Does anyone else feel carefree about this season?

[martin tyler]

Last year rhe expectation was there and we all brought into that.
I can see what Oscar is trying to do but he will need a season to bed in so i think people are more realistic this year on where we will end up. Can see us putting a few decent runs together and finishing about 10th so to me this year anything beyond that woul just be a bonus.

 

[Cheshire Cat]

Not until we start beating teams who are supposed to be rubbish.

 

[Billy the Fish]

I'm glad some of you are happy for your hard earnt money to be pissed away watching crap football every week. I'm not and I suspect many others aren't either.

I

No I bloody don't. I remain furious after that lack-lustre performance. Everything matters, otherwise what is the point.

Is mid-table mediocrity really what we strive for? I

This is the mentality that I don't understand ,please don't think I'm having a dig here, but to me this is the equivalent of buying a lottery ticket every week and getting pissed off and angry because you didn't win anything. It makes me wonder how people ever enjoy going to football at all - it is a leisure activity that you're supposed to enjoy, if winning was the only thing that mattered why would anyone support the Albion or any of the other 75 also rans every season

Of course I want to win every game, but common sense and 20+ years of watching BHAFC tells me that isn't going to happen so I'm not going to get wound up when it doesn't happen.

 

[supaseagull]

I have to be honest, some of the reactions on here are ridiculous...

I've been an active supporter of the Albion for more than 30 years and the football we're witnessing is by no means the worst I've seen (although last night was one of the worst league performances at the Amex).

However, the whole approach of "oh it's better than we had at Withdean so we should be grateful", is tedious...How long are some of you going to go along with that?

We are not the same club that we were then, and fans expectations having been heightened - partly by themselves and the buzz of the new stadium, but mostly from the marketing and noises coming out of the club.

Before Oscar was appointed, Tony Bloom's video interview came out at raised expectations by telling supporters that we would have a team capable of challenging for at least a top six finish. That may still happen, however, after the Derby, Millwall, Ipswich & Sheffield Wednesday performances (and don't forget these 4 are not going to be promotion challengers), I'm convinced that we are nowhere near (tactically) capable of being a top 6 team.

Now, I'm not saying to sack the manager or anything like that...He needs to be given at least another two months to settle and get his squad fit. However, what I do expect is for professional footballers who get paid shedloads of money from money paid by supporters to be able to string two passes together.

I will always be an Albion fan and that will never change, however, what I do expect is that when I've paid over £800 for two season tickets a year, is to be entertained every now & then and not subjected to an abject performance like I have been for most games so far this season.

The trouble is, as I've said before, performances like that over the course of the season won't drive the true fans like myself and my family(who have supported the club since the 50's) away. However, what it will do is drive away the more casual supporters and it's those who the club needs to survive.

One last point...Matty Fryatt scored last night...he is on loan from Leicester(?) and is a proven goalscorer. Why is the club not looking to sign someone short term like him whilst Ulloa is clearly unfit(that was clear even before he went off!). Are we REALLY that broke?

 

[Brighton Breezy]

I was actually talking about something similar the other day. I remember the days of going to watch the match and being disappointed if we lost but not THAT annoyed.

I think the big difference is the cost of football these days. People make a significant financial investment to watch the Albion so are understandably going to be a bit more miffed if the performance is poor.

If tickets were only a tenner (and I completely understand why they aren't) then it wouldn't be such a big deal if the game was shit.

 

[Biscuit]

I do.

After our preseason and everything I heard about the backroom atmosphere I knew we wouldn't make the play offs. OBVIOUSLY we still can, but I don't think we will, this isn't knee-jerk either - I've felt it for a while. We did extremely well last year but a change of manager, a dodgy preseason full of changes, not really strengthening in key areas.. we won't be going up, that's for sure. I'm not even that bothered, we're honestly too good to be relegation candidates, and we play some nice football at times so I'm happy. Times are good. We're a solid Championship club, that's something I've wanted us to be for decades!

The only worry for me is PIG's contract being up soon. We really need to keep him and build on what we've got or the dream will very quickly disappear! That's true of many of our elite players, ie Bridcutt, Ulloa, Upson etc

 

[One Teddy Maybank]

This is the mentality that I don't understand ,please don't think I'm having a dig here, but to me this is the equivalent of buying a lottery ticket every week and getting pissed off and angry because you didn't win anything. It makes me wonder how people ever enjoy going to football at all - it is a leisure activity that you're supposed to enjoy, if winning was the only thing that mattered why would anyone support the Albion or any of the other 75 also rans every season

Of course I want to win every game, but common sense and 20+ years of watching BHAFC tells me that isn't going to happen so I'm not going to get wound up when it doesn't happen.

No problem Billy and accept what you are saying. But for me my mentality is to win - forget the lottery as its a poor comparison due to the odds. We are watching a sport where its 50/50.

However, whilst I can accept a 1-1 draw if I feel the team looks cohesive and shows promise, last night this was not the case, the performance was absolutely shocking.

