Stoke fan here

[Barry M]

Although saturday will be tough does anyone think that it'll be as tough as villa last year Villa were a good side and had some class acts playing for them and we were pretty impressive! Stoke are a big side and sitting 9th but they're only 6points off the relegation zone! I fancy an Albion win in all honesty and we have nothing to fear when we turn up there and turn them over!!! SEAGULLS!!!!!

 

[spooookie1]

Very much looking forward to it.I will be sitting in with my Wife, a couple of Stoke fans I know up here,and a Derby fan who is supporting us also.

A nice day out,win,lose,or draw,and I personally believe good teams will give a good account of themselves regardless of which competitions theyre in.

 

[Barry M]

Also people who keep moaning about us being in the cup should just leave it out, You can't stop a team winning if they do, and the players shouldnt have a mentallity of just going out there and doing as they please because thats when things start going wrong in the league.

 

[Uwinsc]

I don't see why people seem to think it has to be cup or league? I really want us to win this one although with our packed fixture list I would take a lose over a repaly as long as we weren't himulated as that would upset morale to much

 

[BensGrandad]

Yeah I agree with that, more exciting than a free kick around the box,
Every team would love to have a Rory delap in their squad, Murray and wood, would have a field day

Saturday prediction: 2-2

We could have as apparently Tunnicliffe can throw it as far if not further than Delap but it just goes to show that long throws arent everything in football and when we did have him here Gus never used his long throw.

 

[BHAryan]

score from a throw in, you only score from a throw in, SCORE FROM A THROOOWWW IN!!!!

 

[Ding Dong !]

Interesting that some want us to be out of the cup and rightly
Concentrating on the league. But let's be honest, we will all be pretty
Excited about getting into the last eight.......then who knows !!!

 

[Skaville]

Look, I don't want to upset you, but you've either changed your mind or you didn't properly pick up on my original point. Jimmy Saville, in post #10, said: "I think the majority of fans would rather see us go out so we can concentrate on promotion." That is quite explicit, he's saying he thinks most Brighton fans want to see us lose on Saturday so that we can concentrate on promotion. That prompted my 'cowards and losers' comment (which was the only part of his post I quoted) that you took umbrage to.

From the look of the posts on this thread, I may have misjudged what the "majority" thinks (although it's fairly mixed). Don't get me wrong, of course I would be happy if we win and am not hoping that we lose - I'm a Brighton fan after all and it would be a terrific result, but I still don't think it would be such a bad thing if we played well, took pride from our performance and went out. We're not 150-1 to win the cup without reason! I don't think that's cowardly, I think that's sensible.

PS - We're evens to win the league, what price does that make us to win the title and FA Cup double? 600-1?

 

[Brovion]

From the look of the posts on this thread, I may have misjudged what the "majority" thinks (although it's fairly mixed). Don't get me wrong, of course I would be happy if we win and am not hoping that we lose - I'm a Brighton fan after all and it would be a terrific result, but I still don't think it would be such a bad thing if we played well, took pride from our performance and went out. We're not 150-1 to win the cup without reason! I don't think that's cowardly, I think that's sensible.

PS - We're evens to win the league, what price does that make us to win the title and FA Cup double? 600-1?

I think you've only misjudged it by saying the majority WANT to see us go out. Most think like you, e.g. be great to win but a defeat could have a silver lining. However there have been some so-called fans who ever since the 1st round have been saying they want to see us lose! The reasoning apparently is that a Cup run is a 'distraction' that will negatively affect League performance. That as I said earlier is total bollocks. We've been on a roll ever since beating Portsmouth, one of the reasons being that beating supposedly 'better' sides gives the players confidence. And we're not a one-off - Orient haven't been 'distracted' by the thought of playing Arsenal: they've been stimulated by winning away at Norwich and Swansea. Consequently they can't stop winning in the League and are making a serious charge for the playoffs.

The only downside to an extended Cup run is that we could, repeat could, pick up injuries and suspensions - but then players can get injured during training. To my mind that risk is more than outweighed by the 'feelgood' factor generated by getting further than we have done for the last 25 years, with slim but real chance to make a bit of history. And in years to come the big Cup games will be the ones that people talk about and remember, just look at the 'Liverpool 1991' thread. That's why Saturday's game isn't just a bit of fun.

 

[spooookie1]

I think you've only misjudged it by saying the majority WANT to see us go out. Most think like you, e.g. be great to win but a defeat could have a silver lining. However there have been some so-called fans who ever since the 1st round have been saying they want to see us lose! The reasoning apparently is that a Cup run is a 'distraction' that will negatively affect League performance. That as I said earlier is total bollocks. We've been on a roll ever since beating Portsmouth, one of the reasons being that beating supposedly 'better' sides gives the players confidence. And we're not a one-off - Orient haven't been 'distracted' by the thought of playing Arsenal: they've been stimulated by winning away at Norwich and Swansea. Consequently they can't stop winning in the League and are making a serious charge for the playoffs.

