Do you think Tony Bloom is going to "go for it" this season?

[Finchley Seagull]

I don't buy this "options available" rubbish as the tactics were pathetic and a good manager would have more than one player in the box when attacking.The players were not motivated either going by performances...The squad isn't or wasn't as bad as many are making out.The tactics and coaching were bloody shite.

Have to agree to disagree. Fact is Hughton had them playing good football for a while (although there were some games that proved an exception). Once we lost Baldock, the season went downhill. I think you're being very harsh on Hughton. He now has to get the signings needed to change what happened and improve this season. Whether he can do that is another matter.

 

[graysgull]

No and more so is Hughton to man capable of delivering the promised land anyway ? The dreadful end to the season and stats suggest he is not. I think Bloom is happy to sit it out and as long as we don't go down I don't think there is any desire or urgency to get promoted at all. Everything that has happened in the last 2 years suggests the initial enthusiasm has gone and we are now a selling club. I am sure there is a long term plan but the initial strategy of the 5 year plan has been seriously derailed, unless we get promoted next season in and for whatever reason there are many clubs more attractive to decent players than BHAFC despite the stadium and training facilities and that is a major worry and concern. The bookies have us mid table and I think that is about right or a bit lower

Are you seriously saying that TB has the same mentality as Mike Ashley??

That would be a stretch of the imagination indeed!!

Last year was not down to TB's lack of commitment, in either financial support, or ambition, but due to a poor director of football and a manager who could not see anything wrong with his poor tactics, both of whom have. thankfully departed. CH had to work with what he had, and work around poor morale and injuries.

I expect to see some similar investments in players like Kayal, with maybe a marquee striker, but the team also needs to improve supply to the strikers, because they can't pull the trigger if they ain't got no ammo.

I'm looking forward to a better season next year.

UTA!!!

 

[Steve Foster]

Nope. Regrettably I have seen no evidence since we have been at The Amex that rightly or wrongly Tony Bloom, has gone for it or is going for it. Think its more of a case of slow progression - staying in the Championship with a strong foundation to build for the Premiership.

Next season - I expect us to be no better than mid table

 

[Tricky Dicky]

Yes I think he will. If he doesn't, it could be the last season for alot of STH and corporate tickets.

So, people are only turning up because we are imminently going to the prem ? Blimey, I thought we turn up to support the club and watch football whichever division we are in.

As to the original question, he has never shown any inclination to do things other than reasonably sensibly, and I can't see him changing now.

 

[NooBHA]

yes 100% I THINK HE WILL MAKE A BIG ATTEMPT AT GETTING PROMOTED. The question will be. Will we come up against other clubs making a more concerted effort and a bigger budget. The biggest problem we have is getting some players off the wage bill to enable us to spend more . If we can get some of the players sold that we want to get sold then that could determine how good our season is

 

[Bwian]

Have to agree to disagree. Fact is Hughton had them playing good football for a while (although there were some games that proved an exception). Once we lost Baldock, the season went downhill. I think you're being very harsh on Hughton. He now has to get the signings needed to change what happened and improve this season. Whether he can do that is another matter.

Hughton had them playing good football? Seriously? The worrying thing for me was seeing how clueless we looked in all areas. Our set pieces were dreadful, our tactics were difficult to recognise and team spirit looked low to almost non-existent despite those ridiculous huddles. Then we had to endure the ritualistic 'we played well' or 'I was pleased with our performance' post match interviews.

I'll support the club, manager and players next season but optimistic I am not. Hope to be proven wrong though.

 

[Finchley Seagull]

Hughton had them playing good football? Seriously? The worrying thing for me was seeing how clueless we looked in all areas. Our set pieces were dreadful, our tactics were difficult to recognise and team spirit looked low to almost non-existent despite those ridiculous huddles. Then we had to endure the ritualistic 'we played well' or 'I was pleased with our performance' post match interviews.

I'll support the club, manager and players next season but optimistic I am not. Hope to be proven wrong though.

So you missed the run of home games against Ipswich, Birmingham and Leeds for example (I know Forest wasn't great but we did still score twice). I'm not saying we were perfect but Baldock got injured against Derby (a game where we didn't play great but won) and after that we lost our way completely.

We had a poor team last season whatever people might think. Hughton did his best. He was never going to actively slag them off in public as they were mostly giving their all but just not good enough. Hughton deserves his chance to build his team and for fans to back him.

