A Newbie posts his thoughts

[Icy Gull]

I've heard talk of it on SCR for the past couple of seasons, and this place doesn't come across too well on there, and the odd occasions I've visited here before it's been very intimidating. This time I decided to take the plunge.

Shame that you found it intimidating, I wonder how many potential posters feel the same. SCR makes so many references to NSC that they'd have to cut the programme down by half an hour if they didn't cover stuff on here.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

I'm 28, been a fan since I was 6 (I was a match mascot for theleague cup match against brentford in 89 - we lost 3-0, I had my picture taken with Dean Wilkins). I used to have a season ticket at the goldstone, managed at least one game a season at Gillingham, had a season ticket at withdean three seasons ago (the one in which we got relegated). I went to 10, I think, home games last season, have not been to any yet this year but do intend to. I listen to the matches on SCR and read the report in the argus, in national papers, hear opinions from fans.

I haven't only just discovered NSC, I've only just signed up. (I got a new laptop this week). I've heard talk of it on SCR for the past couple of seasons, and this place doesn't come across too well on there, and the odd occasions I've visited here before it's been very intimidating. This time I decided to take the plunge.

You appear way too measured and reasonable for this board.

 

[Djmiles]

Welcome, strongly agree about your section about the fans.

 

[Cpt. Spavil]

welcome acker

good points made

 

[Giraffe]

All good points made. Particularly the part about Knight. Far too many supporters on here believe that he can do no wrong just because he saved us. His time was up at the beginning of last season and I now believe he staying too long. He looks tired, he acts tired and he appears to have no understanding of the modern footballer and the demands of young people.

Regardless of who you blame for the Falmer delay after delay, the bare facts are that it will have taken nearly 15 years to get it, assuming that the current revised timetable is stuck to. A large part of this was the oversight of not ensuring that the site did not cover any part of Lews District Council. Easy to say in hindsight, but frankly thats what Knight and Perry are there to do. At best they were badly advised.

They also cocked up with the additional seats at Withdean coming four years after they needed (when we were riding high in the divisions) and failing to have had the foresight to see that putting a roof over the North Stand would have paid for itself many times over in half the time that its been exposed to the elements.

Then there is the treatement, management of the managers and players. The way Knight sacked McGhee to cover his back was disgraceful. The way Wilkins was treated after a successful season was disgraceful. The way Knight failed to support mnager after manager in contract negotiations is just baffling. Wilkins last season built an excellent team that was dismantled by Knight over Christmas. Wilkins then rebuilt it and somehow got us to within spitting distance of the play offs and yet KNight sacked him. Very irrational thinking.

I don't believe sacking Adams is the answer as I am sure he will get us there in the end but we have probably wasted a season as a result of this odd decision.

For me if Knight does not properly back Adams in Janaury with proper team strengthening then I will start to wonder what it is he is still doing in the role.

 

[sir albion]

Hi everyone. I hear about this place each week on the SCR post match phone in, I hope it's not as negative as it sounds.

I wanted to share my thoughts on numerous topics that appear on SCR a lot, I apologise in advance if this meanders...

Attendance
This seems to be a favourite topic on the phone in. Almost every week we get complaints about the low attendance level. But every week I see in the News of the World the average attendance table and our attendance is right in the middle. Last time I looked we were 12th in the attendance table, that's higher than our league position!

To get such an attendance when the tickets are the price they are, when the stands are temporary structures that shake when the fans jump around, when we park our cars three miles away and catch a bus, when the team has such disappointing, at best inconsistent home form, to get average attendance for our division is a fantastic achievement.


Prices
The only way we will get better attendance is if the team consistently dominate at home, or at least consistently win so that we are up in the top spots, or if ticket prices fall. I hear quite often from Dick Knight et al that they can't lower the prices because they have to be set at the start of the season. Why have they constantly set the prices so high at the start of the past several seasons? They knew last season people were complaining about the price. I suppose next season they'll say they can't lower it because some people bought two year season tickets this year and it's unfair on them...

Manager
We've had so many managers in the last 10 years I don't really connect to them, and often feel it's only a matter of time before they leave, even if they're doing well.

