“Be careful what you wish for Brighton fans” - How the football world owes us an apology

[Bry Nylon]

I think the other thing about Ian Wright that makes him such a good presenter is that he is actually FUNNY and this warmth, humour and spirit comes across in his media work. Compared to all the other 'deadly serious' pundits who frankly would have you sticking your head in the oven should you have to spend in evening at their houses, IW strikes me as someone who would be uproarious company.

 

[AlbionBro]

Fairly sure that Potter doesn't sign players.

The word 'fairly' makes me feel you don't know.

Do you know for sure if Graham signs player or not?

 

[seagull winners]

Careful what we wish for

That’s all we heard when our Tony Bloom made the choice to replace Chris Hughton.

“Be careful what you wish for”
“Arrogant Brighton”
“What do they expect to achieve?”

I won’t bring in the abhorrent accusations of racism that was seriously raised by some (yes, really..a reminder: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/f...-Townsend-slams-Brighton-sacking-Hughton.html)

And why was the football world so anti Brighton after sacking Hughton?

Because we, or specifically Uncle Tony, dared to look up. Dared to attempt to be more ambitious than backs to the wall defending and finishing one place outside relegation every year.

Chris Hughton will always be a legend to Brighton fans. But it was the right move, and Graham Potter has now vindicated Tony Blooms faith. The improvements to our club, tactically, the attractive progressive football we’re now capable of playing, all whilst achieving safety and even blooding youngsters.

Suddenly we’ve turned from being a Huddersfield or a Cardiff into a club that has legitimate aims of becoming mid table. We’re a club on the up.

All these experts, who arrogantly slated us as fans, slated Tony Bloom and our club in general, if they had any decency should make a retraction, even an apology, but of course they won’t.

As a reminder. Here’s a taster. This is what John Barnes was saying (“I don’t know what Brighton fans expect”):



Danny Mills told us, “you can’t play that way at Brighton”:




[tweet]1127992526445719553[/tweet]

We can praise Graham Potter later at the end of the season (and we surely will, he’s been a superb appointment and a breath of fresh air).

But tonight I raise a drink to Tony Bloom, Dan Ashworth and Paul Barber. They stuck their necks on the line making a hard decision for the betterment of Brighton and Hove Albion. They dared to show ambition and believed there was a better way to progress. They refused to settle for our lot in life.

They were way ahead of the curve, and certainly ahead of the so called football experts, journalists and pundits.

“Be careful what you wish for Brighton fans”. If the pundits who wrote such disparaging comments at the time had any decency, they’d write an apology today.

I was one of those, whilst praising Chris Hughton's efforts, was wanting more attractive attacking football and Graham and Dan have certainly achieved that. Only a couple of decisions have seemed odd like giving a free transfer to Leon Balogun who i think currently has one of the best points per game played record in all 4 leagues, but even this is inline with wanting younger players like Tariq Lamptey an inspired signing. When we get Ben White and Robert Sanchez back together with maybe signing Rhian Brewster we can be top half next season.

 

[jessiejames]

The form we were in last year from Christmas onwards was relegation form. The football we played was terrible. Even at home near the end of the season against relegation rivals, the tactics were do not concede, when we should have been going into these matches looking to win them. This was confirmed by 2 players after the Cardiff game. If we had any other manager the press would have been calling out for him to be sacked. The problem was C H was a nice guy and black.
We stayed up imo due to Palace beating Cardiff. C H will always be a legend, and I can't thank him enough for what he done for the club, but nearer the end of last season the football was stale, and I believe that he had lost the dressing room.

The gamble was made by T B in keeping with the manager until the end of the season, this just about paid off. We stunk the league out with our negative performances last season, something that we have not done this season. We now have youngsters conning into the team, pace, and a manager who will look to win every game not play defensively due to an inferiority complex.

 

[highflyer]

I sat through the second half of last season. So I know that something had to change. But I'm not going to re-write my own thoughts. I wanted CH to be given longer and a chance to oversee the change. Not because we 'owed him that' (although of course we did, but I know that unfortunately football no longer works like that) but because I could recall the last season in the Championship, when we played great football, because I know CH isn't stupid and would be fully aware he had to change things and because I still felt he'd done enough to make keeping him a lower rsk than changing him for anyone we'd be able to afford. But we did change him and so far that has paid off. Which is good, and I am enjoying the football this season way more than I did last. But that doesn't mean it wasn't a risk. And doesn't mean that anyone that thought it was a bad idea was completely wrong. And it certainly doesn't mean that anyone owes anyone an apology for thinking differently. That's just silly after-timing.

