I think Gus got it spot on this weekend

[Brovion]

I apologise, there are people out there weeping buckets. Good to see a bit of passion about the FACup.
I am ' old-school '...I think you should try and win every competition you enter. This season, we have stuck two fingers up to the 3 cup competitions and however well we are doing in the league, the sour taste still lingers.

Yeah. I must say that whilst I might blame Poyet a bit for the defeat I certainly don't think he's been 'naive' as some have said. From Day One he's said the Cup wasn't a priority and fair enough, he's the boss, and apart from the Watford and Portsmouth games (which I think he took seriously) he's used the Cup games as glorified training sessions.

But one day a third division team will reach the Cup Final and one day one will win it. And it'll be another up-and-coming team like us, the difference being that the manager (and the fans) will just have a bit more guts and spirit than we had.

 

[Fitzcarraldo]

This season, we have stuck two fingers up to the 3 cup competitions.

Getting through to the 5th round of the FA cup is hardly sticking 2 fingers up to the competition. In the Paint Pot Trophy and the League cup it is fair to say we did roll over to Orient and Northampton without a wimper, however, despite having opportunities to do the same in the previous 4 rounds, or the 6 games we played, of the FA cup we still won through. Watford would have been a perfect chance to send out a weakened team against a form championship side and drop out to not many complaints, but we won all the same and were in the hat for the last 16.

If getting to the 5th round is Gus sticking two fingers up to the competition, I would love to see what happens when he decides he wants a crack at winning it.

 

[Icy Gull]

This must be one of the most ridiculous statements I have ever read. Gus has been telling us for months that there are better teams and better players out there.

I happen to think we should have actually competed with Stoke rather than tried to out football them, trying to play a team like them the way we did was quite frankly suicide imo and showed some naivety on Gus' part. Now I know you are a company man and to you all of the Albion management team are perfect and infallible but I'm sure you could find a few more ridiculous statements on NSC if you tried just a little.

Just because Gus has told us he knows teams and players are better doesn't mean he can't get his tactics wrong.

 

[Icy Gull]

I have to say I will take Gus' 'naivety' over some of the usual shite that's peddled out by many Football managers. He is emotional, he is driven, he cares about what he is doing and he cares about the way in which he does it.

.

I agree completely, my comments about him being naive were not meant as a knock.

 

[Danny-Boy]

Yeah. I must say that whilst I might blame Poyet a bit for the defeat I certainly don't think he's been 'naive' as some have said. From Day One he's said the Cup wasn't a priority and fair enough, he's the boss, and apart from the Watford and Portsmouth games (which I think he took seriously) he's used the Cup games as glorified training sessions.

But one day a third division team will reach the Cup Final and one day one will win it. And it'll be another up-and-coming team like us, the difference being that the manager (and the fans) will just have a bit more guts and spirit than we had.

Agre. I always remember when Palace got to the semis with Big Mal and his fedora, great entertainment but we missed out on promotion that year from the Third.

Next season when Mal had left it was Terry Venables who got us up. And after that....

 

[Ian Bairds Fist]

From reading this and the other threads I think I'm the only person to be REALLY gutted and pissed off today. Most people, as expected, are saying "ah well, mustn't grumble, worse things happen at sea, every cloud has a silver lining, Cup wasn't a priority" etc etc etc. But I think we've blown a real and genuine opportunity to make a bit of history, something this club has never really done before. Bollocks. Bollocks. Bollocks.

Ah well, I'm sure if I try I'll enjoy yet another 'vital' third division game against Plymouth f***ing Argyle where it will be 'really important' that we get three points.

I've never agreed more with a NSC post in my life.

 

[hans kraay fan club]

I happen to think we should have actually competed with Stoke rather than tried to out football them, trying to play a team like them the way we did was quite frankly suicide imo .

I don't think you could be more wrong if you tried. So you think that, rather than trying to do what WE are good at, we should have tried to take them on at the things that THEY are the best in the country at? Make it a battle of strength, against a team who are to a man, physically stronger than us? Not for me.

 

[Notters]

I happen to think we should have actually competed with Stoke rather than tried to out football them, trying to play a team like them the way we did was quite frankly suicide imo and showed some naivety on Gus' part. Now I know you are a company man and to you all of the Albion management team are perfect and infallible but I'm sure you could find a few more ridiculous statements on NSC if you tried just a little.

Just because Gus has told us he knows teams and players are better doesn't mean he can't get his tactics wrong.

Disagree entirely. How is a third division team that has small, skillful players used to passing the ball around going to compete in a head tennis match with a physically strong premiership team that are expert at it. I reckon if we'd had Lualua, Wood and Sparrow/Kish we'd have stood a chance but none of those players were available.

As Gus says,we play it our way - the "Brighton Style" if you will - and I for one don't want to see that change whether we're playing Stoke City or Seddlescombe Rangers.

 

[Brightonfan1983]

Not a great performance from us to be frank in the first half but despite my initial disappointment I have been thinking - and the more I do the more I think Poyet got is absolutely spot on.

We are never going to win the FA Cup - we were hardly likely to beat Stoke - bearing in ind what they have done to Arsenal and many other sides up there over the last couple of years.

