Hello all,
Just ran into this site. I'm actually from Vancouver and I joined here because I wanted to give you guys an idea of who Paul Barber is.
First off, I'm sorry to hear what is happening to your club. I don't really know all the details to comment but it seems like your ownership is the root of the problem here.
Anyways, even though Paul Barber is advising the owners and not the club, I see this as a positive step. Mr. Barber has done a fantastic job of transforming our team here in Vancouver.
Vancouver started out as a lower division team playing in an old stadium and recently moved into a new state of the art facility (BC Place). While this was being built, he was able to move the team in an interim stadium (Empire field) which was also great (many fans still claim that we shouldn't have moved Empire field).
Our city is not known as a footballing city. We are mad for ice hockey just as you guys for your football club. Despite this, the club has had one of the best attendance rates in the league and the grounds are always sold out despite us finishing last in he league last season. He's also brought in major sponsors and brought international flavor to our club.
However, Paul Barber had his rough moments. The fans did not like the way season tickets were handled. He also fired our coach a few games into the season and replaced him with one that was even worse who constantly played players out of position. Our friendly vs Man City was almost abandoned because the grass turf installed (sadly we play on artificial turf) was in very poor poor condition.
Despite all this, the positives outweighed the negatives. At the end of last season he brought in a coach who has got the team off to a great start. We also signed some questionable players. This year, our roster has been overhauled with a great mix of veteran players and graduates from the academy and this has resulted in us shooting up the table (3rd).
Anyways, hope this gives you guys a rough idea of what Paul Barber could do to your club. You guys deserve better. Even if he isnt dealing with the club directly, at least there is a proper person guiding your owners...