Has Mark McGhee given up already ?.

[Uncle Spielberg]

I am one of Mark's stauchest supporters as you know but all the in house falling out and idiots calling for his head may have had a very negative effect on him. I have alarmingly detected in the last few weeks Mark seemingly giving up before games are played. Now, OK, we had 10 players missing for the Saints game but Mark had given up the game as a defeat in the post match interview after Millwall saying he is not bothered about the result and any point would be a miracle.

He also looked at blaming the ref after the Reading thumping and did not seem overly bothered about the Millwall defeat which was a hammer blow to our survival and could well be the pivotal game of the season when we look back in May.

As he assumed we would lose at Southampton that is the only explanation I can give for dropping Kuipers for a bloke he told the piss out of last week saying he was last seen running down North Street towards the Channel tunnel.

The rift with Knight must have a real unsettling effect on the team and I imagine Michel is pretty fecked off at the moment.

I still believe in Mark however and wish people would get behind him whatever happens this season. I still want him in charge if we go down as I believe he is the right man for us.

He is passionate about this club you only have to see the way he is on the touchline to prove that and the Millwall defeat must have really hurt but he is a proud man and does not show it.

Its time for the players to stand up and be counted and for Mark to still believe and not panic which he seems to have done over the last couple of weeks.

Come on Mark , you are the man.

Do you still believe, if so, show it on Saturday.

 

[Garry Nelson's Left Foot]

Er GG, yoour opening sentence says that you believe that MM has given up, then later on you say that he's still passionate about the club. How do you tally those two statements?

 

[Uncle Spielberg]

Read the whole thread.

 

[graz126]

i dont think mcghee has given up at all. no manager wants a relegation on their cv.

 

[Da Man Clay]

He ain't given up yet. Keep the faith.

 

[mcshane in the 79th]

How can he have given up if we're only one point from safety??

As for Flo running down North street heading for the Channel Tunnel, wasn't that an El Pres wind up!?

 

[Napper]

McGhee not given up but the facts are we are just not very good and he knows this. It's hard to keep banging the positive drum when you know that we are not as good as the opposition in almost every position like for like

 

[Garry Nelson's Left Foot]

Read the whole thread.

I have.

If he is passionate about this club he wouldn't have given up. Far from it, the desire to overcome the seemig futility of the situation would drive him on to show even more passion. Think Keegan's infamous outburst.

I'm just curious how you tally giving up and still being passionate about the club.

I agree with you that he is the right man for the job.

 

[Redhead]

My dad's collegue is a Luton season ticket holder and was in hospitality and had a chat with MM after the Luton game, and was told by MM he expected Brighton to get relegated but his job was safe irregardless of where we finish until we get into Falmer. I hope he is winding me up, but if he isn't and MM is 'untouchable' surley there is less (i'm not saying no incentive i'm saying less) incentive for him to keep us up, because if he's fighting for his job, it means more doesn't it?

 

[Infernal Optimist]

I've been a McGhee supporter, but I'm starting to have severe doubts about that decision.

The Luton and Southampton games have looked to me like damage limitation exercises. We have set up like we expected to be beaten and we have played fringe players to protect players for 'winnable' games.

The shenanagians with Knight show that all is not well in the dressing room. Knight may be an arrogant little toad, but these things don't tend to come out as a rule.

The positional switches and inappropriate blooding of youngsters (eg.Reading) also suggest that we are looking to next season, rather than trying to survive this.

If we are relegated it will be a disaster. We have to get 12,000 regularly if Falmer is to pay for itself and that will be harder with such huge draws as MK Dons and Oldham.

Fine, if we are at the top we will get it, but if we are mid-table?

Surely the best strategy would be to risk a little money now on staying in this division. I think this window is a real test of both McGhee and DK's ambition...

 

[Easy 10]

His comments after Millwall re the Southampton game and result "not being important" were probably in an effort to take a bit of pressure off the players, particularly the younger ones, as he knew it'd be a scratch team he'd be putting out. OK, it does come across as rather defeatist, cos we've played better teams than Southampton and come away with something (they were on a poor run and I thought they were decidedly average). EVERY game is important, because every point we gain is so precious. But as I say, I think it was just McGhee's way of trying not to heap too much pressure on the kids who would be coming into the squad at St Marys.

 

[Garry Nelson's Left Foot]

My dad's collegue is a Luton season ticket holder and was in hospitality and had a chat with MM after the Luton game, and was told by MM he expected Brighton to get relegated but his job was safe irregardless of where we finish until we get into Falmer. I hope he is winding me up, but if he isn't and MM is 'untouchable' surley there is less (i'm not saying no incentive i'm saying less) incentive for him to keep us up, because if he's fighting for his job, it means more doesn't it?

I can't imagine he'd say something like that in a public space to a random fan of an opposition team.

 

[Da Man Clay]

How can he have given up if we're only one point from safety??

As for Flo running down North street heading for the Channel Tunnel, wasn't that an El Pres wind up!?

It wasn't actually, it was a quote from MM in the sun.

