[Football] A mIssed opportunity?

[Wozza]

Therefore Potter and the club were fully justified in doing what they did. Tickets were cheap and it was no doubt a pretty good game of football with some goals. . .

It was cheap, but fans still made an effort to get there and had the cost of travelling (some from London and further afield) to watch a match under false pretences.

Playing fringe players is one thing. Starting with eight kids, and with no experienced support on the bench, is basically 'throwing' the match. As in the other thread, many Albion fans bet against the Albion. Says it all, really.

So fans were charged to watch a non-competitive practice session and expected to be 'extras', and to act as if the game had actual meaning.

I would have been livid if I'd travelled down for that. More so, if I'd taken a child - as many others did.

I won't be going to any FA Cup matches under GP if that's his attitude to cup matches. And over the last few seasons, I've taken up to four guests to cup games. So that's five off the attendance.

One day the club will stop taking loyal fans for granted. I'd like to think so, anyway.

 

[Thunder Bolt]

I enjoyed last night and if this is the future it is very bright.

Stand out players for me were Richards and Roberts

Yes, me too, although I thought Yapi showed promise.

 

[Dunk&Disorderly]

Our first team squad is barraged with injuries, it's no wonder we didn't want to risk the main starters on a cup that essentially nobody cares about, plus it gives Potter a look at his other options.

Look at what happened to Duffy, if it happened to Dunk we'd have people on here questioning why he was risked.

You buy a ticket to support the team and the team that was put out last night was for the best all things considered.

 

[theboybilly]

Some curmudgeonly replies on this subject. I was quite excited to see the team picked. It could all have gone terribly wrong against a good Villa side but, after a nervy opening period, the young lads (especially Roberts) grew into the game. We had chances and who knows what might have happened had Duffy stayed fit and Dean Smith hadn't risked Grealish. All in all it was well worth the effort of attending

 

[Wozza]

Our first team squad is barraged with injuries, it's no wonder we didn't want to risk the main starters on a cup that essentially nobody cares about, plus it gives Potter a look at his other options.

Look at what happened to Duffy, if it happened to Dunk we'd have people on here questioning why he was risked.

Literally no-one is arguing that we should have started the match with key first-teamers.

 

[Bob'n'weave]

No, completely disagree. Yes there are seasons where we might be considered settled where we should have a go at the league cup. This year we have a new manager finding his feet in the premier league, with a completely new formation still being introduced. This season is therefore not the season to be having a go at the cups.

So I think its completely clear and inarguable what our aims are this season, safety in the EPL.

As you say, whilst we are a decent EPL outfit we have an outside chance of winning a cup. So lets do that first bit first.

Brighton have a small squad. The objective is to survive in the league. The squad is already depleted with Balogun, Trossard and Izzy out injured with other players on knocks and returning to full fitness themselves. An injury to even a fringe player like Bissouma, who’s returning from injury and featured on the bench last week, would leave us short with first team squad players.

I have no issues with the youngsters getting a run out. It protects the squad from new injuries and worsening current knocks. Last season our FA cup ran alongside the league dip in form. Perhaps not directly related, but I’d argue that it certainly didn’t help the league position. A run in this cup competition with the first team players doesn’t do Brighton any favours right now.

I'm in this camp. Nuts to risk any of our first team or first team bench options, period.

 

[Uh_huh_him]

No, completely disagree. Yes there are seasons where we might be considered settled where we should have a go at the league cup. This year we have a new manager finding his feet in the premier league, with a completely new formation still being introduced. This season is therefore not the season to be having a go at the cups.

So I think its completely clear and inarguable what our aims are this season, safety in the EPL.

As you say, whilst we are a decent EPL outfit we have an outside chance of winning a cup. So lets do that first bit first.

Surely an opportunity to help train some of the players in the formation and bed it in, we were after all playing Premier league opposition.

 

[Easy 10]

I'm in this camp. Nuts to risk any of our first team or first team bench options, period.

In which case, we might as well have just thrown the game at Bristol and have done with it. What was the point of bothering to win that tie ?

If the Cups are now seen as practice games for our U23's and U18's, then my money is staying in my pocket for the forseeable. Glad I swerved last nights.

 

[DarrenFreemansPerm]

Our priority is to stay in the PL. it's far too big a business. The caramac cup is just a back up euro entry for one of the top 6. I think the fa cup is going the same way, which is sad. Even the championship sides with aspirations field reserves.

Therefore Potter and the club were fully justified in doing what they did. Tickets were cheap and it was no doubt a pretty good game of football with some goals. . .

So, you didn’t go but believe it is a justified team selection, that is a surprise. Tickets weren’t overly cheap, considering travel wasn’t subsidised, yesterday an adult ticket was £20 plus your travel. Also, I’d like to point out that it wasn’t a good game of football, it was a team full of seasoned professionals against a team of children plus Shane Duffy. I have absolutely no problem giving the kids a game, but there should absolutely be a balance, in my opinion those kids haven’t really had first team experience, they’ve just been given the run around in front of 15,000 people. As someone said before, what was the point in beating Bristol Rovers just to fold this game.

 

[Dunk&Disorderly]

Literally no-one is arguing that we should have started the match with key first-teamers.

Ok, probably shouldn't have used the word 'key', fair enough.

Still think it's worth being overly cautious given that like 9 of our first team is injured and we'll likely be in a relegation fight.

 

[Kalimantan Gull]

Literally no-one is arguing that we should have started the match with key first-teamers.