 

[Justice]

Have we ever really been in a relegation battle? Never visited the bottom three in three seasons. We have flirted yes but that’s about it.

 

[sparkie]

I'm certainly pleased that the "careful what you wish for", pat on the head, know your place narrative from some sources has been rammed back down their throats.

 

[Stat Brother]

Have we ever really been in a relegation battle? Never visited the bottom three in three seasons. We have flirted yes but that’s about it.

That said have we ever really been out of one, either?


To me it feels like every time the team gets one win away from the comfort of midtable, they then blow it.
They always had a decent grip on the last rung of the ladder but have still perpetually kept their feet in the fire

There was the 1-0 November that must have got them knocking on the door of top 10, but by jiminy the wheels soon came off after that.

 

[The Optimist]

Have we ever really been in a relegation battle? Never visited the bottom three in three seasons. We have flirted yes but that’s about it.

Last season we finished 17th and two points clear of relegation. To me that counts as having been in a relegation battle.

 

[BN9 BHA]

I reckon most Albion fans, if they're honest, would say this season has been a slight disappointment.

Absolutely not.
The only disappointment is not being able to attend the matches after the restart.

 

[BN9 BHA]

Nice "Team like Brighton " in the quote from John Barnes in the opening post
Enjoy your cooking programme John.

 

[GT49er]

I sat through the second half of last season. So I know that something had to change. But I'm not going to re-write my own thoughts. I wanted CH to be given longer and a chance to oversee the change. Not because we 'owed him that' (although of course we did, but I know that unfortunately football no longer works like that) but because I could recall the last season in the Championship, when we played great football, because I know CH isn't stupid and would be fully aware he had to change things and because I still felt he'd done enough to make keeping him a lower rsk than changing him for anyone we'd be able to afford. But we did change him and so far that has paid off. Which is good, and I am enjoying the football this season way more than I did last. But that doesn't mean it wasn't a risk. And doesn't mean that anyone that thought it was a bad idea was completely wrong. And it certainly doesn't mean that anyone owes anyone an apology for thinking differently. That's just silly after-timing.

Exactly this. Nobody knows what CH would have achieved with a refreshed squad this season - particularly if we added goals from midfield. Clearly at the end of last season the team had completely run out of steam - as, TBF, so had Potter's team in the couple of months before lockdown.
Yes, maybe if we'd stayed with CH we would be going down now - quite possible, but anyone who thinks they can state that as a fact is a bit of an idiot. On the other hand, he might have turned it round. We'll never know; all anybody will have is an opinion. I was upset when TB sacked Hughton, but I am happy now to have Potter as our manager, and the fact that we now have a younger, quicker squad.

 

[Not Andy Naylor]

I was fortunate enough to get to know Chris Hughton professionally and was gutted when such an admirable man was sacked, but I understood the decision. 'Shocked but not surprised' was the way I put it at the time.

But what truly annoyed me, much more than the patronising 'Who do you think you are, Brighton?' comments, was the implication of racism. It was a blow to the prospects of all black coaches, according to some. Sorry, who appointed Chris Hughton in the first place? And Paul Nevin? (Except that the know-it-alls in the national media didn't even know who Paul Nevin was.) And Liam Rosenior?

As a black Albion fan tweeted at the time, the danger to black coaches came not from CH's sacking but the hysterical media reaction. She pointed out that chairman of other clubs would look at the reaction and wonder whether appointing a black coach would be worth all the aggravation when the time came - as it surely would - to part ways. If equality of opportunity means anything at all, it must mean that a black coach is just as likely to be sacked for bad results as a white coach. Certainly no more but equally no less.

 

[Skaville]

I was fortunate enough to get to know Chris Hughton professionally and was gutted when such an admirable man was sacked, but I understood the decision. 'Shocked but not surprised' was the way I put it at the time.

But what truly annoyed me, much more than the patronising 'Who do you think you are, Brighton?' comments, was the implication of racism. It was a blow to the prospects of all black coaches, according to some. Sorry, who appointed Chris Hughton in the first place? And Paul Nevin? (Except that the know-it-alls in the national media didn't even know who Paul Nevin was.) And Liam Rosenior?

