“Be careful what you wish for Brighton fans” - How the football world owes us an apology

[vagabond]

So far this thread is making me like John Barnes more and hate Twitter more

You like this kind of insight?

https://twitter.com/officialbarnesy/status/1279888347041804288?s=20

 

[keaton]

You like this kind of insight?

https://twitter.com/officialbarnesy/status/1279888347041804288?s=20

I would never look on Twitter for insight.

I don't really understand the issue. We're not a "big team".We've been in the top flight for 7 years in total and all but one/two was battling relegation. We've been homeless for longer than in top flight. The premier League has made the top flight more of a closed shop and with vast TV and parachute payments. We are doing well to be in top flight

 

[Acker79]

I would never look on Twitter for insight.

I don't really understand the issue. We're not a "big team".We've been in the top flight for 7 years in total and all but one/two was battling relegation. We've been homeless for longer than in top flight. The premier League has made the top flight more of a closed shop and with vast TV and parachute payments. We are doing well to be in top flight

But he said "teams like brighton"!!!!!

 

[highflyer]

You like this kind of insight?

https://twitter.com/officialbarnesy/status/1279888347041804288?s=20

The whole 'teams like' thing is just an in-joke on NSC, you can hardly expect John Barnes to know, or care, about that?

Language aside are you really so delicate that it upsets you when he points out we are doing well considering the resources at our disposal?

From a quick glance it looks as though he's argued his case well enough and with a fair amount of restraint, including against an Newcastle fan with a rather obvious agenda.

 

[Saunders]

He doesnt question the sackings of Brendan Rogers or Roy Hodgson. They didnt do anything wrong either in terms of results at the time and arguably improved the team before their premature demise. Who is to say the couldnt have done better with backing from the fans and the board. Still we will never know but I will take a wild punt and say they are better off with how it turned out and so are we. Likely we will go down at some point anyway so it isnt all about that.

Eventually every club will sack their manager, it is inevitable now. If you are going to hold a club to account for sacking a successful BAME manager you are actually making it an obstacle for hiring the next one. I am not saying that is what John is doing but some were. I hope Chris gets a job at a club right for him and wish him well. The improvements he made to some of our players is his greatest skill

 

[Nixonator]

John Barnes

 

[Audax]

For me, when I look at this season and last season, even though the end result may not be too different from what Hughton achieved, I see a lot more potential in what Potter has done with the team this season.

Look at the first third of last season. Had we continued with those results ,Hughton would probably still be manager this season, we would have finished solid mid-table (11, 12, 13), but we'd probably all be sitting there thinking "Hughton got the best out of what was available, but we're not going to improve on that next season without a lot of spending, and if we don't maintain that form next season we're relegation fodder." As it was, the drop off in form and fortunes happened mid-season and Hughton was unable to recover it.

Looking at this season, I personally have a very different outlook. We're doing (marginally) better than last season - squeaky bum time is over in terms of relegation at this point IMO. But we're doing marginally better having dropped points all over the place. Points we'd played well enough to earn. And that's understandable given the big shift in philosophy that Potter was looking for. I now see a team that had the potential to be top 10 this season but failed to reach that potential. And I see a team that I'm confident can be top 10 next season if everyone learns the lessons from this season and the club recruits well. I don't believe Hughton would have got us to this point.

 

[Jolly Red Giant]

However, the fact we have emerged from it in a much better place is surely credit to Potter.

Absolutely - and, despite the nonsense from some people on this forum - while arguing for caution in relation to assessing Potter - I have never uttered a critical word about the guy. He has done a good job this season - there have been some inconsistencies - but overall the team has made progress. Here is hoping it continues into next season.

And our rivals could and should have benefitted too (Bournemouth - lots of players back from injury - including Brooks; Villa - McGinn back; etc).

Again - absolutely agree - and sometimes you need a bit of luck in football - Brighton got that the first game back - a fortunate win against Arsenal while all of the relegation rivals lost - that was a massive shift in momentum. Again Potter deserves credit for keeping it going and the team getting a point off of Leicester and beating Norwich. The team is ending the season as well as they started it.

And it's difficult to argue that this season's bottom three are worse than last season - Huddersfield only won three games (and achieved 16 points!); Fulham couldn't defend; Cardiff were a bunch of mid-Championship cloggers who somehow stayed in the game until the penultimate match. Finishing above those three wasn't much of a success, in reality.

It is a matter of conjecture whether the bottom half was weaker this season compared to last season - but maintaining PL status for a second season was a massive success. Most promoted clubs go straight back down or get relegated in the second season (something like 7 out of 10 - I posted about it last year). It would be a huge mistake to suggest anything other than it being a major achievement. It takes 3, 4, even 5 years before you can think about a promoted club being consolidated as a PL team (and it can still go badly wrong after several years of PL status - one example being Bolton).

And thinking back to our run-in last season, I have very distinct recollections of our abject performances at Fulham, home to Cardiff and Bournemouth, those games away at Wolves and Spurs (where we basically conceded 70% of possession)....it was truly awful. CH was fantastic for this club, but we needed a change.

It was bad - and I would suggest that the first person to acknowledge this would be Hughton. Bloom could have panicked and sacked Hughton with several games to go - it is fortunate that he didn't make the same mistake that Norwich did a few years earlier and Bloom deserves credit for that. Again it is conjecture that the club needed a change at manager - we have no way of knowing how well the team would have performed this season if Hughton was still in charge - with more than £80million being spent on transfers and a couple of good youngsters coming into the team. But that debate has been done to death - Hughton has been gone for more than a year - and it really is pointless to be continuously rehashing the same arguments.

