A couple of thoughts after last night

[Stumpy Tim]

I don't think he meant that's ALL he cares about. Rather of the two issues he no longer cares about Wilkins. Hope this clarifies. I could be wrong of course.

Of course you are correct, but you obviously have more than 5 brain cells

 

[El Presidente]

Of course you are correct, but you obviously have more than 5 brain cells

I used to DREAM of having 5 brain cells

 

[supaseagull]

It seems to me like a lot of the people who want Adams out are those that liked Wilkins, and as such instead of concentrating on what really matters now they're still harping on about demanding to know why Wilkins was sacked. As far as I'm concerned, any information on Wilkins would be interesting but it wouldn't change anything. We'd still be a struggling side lacking direction and the talent/fight to get us out of the relegation battle. If people want to put pressure on then put it on the board to explain why it's January 22nd and we haven't signed anyone of note or Adams for what his plans are for the rest of the season.

For quite a few, I don't think it's a matter of liking Wilkins or not, I just remember thinking at the end of last season that whilst Wilkins wasn't my favourite manager, I thought he and the team had the ability to push on and go one better with one or two more signings this year.

I've seen it too many times in football where an ex-manager or player returns to the club where they made their name for it not to work because of the added expectation of what happened the first time around.

 

[El Presidente]

For quite a few, I don't think it's a matter of liking Wilkins or not, I just remember thinking at the end of last season that whilst Wilkins wasn't my favourite manager, I thought he and the team had the ability to push on and go one better with one or two more signings this year.

I've seen it too many times in football where an ex-manager or player returns to the club where they made their name for it not to work because of the added expectation of what happened the first time around.

I agree with you, there are two separate issues here, one is the sacking of Wilkins, which on the basis of results on the pitch was bizarre, and the other was the (hasty) appointment of Adams. Many Wilkins fans act as if they want the Albion to perform poorly, which I find bizarre, and have been anti Adams from day 1.

If we are shit on Saturday then Adams must expect some stick, but my personal view is that I don't care who the manager is.

 

[Black Country Seagull]

Oh right. I'm not talking about you though am I. I'm talking about the Albion. And I'm sure Micky will be alright - what with the 3 year contract he was handed

Not to mention the payoffs from Leicester and Coventry still in hand.A unemployed Micky will not be as dramatic as say one of us losing our jobs.

Yes I was a Wlikins fan as well, but he will not be back I would imagine why Knight is there, so get over it and look forward, as Badger said, finding out the facts about 'Wilkogate' will only be of interest, not help.

 

[supaseagull]

I agree with you, there are two separate issues here, one is the sacking of Wilkins, which on the basis of results on the pitch was bizarre, and the other was the (hasty) appointment of Adams. Many Wilkins fans act as if they want the Albion to perform poorly, which I find bizarre, and have been anti Adams from day 1.

If we are shit on Saturday then Adams must expect some stick, but my personal view is that I don't care who the manager is.

There is a common theme amongst Albion fans at the moment which says that you have to adhere to one train of thought. The prime example is :

- Fans of McGhee who seemed to want Wilkins to fail
- Fans of Wayne Henderson who want Kuipers to play badly (& vice versa when the former was at the club)
- Fans of Wilkins who seem to want Adams to fail.

I'm completely with you on this, as I think a majority of supporters are and that is they just want the club to do well and push on for promotion irrespective of who is the manager/goalkeeper/assistant coach/chairman/ball boys is & are

 

[Black Country Seagull]

I'm completely with you on this, as I think a majority of supporters are and that is they just want the club to do well and push on for promotion irrespective of who is the manager/goalkeeper/assistant coach/chairman/ball boys is & are

I have and always will love for the Albion to do well whoever is in charge!

Yes I have not agreed with certain appointments as manager in the past, but I have always got behind the club, however that said, it has not prevented me from voicing my concerns when things turn as bad as the last few months of McGhees tenure, If I and others did not raise these views, we would sleep walk down a division.

 

[Acker79]

but my personal view is that I don't care who the manager is.

We've chopped and changed managers so much in the last 10-15 years that I find it hard to really connect with a particular manager. But that doesn't stop me questioning the board's decisions regarding hiring/firing.

I will criticise any manager that does poorly, or any bad decisions they make. I will praise and celebrate when they do well. I like to think I'm fair in my critique.

While they are at the albion I'll get behind them, but just because I'm behind them, it doesn't mean I won't call them on their errors.

I guess essentially, it really doesn't matter who in particular is the manager to me, like you.

 

[Buzzer]

It's not a question of going over old ground nor is it shit-stirring. It's about explaining where we are now.

We are where we are right now because of the re-appointment of Micky Adams. We certainly couldn't be any worse under DW and in all likelihood we'd be in a better position. We, as fans, have earned the right by turning up game after game this season to watch the rubbish on offer to ask DK why he got rid of DW.