The only downside to an extended Cup run is that we could, repeat could, pick up injuries and suspensions - but then players can get injured during training. To my mind that risk is more than outweighed by the 'feelgood' factor generated by getting further than we have done for the last 25 years, with slim but real chance to make a bit of history. And in years to come the big Cup games will be the ones that people talk about and remember, just look at the 'Liverpool 1991' thread. That's why Saturday's game isn't just a bit of fun.

I personally agree completely with what you are saying here.

 

[sydney]

I think you've only misjudged it by saying the majority WANT to see us go out. Most think like you, e.g. be great to win but a defeat could have a silver lining. However there have been some so-called fans who ever since the 1st round have been saying they want to see us lose! The reasoning apparently is that a Cup run is a 'distraction' that will negatively affect League performance. That as I said earlier is total bollocks. We've been on a roll ever since beating Portsmouth, one of the reasons being that beating supposedly 'better' sides gives the players confidence. And we're not a one-off - Orient haven't been 'distracted' by the thought of playing Arsenal: they've been stimulated by winning away at Norwich and Swansea. Consequently they can't stop winning in the League and are making a serious charge for the playoffs.
The only downside to an extended Cup run is that we could, repeat could, pick up injuries and suspensions - but then players can get injured during training. To my mind that risk is more than outweighed by the 'feelgood' factor generated by getting further than we have done for the last 25 years, with slim but real chance to make a bit of history. And in years to come the big Cup games will be the ones that people talk about and remember, just look at the 'Liverpool 1991' thread. That's why Saturday's game isn't just a bit of fun.

would love us to win obviously , but if we loose and don't get any injuries i wont be too gutted.....no doubt a cup run is good for morale/confidence.

 

[Tony Meolas Loan Spell]

To be honest because its "only Stoke" I dont think its much of a distraction for the players as say Man Utd or Chelsea etc etc. Im sure that Gus etc would still keep the players feet firmly on the ground if that was the case but you couldnt help but think about it. Gus has played at these stadiums, most of our players havent!

 

[Hotchilidog]

To be honest because its "only Stoke" I dont think its much of a distraction for the players as say Man Utd or Chelsea etc etc. Im sure that Gus etc would still keep the players feet firmly on the ground if that was the case but you couldnt help but think about it. Gus has played at these stadiums, most of our players havent!

Totally agree with this. It's good to be tested against a higher quality opponent without it turning into some ridiculous circus with 'glamorous' opponents. Funnily enough I think the game will be all the better for it. Both teams have bigger fish to fry and neither would be that interested in a replay, so hopefully an open and full blooded cup-tie awaits!

 

[Kalimantan Gull]

What's all the panic about failing to get promotion? We're absolutely cruising the league this year, we're going up in style. Get over yourselves and enjoy the rest of this season, they don't come along very often

 

[Couldn't Be Hyypia]

It is possible that deep in the Albion fans psyche is a pavlovian reaction to doing well in the FA Cup. Going a long way in the cup leads to eventual relegation. Shouldn't be the reaction, but that feeling might be there in the background for some fans.

 

[mcshane in the 79th]

What's all the panic about failing to get promotion? We're absolutely cruising the league this year, we're going up in style. Get over yourselves and enjoy the rest of this season, they don't come along very often

Over the last few weeks I have really changed my view from "play the reserves against Stoke, promotion is a must and shouldn't be compromised for anything". To now seeing the Plymouth game delayed 24 hours, Brighton scoring 8 goals in two games and most other promotion rivals faultering and now feeling confident we can still go full pelt at Stoke without fearing a hangover for the league games.

Would be brilliant to beat Stoke and reach the quarter finals, although should we do that and then draw a big team next round then I can see it having more of an affect on the players than this Stoke game has. Even so, we're darn well bloody good enough for it to not affect us seriously and even if it does all the other teams will more than likely f*** up too.

Roll on the FA Cup

 

[Tony Meolas Loan Spell]

Totally agree with this. It's good to be tested against a higher quality opponent without it turning into some ridiculous circus with 'glamorous' opponents. Funnily enough I think the game will be all the better for it. Both teams have bigger fish to fry and neither would be that interested in a replay, so hopefully an open and full blooded cup-tie awaits!

I think if Pulis and Gus were asked (off the record) the last thing they BOTH want is a replay so yes it does promise to hopefully be a great game done and dusted within the 90mins.