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AIBU?

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Original poster

to feel a bit sorry for chris reid (the old trafford security firm boss)

69 replies

scarednoob · 17/05/2016 14:50

yes it was a stupid mistake, but who can hold their hand up and say they have never ever made a mistake at work? doubtless the club will go after the little guy for £3,000,000, when they pay that to has-been wayne rooney in just a few weeks...

OP posts:
Julia2016 · 17/05/2016 15:44

I feel incredibly sorry for him because the media will scapegoat him to hell and back. Remember that poor nurse when one of the Royals was pregnant and that outcome. It baffles me how cruel we can be to each other. It was a mistake.

Twitterqueen · 17/05/2016 15:53

Apocalypse
you hope "he's got a great support network and can see that this really isn't a big deal." !!!!!

Not a big deal? How can possibly think this is not a big deal? Have you not seen the coverage of the 100+ people shot down and bombed in Paris? Those who were shot in Tunisia? And every other atrocity that has taken place very recently?

Tt's a bloody great fucking huge big deal! I am horrified at the way everyone is just dismissing this. There should have been ultra-tight security measures around deploying fake bombs for a training exercise with those fakes signed in and out and double-signed in and out.

It was a major cock-up. I'm not saying he should pilloried but he - and various other people in the club - should be held to account for lax security.

FlaviaAnsell · 17/05/2016 15:56

I understand them maybe not wanting to phone the number on the device.

But it would be easy enough for the police to check it out and find that the number legitimately belonged to that company, and then get in touch with them by other means to ask if they could shed any light.

Nairsmellsbad · 17/05/2016 15:57

I also feel really sorry for him. I also can't believe that nobody involved put two and two together "Blimey, that looks just like the fake bombs we used last week. Lucky we did that drill eh?"

Original poster
scarednoob · 17/05/2016 16:09

twitterqueen, I don't think anyone is dismissing it. the point is that thank goodness it was nothing and it proved that everyone can get out calmly and without a crush. and that it's a much bigger cock-up than just his, and it might have saved lives by raising lots of questions, therefore he should take his share of the punishment, but that share is not 100%!

OP posts:
megletthesecond · 17/05/2016 16:16

I want to know why no one else at Old Trafford noticed. Don't they do a quick sweep before match day? Maintenance, cleaning team?

YoungGirlGrowingOld · 17/05/2016 16:17

I agree OP. Who amongst us hasbt fucked up at work? Some fuck ups are bigger than others but the bigger question (for me at least) is why the bloody fuck nobody at Old Traffird noticed the fake pipe bomb after the exercise but before the match? The area was supposed to have been searched and he was not responsible for that. If anything I think he is being too fall-guy ish.

Euripidesralph · 17/05/2016 16:29

Trust me I'm not dismissing it in the slightest my nephew was there and evacuated .....I take it extremely seriously but that's not the same as not understanding he has taken a huge hit and I very very much doubt he was entirely solely to blame.... for example surely someone should have noticed before the day

We've taken away from this that nephew reports the evacuation was smooth and professional so the system worked

Tiggeryoubastard · 17/05/2016 16:44

Why weren't the fake bombs counted in or out, though? Thats unbelievably sloppy protocol. And whoever it was in his company that cocked up, ultimately it rests with him, he's not 'covering for someone'. That's the responsibility you have when you are in charge.

MrsHathaway · 17/05/2016 16:48

There should have been ultra-tight security measures around deploying fake bombs for a training exercise with those fakes signed in and out and double-signed in and out.

That's my feeling really. If you asked me to run a mock bomb event I'd probably lose track of one but that's because I'm not an expert nor setting myself up as one.

He cocked up hugely.

Old Trafford cocked up also, by not noticing what looked like a bomb for five chuffing days.

In context, Greater Manchester Police have been running big drills this week so response to bombs etc is towards the forefront of everyone's mind locally. Those working at potential targets (shopping centres, sports venues etc) wouldn't have been complacent.