Having said that I was disappointed with Wilkins being replaced, he created two promotion chasing teams last season after a chritsmas mess up caused by the board and a couple of players during contract negotiations.

How many managers could put together two promotion chasing teams in one season? And Knight says he isn't the guy for us going forward? Bull. In my opinion Knight, like a lot of people, are blinded by this belief we should be selling out every week, decided to try the easy route, believing Adams would bring in the crowd.

Mickey Adams's first stint with Brighton came after some pretty crappy seasons, so when he didn't take us to the top within hisfirst three games no one was surprised.

This time around we've had promotions, near promotions, and two of those promotions were largely due to Mickey Adams. We have high expectations, but we also expect them immediately. He didn't take over a struggling team, he took over a team that was already settled and ready to push on, and we can't understand why he's unsettled them.

Jake Robinson
He had a lot of potential, he was one for the future. He claims he is a forward, he was given a run up front by Mark McGee and he didn't live up to that potential. He put in some good performances on the wing, and has been used there on and off.

Neither Dean Wilkins or Mickey Adams have given him a run. When Dean went Jake complained about being ignored, doing everything he can and not being given a chance.

This year I've read more interviews in the argus from him than any other player, talking about how he scored against scunthorpe as if that's enough to earn his place in the team. He got one consolation goal late in a game against opponents who were 4-0 up and had the game pretty much wrapped up.

I think perhaps Jake should look at his all round game and try to improve that, as Dean Cox has done, and maybe it'll show next time he gets an opportunity, or perhaps he should look to play elsewhere.

It's sad, but I don't think he lived up to his early potential.

Dick Knight and the Board
If not for Dick Knight we might not have a club. That is undeniable.

But we didn't always hate Bill Archer and David Bellotti, did we?

His saving of the club can only carry him so far, and for me he has lots of things starting go against him:

1) Every so often we hear about potential investors put off because he won't give them any control. Only the most ardent fan will heavily invest in a club and not want to have a say. But these are rumours and should be taken with a pinch of salt. I generally ignore it but when paired with the McGhee firing, I start to wonder...

2) The McGee firing. For the longest time Knight stod by McGhee. I disagreed with his decision (for me the play off final was a sign of McGhee's failing - he took over a club coasting to automatic promotion and needed luck in the play offs to go up), but I respected his loyalty, especially in today's football.

In the summer after we were relegated "The Board" had a meeting, and "The board" agreed, that "the board" would keep McGhee as manager. It was a decision announced by "the board" and that was it.

A few months later and the fans are not only calling for McGhee to go, they wanted Dick Knight to go too. Suddenly Dick Knigt comes out and Dick Knight appear on Sky sports news, and on BBC and in the apers andDick Knight announces that Dick Knight has made the decision that Dick Knight was going to fire McGhee because Dick Knight listens to the fans.

An unpopular decision is a board decision, a popular one is a Dick Knight decision? That's just wrong.

How long can he ride the 'saved the club' train? He didn't do it alone, many people were involved, including many fans. He didn't single-handedly save the club, and it doesn't give him carte blanche to do whatever he likes.

This Season
We have a team that is capable of winning promotion. Automatically.

The problem we have is consistency. Against Millwall, Leicester, and Man City we put on performances what this team is capable of, which makes it all the more frustrating when we put on the sort of performances we did against Walsall, and Carlisle for example.

This frustration and inconsistency leads to a lot of negativity. It makes our position in the table, and the season ahead seem like it is destined to be equally frustrating and disappointing.


Fans
I am a strong believer in the fans right to boo. Not because we some how earn the right by buying a ticket, but because it is our only avenue to express displeasure at performances and results.

There is an often cited example for the 'non-booers' about how we wuldn't boo a shop girl. But if a shop girl doesn't do her job, you can speak personally to her supervisor, manager, you can send a letter o complaint to the store, to customer service, to head office, if they don't solve your complaint there are ombudsmen you can complain to.

But chances are the store will sole your problem, they have to because thy are competing against other stores for your money. Football clubs aren't. They're not competing to keep you, you've already chosen them, and they're your club until you die.