 

[Man of Harveys]

Why would he waste money on the risk of getting promoted? Makes no business sense whatsoever. It seems obvious to me that many if not most people at Falmer turn up irrespective of whether we're good or crap on the pitch: it's a nice day out, few pints with your mates, the kids enjoy the mascots etc etc. None of that has anything to do with how good the team is: it's almost a side issue by now for many, I'd suggest, certainly in terms of whether people go or not.

So I wouldn't waste money on players either, all the time people keep turning up in droves anyway. After all, why would you?

 

[Bwian]

So you missed the run of home games against Ipswich, Birmingham and Leeds for example (I know Forest wasn't great but we did still score twice). I'm not saying we were perfect but Baldock got injured against Derby (a game where we didn't play great but won) and after that we lost our way completely.

We had a poor team last season whatever people might think. Hughton did his best. He was never going to actively slag them off in public as they were mostly giving their all but just not good enough. Hughton deserves his chance to build his team and for fans to back him.

I saw complete and utter dross for most of the season, a season where we managed to stay up because incredibly there were actually three teams who didn't take advantage of how shit we were. Since CH took over in Dec/Jan, we had 11 games where we didn't score a goal. No matter how long you spend polishing a turd, at the end of the day it is still a turd.

 

[Vegas Seagull]

Why would he waste money on the risk of getting promoted? Makes no business sense whatsoever. It seems obvious to me that many if not most people at Falmer turn up irrespective of whether we're good or crap on the pitch: it's a nice day out, few pints with your mates, the kids enjoy the mascots etc etc. None of that has anything to do with how good the team is: it's almost a side issue by now for many, I'd suggest, certainly in terms of whether people go or not.

So I wouldn't waste money on players either, all the time people keep turning up in droves anyway. After all, why would you?

Because it makes no difference when you're dead if you have £500m or £400m in the bank

 

[chaileyjem]

I think Bloom is happy to sit it out and as long as we don't go down I don't think there is any desire or urgency to get promoted at all.

No, will wait until hotel is due to be completed before really going for it.

No Desire ? Urgency ? The hotel ?


So 6 years at the club now for TB where even the considerable costs of the Academy, Amex, etc aside he's been pumping in endless amounts of his own fortune. This has been to pay for the high wages, fees of a Championship football squad which is going up substantially year on year. Yes. Including last year.

And you could pick any quote from the last few years but how about this from a few months ago "My investment in the club starts and ends with me being a fan. I'm proud to be able to contribute to the community in which i was raised and my family lives. As a chairman and supporter my burning ambition remains to see the Albion return to play at the highest level, and i know it won't be easy , i do intend to realise this ambition"

Question his decision making by all means (Losing Oscar and Gus ?, Burke ? Hyppia ? Is Hughton the answer, Last season obviously), Question his spending (Value for money ? Onne could argue he could spend even more of his own money but then he argues the club needs to eventually be sustainable), and of course the club needs endless scrutiny given our history but questioning TB's desire, ambition or urgency ? - Where's the evidence ? I really see don't see it.

Christ I hope TB sends you a payment or something for your endless spinning on his behalf

Thats a lot of fans who quite value his contribution to the club in the last few years he's going to be slipping a few quid to. Perhaps thats where his moneys going !!

 

[Ernest]

If we are SERIOUS about our intentions then we need a much better manager than that DULLARD Hughton

 

[portslade seagull]

No for me at the moment, this of course is changeable

 

[nwgull]

Why would he waste money on the risk of getting promoted? Makes no business sense whatsoever.

Are you serious? No business sense, apart from the fact that you get something in the region of £70m for finishing last, and the subsequent £64m parachute payments over the next 4 years. Compare that to the max we'd make from selling out the Amex every week of about £10m a year. Getting promoted certainly makes business sense to me.

 

[B.W.]

No Desire ? Urgency ? The hotel ?


So 6 years at the club now for TB where even the considerable costs of the Academy, Amex, etc aside he's been pumping in endless amounts of his own fortune. This has been to pay for the high wages, fees of a Championship football squad which is going up substantially year on year. Yes. Including last year.

And you could pick any quote from the last few years but how about this from a few months ago "My investment in the club starts and ends with me being a fan. I'm proud to be able to contribute to the community in which i was raised and my family lives. As a chairman and supporter my burning ambition remains to see the Albion return to play at the highest level, and i know it won't be easy , i do intend to realise this ambition"

Question his decision making by all means (Losing Oscar and Gus ?, Burke ? Hyppia ? Is Hughton the answer, Last season obviously), Question his spending (Value for money ? Onne could argue he could spend even more of his own money but then he argues the club needs to eventually be sustainable), and of course the club needs endless scrutiny given our history but questioning TB's desire, ambition or urgency ? - Where's the evidence ? I really see don't see it.



