We are going DOWN

[1066familyman]

Well, they're certainly no Leeds, I'd agree with you there. But they'll be there or thereabouts in the shake-up. They were disciplined and organised, which is all you need to be in this league.

We played some good stuff in that first half and were unlucky on a few occasions not to take the lead. But we are just so desperately brittle at the back, and you can see the confidence drain as soon as we go behind. But its fixable. McNulty will make a BIG difference once he's back and fully fit, Kuipers can still do a job (I have NO faith in Smith whatsoever, he urgently needs replacing), and Whing will be alright once he gets some games under his belt.

We do just need that grizzled 30-something centreback to get the defence playing as a unit. TOP priority, along with either Kuipers or a new keeper if he's out for too long.

I don't doubt that they will be there or thereabouts, in fact from the bits and pieces I've seen of them on the tv ( except against Northwich Victoria of course ) I still fancy them for automatic behind Leeds. Tonight though I think they looked very ordinary indeed, but ADD's post has summed that up nicely to be fair.

I'm not so eager to slate Smith as I really feel for him with the defence he has in front of him. Trouble is though it's all a bit of a vicious circle with keeper/defence/defence/keeper....noone instilling any confidence in each other.

As for the last bit about a grizzled 30-something centreback ? - I doubt you'd find a single person on this board that would disagree with that.

 

[Twinkle Toes]

Well, they're certainly no Leeds, I'd agree with you there. But they'll be there or thereabouts in the shake-up. They were disciplined and organised, which is all you need to be in this league.

We played some good stuff in that first half and were unlucky on a few occasions not to take the lead. But we are just so desperately brittle at the back, and you can see the confidence drain as soon as we go behind. But its fixable. McNulty will make a BIG difference once he's back and fully fit, Kuipers can still do a job (I have NO faith in Smith whatsoever, he urgently needs replacing), and Whing will be alright once he gets some games under his belt.

We do just need that grizzled 30-something centreback to get the defence playing as a unit. TOP priority, along with either Kuipers or a new keeper if he's out for too long.

Thank f*** somebody hasn't thrown all their toys out of the pram again!

The way some of you go on - any impartial observer would think that we were on the verge of going into the Blue Square South & our new Stadium site had been carpet-bombed by Simon Friggin' Jordan! Things ain't exactly going swimmingly, admittedly, but CHILL THE f*** OUT PEOPLE. Sake.

 

[The Wizard]

Did anyone really think we would do anything against the 3 best teams in this league?
People seem surprised we are being beaten by the best 3 sides in the division..Jesus.

 

[supaseagull]

Did anyone really think we would do anything against the 3 best teams in this league?
People seem surprised we are being beaten by the best 3 sides in the division..Jesus.

Totally agree...I love the way that people expect miracles from the same players that put us in the position we are now

I thought that the defence actually played well for 70 minutes yesterday. Charlton's first goal happened because Hoyte had no midfield cover in front of him and had to push on to leave a gap behind him and the second goal, HOyte was at fault because he didn't pick up the player coming in at the far post. OTher than that, I thought that going forward we looked very dangerous and against lesser opposition we would have won.

Charlton are very very organised at the back and are too good for this league which.

 

[Uncle C]

Did anyone really think we would do anything against the 3 best teams in this league?
People seem surprised we are being beaten by the best 3 sides in the division..Jesus.

I think the answer is that even if we had lost each game we might have expected a better more committed performance from the Albion. Thats not too much to ask is it?

 

[The Grockle]

More serious investment eh? That's the way, through MORE money around! Christ, get it into your head my friend, there's nothing wrong with the individuals and it's going to take Poyet time to get them playing well. We have the players (we bloody should have, money we've spent on them!), we just don't have the unity or direction yet. It doesn't happen overnight and it won't happen whilst Poyet doesn't have time to work with them.

Give him a chance, and give these players respect and SUPPORT.

Sorry NE can’t really agree with you there. We have some players that are more than capable of getting out of this league but unfortunately this is limited to about 4 or 5 individuals. Our defence is woeful and no amount of coaching, unity or direction is going to change this, the last two seasons are testament to this. We need some experience and more importantly some quality in defence, a creative midfielder and another striker although the latter can wait till the summer.