I would rather be waking up this morning with no injuries, no exhauseted players and no prospect of a replay.

Frankly I think its done us a favour - for both players and supporters alike. Reality check - just a bit of a sanity check thats all.

We are a talented league one side with some realatively skillful players - when put up against a technically better side - and just becuase some may not like the way Stoke play - we cannot suggest realistically for one second that they are not technically better - we came up well short.

So before some of the players have ideas above tyheir station and before some of the supporters start genuinely behaving like they follow a mini Barcelona - lets just get back to focusing on what we are here for this season.

Getting into The Championship for the grand opening. Larger revenue streams, larger away crowds, a chairman willing to back the manager and a prospect of playing in a far superior league.

I have to say that for once, I am rather relieved the whole FA Cup thing is over for this season.

Agreed. I like to think it's very positive, a bit of a reality check. We were never going to "play Stoke off the park" so maybe Saturday will keep the team's feet on the ground; do what they do best against teams at this level and think about those above next season - just make sure we get there though with a good few games in hand!

 

[Hotchilidog]

From reading this and the other threads I think I'm the only person to be REALLY gutted and pissed off today. Most people, as expected, are saying "ah well, mustn't grumble, worse things happen at sea, every cloud has a silver lining, Cup wasn't a priority" etc etc etc. But I think we've blown a real and genuine opportunity to make a bit of history, something this club has never really done before. Bollocks. Bollocks. Bollocks.

Ah well, I'm sure if I try I'll enjoy yet another 'vital' third division game against Plymouth f***ing Argyle where it will be 'really important' that we get three points.

We didn't blow an opportunity at all, we were beaten by a better side. As others have pointed out that was a strong Stoke side intent on getting the job done early. Whilst I agree we were disappointing that had more to do with quality of the opposition than us not being bothered about it.

If Wood was fit we would probably have started with three up front leaving batti as the only out of sorts selection.

I thought we gave it a go, but Stoke just beat us fair and square, I cannot understand why that is so difficult to accept.

 

[Tony Meolas Loan Spell]

i thought we gave it a go, but stoke just beat us fair and square, i cannot understand why that is so difficult to accept.

this

 

[drew]

From reading this and the other threads I think I'm the only person to be REALLY gutted and pissed off today. Most people, as expected, are saying "ah well, mustn't grumble, worse things happen at sea, every cloud has a silver lining, Cup wasn't a priority" etc etc etc. But I think we've blown a real and genuine opportunity to make a bit of history, something this club has never really done before. Bollocks. Bollocks. Bollocks.

Ah well, I'm sure if I try I'll enjoy yet another 'vital' third division game against Plymouth f***ing Argyle where it will be 'really important' that we get three points.

No, I also think we should have paid more respect to the competition.

I have to say I will take Gus' 'naivety' over some of the usual shite that's peddled out by many Football managers. He is emotional, he is driven, he cares about what he is doing and he cares about the way in which he does it.

I am not stupid enough to think he will be here for years - but while he is I am absolutely loving the honesty and candid approach to the game and some of the elements in the game that he has to deal with.

Compared to the predictable shite that sills out of harry Redknapp's mouth about how its been a miracle to cope with half a team missing, how he cant spend over the odds ebcuase players are just overpriced even though he is a fraud of the lowest degree - I would take Gus' approach any day of the week.

He stood up to Forster, he played Calderon at his own game and he and Bloom together are a pretty potent force for good at our club.This puzzles me as it implies that Gus was in control all the time. Here we are aiming for promotion yet last year he had an unnecessary spat with our leading goalscorer when we were in a relegation dogfight. As for Calderon, Gus stated he would never play for the Albion again. All Calderon was trying to do was secure a better deal for a player heading to the twilight of his career rather than the begining. Both of these cases were mistakes that hopefully Gus has learnt from.

All of us make mistakes - I believe Gus has the character and the foresight to learn from them - but I certainly hope he does not lose his verve for management, his refreshing and open approach - as well as the fact that already he has shown potential to become a managerial great.

That wont be with us - but its not about comparing us to Stoke - this is a journey we are on, and in the early stages. Nothing I have seen or heard makes me feel that we are not going in the right direction.

My problem with our approach to the FA cup is that it stinks. For years on this site we have, in the main, berated the likes of the Premier league for their commercial approach to football, ie it's the dollar that counts. Yet here we are doing the same thing. I'm not shedding a tear that we are out of the cup but equally I'm not going to cry if we don't get promoted. It's not the end of the world. The club aren't going to fold or end up out of the Football League as they nearly did 14/15 years ago.

 

[Icy Gull]

I don't think you could be more wrong if you tried. So you think that, rather than trying to do what WE are good at, we should have tried to take them on at the things that THEY are the best in the country at? Make it a battle of strength, against a team who are to a man, physically stronger than us? Not for me.

They were always going to bully us and yeah I think we could have had a bit more aggression about our defence. As it was they just steamrollered us with minimal resistance at the back until they went 3-0 up and then we were ALLOWED to pass the ball around, whoopy dooh. With the team we had out there trying to keep the ball against a fit and tenacious Premier team was never gonna work. Chasing them down may just have kept the score down and made the game a bit more equal, we were always gonna get beaten however we played though.

