Barry Fry's interview in match programme

[sosman]

Did anyone read with interest the interview with Fat Barry in the programme?

It was surprisingly honest - I suppose he thinks that what happened in '93 (or whenever) is all ancient history now, which I suppose it is.

He said -and this was the honest bit- that he used "the situation" with Birmingham trying to nab him to get some more cash out of Jobson. What made me smile was that he then went on to say later in the article that he was shocked by the fans' vitriol when he returned to RH to see the Scum from Brum get defeated 1-0 and that the fans thought that he was simply after more money, and they didn't know the full story.

Er, but didn't he just say that he was trying to get more money - so exactly how had the fans got the wrong end of the stick when giving out the abuse? :stunned:

In case you're tempted -as we all would be- to call him a fat tw*t, he was in fact very complimentary about Southend, reckons he's a Southend fan (a clue as to Wiggy's identity perhaps?) and said that the fans were perfectly entitled to have a go at him after what happened.

No mention of the ridiculous occasion when he reassured the press that he was totally committed to Southend and was in the car to Birmingham later the same day!

Sorry to be a bit slow at coming up with this given that this arises from the programme on Saturday's match, but I seem to have lost it and I was hoping that it'd show up so I could actually stick some quotes in, but no such luck.

Anyone got any other take on it? Bit more interesting than an interview with most directors of football of rival clubs.

 

[Beefy]

The interesting bit for me was that he said that he was on 10% of the transfer fees he generated here and that's why he reckons that moving to Birmingham ended up costing him a fortune.

It was a good read.

 

[Gremlin]

he then went on to say later in the article that he was shocked by the fans' vitriol when he returned to RH to see the Scum from Brum get defeated 1-0

Wasn't it 3-1? Perhaps I'm going mad.

 

[jarriss]

I have vague memories of standing at the back of an uncovered north-west terrace on a cold new year's day beating Birmingham City 3-1 on Barry Fry's first return to RH after leaving Southend. Jason Lee scored, I think...

 

[maninasuitcase]

At that time we were standing in the north west corner. £5 to join, £5 a game. I took a hip flask to the game so we could have a nip to celebrate our win.

 

[Firestorm]

The interview in Slippers book certainly puts a different side over than that which is the general conception amongst Blues fans.
I think the more money bit was Jobbo trying to get more money out of Brum in compensation rather than Baz trying to get more money for himself.
He said in the book that he could have stayed put and got his 10% of the Colly money (400k ?) rather than the nothing he got because he left

 

[maninasuitcase]

Er, Colleymore was sold before Fry left.

 

[Up the Shrimpers]

At that time we were standing in the north west corner. £5 to join, £5 a game. I took a hip flask to the game so we could have a nip to celebrate our win.

Yeah I remember the North West corner it was cheap to get in, but a bit of a bugger if it rained as it had no roof then & even the bogs had no roof. Not much atmosphere either I'm pretty sure it's nickname was the 'dead zone'.

 

[phsend]

Yeah I remember the North West corner it was cheap to get in, but a bit of a bugger if it rained as it had no roof then & even the bogs had no roof. Not much atmosphere either I'm pretty sure it's nickname was the 'dead zone'.

I was in that corner as there was nowhere else to go, missed the first 5 minutes of the match due to the size of the crowd. Great game, electric atmosphere, wasn't their goal the result of a Sansome rebounded goal kick or something?

 

[A Century United]

The interview in Slippers book certainly puts a different side over than that which is the general conception amongst Blues fans.
I think the more money bit was Jobbo trying to get more money out of Brum in compensation rather than Baz trying to get more money for himself.
He said in the book that he could have stayed put and got his 10% of the Colly money (400k ?) rather than the nothing he got because he left

It does, but it also contradicts what I have heard him say myself (on a Radio 5 interview) that SUFC had agreed to match the Birmingham deal if he stayed. In the book he now claims that Jobson refused to increase his wages. One version or the other is lies, and I being the old cynic that I am, I suspect the version that puts him in the better light...

 

[canveyshrimper]

Er, Colleymore was sold before Fry left.

Yes he was, but remember there were various clauses in that deal, plus a sell on clause which presumably he would have had a cut of.

 

[Desert Shrimper]

Yes he was, but remember there were various clauses in that deal, plus a sell on clause which presumably he would have had a cut of.

True, had he stayed around for the next 5 years or something - but so what? He neglects to mention the 10% cut he'd had of a collection of deals before the Collymore add ons would have been effective (nor the 10% of the initial Collymore fee he had already trousered.) He's talking a load of confused bollocks as per usual.

Bottom line: he took off at the first opportunity to a bigger club for more money and prestige, left us with no coaches to take training the next day (oh yeah, he took the Stein and Howells too) and then raped and pillaged the team for the next two seasons.

He can call your Uncle Dave "Sheila" if you like...but she still has a c**k.

 

[londonblue]

Does anyone know the bonus he received for saving us from relegation the season before? It was £100,000. That's a lot of money for a few month's work even now, let alone back then.

I bet he doesn't mention that when he complains about money.

