinking, at a corporate level. And you're probably right about the kind of thought-processes and control-freakery that they're trying to impose. It's exactly the same these days in politics, the entertainment industry, etc ... the more that the media become uncontrollable, the more obsessed spin-doctors are about trying to control them.

But here's the thing ...

KUMB (and ITBS, WHO, et) exists, whether the club likes it or not. And they can't close down the sites, even tho' they would doubtless love to set their lawyers loose on every slur against any of the club's players or employees.

So now they face a choice. Do they act like media King Canutes, trying to hold back an unstoppable tide? Or do they get a boat and float on that tide?

The smart move, for everyone's sake, is to accept the inevitable and make the best of it. I can't speak for UTJ, Gnome, etc, but my own experience is that most reporters, being human beings (tho' you might not believe it) like being treated with a modicum of respect and respond to that. Whereas, if you go out of your way to **** on them, lie to them and exclude them, they naturally say, F*ck you!

It's like football fans. If they're treated well by stewards, police, etc, they usually behave themselves. If they're attacked, gassed and hit with batons, they fight back and then it all kicks off.

Of course, the difference between the KUMB gang and most other reporters is that they are also the club's fans and the source (in part) of the club's revenue. So there is no point pissing them off.

What will come of this is an increasing distance and hostility between the club and its supporters. Sites like KUMB will become more, not less stroppy and critical of the club ... which will, of course, respond with more hostility ... and so it will go on.

This is a very stupid decision by people who have not grasped the fact that few things are more harmful to ones own best interests than selfishness. You actually do better for yourself by considering the needs of others .. but not a lot of people get that, unfortunately.

[64/75/80]

...you mean like the Daily Mail? They must have just forgotten to put theirs in today!

I'll raise that omission with the Independent Press Complaints Commission.

You raise this sites omission with, well I'll leave you to find the independent regulator.

[West Country Exile]

"Anti racism is a very sensitive thing in sport and if I were a club or organising body I wouldnt want anything to do with any media body that didnt have a clearly stated anti racist policy, one that literally hits you between the eyes - There is for example no anti racist sticky on this site."

Don't want to start a row but to me that is nonsense of the highest order. Anti racist stances should be presumed unless otherwise demonstrated. I just did a search on the BBC site and there is no stated policy on racism and I bet you would find the same on most websites. There is also no stated policy on racism published in any daily paper.

[Countryboy]

I just sent the following email to Miranda Nagalingham, the club press officer, copied to the finance director, Nick Igoe ...

Dear Miranda,

I am writing to you as a West Ham season-ticket holder, a Fleet Street journalist and internationally-published author of 25 years standing, and a regular poster on the Knees Up Mother Brown (KUMB.com) website. I’ve also written for the club programme, come to that!

KUMB has, apparently, been banned from post-match press conferences at Upton Park. This strikes me as an extremely unwise decision, from the point of view of the club, quite apart from the negative effect it will have on KUMB. It also follows from a similar and equally counter-productive move to prevent players being interviewed by Over Land and Sea magazine.

KUMB has a fine reputation as one of the best football fansites in Britain. Its thousands of regular users and tens of thousands of 'lurkers' constitute a significant proportion of West Ham's fan-base. Many of them travel the length and breadth of the country, supporting the club. Many more attend home matches. They also buy club products.

What possible benefit can there be to the interests of West Ham, either as a team, or a business, that justifies angering and alienating these loyal and dedicated customers?

I know, from my own experience, that many institutions and corporations suffer from the delusion that their message can be controlled, and exploited for maximum commercial gain, by a process of denying access and information to potentially 'unreliable' media outlets. But this is as futile as King Canute trying to deny access to the waves of the North Sea.

The fact of the matter is, KUMB, and sites like it, will continue to exist and thrive, whether the club wants them to or not. OLAS, too, will still be sold every Saturday outside the ground. If these outlets, and their consumers are denied access to West Ham players and staff, they will not say, 'Oh goodness, I'd better log onto the official site and purchase an expensive match-programme immediately, to make up for my loss.'

No, they will say, '**** them, if that's how they're going to treat us.'

In other words, the response will be resentment and disillusionment, rather than compliance.

Morally, this decision stinks, in what is supposed to be a free society. Commercially, it stinks too, being an attack on your own most dedicated consumers that will prove totally counter-productive. I urge you, and the board, to reconsider, before more damage is done.

Yours, etc ...

[aaronhammer]

very good letter Countryboy. I completely agree with your thoughts, and like most people cannot understand the reasons why this ban has been imposed.

The club seem to be forging a wall between club interaction and fans, making it so that information we get is censorsed and what they (or the press) want to say. Well this can only cause a backlash which will hurt the club more than a managers comments, and thats their commercial sales.

I also dont understand comments about the club not having control over what is said on this site about the club/players/staff ect., this is not in dispute because the press conference was what had been said by managers not fans on this site.

[One Peter Butler]

Magnusson get out of MY club. We own West Ham - not you. Decisions like this show that you simply couldn't give a toss.

Kumb is THE official West Ham site.

When you're gone take 'Charisma Curbishley' and his money grabbing signings with you.

You might gather from this that I am astounded at the decision to exclude Kumb from the after match press conferece.

[Rocketron]

Brilliant letter, Countryboy (as expected), but if any of the owners get to see it I bet they pick you up on "Canute". Any self -respecting person knows it's spelt c*** ! :lol:

[coviron]

independant intelligent reasoned debate? Not in the new west ham.get used to it everyone this is the future.

[Andy]

excellent respone CB. Let's see what they have to say in reply.........

[Up the Junction]

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