 

[robbie c]

Not a great performance from us to be frank in the first half but despite my initial disappointment I have been thinking - and the more I do the more I think Poyet got is absolutely spot on.

We are never going to win the FA Cup - we were hardly likely to beat Stoke - bearing in ind what they have done to Arsenal and many other sides up there over the last couple of years.

I would rather be waking up this morning with no injuries, no exhauseted players and no prospect of a replay.

Frankly I think its done us a favour - for both players and supporters alike. Reality check - just a bit of a sanity check thats all.

We are a talented league one side with some realatively skillful players - when put up against a technically better side - and just becuase some may not like the way Stoke play - we cannot suggest realistically for one second that they are not technically better - we came up well short.

So before some of the players have ideas above tyheir station and before some of the supporters start genuinely behaving like they follow a mini Barcelona - lets just get back to focusing on what we are here for this season.

Getting into The Championship for the grand opening. Larger revenue streams, larger away crowds, a chairman willing to back the manager and a prospect of playing in a far superior league.

I have to say that for once, I am rather relieved the whole FA Cup thing is over for this season.

Big Sam certainly felt Gus was naive and another "expert" said that we don't seem to have a Plan B
back to this week 4 points from 2 games keeps us on track

 

[Easy 10]

Big Sam certainly felt Gus was naive and another "expert" said that we don't seem to have a Plan B
back to this week 4 points from 2 games keeps us on track

Excellent.
Long may this myth persist about Gus being naive, as he naively guides us into the Championship, with his naive tactics.

I am perfectly comfortable with this perception.

 

[Notters]

Big Sam certainly felt Gus was naive and another "expert" said that we don't seem to have a Plan B
back to this week 4 points from 2 games keeps us on track

Well they're wrong! We've sucessfully played 4-5-1, 4-4-2, 4-3-3 and 4-1-2-1-2 this season. There is no need to stop passing the ball.

 

[Hotchilidog]

They were always going to bully us and yeah I think we could have had a bit more aggression about our defence. As it was they just steamrollered us with minimal resistance at the back until they went 3-0 up and then we were ALLOWED to pass the ball around, whoopy dooh. With the team we had out there trying to keep the ball against a fit and tenacious Premier team was never gonna work. Chasing them down may just have kept the score down and made the game a bit more equal, we were always gonna get beaten however we played though.

You make these comments as if there was only one team out there. Isn't anyone going to give Stoke a bit of credit for doing an extremely professional job well.

I do not think that we play enough opponents of that quality in DIVISION THREE to sufficiently test our squad at the level that Stoke play. 4-1 strolls against the likes of hartlepool etc are hardly ideal preparation against motivated premiership opposition. Should we get to the championship we will regularly face stronger opposition so hopefully this will bring us on a little more. I thought Gus took the appropriate lessons from this game and will hopefully apply them over the coming weeks so we can finish the job of promotion in style.

Anyone who thinks Stoke were there for the taking if only we huffed and puffed a bit more are simply deluded.

 

[Icy Gull]

You make these comments as if there was only one team out there. Isn't anyone going to give Stoke a bit of credit for doing an extremely professional job well.

.[/QUO

It's not meant to sound like that, if you see my last sentence it does say we would have got beat however we played..

I just get the hump that so many fans on here can't believe that just maybe Gus is not God and that occasionally it's ok question whether he has got it wrong. I am apparently somewhere between ridiculous and mental for daring to disagree and suggesting that playing tippy tappy football was not the best way to play against a team like Stoke. Oh well mentally ridiculous it is then, possibly better than being a sheep

 

[Brovion]

We didn't blow an opportunity at all, we were beaten by a better side. As others have pointed out that was a strong Stoke side intent on getting the job done early. Whilst I agree we were disappointing that had more to do with quality of the opposition than us not being bothered about it.

If Wood was fit we would probably have started with three up front leaving batti as the only out of sorts selection.

I thought we gave it a go, but Stoke just beat us fair and square, I cannot understand why that is so difficult to accept.

Disagree, I think to a large extent we were beaten before we got onto the pitch. Leaving aside the team selection everybody knew what Poyet's view on the Cup was and consequently the players knew that this wasn't a game where they were expected to lay down their lives for the cause. With a different (i.e. 'better') attitude from the management that was a match where we could have got at least a draw. Orient did it, and they were playing a better side, even f***ing CRAWLEY nearly did it.

 

[Dick Knights Mumm]

Disagree, I think to a large extent we were beaten before we got onto the pitch. Leaving aside the team selection everybody knew what Poyet's view on the Cup was and consequently the players knew that this wasn't a game where they were expected to lay down their lives for the cause. With a different (i.e. 'better') attitude from the management that was a match where we could have got at least a draw. Orient did it, and they were playing a better side, even f***ing CRAWLEY nearly did it.

Any other season Brovian, any other season. But this season it is about the Amex and the Championship.

Anyway - I don't really think it made much difference in the end. We are not the best at defending set-pieces against League One teams - and Stoke are the masters.