Did you also know that a few months after he left, Fry rang up Jobson to ask him to release David Howell's player's registration so that he could register him as a player for Brum. Jobson refused, effectively putting an end to his playing career. One of the few things Jobson did that made me laugh.

 

[Firestorm]

It does, but it also contradicts what I have heard him say myself (on a Radio 5 interview) that SUFC had agreed to match the Birmingham deal if he stayed. In the book he now claims that Jobson refused to increase his wages. One version or the other is lies, and I being the old cynic that I am, I suspect the version that puts him in the better light...

And, of course, criticises someone who has no right of reply....

 

[ElstreeBlue]

Does anyone know the bonus he received for saving us from relegation the season before? It was £100,000. That's a lot of money for a few month's work even now, let alone back then.

I bet he doesn't mention that when he complains about money.

Did you also know that a few months after he left, Fry rang up Jobson to ask him to release David Howell's player's registration so that he could register him as a player for Brum. Jobson refused, effectively putting an end to his playing career. One of the few things Jobson did that made me laugh.

Actually, quite a lot that dear old Vic did made me laugh. As I mentioned in my first posts, his heart was very much in the right place, but the way he went about it was sometimes comical.

The funniest incident was when he refused your whole family a season ticket simply because you were my father's next-door neighbour!! Not to mention my 85-year-old grandfather - what a trouble-maker he was - he was rightly banned too! That episode was absolutely hilarious. Even you must admit that looking back now? What about you having to go to his house at 9am when he'd just got up to beg for it back? That was even funnier. And my family having to sneak in to games with the implicit consent of the ticket office (who knew full well what was going on, but also knew it was a game we had to play so Vic could feel he was winning)!

What about picking a fight with the Echo and losing valuable publicity for games?

Some of the things he said to our fans were also pretty funny. For all the wrong reasons, though.

There must be other funny things Vic did, but I really can't remember them now. As I've said before, he saved the club when he took over. He was the right man at the right time but then undid a lot of his good work when his best traits that had saved the club then alienated many of the fans. Unfortunately, many fans didn't really understand him, and just as unfortunately he didn't understand the fans. Can't remember him trying to be funny, but his methods were sometimes very funny.

Just before posting this - remembered the funniest thing I can recall Vic doing. Do you remember who sponsored us one year? "Crevette Clothing Company". I was only a schoolboy at the time but I saw right through it. We couldn't get a sponsor that year so rather than have the embarrassment of not having a sponsor's name on our shirts, Vic invented a company (French for "shrimp"). I wrote a cynical letter to the Echo suggesting that maybe the new company could expand out to the continent if it took off, and call itself "Shrimp" over there. Wasn't sure if it would have the same appeal as "Crevette". The letter didn't get printed. Needless to say the Echo was probably worried about being banned again!!

 

[Mad Cyril]

Most of my wardrobe is made by Crevette Clothing.

The rest of it is all Explosive Fibres.

 

[Slipperduke]

Did anyone read with interest the interview with Fat Barry in the programme?

It was surprisingly honest - I suppose he thinks that what happened in '93 (or whenever) is all ancient history now, which I suppose it is.

He said -and this was the honest bit- that he used "the situation" with Birmingham trying to nab him to get some more cash out of Jobson. What made me smile was that he then went on to say later in the article that he was shocked by the fans' vitriol when he returned to RH to see the Scum from Brum get defeated 1-0 and that the fans thought that he was simply after more money, and they didn't know the full story.

Er, but didn't he just say that he was trying to get more money - so exactly how had the fans got the wrong end of the stick when giving out the abuse? :stunned:

In case you're tempted -as we all would be- to call him a fat tw*t, he was in fact very complimentary about Southend, reckons he's a Southend fan (a clue as to Wiggy's identity perhaps?) and said that the fans were perfectly entitled to have a go at him after what happened.

No mention of the ridiculous occasion when he reassured the press that he was totally committed to Southend and was in the car to Birmingham later the same day!

Sorry to be a bit slow at coming up with this given that this arises from the programme on Saturday's match, but I seem to have lost it and I was hoping that it'd show up so I could actually stick some quotes in, but no such luck.

Anyone got any other take on it? Bit more interesting than an interview with most directors of football of rival clubs.

Ahem, did they plug the book that the interview was taken from?!

 

[McScriven]

Ahem, did they plug the book that the interview was taken from?!

It wasn't taken from your book Slipper, Deano spoke to Barry on the phone in the week leading up to the game.

 

[Slipperduke]

It wasn't taken from your book Slipper, Deano spoke to Barry on the phone in the week leading up to the game.

My apologies! I sent the chapter over to Deano a month ago, but didn't hear anything, so I was just pre-empting any possible fallout! Twitchy publishers, y'see

 

[McScriven]

My apologies! I sent the chapter over to Deano a month ago, but didn't hear anything, so I was just pre-empting any possible fallout! Twitchy publishers, y'see

Think he is going to do something with that against Brighton. Drop him an email as I think he wanted to speak to you but you were aware before.