 

[Mellor 3 Ward 4]

with more than £80million being spent on transfers and a couple of good youngsters coming into the team.

Bloom has backed Potter, no question about that - but £80 million?

And unfortunately CH would NEVER have played the youngsters (in PL games) however good they were.

 

[rogersix]

I have never uttered a critical word about the guy.

why would you?

and what is your relationship to Mr. Hughton?

 

[rogersix]

But that debate has been done to death - Hughton has been gone for more than a year - and it really is pointless to be continuously rehashing the same arguments.

so why are you pointlesssly and continuously rehashing the same arguments?

 

[Jolly Red Giant]

so why are you pointlesssly and continuously rehashing the same arguments?

This thread had 20 pages on it before I made any comment - and the same arguments were being rehashed long before I posted- and I made the exact same point in my first post on the thread.

For some reason or other, a lot pf people on here seem to feel the need, for some cathartic reason, to go back over the history of 14 months ago - there are now 4/5 different threads running on the same topic - all with the same rehashed arguments being made.

 

[vagabond]

JRG, man alive, we need to hook you up with Chris Hughton. And I mean that however you like.

I mean my god, you defend this man to the hilt and never stop talking about him. You’re always getting in arguments here with anyone who dare suggests it may have been the right call to let him go.

You and John Barnes would get on like a house on fire.

 

[rogersix]

This thread had 20 pages on it before I made any comment - and the same arguments were being rehashed long before I posted- and I made the exact same point in my first post on the thread.

For some reason or other, a lot pf people on here seem to feel the need, for some cathartic reason, to go back over the history of 14 months ago - there are now 4/5 different threads running on the same topic - all with the same rehashed arguments being made.

this is illogical; anyway, what is your relationship with Mr. Hughton?

 

[dazzer6666]

This thread had 20 pages on it before I made any comment - and the same arguments were being rehashed long before I posted- and I made the exact same point in my first post on the thread.

For some reason or other, a lot pf people on here seem to feel the need, for some cathartic reason, to go back over the history of 14 months ago - there are now 4/5 different threads running on the same topic - all with the same rehashed arguments being made.

Are you actually John Barnes ? Massive CH promoter, ex Liverpool and quite fat now ?
It's all coming together.

 

[Icy Gull]

This thread had 20 pages on it before I made any comment - and the same arguments were being rehashed long before I posted- and I made the exact same point in my first post on the thread.

For some reason or other, a lot pf people on here seem to feel the need, for some cathartic reason, to go back over the history of 14 months ago - there are now 4/5 different threads running on the same topic - all with the same rehashed arguments being made.

It’s a year ago that GP came in and some fans opinions have changed, so it’s interesting to most Albion fans to hear other fans thoughts...I think, but there is absolutely no reason for you to keep contributing if it pisses you off. Don’t like the thread? Then ignore it, how hard can it be? You can’t help but join in though can you?

Speak to HWT, he’s your man for advice on ignoring posters who piss you off....it’s gonna be a long list though

 

[Jolly Red Giant]

Bloom has backed Potter, no question about that - but £80 million?

Yes £80million - he signed six players and they cost £80million

And unfortunately CH would NEVER have played the youngsters (in PL games) however good they were.

This is - and always has been - rubbish.

And Hughton has been on the Irish media on several occasions singing the praises of Connolly over the past 12 months. If the players were good enough they would have played. People on here were roaring and shouting about Hughton not playing Connolly and Alzate last season. To start with - both were injured and wouldn't have been able to play. Now a majority of posters are saying that Connolly should be sent out on loan to the Championship next season - but he was some how good enough to be in Hughton's team last season. It does pose the question - has Connolly dis-improved that much under Potter that he was good enough a season a go, but will only be good enough for the championship next season.

 

[Jolly Red Giant]

Are you actually John Barnes ? Massive CH promoter, ex Liverpool and quite fat now ?
It's all coming together.

dazz has got an imagination

 

[Jolly Red Giant]

I mean my god, you defend this man to the hilt and never stop talking about him. You’re always getting in arguments here with anyone who dare suggests it may have been the right call to let him go.

The argument has been done to death - yet people keep feeling the need to go back to it.

Did I start any of the threads about Hughton over the past few days? - in fact, have I every started a single thread about Hughton? If people didn't feel the need to rehash (and distort) history then I would have no need to comment.

You and John Barnes would get on like a house on fire.

Nah - don't like the guy that much - I find him a bit pompous

 

[rogersix]

Yes £80million - he signed six players and they cost £80million


This is - and always has been - rubbish.

And Hughton has been on the Irish media on several occasions singing the praises of Connolly over the past 12 months. If the players were good enough they would have played. People on here were roaring and shouting about Hughton not playing Connolly and Alzate last season. To start with - both were injured and wouldn't have been able to play. Now a majority of posters are saying that Connolly should be sent out on loan to the Championship next season - but he was some how good enough to be in Hughton's team last season. It does pose the question - has Connolly dis-improved that much under Potter that he was good enough a season a go, but will only be good enough for the championship next season.

]- Hughton has been gone for more than a year - and it really is pointless to be continuously rehashing the same arguments.[/B]

so what is your relationship to Mr. Hughton?