If we write a letter of complaint to the club about how we are unsatisfied with the performance of one of their employees, say for example, Matt Richards. Will the club give us a refund? Will they give us a gift voucher to entice us back to the ground? They would not. That option isn't available to us, booing is our only option.

Yes, some players go into their shells and lose confidence, but others will take it as a challenge, they will step up and try to prove what happened before was a bad day, that they're not worthy of being booed, their pride forces them to stick it to the crowd. Matt Richards did after the haranguing he received against Walsall, Guy Butters turned the crowd around and became an Albion legend.

MOST fans don't enjoy booing. They don't enjoy their team screwing up. They boo because they feel they have to to help the team, to stop the team repeating mistakes and falling further than they have to. If we highlight problems the club/team have attention will be paid to these issues and they will be corrected.

Fans moan about bad performances. It's natural. People celebrate good performances. That is also natural. It isn't fickle. It isn't a sign that the person should be dismissed and their opinions sneered at. It's how it should be. We don't have to moan at good performances for our moans at bad performances to be taken seriously. We don't expect people to cheer at bad performances, do we?


I'm sure there were other things I wanted to say, but I got caught up in these other comments and some others have left my mind.

You are spot on

If anything annoys me its people that treat knight like a god who can't do anything wrong,like you say how long can he ride the train?

 

[seagullsovergrimsby]

A warm welcome to the gates of Hell - Acker79 - enjoy it before the flamings start.

 

[Cheeky Monkey]

does anyone else want to 'quote' the ENTIRE post in their reply?

:thud:

 

[MORTY]

Hi everyone. I hear about this place each week on the SCR post match phone in, I hope it's not as negative as it sounds.

I wanted to share my thoughts on numerous topics that appear on SCR a lot, I apologise in advance if this meanders...

Attendance
This seems to be a favourite topic on the phone in. Almost every week we get complaints about the low attendance level. But every week I see in the News of the World the average attendance table and our attendance is right in the middle. Last time I looked we were 12th in the attendance table, that's higher than our league position!

To get such an attendance when the tickets are the price they are, when the stands are temporary structures that shake when the fans jump around, when we park our cars three miles away and catch a bus, when the team has such disappointing, at best inconsistent home form, to get average attendance for our division is a fantastic achievement.


Prices
The only way we will get better attendance is if the team consistently dominate at home, or at least consistently win so that we are up in the top spots, or if ticket prices fall. I hear quite often from Dick Knight et al that they can't lower the prices because they have to be set at the start of the season. Why have they constantly set the prices so high at the start of the past several seasons? They knew last season people were complaining about the price. I suppose next season they'll say they can't lower it because some people bought two year season tickets this year and it's unfair on them...

Manager
We've had so many managers in the last 10 years I don't really connect to them, and often feel it's only a matter of time before they leave, even if they're doing well.

Having said that I was disappointed with Wilkins being replaced, he created two promotion chasing teams last season after a chritsmas mess up caused by the board and a couple of players during contract negotiations.

How many managers could put together two promotion chasing teams in one season? And Knight says he isn't the guy for us going forward? Bull. In my opinion Knight, like a lot of people, are blinded by this belief we should be selling out every week, decided to try the easy route, believing Adams would bring in the crowd.

Mickey Adams's first stint with Brighton came after some pretty crappy seasons, so when he didn't take us to the top within hisfirst three games no one was surprised.

This time around we've had promotions, near promotions, and two of those promotions were largely due to Mickey Adams. We have high expectations, but we also expect them immediately. He didn't take over a struggling team, he took over a team that was already settled and ready to push on, and we can't understand why he's unsettled them.

Jake Robinson
He had a lot of potential, he was one for the future. He claims he is a forward, he was given a run up front by Mark McGee and he didn't live up to that potential. He put in some good performances on the wing, and has been used there on and off.

Neither Dean Wilkins or Mickey Adams have given him a run. When Dean went Jake complained about being ignored, doing everything he can and not being given a chance.