In my opinion we don’t need wholesale changes but we do desperately need to add some real quality in key areas, this won’t come cheap but I suspect Bloom knows this and as Poyet was his choice he will back him in January, if he decides he wants to wait until the summer then I’m afraid to say our current defence will take us down.

 

[Easy 10]

Leeds simply outclassed us. And I didn't see a lack of commitment last night, just the same defensive frailties that have been costing us time and time again. Dunno about Norwich, I didn't go.

 

[Billy the Fish]

Dunno about Norwich, I didn't go.

Not far off what happened last night. Just with a worse attacks to goals ratio.

 

[Icy Gull]

Charlton maybe 2nd but last night was their 1st away win in 9 games and they were there for the taking early on. I don't go along with the shoulder shrug "what did you expect against the team 2nd in the league after all the games we've had recently". We were very poor in the 2nd half and looked like a team who'd given up imo. Keep that attitude and we'll be going down.

 

[bhamanandboy]

More serious investment eh? That's the way, through MORE money around! Christ, get it into your head my friend, there's nothing wrong with the individuals and it's going to take Poyet time to get them playing well. We have the players (we bloody should have, money we've spent on them!), we just don't have the unity or direction yet. It doesn't happen overnight and it won't happen whilst Poyet doesn't have time to work with them.

Give him a chance, and give these players respect and SUPPORT.

Ninja - You are miles away from the truth!!! Ever heard the phrase "You cant paint a piccasso with a lump of shit!"

Poyet has inherited, quite frankly, an awful squad. Whilst i dont count the likes of Forster,Murray, Dicker, bennett in that bracket the rest are totally incompetant and will never make anymore than ordinary lower tier footballers.

Poyet, in my opinion, will be a success but only if he dramatically changes his staff turnover.

I hate to criticise anyone but, Elphick, Tunicliffe,smith,kuipers,navarro,hart,etc..... must all be transferred out of the club with new blood brought in, if they can be found.

 

[Uncle Spielberg]

My view is that what we have is a complete shambles. This is well illustrated by the recent managers we have had. McGhee followed by Wilkins, Adams, Slade and now Poyet. In truth that is a list in order of competence. From what I understand Wilkins was sacked for disagreement with the chairman and because of his methods with players. Well my friends he got us to seventh and that was a terrible decision by our chairman.

We now have a manager without the necessary experience whilst the performances are going from bad to worse. I do not see that he has improved any player and perhaps our one class player Bennett has become at best, ordinary.

Money does not buy a team. It can buy players with ability that can be made into a team. It is true that we have spent £200s on a few players. That however only buys players of ability to play in this league. It does not buy a team to win and it does not buy players who will naturally shine. You need six figure signings for that like when Mullery bought Lawrenson for £100,000 all those years ago.

Beware, we are not just facing relegation this year, but our very future in the 4 leagues. Relegation should be expected this year and we need to build for next to stay in business.

The Championship.. please.. not with this chairman, not with this manager.. and most certainly not with this team or the members in it

It started to go shit when McGhee was sacked. A superb manager with respect, gravitas and contacts. An extraordinary decision. Seems to have done well up North and got numerous teams promoted from this league as he did with us in less than 1 season.

Also I think now the dust has settled that Slade's transfer activies are being shown up. He got rid of a lot of dead wood but to get rid of Sullivan on a free was an absolute howler and then to replace him with a guy with nowhere near the ability compounded this 10 fold. Fraser should have stayed as he is as good as all our present midfielders bar Dicker and Slade's new signings are at best very average and at worst a complete waste of money.

So in short Poyet has inherited a pile of poop which is mainly Slade's pile of poop. We have maybe 4 players who could play near the top of div 1 / lower part of championship so if our and Bloom's dream is to be materialised of being in the championship in less than 17 months we need around 15 new quality players in my book.

We have been a " work in progress " for 4 years since MM was sacked and that seems to be a " work in regress ".

 

[Caveman]

How long as Poyet been here? GIVE THE GUY A CHANCE!

 

[Dosser]

It started to go shit when McGhee was sacked. A superb manager with respect, gravitas and contacts. An extraordinary decision. Seems to have done well up North and got numerous teams promoted from this league as he did with us in less than 1 season.

