I'm thinking Russell Slade's greatest achievement isn't getting us out of the relegation zone when we were eight points from safety and only had two games in hand. I'm thinking it isn't that he got a team of underachievers to actually play as well as they have been recently.
I think it is the way he has united the fans.
Ever since McGhee the fans have been divided.
Some wanted McGhee gone and blamed him for our failure to push on in the championship, I myself never took to him because when Coppell left we were a point clear at the top of the division, and McGhee needed the play offs to get us up, so I always saw his first season as not screwing up too badly more than a roaring success. Others felt differently, saw him as a quality manager we should be thankful for him slumming with us, that he was shafted by the board not funding squad building and that's why we went down.
Half the fans wanted him gone, half wanted him to be given a chance to take us back up. But he wasn't given that chance.
Some fans were then bitter and resented Dean Wilkins because he took McGhee's job and didn't exactly set a blaze through the path of opposition as we pushed up the table. Not even sure he pushed up the table.
Others were glad to see the back of McGhee, who never really saw us as his team, he was just here to put himself in the shop window, etc. and now he's replaced by an albion legend, a man who bleeds blue and white.
Then fans were seemingly split between those that supported Wilkins, saw a work in a progress a manage developing and improving with experience moulding a team that was developing and improving with experience.
The others saw an inexperienced man, put out a team that couldn't play entertain football.
There are fans that focus on the low attendances and losing run mid-season, others focus on the board's/DK's negotiations with several key players ripping the heart out of the squad needing dean to rebuild the squad, which he did quite successfully. Some focus on the 7th place finish, ahead of 18 other teams, others focus on the 7 point gap from the play offs.
Then he gets replaced by Micky and the divide continues.
Some fans feel Wilkins was shafted, pointing to the 7th place finish, the two play off challenging squads, the clear improvement in a team full of young, local talent.
Others are ecstatic to have Albion legend, man who bleeds blue and white, man who came to many marches, Micky back at the helm, good times will be back.
The former group notice we don't have the same micky, they point to his lack of sustained fair success (by fair I mean his promotion with leicester was aided by premiership stars, premiership funding, etc.), they poiint to him walking out on us before, "never go back" "it's alan mullery mk2!" etc.
His results led to splits in the fans, some adamant he would turn it around, "look at what he did before", others pointing to difference in situations, in squads "he doesn't have his core players/zamora this time" pointing to his new mellow persona.
Russell Slade came in. There was a split, but in the last few weeks he has silenced his critics, the ones that are still waiting for him to mess up are keeping respectfully silent, others have been convinced by his latest run of results now he has settled in. He has the passion of Micky part one, he has the players playing for him in the way Wilkins did. He has us winning, and has managed to get us out of the relegation zone and put survival in our own hands.
I believe we've all been behind the team, just the fans haven't been united, because our disagreements over managers have led to grouping in the fanbase, further exacerbated by a board that has been less open with the fans at a time when results on the pitch leave the fans demanding more answers, where the silence has been filled with rumours, innuendos, supposed leaks etc. causing the fans to argue further, what is fact, what is fiction, where is the line - who far does "saving the club" stretch before mistakes/wrong doing/"ego-driven" behaviour becomes unacceptable? Different fans have different limits, which, like the manager situation, has led to many splits.
Russell seems to have stopped that, or at least has put it on hold. The fans have sold out Withdean for a league game against stockport. And we are all together, behind the team.
For me, that is his greatest achievement.
NB This isn't meant to be a discussion on the merits of previous managers, the comments are meant to illustrate the views of various groups of fans and I don't expect people to agree with every assessment, it is for discriptive purposes only and not to start a debate, for example, on whether McGhee got a fair shake or if Dean should have stayed, whther Knight should step down etc.
And the "Half the fans" isn't meant as an accurate representation of precise numbers.
I think it is the way he has united the fans.
Ever since McGhee the fans have been divided.
Some wanted McGhee gone and blamed him for our failure to push on in the championship, I myself never took to him because when Coppell left we were a point clear at the top of the division, and McGhee needed the play offs to get us up, so I always saw his first season as not screwing up too badly more than a roaring success. Others felt differently, saw him as a quality manager we should be thankful for him slumming with us, that he was shafted by the board not funding squad building and that's why we went down.
Half the fans wanted him gone, half wanted him to be given a chance to take us back up. But he wasn't given that chance.
Some fans were then bitter and resented Dean Wilkins because he took McGhee's job and didn't exactly set a blaze through the path of opposition as we pushed up the table. Not even sure he pushed up the table.
Others were glad to see the back of McGhee, who never really saw us as his team, he was just here to put himself in the shop window, etc. and now he's replaced by an albion legend, a man who bleeds blue and white.
Then fans were seemingly split between those that supported Wilkins, saw a work in a progress a manage developing and improving with experience moulding a team that was developing and improving with experience.
The others saw an inexperienced man, put out a team that couldn't play entertain football.
There are fans that focus on the low attendances and losing run mid-season, others focus on the board's/DK's negotiations with several key players ripping the heart out of the squad needing dean to rebuild the squad, which he did quite successfully. Some focus on the 7th place finish, ahead of 18 other teams, others focus on the 7 point gap from the play offs.
Then he gets replaced by Micky and the divide continues.
Some fans feel Wilkins was shafted, pointing to the 7th place finish, the two play off challenging squads, the clear improvement in a team full of young, local talent.
Others are ecstatic to have Albion legend, man who bleeds blue and white, man who came to many marches, Micky back at the helm, good times will be back.
The former group notice we don't have the same micky, they point to his lack of sustained fair success (by fair I mean his promotion with leicester was aided by premiership stars, premiership funding, etc.), they poiint to him walking out on us before, "never go back" "it's alan mullery mk2!" etc.
His results led to splits in the fans, some adamant he would turn it around, "look at what he did before", others pointing to difference in situations, in squads "he doesn't have his core players/zamora this time" pointing to his new mellow persona.
Russell Slade came in. There was a split, but in the last few weeks he has silenced his critics, the ones that are still waiting for him to mess up are keeping respectfully silent, others have been convinced by his latest run of results now he has settled in. He has the passion of Micky part one, he has the players playing for him in the way Wilkins did. He has us winning, and has managed to get us out of the relegation zone and put survival in our own hands.
I believe we've all been behind the team, just the fans haven't been united, because our disagreements over managers have led to grouping in the fanbase, further exacerbated by a board that has been less open with the fans at a time when results on the pitch leave the fans demanding more answers, where the silence has been filled with rumours, innuendos, supposed leaks etc. causing the fans to argue further, what is fact, what is fiction, where is the line - who far does "saving the club" stretch before mistakes/wrong doing/"ego-driven" behaviour becomes unacceptable? Different fans have different limits, which, like the manager situation, has led to many splits.
Russell seems to have stopped that, or at least has put it on hold. The fans have sold out Withdean for a league game against stockport. And we are all together, behind the team.
For me, that is his greatest achievement.
NB This isn't meant to be a discussion on the merits of previous managers, the comments are meant to illustrate the views of various groups of fans and I don't expect people to agree with every assessment, it is for discriptive purposes only and not to start a debate, for example, on whether McGhee got a fair shake or if Dean should have stayed, whther Knight should step down etc.
And the "Half the fans" isn't meant as an accurate representation of precise numbers.
Harsh but fair. 
I'm so unused to seeing "Brighton 2" almost every game! We even helped ourselves to a 5 and a 3! 