how does this start to the season change things for you ?

[dannyboy]

personally i thought we would be play offs before the season started (5th or 6 th and probably losing out) . im sticking with play offs still (4th with a sniff of wembley)

am i being too optimistic ? could we do a norwich? Harley is the missing piece for me . im not usually this optimist , having watched the albion for over 30 years. good isnt it

what do you reckon ? how did you think we would do before the first ball was kicked and how do you think we'll do now

 

[Mr Smggles]

I think 4th is a bit optimistic, I still think an outsider for playoff, but a fair few points short.

8th place for me.

 

[Fawkesy]

Originally i thought we would finish about 10th-14th

now i truely believe we can push for a play-off position - you cannot underestimate what a good start to the season does to morale and getting that 'winning mentality'

 

[Tricky Dicky]

Before I didn't really think we'd be flirting with relegation. Now I'm sure we won't - nothing else.

 

[dannyboy]

i think my optimism is all down to gus . put our team in the hands of most other managers in this league and we'd be mid table at best. Put them in Gus' hands ..... his tactics , charisma and how he gets the team to pull together and the sky is the limit. unbelievable jeff

 

[Gazwag]

I think we are still a little bit weak in defence, a couple of injuries or suspensions could really hurt us.

 

[Rookie]

Said before the season play offs and well not changed that view.

 

[jimhigham]

Originally i thought we would finish about 10th-14th

now i truely believe we can push for a play-off position - you cannot underestimate what a good start to the season does to morale and getting that 'winning mentality'

I'm more or less in agreement with this. Mid-table was certainly my aspiration. Obviously it is very early days and it is possible that none of the teams that we have beaten will be in the mix at the end. In other words, we may well not have played any of the teams that will turn out to be "players" as the season progresses. However, it is very hard not to get excited and I have revised my hopes up to sniffing around the playoffs.

 

[peterward]

Almost as important as the points on the board, is the transfer situation. With 2 weeks to deadline day, players are now going to look at us as an attractive champsionship option - Harley, if watching last night will have been impressed.

Also, permier league managers wanting to loan out fringe players for experience will be look at Brighton as one of the best options under Gus tutoring and our early record - these wins will attract better players

 

[Bwian]

personally i thought we would be play offs before the season started (5th or 6 th and probably losing out) . im sticking with play offs still (4th with a sniff of wembley)

am i being too optimistic ? could we do a norwich? Harley is the missing piece for me . im not usually this optimist , having watched the albion for over 30 years. good isnt it

what do you reckon ? how did you think we would do before the first ball was kicked and how do you think we'll do now

After our end to the season-defeats to Southampton and Huddersfield, I thought that as long as we finish above the cretins up the A23 it won't have been a bad season. Hoping for a bit better than that now.

 

[Fawkesy]

Almost as important as the points on the board, is the transfer situation. With 2 weeks to deadline day, players are now going to look at us as an attractive champsionship option - Harley, if watching last night will have been impressed.

Also, permier league managers wanting to loan out fringe players for experience will be look at Brighton as one of the best options under Gus tutoring and our early record - these wins will attract better players

never thought about that, good point!

 

[catfish]

The big test will be to see how we react when we have a bad run of results but I think this side may well exceed all our early season expectations.

 

[Cypriot-Seagull]

I think we def wont go down but looking at the other teams in this division i truly honestly dont see any other teams that will give us a hard time. Everyone talks about westham/leiceter etc running away with it but personally i dont see them as a big threat. Theres nothing nieve about being optimistic about our chances. Given the style of football we play the stadium the manager etc..we SHOULD be aiming high. There will never be a better chance than this to get into the prem so i think we should raise our expectations. It was the "we are the best attitude" that helped us win the league last year so why not use it this time out? People who think we will finish mid table are trying to be realistic bit realistically we can do much better. I've supported the albion for well over 30 years and this is the first time i believe that anything less than promotion and i will be dissapointed thats how far weve come in my book.

 

[sydney]

i reckoned on a 6th to 10th spot finish but the way we have started and particularly last nights' result have got me looking up , would love to be involved in the play-offs , definitely be on a plane quick smart , Gus seems to be a bit of a mastermind to be honest , hope we can hold on to him for a few years , not sure that going up this year would do us any good but what do i know.?

 

[Couldn't Be Hyypia]

Never thought we'd be relegated. Expected mid table. Hoped for top 10. Now hope for - but still don't expect - to be top 8. But it is a long old season. Let's get to 42 points first!

 

[Simster]

Previously I thought somewhere between 5th and 9th but I no longer see any reason to believe we can't finish in the top 6, and quite possibly the top 2. I don't think it is arrogant to point out that we have:

a) one of the best managers in the division
b) one of the best strikers in the division
c) a squad so good that at any time we have 5 or 6 first teamers out of the first XI that would walk into most teams in the division
d) a massive feel-good factor at play - beautiful brand new stadium, new training facilities on the way, 8,000 more seats on the way, in probably one of the best locations in the country to ply your trade

I don't think any team will run away with the league this season, but expect Albion to be right up there challenging for the top two with Southampton, West Ham and Middlesbrough

 

[chucky1973]

as TRHK said, another 33 / 35 points would be nice and then we can drive on, I said 14th at the start and now would be over the moon with a top 10 finish and I think we are than capable of that, but we have all things going right for us at the moment, soon something will go against us and its how the players react to that and come back which will determine our season. Harley is going to be a good addition and if we can get a quality back up defender in then I fear no one.

 

[SeagullEd]

Lower mid-table.

We can't get over optimistic. We had a lot of luck in our first two league games against relatively poor opposition. As was mentioned in another thread, Cardiff have a new managers and lost quite a few players.

All this stuff about us now being able to attract new players. Bollocks. We know that he has already identified the players he wants and a lot of players have moved about. We're also unlikely to go on a massive signing splurge now. So this point is overdone.

 

[upthealbion1970]

I was hoping for a decent start but I fear that we may get found out after half a dozen games or so, once other managers have plenty of coverage of our games so far - for me getting to 50 points is biggest priority this season then push on from there......

 

[Braders]

I said 12th-17th

I'm reckoning higher end of this now , we've yet to be properly tested but the test will come, I'll think about this again at the halfway stage.