This year I've read more interviews in the argus from him than any other player, talking about how he scored against scunthorpe as if that's enough to earn his place in the team. He got one consolation goal late in a game against opponents who were 4-0 up and had the game pretty much wrapped up.

I think perhaps Jake should look at his all round game and try to improve that, as Dean Cox has done, and maybe it'll show next time he gets an opportunity, or perhaps he should look to play elsewhere.

It's sad, but I don't think he lived up to his early potential.

Dick Knight and the Board
If not for Dick Knight we might not have a club. That is undeniable.

But we didn't always hate Bill Archer and David Bellotti, did we?

His saving of the club can only carry him so far, and for me he has lots of things starting go against him:

1) Every so often we hear about potential investors put off because he won't give them any control. Only the most ardent fan will heavily invest in a club and not want to have a say. But these are rumours and should be taken with a pinch of salt. I generally ignore it but when paired with the McGhee firing, I start to wonder...

2) The McGee firing. For the longest time Knight stod by McGhee. I disagreed with his decision (for me the play off final was a sign of McGhee's failing - he took over a club coasting to automatic promotion and needed luck in the play offs to go up), but I respected his loyalty, especially in today's football.

In the summer after we were relegated "The Board" had a meeting, and "The board" agreed, that "the board" would keep McGhee as manager. It was a decision announced by "the board" and that was it.

A few months later and the fans are not only calling for McGhee to go, they wanted Dick Knight to go too. Suddenly Dick Knigt comes out and Dick Knight appear on Sky sports news, and on BBC and in the apers andDick Knight announces that Dick Knight has made the decision that Dick Knight was going to fire McGhee because Dick Knight listens to the fans.

An unpopular decision is a board decision, a popular one is a Dick Knight decision? That's just wrong.

How long can he ride the 'saved the club' train? He didn't do it alone, many people were involved, including many fans. He didn't single-handedly save the club, and it doesn't give him carte blanche to do whatever he likes.

This Season
We have a team that is capable of winning promotion. Automatically.

The problem we have is consistency. Against Millwall, Leicester, and Man City we put on performances what this team is capable of, which makes it all the more frustrating when we put on the sort of performances we did against Walsall, and Carlisle for example.

This frustration and inconsistency leads to a lot of negativity. It makes our position in the table, and the season ahead seem like it is destined to be equally frustrating and disappointing.


Fans
I am a strong believer in the fans right to boo. Not because we some how earn the right by buying a ticket, but because it is our only avenue to express displeasure at performances and results.

There is an often cited example for the 'non-booers' about how we wuldn't boo a shop girl. But if a shop girl doesn't do her job, you can speak personally to her supervisor, manager, you can send a letter o complaint to the store, to customer service, to head office, if they don't solve your complaint there are ombudsmen you can complain to.

But chances are the store will sole your problem, they have to because thy are competing against other stores for your money. Football clubs aren't. They're not competing to keep you, you've already chosen them, and they're your club until you die.

If we write a letter of complaint to the club about how we are unsatisfied with the performance of one of their employees, say for example, Matt Richards. Will the club give us a refund? Will they give us a gift voucher to entice us back to the ground? They would not. That option isn't available to us, booing is our only option.

Yes, some players go into their shells and lose confidence, but others will take it as a challenge, they will step up and try to prove what happened before was a bad day, that they're not worthy of being booed, their pride forces them to stick it to the crowd. Matt Richards did after the haranguing he received against Walsall, Guy Butters turned the crowd around and became an Albion legend.

MOST fans don't enjoy booing. They don't enjoy their team screwing up. They boo because they feel they have to to help the team, to stop the team repeating mistakes and falling further than they have to. If we highlight problems the club/team have attention will be paid to these issues and they will be corrected.

Fans moan about bad performances. It's natural. People celebrate good performances. That is also natural. It isn't fickle. It isn't a sign that the person should be dismissed and their opinions sneered at. It's how it should be. We don't have to moan at good performances for our moans at bad performances to be taken seriously. We don't expect people to cheer at bad performances, do we?


