Bucko

Started back on the Substack writing this weekend and put together some thoughts on the whole U-turn situation.

It was only supposed to be a few hundred words but turned into a bit of a long read so stick with it if you can

https://open.substack.com/pub/richardbuxton/p/se-queda-por-que

I've been resigned to him reversing the decision for a good few weeks, despite what he said publicly, and it's been proved right.

Ridiculous that we're letting him stick around for another year at least. Just confirms that he's too emotional and reactionary to carry the job on long-term.

But this entire charade is on the president, who seems to think that anyone from the second Cruyffismo era cannot fail even in the face of overwhelming evidence.

Bartomeu aside, that Graham Hunter documentary was the worst thing to happen to the club

No such problems here yet as learned very quickly that whatever card's end up in the back of my wallet will go that way so it's probably a few weeks/months down the line for me

Was only made aware of this yesterday when Guillem Balague tweeted about it so binge watched it last night on the TV3 app

For anyone who's seen El Pionero, the series on Jesus Gil at Atletico, it's very similar to that but goes a little deeper IMO.

Plenty of people involved in the old administration interviewed including Gaspart, Tusquets and even Jordi Pujol from the Generalitat. Also has a couple of cameos from the likes of Koeman, Stoichkov and Van Gaal.

Not sure there's a great deal which isn't already common knowledge but well worth a watch especially as they have an automated English subtitle option for non-Catalan speakers

Definitely didn't show with mine so might be worth emailing them to find out what's gone wrong

Finally got mine delivered a few minutes ago with the post. Annoyingly they're using the census/biometric photo on membership cards now so make sure yours was a good one, not taken at 1am after a late shift like mine

6 hours ago, OLDSKOOLJAY said:

Do you have a link for this , struggling to find it 👍

Go to Member Management on the dropdown menu and Duplicate Pass is right at the bottom of the list

With any luck mine will be on the way in the coming week.

Still would be quicker than the Camp Nou seat debacle (don't ask!)

Still waiting for mine too almost three weeks later. Then again, the OAB still haven't registered my renewal on the system (took my money quick enough) so there's a big gap between my biometrics update and when the missus mistakenly/intentionally tried to list me as deceased when I asked her to order the card while I did the school run.

Anyone had theirs through yet?

FYI anyone wanting a physical card can do so now on the OAB portal under the 'replacement' option

Another humiliation last night to add to the growing list from this season already. Not a chance he survives this summer as it stands but if we can’t even given a decent account of ourselves against a substandard Napoli in the Champions League, let alone beat them, and Laporta will need to act. Probably looking at Marquez in interim charge in that scenario but the damage will already be done

2 hours ago, Smiler said:

You’re right in most of what you said Bucko but I believe Barca+ TV closed down last summer. That was a real plus point in the past. 

The on demand portal still works but not on the app so have to access it through a web browser. Word last month was that they’re going to relaunch it but can’t find the link at the moment

EDIT: Found it https://www.football-espana.net/2023/12/31/barca-tv-to-return-in-2024-as-barcelona-president-joan-laporta-makes-moves-to-restart-channel

Mostly commercial but the main one is heavily subsidised match tickets. Went over for the final home game of last season against Mallorca and mine came in at something insane like £38 compared to the £90+ my missus and sister in law paid as non-members. Similar deal when taking my dad to the Athletic Club match a few months earlier. Pretty sure it also helps move things along with getting your hands on a season ticket via the waiting list but would defer to the lads in the group who actually have them.

You also get early access to tickets and other sales (e.g. Camp Nou seats) compared to the great unwashed not to mention free entry to the stadium tour at Camp Nou and discounts at the club shop, which cushions the blow of restocking my lad's FCB wardrobe each year. Similarly it also saves you shelling out around £40 a year for the Barca TV+ subscription that the club tries to make you sign up for when clicking on any video on the official website, albeit you will need to use a workaround due to the platform becoming mangled since they wound up the actual broadcast channel (the same one reportedly now being relaunched).

From a basic fan perspective, the new parameters are likely to be opened up to things like being able to cast votes in the general assembly and presidential elections without the need for in-person representation but progress seems to have slowed since reopening the unrestricted soci registration 18 months ago.

The fee has steadily risen year on year so it's up to £185 now which is a hefty upfront cost - especially when Spanish residents can pay it on finance - but I know long-term it'll pay off because there'll come a time where I'll either be retiring or at least semi-residential in Barna which means I'll either be able to get a season ticket or go to far more games each season than the small handful of games I do currently with work and family commitments.

Dropped down 6,000-odd places in the membership this time around, making it 10k+ spots since enrolling.