 

[Dave the OAP]

I dont think he has given up, however I am not convinced pissing £30k up the wall for Henderson is the answer. Flo and Kuips can do a job..that is certain and if we need a goalie to cover we go out and get one in.

Goalkeeping is not the problem.

Scoring and creating oppertunities to score are the problem.

I think the defence on saturday is the best we can hope for and I would be happy to have that the rest of the season...move reid back into midfield with AN Other attacking midfielder and that sorts the midfield out, then a Freddie eastwood type player alongside CKR/Jakey, then that sorts out the side.

As i said on harty, 2 players is all we need!

It does worry me that MM seems to dismiss games out of hand..." Oh we didnt expect anything at Reading, Luton, Southampton...etc etc..." That is fine when we are beating sides like Millwall, but falls down when we dont.

I assume he thinks Leeds and Sheff Utd are out of reach, therefore we are running out of "winnable" games

 

[Spiros]

I've been a McGhee supporter, but I'm starting to have severe doubts about that decision.

The Luton and Southampton games have looked to me like damage limitation exercises. We have set up like we expected to be beaten and we have played fringe players to protect players for 'winnable' games.

Surely the best strategy would be to risk a little money now on staying in this division. I think this window is a real test of both McGhee and DK's ambition...

Luton was damage limitation because of the number of games to play in so short a time with such a limited squad. At Southampton McGhee actually played the strongest team available to him because of the number of injuries, suspensions, etc.

As far as money goes, McGhee has said that he does have money to spend but will only use it on players better than what we've got. I'm not sure about risking money to stay in the division because the financial rewards for the club of this div versus league one aren't that great - and won't be until we have a ground that takes many more than Withdean

 

[CHAPPERS]

I dont think he has given up, however I am not convinced pissing £30k up the wall for Henderson is the answer. Flo and Kuips can do a job..that is certain and if we need a goalie to cover we go out and get one in.

Goalkeeping is not the problem.

Pissing 30k up the wall for Hendo? Are you friggin' mad? 30k is NOTHING for a keeper of his quality and I don't think spending 30k on a keeper who WILL play for the first team when fit is a bad idea considering Frenchie is on loan and Kuipers is clearly pretty injury prone and hasn't yet grasped how to kick a ball.

As for going out a getting goalies to cover, do you remember Yelldell, Flitney etc etc.

To be honest mate, what you have said above strikes me a the biggest load of tosh I've ever heard from you, with all due respect.

 

[Dave the OAP]

Luton was damage limitation because of the number of games to play in so short a time with such a limited squad. At Southampton McGhee actually played the strongest team available to him because of the number of injuries, suspensions, etc.

As far as money goes, McGhee has said that he does have money to spend but will only use it on players better than what we've got. I'm not sure about risking money to stay in the division because the financial rewards for the club of this div versus league one aren't that great - and won't be until we have a ground that takes many more than Withdean

I am sorry but that is nonsense.

We are in this division because we won the right to be here. We all know about the problemsd blah blah blah

We have to have a manager that believes and transmits to the players the belief that every game is winnable, or we might as well throw in the towel now.

We cannot go into a season thinking there are games we are going to lose....what about WEST HAM last year, Leicester, Sunderland, Leeds.....these were teams we beat last year. Teams that we should not have been beating according to your logic.


This supposed negativity from the management is starting to get me f***ed off.

 

[Dave the OAP]

Pissing 30k up the wall for Hendo? Are you friggin' mad? 30k is NOTHING for a keeper of his quality and I don't think spending 30k on a keeper who WILL play for the first team when fit is a bad idea considering Frenchie is on loan and Kuipers is clearly pretty injury prone and hasn't yet grasped how to kick a ball.

As for going out a getting goalies to cover, do you remember Yelldell, Flitney etc etc.

To be honest mate, what you have said above strikes me a the biggest load of tosh I've ever heard from you, with all due respect.

So assuming we have a very limited amount of money you would spend it on a luxury then would you?

Flintney and Yelldell? Henderson and Blayney were both loans and good ones.

Goalkeeping is not the priority

 

[Spiros]

I am sorry but that is nonsense.

We are in this division because we won the right to be here. We all know about the problemsd blah blah blah

We have to have a manager that believes and transmits to the players the belief that every game is winnable, or we might as well throw in the towel now.

We cannot go into a season thinking there are games we are going to lose....what about WEST HAM last year, Leicester, Sunderland, Leeds.....these were teams we beat last year. Teams that we should not have been beating according to your logic.


This supposed negativity from the management is starting to get me f***ed off.

From what I saw on the pitch yesterday he might have told the radio interviewer not to expect anything but he certainly had the players fired up. Hasn't it occurred to you that he is trying to take pressure of a mainly young and inexperienced team?

 

[Tony Meolas Loan Spell]

Well said Dave.

Lets look at Mourinho. Ok he now has mega millions to spend. But before that?

He was at Porto. He turned a bunch of players some talented, some journey men into an impressive unit with positive mental attitude and a seige mentality. Look at how is is handling Joe Cole at the moment.

He won league titles and the Champions League. Yes he had a bit of luck along the way.

But my point is: Teams should always worry about us and not the other way around.

All the great managers have this view regardless of how much money they have to spend.