I'm sure there were other things I wanted to say, but I got caught up in these other comments and some others have left my mind.

does anyone else want to 'quote' the ENTIRE post in their reply?

:thud:

Aye, Go on then

 

[Gilliver's Travels]

... and failing to have had the foresight to see that putting a roof over the North Stand would have paid for itself many times over in half the time that its been exposed to the elements.

So now you're wanting TWO roofs over the North Stand? You mean, just because there was no chance of getting planning permission for even just one over the South?

Now that would have set the Catt among the pigeons...

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

Hi everyone. I hear about this place each week on the SCR post match phone in, I hope it's not as negative as it sounds.

I wanted to share my thoughts on numerous topics that appear on SCR a lot, I apologise in advance if this meanders...

Attendance
This seems to be a favourite topic on the phone in. Almost every week we get complaints about the low attendance level. But every week I see in the News of the World the average attendance table and our attendance is right in the middle. Last time I looked we were 12th in the attendance table, that's higher than our league position!

To get such an attendance when the tickets are the price they are, when the stands are temporary structures that shake when the fans jump around, when we park our cars three miles away and catch a bus, when the team has such disappointing, at best inconsistent home form, to get average attendance for our division is a fantastic achievement.


Prices
The only way we will get better attendance is if the team consistently dominate at home, or at least consistently win so that we are up in the top spots, or if ticket prices fall. I hear quite often from Dick Knight et al that they can't lower the prices because they have to be set at the start of the season. Why have they constantly set the prices so high at the start of the past several seasons? They knew last season people were complaining about the price. I suppose next season they'll say they can't lower it because some people bought two year season tickets this year and it's unfair on them...

Manager
We've had so many managers in the last 10 years I don't really connect to them, and often feel it's only a matter of time before they leave, even if they're doing well.

Having said that I was disappointed with Wilkins being replaced, he created two promotion chasing teams last season after a chritsmas mess up caused by the board and a couple of players during contract negotiations.

How many managers could put together two promotion chasing teams in one season? And Knight says he isn't the guy for us going forward? Bull. In my opinion Knight, like a lot of people, are blinded by this belief we should be selling out every week, decided to try the easy route, believing Adams would bring in the crowd.

Mickey Adams's first stint with Brighton came after some pretty crappy seasons, so when he didn't take us to the top within hisfirst three games no one was surprised.

This time around we've had promotions, near promotions, and two of those promotions were largely due to Mickey Adams. We have high expectations, but we also expect them immediately. He didn't take over a struggling team, he took over a team that was already settled and ready to push on, and we can't understand why he's unsettled them.

Jake Robinson
He had a lot of potential, he was one for the future. He claims he is a forward, he was given a run up front by Mark McGee and he didn't live up to that potential. He put in some good performances on the wing, and has been used there on and off.

Neither Dean Wilkins or Mickey Adams have given him a run. When Dean went Jake complained about being ignored, doing everything he can and not being given a chance.

This year I've read more interviews in the argus from him than any other player, talking about how he scored against scunthorpe as if that's enough to earn his place in the team. He got one consolation goal late in a game against opponents who were 4-0 up and had the game pretty much wrapped up.

I think perhaps Jake should look at his all round game and try to improve that, as Dean Cox has done, and maybe it'll show next time he gets an opportunity, or perhaps he should look to play elsewhere.

It's sad, but I don't think he lived up to his early potential.

Dick Knight and the Board
If not for Dick Knight we might not have a club. That is undeniable.

But we didn't always hate Bill Archer and David Bellotti, did we?

His saving of the club can only carry him so far, and for me he has lots of things starting go against him:

1) Every so often we hear about potential investors put off because he won't give them any control. Only the most ardent fan will heavily invest in a club and not want to have a say. But these are rumours and should be taken with a pinch of salt. I generally ignore it but when paired with the McGhee firing, I start to wonder...

2) The McGee firing. For the longest time Knight stod by McGhee. I disagreed with his decision (for me the play off final was a sign of McGhee's failing - he took over a club coasting to automatic promotion and needed luck in the play offs to go up), but I respected his loyalty, especially in today's football.