As a black Albion fan tweeted at the time, the danger to black coaches came not from CH's sacking but the hysterical media reaction. She pointed out that chairman of other clubs would look at the reaction and wonder whether appointing a black coach would be worth all the aggravation when the time came - as it surely would - to part ways. If equality of opportunity means anything at all, it must mean that a black coach is just as likely to be sacked for bad results as a white coach. Certainly no more but equally no less.

This is a great post. A mere like is insufficient.

 

[Wozza]

The word 'fairly' makes me feel you don't know.

Do you know for sure if Graham signs player or not?

Well until the club confirms, I'm at about 99% certain. I'd put put my mortgage on it.

We have a recruitment department. We have a director of football. Potter is listed as head coach, not manager etc etc.

Even this "Potter has final say" thing is a bit of a red herring imo. I'm sure the he could veto a signing for the club if he was really against it (and could make a case to the board), but Dan Ashworth is pulling the strings.

There's no way "Potter sold Knockaert" either.

 

[Deportivo Seagull]

Last season I didn't enjoy watching us play , the football was bland and very much one dimensional we survived .

This season in the main has been a pleasure to watch with some breathtaking counter attacking football , we will survive .

I hope next season will be even better .

That's about it really

This.

Watching many of the games under CH in his last season were painful and not the least bit enjoyable. The predictability of it all was depressing. Set up not to concede and then sneak a goal and try to shut up shop. A tactic used on every team. If you were the visiting manager you’d know exactly what you needed to do, absolutely no guesswork involved! This played into the hands of the teams around us who knew they could have a go with little cause for concern.

At times it was like watching hypia knowing that the end result was inevitable.

Saying all of that. If I was a chairman of a championship team I would have CH on speed dial as these tactics work well.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[Guinness Boy]

I was fortunate enough to get to know Chris Hughton professionally and was gutted when such an admirable man was sacked, but I understood the decision. 'Shocked but not surprised' was the way I put it at the time.

But what truly annoyed me, much more than the patronising 'Who do you think you are, Brighton?' comments, was the implication of racism. It was a blow to the prospects of all black coaches, according to some. Sorry, who appointed Chris Hughton in the first place? And Paul Nevin? (Except that the know-it-alls in the national media didn't even know who Paul Nevin was.) And Liam Rosenior?

As a black Albion fan tweeted at the time, the danger to black coaches came not from CH's sacking but the hysterical media reaction. She pointed out that chairman of other clubs would look at the reaction and wonder whether appointing a black coach would be worth all the aggravation when the time came - as it surely would - to part ways. If equality of opportunity means anything at all, it must mean that a black coach is just as likely to be sacked for bad results as a white coach. Certainly no more but equally no less.

Agree with Skaville, top post.

 

[Stat Brother]

Well until the club confirms, I'm at about 99% certain. I'd put put my mortgage on it.

We have a recruitment department. We have a director of football. Potter is listed as head coach, not manager etc etc.

Even this "Potter has final say" thing is a bit of a red herring imo. I'm sure the he could veto a signing for the club if he was really against it (and could make a case to the board), but Dan Ashworth is pulling the strings.

There's no way "Potter sold Knockaert" either.

It's odd that we look it this in such a linear way, something I'm equally guilty of doing.
They all meet every Monday.
I'll hazard a guess they all meet in a regular specific 'recruitment' meeting.

I'd be absolutely amazed if within those meetings demands are laid down or it's awash with histrionic pouting.

Everybody is working towards the common goal, they appear to be like minded individuals and they're all paid handsomely to get there.

It's not like Mr Bloom has thrown 'Arry or Big Sam into the mixer and said 'you'll all get along just fine'.

 

[Uh_huh_him]

Absolutely. We are a well managed club and everything around the change of manager will have been very well considered.
The timing for a start which looked brutal but, in the interests of the football club gave GP the maximum time possible to prepare for the following season.
And TB, DA and PB would have been as sure as they could be that GP would cut it. I can remember at the time reading a great deal about GP, what he had done and achieved elsewhere, his background and philosophy, and being very impressed - much less of a gamble than many others have taken in the past.
I was a fan of CH. I am also a fan of GP.

Yeah this.

Chris Hughton is an Albion Legend.

Graham Potter was the right choice, but he will have to do a hell of a lot more than keep us up to be considered a legend.

but so far so good.

 

[Justice]

The most disappointed thing this season was Barber going live on the radio saying our aim was top ten, to achieve this it would require a top ten budget which we aren’t anywhere near.

I haven’t an issue with not being top ten just felt it was a statement mugging the fans off.