I don't buy all this "let's just forget what happened and move forward" nonsense. Are we just idiots ready to accept whatever is thrown up and expected not to ask questions about certain decisions? If that's the case, then I expect NSC NEVER to criticise MA's team selections after a game (it's happened. Let's just move on, eh?) nor DK's often bizarre transfer (or lack of them) forays. In fact we don't appear to need to question anything. All that's left is for us is to turn up or vote with our feet and wallets and stop going.

Just to repeat what many on here have said, this is not malicious nor is it trying to hound out MA or re-instate DW. It's simply an explanation of why a winning formula ON THE PITCH (which is where it matters) was changed.

I remember Merry Prankster posting on here after DW was sacked and he said something along the lines of this being an extremely high risk strategy that had better work or else serious questions will need answering. Well, it's that time.

 

[The Large One]

I am simply 'Pro-Club'.

Everyone in this ongoing saga that constitutes the history of the club is merely a bit-part player there to make up the whole. The Chairman, the directors, players, fans on an individual basis come and go, though of course collectively they are the common thread that keeps the club going.

If anyone (within reason) is acting, or is endeavouring to act in the best interests of the club (though we all may have different opinions of what 'best interests' might mean), then they have my support.

If or when they then leave, I will consider their part in the story, and reflect on it in the way that I feel they contributed.

For me, the notion of being 'pro-Adams' or 'anti-Wilkins' or whatever is pure folly and serves little purpose. While they're at the club, they are there to do a job. If they're not trying, then they don't have my suppport, but that's different from being pro or anti them or from being personally or professionally abusive.

Of course, when you have something as destructive as Archer, Stanley and Bellotti, that's different. They never acted in the best interests of the club - they tried to destroy it, and nearly succeeded.

 

[The Large One]

It's not a question of going over old ground nor is it shit-stirring. It's about explaining where we are now.

We are where we are right now because of the re-appointment of Micky Adams. We certainly couldn't be any worse under DW and in all likelihood we'd be in a better position. We, as fans, have earned the right by turning up game after game this season to watch the rubbish on offer to ask DK why he got rid of DW.

I don't buy all this "let's just forget what happened and move forward" nonsense. Are we just idiots ready to accept whatever is thrown up and expected not to ask questions about certain decisions? If that's the case, then I expect NSC NEVER to criticise MA's team selections after a game (it's happened. Let's just move on, eh?) nor DK's often bizarre transfer (or lack of them) forays. In fact we don't appear to need to question anything. All that's left is for us is to turn up or vote with our feet and wallets and stop going.

Just to repeat what many on here have said, this is not malicious nor is it trying to hound out MA or re-instate DW. It's simply an explanation of why a winning formula ON THE PITCH (which is where it matters) was changed.

I remember Merry Prankster posting on here after DW was sacked and he said something along the lines of this being an extremely high risk strategy that had better work or else serious questions will need answering. Well, it's that time.

I think most of us are with you on that one.

 

[ROSM]

The whole debate as to whether Dean Wilkins could do a better job is acedemic in the extreme, because (let's face it) an inanimate object could do a better job of motivating the players than Adams' is doing at the moment.

You could put a banana or a rotary telephone in front of that team before the game and at half time and it couldn't do any worse. It's like Jeff Wood all over again.

Now whether you have a manager for just those reasons or the longer term is another matter and day to day we dont know what else he is doing...........but he better be doing something cos on a results basis he clearly isn't where he needs to be.

Many on here doubted the wisdom of employing adams back at the time it happened - it isn't hindsight now for them to say that but I do think that for some it has become a self fulfilling prophecy.

My big fear is that we have a backroom of lightweights. Dean White may be a great guy and I dont know what he does on a day to day basis but he does leave me baffled. As for Bob Booker, he lost his focus here once when working with McGhee, I'm not sure he's regained it.

 

[BensGrandad]

I once hada problem at one of my pubs and my boss came in and correctly said ' There is a problem either you sort it or I will and I start at the top'. I solved the problem. Perhaps now is the time for DK and the board to adopt such an attitude with MA.

 

[Jimmy Grimble]

I can't see the old Adams ever returning and it was like groundhog day at Withdean last night after 15 minutes. Bang the ball up and just hit and hope - it is atrocious.

What hurts me in all of this is Mini (my 12 year old) who I also bought the Withdean waiver for went to his first game since we lost to Derby County and after 20 minutes he said this is so predictable - what does that say when a 12 year old can see the bigger picture.

He is the type of fan the club now needs to grab from the jaws of supporting a Premiersh1te club and make him their own but with the current predictable hit and hope I can't see it happening.

I really fear for the future of this club as the current situation is exactly the wrong answer to the current issues all clubs have in attracting fans.