Of course they are. If you're having a go at the cups, you play your best team in order to win the cup. If you're not trying to win the cup, why play any first-teamers?

Its an either/or scenario

 

[Eddiespearritt]

It was cheap, but fans still made an effort to get there and had the cost of travelling (some from London and further afield) to watch a match under false pretences.

Playing fringe players is one thing. Starting with eight kids, and with no experienced support on the bench, is basically 'throwing' the match. As in the other thread, many Albion fans bet against the Albion. Says it all, really.

So fans were charged to watch a non-competitive practice session and expected to be 'extras', and to act as if the game had actual meaning.

I would have been livid if I'd travelled down for that. More so, if I'd taken a child - as many others did.

I won't be going to any FA Cup matches under GP if that's his attitude to cup matches. And over the last few seasons, I've taken up to four guests to cup games. So that's five off the attendance.

One day the club will stop taking loyal fans for granted. I'd like to think so, anyway.

Totally agree with this - I was pretty disappointed as I took my seat last night and realised I'd been taken for a mug.
There is squad rotation, and then there is contempt for the paying supporters.
Fine if we completely disrespect one of the two competitions we actually have a chance of winning - but then say so when you are selling the tickets, and let the supporters make their judgements on time and money spent, travel time, time off work for some, and family priorities.
We know Barber is in the camp of "we don't actually need the supporters any more to make money", and he has said so, but this is just sleight of hand. 10 debuts - really - some of Potter's credit with the fans has gone I'm afraid and ballcocks to the new reality of modern football.
None of this is excused by "the need to develop the younger players" argument, or the"we've got a lot of injuries" - just tell the truth when you are taking money Albion.

 

[dazzer6666]

Decent enough evening watching the promising youth get a run-out against far more experienced opposition - given the current injury list completely understandable (if we were't so sparse in a few areas I'm sure a few of the fringe first teamers would have got a game).

Evening for me was only ruined by some daft lad thinking he could run out from between two buses into a stream of moving traffic at the end of Village Way and bouncing off my bonnet/windscreen......luckily I wasn't moving fast and he's been discharged from hospital. £15 for the ticket seems a bargain after what the night will cost me now

 

[Wozza]

Of course they are. If you're having a go at the cups, you play your best team in order to win the cup. If you're not trying to win the cup, why play any first-teamers?

Its an either/or scenario

No it's not.

You play just enough experience to win the tie - or, at least, have experience on the bench as back-up. That's what most Premier League teams do in the competition.

Don't pretend last night's selection was normal. It absolutely was not.

 

[nickjhs]

With the ridiculous prices for moderately good players he future of our club lies in being able to produce our own players. I see nothing wrong in managing our injury list and giving these younger players a real game. Bloom has a long term vision, the silverware will come but not at the expense of the greater goal.

 

[Icy Gull]

I have been a big supporter of Potter from day one but, to me, it was very arrogant of him to think he could get away with putting out was basically a team of kids against a strong Premier League side. Players like Bissouma and Mooy, who are likely to be bench players on Saturday should have got a run out.

Imo Potter fecked up completely last night and no I don’t believe we have as many injured players as suggested. Strong smell of bullshit in his comments about players and the game to me

The upside is that I wasn’t fleeced to watch men against boys as I couldn’t make the game.

However, as I said earlier in the thread, if we get anything at Chelsea it will be forgotten

 

[Wozza]

With the ridiculous prices for moderately good players he future of our club lies in being able to produce our own players. I see nothing wrong in managing our injury list and giving these younger players a real game. Bloom has a long term vision, the silverware will come but not at the expense of the greater goal.

Wonder how you would have felt if you were over from Australia for a couple of weeks and that was the only home match you could catch....

 

[blue-shifted]

This horribly exposes the clubs strategy of loaning players out.

I get it in principle, the likes of Gyokeres, Sanders, Sanchez etc are getting first team football for other teams. And senior players like Hemed, Kayal probably don’t only want to play in the Carabao Cup. I just think we’ve overdone it. We pick up a few injuries and now have to play a ridiculous line up like that. And we have an u23 game on Friday, who is going to play in that? The u18s.

The club are looking after the long term future. But what about the short term? What about trying to win some silverware? What about trying to get some home wins to keep the fans happy? There has to be a balance. We’ve gone from too few out on loan, to too many.

We need a better strategy around fringe players. We are around 5 players light at around the Kayal, Gyokeres, Locadia level, (ie won’t play every week, but is a genuine option).

 

[Me and my Monkey]

After the mild surprise at seeing an U23 team sheet, I have to say I enjoyed yesterday’s game. With a depleted senior squad, and a big game on Saturday, why not go all out and give the young lads an opportunity to play a full game against a senior premier league team in front of a large (ish) crowd? They won’t often get that chance to try and prove themselves, and the coaching team had a good opportunity to see how individuals coped with it. The alternatives were to play our very best team, jeopardising the game on Saturday, or a mixed team of promising youngsters and dodgy oldsters and probably lose anyway, which would eat away at our overall confidence. I came away feeling only mildly disappointed that we’d lost, but very pleased with some of the very exciting prospects we have in the youth teams.

 

[southstandandy]

One future option in the event we continue in this vain in the cups going forward would be to arrange the matches to be played at Crawley's ground.

If attendances and interest tails off for the cup matches, as it's likely to do, we could save a few quid in opening the Amex and play future early round cup games at our friends up the road?