Will leave my personal feelings on McGhee off this thread, and simply point out that he has been quoted in numerous places as stating that he had taken Brighton as far as he could. His comments revolve round his perceived lack of investment and ambition at the club.

Even if he had not been sacked, he would have been leaving the club in the short-term (his words, not mine).

I fully accept that a fair bit of this may be down to bravado in the face of being sacked, but he has already shown in his return to Scotland that he will prostitute himself in the press to find 'bigger' jobs.

 

[Uncle Spielberg]

Will leave my personal feelings on McGhee off this thread, and simply point out that he has been quoted in numerous places as stating that he had taken Brighton as far as he could. His comments revolve round his perceived lack of investment and ambition at the club.

Even if he had not been sacked, he would have been leaving the club in the short-term (his words, not mine).

I fully accept that a fair bit of this may be down to bravado in the face of being sacked, but he has already shown in his return to Scotland that he will prostitute himself in the press to find 'bigger' jobs.

The same Man who " prostitued for a bigger job " himself by staying at Motherwell after his captain died and ruling himself out of probably getting the Scotland job.

 

[Uncle Spielberg]

The worrying thing is we are basically 4 points adrift at the nottom taking Southampton out of the equation and only 1 defeat from being bottom.

 

[bhaexpress]

Wonder if WW fancies trying to ride his bike in London ?

 

[Twinkle Toes]

Wonder if WW fancies trying to ride his bike in London ?

Why's that hon? Has he finally taken the plunge & snaffled himself a season ticket at Chelski??

 

[MJsGhost]

From Croydon Seagull: "Our defence is woeful and no amount of coaching, unity or direction is going to change this, the last two seasons are testament to this."

That is a ridiculous statement, born hopefully out of frustration rather than the ignorance it would suggest.

Should they all just hang up their boots now? Is there any point having a coaching team at all? Would the best way to run the club be for TB to find a top-notch procurement manager and a team of scouts who can just keep buying players until we stumble upon a winning team? Bollocks to actual proper coaches, maybe the best appointment would have been to bring in some expertise from the realms of Championship Manager?

The cornerstone to any good defence is organisation – working as a unit. How often do you hear about a ‘well drilled’ defence and an ‘understanding’ between centre backs? This is down to good coaching and, often, a relatively simple strategy so players know what to do at any given moment. That takes time and a settled back 4. Give Poyet & Taricco a chance FFS!

 

[Thimble Keegan]

Well, they're certainly no Leeds, I'd agree with you there. But they'll be there or thereabouts in the shake-up. They were disciplined and organised, which is all you need to be in this league.

We played some good stuff in that first half and were unlucky on a few occasions not to take the lead. But we are just so desperately brittle at the back, and you can see the confidence drain as soon as we go behind. But its fixable. McNulty will make a BIG difference once he's back and fully fit, Kuipers can still do a job (I have NO faith in Smith whatsoever, he urgently needs replacing), and Whing will be alright once he gets some games under his belt.

We do just need that grizzled 30-something centreback to get the defence playing as a unit. TOP priority, along with either Kuipers or a new keeper if he's out for too long.

I would go along with the others on here who say that the above is a top post. You are spot on regarding Whing and McNulty and I also think Tunnicliffe has potential along with Jake Wright who looked decent in the game I saw him play at centre-back. The rest of the defence do not look upto it at present I am afraid.

I see what you are saying about the getting in an old centre-back but as someone pointed out to us on Saturday this should be Virgo's task. He has been around the game a fair while now and played at higher levels so he should be bringing a wealth of experience to the table but this is not being delivered...It would also seem that Poyet does not rate him either.

Albion & England forever.

Thimble Keegan
Rustington BHA

 

[BensGrandad]

I cannot agree with all this about Whing as he is woefully inadequate for this division and has shown it for 2 seasons yet some fans voted him Player of The Year based on a couple of last ditch tackles. The same goes for Jake Wright he is nowhere near good enough for division 1 as he has proved elsewhere in his career and to my mind was a panic buy by RS. I would expect both of those to be offered out on loan or transferred in January.