Managed to renew through the OAB portal but not before needing to reset my renewal as mistakenly tried to opt into the financing without reading the small print about it applying only to Spanish residents. For some reason that means it's now not registered in my payment history but not sure it's worth flagging.

Would still like the physical membership card despite the fact they've given us the biometrics selfie rather than the one you originally uploaded

Sorry to say but it’s becoming increasingly more difficult to keep faith in him as a long-term option with each passing week and result.

Appreciate tonight was a relative dead rubber but still incredibly embarrassing when you see a line-up that looked like they had only just become acquainted on the rent-a-pitch in Sant Marti.

A potential change is only likely to come in the summer and, while that probably renders the rest of this season a bust, it’s preferable to going down the interim route with Marquez but still very much be grin and bear it territory.

The biggest concern is, who comes in? Lot of respect for Laporta but still don’t trust him to become blinded into hiring a replacement with ‘Barca DNA’. It’s no longer 2008 and we don’t have the luxury of being able to pin our future on another Messi breaking into the ranks

Very much in this category too. City's ground is still down as Eastlands in my book, for example

I'm still refusing to acknowledge the name change as preferred the PA booming 'Welcome... to CAMP NOUUUUUUU' circa 2016

That's the one I've gone for. Probably going to tie in pick-up with a couple of days away which means I'll either have a case pre-booked or pick one up and just send it on.

Only issue is whether it can be deconstructed with a mini wrench or screwdriver over there and cushioned by clothes. If not, I'll just bite the bullet and get it shipped from there via FedEx or similar.

Will probably still cost less than other items I've had brought over from Spain via warehousing but better than it being tossed like a basketball on the tarmac at El Prat

Anyone picked something up from this yet?

Briefly weighed up getting a slice of the turf or piece of netting but could easily have bought them on my travels from the stall at the ground so bit the bullet on a seat when they went down to the members' sale recently.

Only issue is you have to wait for the club to tell you when/where to collect it in-person. Easily sorted with a cheap trip over but might be nice for them to actually tell us when it might be so you can plan ahead.

Don't know if anything else will be getting flogged from the old place but can't imagine there's a great deal else that's salvageable. Probably why they're flogging 'diamonds' made from the pitch for 500 quid plus

51 minutes ago, ALEX said:

Forgot to say that this was probably as a result of the paranoia caused by how a certain club seems to have lots of friends in high places and this is supposed to be acceptable in a top European league. 

Funny how they are free of FFP constraints to sign Bellingham but we were given a negative salary cap last year and a 3M one this summer

Coincidentally the Spanish Giuliani running LaLiga was on his soapbox again today claiming our biggest problem is support for Catalan independence

It's been steadily building since the back end of last season but seems to have ramped up this week. What comes next is the thing that concerns me as they could go full Calciopoli and strip us of titles in that 17-year period if there's a burden of proof.

The real-life donkeys from Pinocchio are already going on about how 'Pep is tainted' because of it between this and City's FFP case so hoping for our sake they're proved wrong. Conveniently they're predominantly United fans - you know, the club were the rules were bent to their will under the cuddly nickname 'Fergie time'. And that's before we even get onto the fact they were run by a chairman that offered kickbacks to sign players and his son who has being peeping tom on his police record

Was it this one Alex?

https://www.footyheadlines.com/2023/07/nike-fc-barcelona-2024-anniversary-kit.html

This season's home shirt could've been better if they'd gone with blue sleeves instead of the red ones. Had been in line to receive a bootleg of that design but ended up with the actual shirt which was slightly annoying but what can you do.

Half tempted by the away kit with the old school crest although Gundogan was wearing the T-shirt that goes with it and giving off real Kappa vibes in the look so might temporarily break my aversion to white clothing for it.

Third kit is a total write-off from what I've seen. Just doesn't strike a chord at all.

Actually got a replica of the 89 CWC shirt in for a bit of upgrading. Will upload some pics once it's back

In the meantime this came back from the framers for my future garden office installation. Really happy with how it turned out but it’s still a big unit

Probably the fans who didn’t take it up are sniffy about playing at the Perikos old ground (it was ours long before them but whatever) or don’t fancy getting rained on for another season with it being open-aired. Either way, all the better for us.

Haven’t seen a game there myself but did a walk-in on a few occasions. Visibility looks awful from the vantage points on the ticketing page, on par with West Ham away, but better than the alternative.

Take up on season tickets must’ve really been bad if they’re throwing it out to pre-sale. Early noises were that we’d be lucky to have any availability so the dial must’ve shifted that greatly since. Quite fancy the Sevilla game personally if everything lines up