Thats a lot of fans who quite value his contribution to the club in the last few years he's going to be slipping a few quid to. Perhaps thats where his moneys going !!

Well said CJ...

 

[B.W.]

Are you serious? No business sense, apart from the fact that you get something in the region of £70m for finishing last, and the subsequent £64m parachute payments over the next 4 years. Compare that to the max we'd make from selling out the Amex every week of about £10m a year. Getting promoted certainly makes business sense to me.

This. The ONLY way we can make money is to get to the promised land...

 

[hans kraay fan club]

P

Why would he waste money on the risk of getting promoted? Makes no business sense whatsoever. It seems obvious to me that many if not most people at Falmer turn up irrespective of whether we're good or crap on the pitch: it's a nice day out, few pints with your mates, the kids enjoy the mascots etc etc. None of that has anything to do with how good the team is: it's almost a side issue by now for many, I'd suggest, certainly in terms of whether people go or not.

So I wouldn't waste money on players either, all the time people keep turning up in droves anyway. After all, why would you?

Where your entire daft theory falls down, is the starting point that this is looked at by Bloom from a strictly business perspective. If that were the case he would never have got involved in the first place. Would never have gone top spec on the stadium. Would never have built the extravagantly expensive training ground. From a business angle NONE of it makes any sense. Bloom is a fan. Bloom wants the Albion to go up. To suggest anything else is stupid.

And a bit crappy, to be honest.

 

[Surf's Up]

This. The ONLY way we can make money is to get to the promised land...

Unfortunately it doesn't necessarily follow that promotion to the PL = untold riches. As ever, there is a knack to this in the same way as there is a knack to getting out of the Championship from the position we are currently in without spending a bucketload of dosh (think Palace, Burnley et al). The problem with the Premiership is that not only does your income massively increase but to be competitive your costs increase commensurately (i.e. if you dont play it right at best income = expenditure, at worst expenditure exceeds income but by a much bigger factor than is currently the case). The key of course is bringing in the right manager, with the right support team who then recruits the right (not the most expensive) players and who builds the right team ethos and is able to motivate those players to go through brick walls for Brighton & Hove Albion. Alan Mullery is the only Albion manager to have achieved this final step so far in our club's history (with a fair bit of help from Peter Taylor). GP nearly did it but we all know what happened there (well we dont actually!). So the key question for me is whether Hewton/Calderwood/Jones (if he stays) are the men to do this. They starts from a much more advantageous position than either Mullery or Poyet given that we are aleady in the Championship and I guess the recruits we bring in over the next few weeks, the extent of their successsful integration into a strong team ethos and Hewton's man management and motivational skills will evidence the extent to which we have unearthed "the knack" this time around. I have my reservations.

 

[B.W.]

Unfortunately it doesn't necessarily follow that promotion to the PL = untold riches. As ever, there is a knack to this in the same way as there is a knack to getting out of the Championship from the position we are currently in without spending a bucketload of dosh (think Palace, Burnley et al). The problem with the Premiership is that not only does your income massively increase but to be competitive your costs increase commensurately (i.e. if you dont play it right at best income = expenditure, at worst expenditure exceeds income but by a much bigger factor than is currently the case). The key of course is bringing in the right manager, with the right support team who then recruits the right (not the most expensive) players and who builds the right team ethos and is able to motivate those players to go through brick walls for Brighton & Hove Albion. Alan Mullery is the only Albion manager to have achieved this final step so far in our club's history (with a fair bit of help from Peter Taylor). GP nearly did it but we all know what happened there (well we dont actually!). So the key question for me is whether Hewton/Calderwood/Jones (if he stays) are the men to do this. They starts from a much more advantageous position than either Mullery or Poyet given that we are aleady in the Championship and I guess the recruits we bring in over the next few weeks, the extent of their successsful integration into a strong team ethos and Hewton's man management and motivational skills will evidence the extent to which we have unearthed "the knack" this time around. I have my reservations.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-32931345

The average loss in the Championship is £10M...

 

[Surf's Up]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-32931345

The average loss in the Championship is £10M...

Point taken - and I also note that 19 out of the 20 PL clubs made a profit. I guess the point I was trying to make is that you don't have to spend way beyond your means to get out of the Championship if you have all the right components in place.