Euripidesralph · 17/05/2016 16:54

I do totally agree that if you own the company then you are responsible ... (not entirely sure of the need for the passive aggressive quote marks but hey ho) but it doesn't hurt to have some empathy that it's a huge consequence for him

Damselindestress · 17/05/2016 17:20

For people saying it's not personally his responsibility, apparently he did sign to say he had retrieved the fake bomb when in fact he had mixed it up with another one in his possession. I do feel sorry for him though, one mistake and he's been publicly humiliated and could lose his business. Hopefully he has robust insurance in the event he is sued. I also wonder how people didn't put two and two together to realise that the bomb could be from the recent training exercise.

BillSykesDog · 17/05/2016 17:22

I have a huge amount of respect for the way he has dealt with it. It was probably one or two inept employees not following procedure. I doubt he himself goes around removing fake bombs.

Yet he's not gone down the road of blaming employees, obfuscating or mealy mouthed 'lessons will be learned'. He's just said 'I fucked up, I accept responsibility'. Which is bloody refreshing.

Tiggeryoubastard · 17/05/2016 17:27

'I also wonder how people didn't put two and two together to realise that the bomb could be from the recent training exercise'
Using a similar looking item just after a training exercise would be the ideal way to confuse the issue if you're going to bomb somewhere. And getting the details of where/when/ training sessions ate taking place wouldn't be that difficult.

EsmesBees · 17/05/2016 17:31

I did wonder about the cleanliness of the toilets if no one had spotted it since Wednesday.

listsandbudgets · 17/05/2016 17:33

It was a major cock up to say the least - however we've all made mistakes and at least he was decent enough to hold his hands up, apologise and take hte blame on national TV.

Lots of people would have issued a formal statement saying they were going to hold an internal inquiry and "lessons will be learnt". Highly unusual to see someone being so ope and honest!

Original poster
scarednoob · 17/05/2016 17:34

esmesbees - having been in the gents toilets at old Trafford as a small child when at games with my dad, it's a nightmare before the game even begins. can't say I would blame the cleaner for thinking, "why bother even going in there, it's going to be a fetid steaming lake of piss and shit in inexplicable places within about 2 minutes" !

OP posts:
MrsMushrooms · 17/05/2016 17:34

I feel awful for him, it is such an easy error to make (Old Trafford is HUGE!)

murphyslaws · 17/05/2016 17:38

Hang on he is the managing director. I bet he has sacked more people for less stupid things.

I'm disgusted with his stupidity.

Chippednailvarnishing · 17/05/2016 17:41

Got pissed once and left the keys to my entire office block in the pub...

I'm not going to judge him!

Tiggeryoubastard · 17/05/2016 17:43

It is NOT an easy error! FFS! It was a training for a potential bomb threat. Easy error shouldn't even come into something so serious, affecting so many lives. You do realise these things are done because many thousands of lives are involved? Easy error sounds like giving the wrong change. Not missing a fake bomb in a controlled exercise. Or, indeed, missing it when the exercise was over.

GnomeDePlume · 17/05/2016 17:51

DH asked 'what about the poor sod who found the "fake" bomb? I dont suppose that was a laugh a minute'.

Incredibly sloppy basic admin to not have recorded the fake bombs in and out.

JuxtapositionRecords · 17/05/2016 20:08

Well the training exercise was obviously a total fail if no one found the fake bomb until after the ground had started filling up!

But yes i felt sorry for him - and I think he was very brave getting in front of all the cameras to talk to them, he could have just released a statement. He looked bloody terrified.

5tardusty · 17/05/2016 20:20

I had this very conversation with DH about this and feel very sorry for that man indeed.

Another who feels that the learning from this incident may prove to be priceless- a full scale evacuation of a massive football stadium can't really be replicated. Any problems they identified from the evacuation may well save lives in a real incident, though from the outside it seemed well managed.

Quimby · 17/05/2016 20:59

"doubtless the club will go after the little guy for £3,000,000, "

Presumably they or their insurance will go after the person at fault.