The football is moribound and the facilities a disgrace and don't give me the crap we are where we are, not our fault, blame others etc.......the club needs to start addressing this situation now otherwise Falmer will be a folly.

Correct. Recently we've had a few more mates coming along to their first Brighton matches and I can't help but feel sorry for them and fear that they're not gunna want to come again. Tuesday night was simply embarrassing, there were no positives from that performance, everything was directionless shit. It's more fun having a laugh in the stand chatting amongst ourselves for 90 minutes and just forgetting the football is there

 

[Man of Harveys]

OK, let's assume then, say, that a Big Statement gets drummed out of the board, announcing that Dean Wilkins was sacked because it was felt that he was incompetent in transfer negotiations, say (just to stress that I haven't the faintest notion that he was, but just as an example).

Just remind me exactly how that statement would in anyway alter the fact that our team away at Cheltenham on Saturday is likely to playing like shit again and is being picked by an arrogant and clueless incompetent who brings on injured players and is lost without his pet players?

It doesn't. Not ONE bit.

 

[Buzzer]

Disagree, MoH. In the short-term nothing changes but it'll certainly make DK and the board think twice before ditching a good manager on spurious grounds or trying to justify hanging onto a crap manager who appears to be just as bad (for example) in the transfer market.

I think it's a bloody big kick up the backside to DK/Board and a reminder that they don't have carte blanche from the fans to mess around with the playing side of things.

 

[Dandyman]

It's not a question of going over old ground nor is it shit-stirring. It's about explaining where we are now.

We are where we are right now because of the re-appointment of Micky Adams. We certainly couldn't be any worse under DW and in all likelihood we'd be in a better position. We, as fans, have earned the right by turning up game after game this season to watch the rubbish on offer to ask DK why he got rid of DW.

I don't buy all this "let's just forget what happened and move forward" nonsense. Are we just idiots ready to accept whatever is thrown up and expected not to ask questions about certain decisions? If that's the case, then I expect NSC NEVER to criticise MA's team selections after a game (it's happened. Let's just move on, eh?) nor DK's often bizarre transfer (or lack of them) forays. In fact we don't appear to need to question anything. All that's left is for us is to turn up or vote with our feet and wallets and stop going.

Just to repeat what many on here have said, this is not malicious nor is it trying to hound out MA or re-instate DW. It's simply an explanation of why a winning formula ON THE PITCH (which is where it matters) was changed.

I remember Merry Prankster posting on here after DW was sacked and he said something along the lines of this being an extremely high risk strategy that had better work or else serious questions will need answering. Well, it's that time.

Could n't disagree with any of that. As MP pointed out Uncle Dick's credibility rests on MA's success or failure, which is why unless we are relegated I don't see any change of manager this season. With luck we will see the Adams of old re-born but it needs to happen now.

 

[Knotty]

on spurious grounds QUOTE]

You KNOW the grounds then?

And, actually, they do have carte blanche to do whatever they want. They own the club, we don't.

On the other hand, we have carte blanche to criticise what they do (even if we don't know the reasons why) and not buy the product they are offering us.

Knowing the reasons DW was sacked (and I'd love to know) will change or help nothing. The anti-DK/Board faction will still be anti because they won't agree with the reasons...whatever they are.

And even if some did agree with the reasons, it wouldn't suddenly make MA a better manager, would it?

 

[Simster]

OK, let's assume then, say, that a Big Statement gets drummed out of the board, announcing that Dean Wilkins was sacked because it was felt that he was incompetent in transfer negotiations, say (just to stress that I haven't the faintest notion that he was, but just as an example).

Just remind me exactly how that statement would in anyway alter the fact that our team away at Cheltenham on Saturday is likely to playing like shit again and is being picked by an arrogant and clueless incompetent who brings on injured players and is lost without his pet players?

It doesn't. Not ONE bit.

I take your point about the difference it would make, but I don't think that's really the issue here. There are bigger fans than me who are already beginning to feel somewhat disenfranchised and downtrodden after being told time after time that what's done is done and it's time to move on - especially given the history of letter writing and begging buckets. It sounds suspiciously like they expect other authorities to listen to fan power, but the board themselves don't feel they have to! And when things are going fine, people tend to accept these things (sometimes begrudgingly) but when things go wrong, fans demand some answers. It really isn't that unreasonable, IMO, especially when people shelled out a lot of money for season tickets at a crap ground, and were perhaps expecting an improvement on last season.

 

[Simster]

And, actually, they do have carte blanche to do whatever they want. They own the club, we don't.

On the other hand, we have carte blanche to criticise what they do (even if we don't know the reasons why) and not buy the product they are offering us.

FFS, what is this prattle? We're talking about a football club with deep roots in the community. Which branch of Asda are you talking about?