In the summer after we were relegated "The Board" had a meeting, and "The board" agreed, that "the board" would keep McGhee as manager. It was a decision announced by "the board" and that was it.

A few months later and the fans are not only calling for McGhee to go, they wanted Dick Knight to go too. Suddenly Dick Knigt comes out and Dick Knight appear on Sky sports news, and on BBC and in the apers andDick Knight announces that Dick Knight has made the decision that Dick Knight was going to fire McGhee because Dick Knight listens to the fans.

An unpopular decision is a board decision, a popular one is a Dick Knight decision? That's just wrong.

How long can he ride the 'saved the club' train? He didn't do it alone, many people were involved, including many fans. He didn't single-handedly save the club, and it doesn't give him carte blanche to do whatever he likes.

This Season
We have a team that is capable of winning promotion. Automatically.

The problem we have is consistency. Against Millwall, Leicester, and Man City we put on performances what this team is capable of, which makes it all the more frustrating when we put on the sort of performances we did against Walsall, and Carlisle for example.

This frustration and inconsistency leads to a lot of negativity. It makes our position in the table, and the season ahead seem like it is destined to be equally frustrating and disappointing.


Fans
I am a strong believer in the fans right to boo. Not because we some how earn the right by buying a ticket, but because it is our only avenue to express displeasure at performances and results.

There is an often cited example for the 'non-booers' about how we wuldn't boo a shop girl. But if a shop girl doesn't do her job, you can speak personally to her supervisor, manager, you can send a letter o complaint to the store, to customer service, to head office, if they don't solve your complaint there are ombudsmen you can complain to.

But chances are the store will sole your problem, they have to because thy are competing against other stores for your money. Football clubs aren't. They're not competing to keep you, you've already chosen them, and they're your club until you die.

If we write a letter of complaint to the club about how we are unsatisfied with the performance of one of their employees, say for example, Matt Richards. Will the club give us a refund? Will they give us a gift voucher to entice us back to the ground? They would not. That option isn't available to us, booing is our only option.

Yes, some players go into their shells and lose confidence, but others will take it as a challenge, they will step up and try to prove what happened before was a bad day, that they're not worthy of being booed, their pride forces them to stick it to the crowd. Matt Richards did after the haranguing he received against Walsall, Guy Butters turned the crowd around and became an Albion legend.

MOST fans don't enjoy booing. They don't enjoy their team screwing up. They boo because they feel they have to to help the team, to stop the team repeating mistakes and falling further than they have to. If we highlight problems the club/team have attention will be paid to these issues and they will be corrected.

Fans moan about bad performances. It's natural. People celebrate good performances. That is also natural. It isn't fickle. It isn't a sign that the person should be dismissed and their opinions sneered at. It's how it should be. We don't have to moan at good performances for our moans at bad performances to be taken seriously. We don't expect people to cheer at bad performances, do we?


I'm sure there were other things I wanted to say, but I got caught up in these other comments and some others have left my mind.

Couldn't you have posted a gigantic photo while you were at it?

 

[chez]

I think he's the 1st poster ever to get a sensible reply from Ernest as well !!! Congratulations!

 

[Gilliver's Travels]

I'm 28, been a fan since I was 6 (I was a match mascot for theleague cup match against brentford in 89 - we lost 3-0, I had my picture taken with Dean Wilkins). I used to have a season ticket at the goldstone, managed at least one game a season at Gillingham, had a season ticket at withdean three seasons ago (the one in which we got relegated). I went to 10, I think, home games last season, have not been to any yet this year but do intend to. I listen to the matches on SCR and read the report in the argus, in national papers, hear opinions from fans.

I haven't only just discovered NSC, I've only just signed up. (I got a new laptop this week). I've heard talk of it on SCR for the past couple of seasons, and this place doesn't come across too well on there, and the odd occasions I've visited here before it's been very intimidating. This time I decided to take the plunge.

Fair enough. Good for you for your strong support in the past, and for giving NSC a try. Intimidating? They're all just cardboard pussycats really.

But stick with it. You're exactly the type of fan needed as a born-again, nailed-on STH at Falmer.