I certainly never relax when I'm watching a game and throw myself into supporting the team wholeheartedly. For me the enjoyment is in winning (even under Mike Bailey when the football was dire), I gain no satisfaction from being close second......

I'm sorry if that makes me a bad fan/person, but that's where I am

 

[Thunder Bolt]

Does it matter how carefree the fans are? It's Bloom's opinion that counts and he definitely said he wanted the team to be in the top 6. I can't see that unless we start improving. The team looked totally devoid of ideas once the first two chances went begging. I felt we were lucky to get a point.

 

[supaseagull]

Does it matter how carefree the fans are? It's Bloom's opinion that counts and he definitely said he wanted the team to be in the top 6. I can't see that unless we start improving. The team looked totally devoid of ideas once the first two chances went begging. I felt we were lucky to get a point.

totally agree with you...First 20 minuites of every game i've watched this season we look good and then the opposition team susses us out.

 

[Brighton Breezy]

I will also be less carefree if the cost of my ticket increases next season.

 

[Acker79]

According to the radio we DOMINATED the first half?

As I've posted elsewhere, I'd liken it to man utd or Tottenham v palace - we dominated despite playing poorly, I think Wednesday's first half performance may be the worst I've seen at the Amex for a while. We got in behind their defenders a couple of times, but then ulloa couldn't run with the ball at his feet, and Lopez couldn't control the ball etc.

 

[Billy the Fish]

I'm glad some of you are happy for your hard earnt money to be pissed away watching crap football every week. I'm not and I suspect many others aren't either.

I

No problem Billy and accept what you are saying. But for me my mentality is to win - forget the lottery as its a poor comparison due to the odds. We are watching a sport where its 50/50.

However, whilst I can accept a 1-1 draw if I feel the team looks cohesive and shows promise, last night this was not the case, the performance was absolutely shocking.

I certainly never relax when I'm watching a game and throw myself into supporting the team wholeheartedly. For me the enjoyment is in winning (even under Mike Bailey when the football was dire), I gain no satisfaction from being close second......

I'm sorry if that makes me a bad fan/person, but that's where I am

I get what you're saying and I guess you have to accept that we're all different, it would be pretty boring if we all had the same opinion! To prove that point, your comment about winning reminded me of something - I actually stopped my season ticket and started playing on saturdays after the Peter Taylor Division 2 winning season because the football bored me so much. I didn't like it so I did the only thing I can do as a fan and stopped going.

I'm quite liking how reasoned this thread is, I can accept constructive comments about the team or people's general feeling. The 2nd half last night was dreadful and there were some dire individual performances, it's just the outrageous statements I can't accept like the thread saying the honeymoon is over, or people talking about Oscar being under pressure already.

However, the whole approach of "oh it's better than we had at Withdean so we should be grateful", is tedious...How long are some of you going to go along with that?

It's all personal choice isn't it, see my comments above. I still love going to football at the Amex, win lose or draw I still get a buzz out of the whole experience and watching football in this division is great, there's decent sized crowds and the standard is usually good. If people aren't getting that then they'll stop going, simple as that. It isn't the end of the world.

 

[Tooting Gull]

I don't think I ever feel 'carefree' about the Albion - but I'm certainly not as anxious as last season. I think the turbulent events post-May took a bit of a toll, and also I expected us not to challenge this season. So starting as we have is no big surprise, and I don't seriously expect us to catch and overhaul Forest, QPR, Reading, Watford and Leicester (plus whoever else emerges as the surprise package).

I'd sign for 12th now.

 

[Guinness Boy]

Chatting with Bozza and a few others and we both agreed how there was a lot less stress about supporting the Albion this year compared to last. I really don't know if we'll get play-offs but I don't seem to care either and this is in stark contrast to last year where I think I took it all too seriously. I was almost sick before the March Palace game, I'd got myself so worried about it. Not having them in the league and not having a manager who seemed to hint that he'd be off at the first hint of more TV airtime has made me quite stoic about tonight, Ipswich, Newport and the rest of the season.

I really don't care what happens (assuming we don't go near relegation) and I think I've got my Albion mojo too. Am I in the minority here?

More performances like the last 2 and we will be in a relegation battle

I can't argue with any of this. Just turn up and enjoy the football and have a few beers with your mates

I primarily go to football to have a few beers with my mates though this may be changing next season as I may well get a season ticket for my son. At that point winning will become more important because I'll have a disappointed seven year old to console every time we don't! I'll inevitably see a bit less of my mates and drink a bit less beer too.

But even if football is predominantly a social occasion for you the ninety minutes on the pitch DO matter. I never enjoy defeats at home even if we've had a brilliant laugh before or after the game. Draws I can enjoy (I'm thinking of the 2-2 v Leeds for example) or can find totally frustrating. Last night was the latter. We really should be beating teams like that and it took the gloss off a night where I had a few beers with my brother and bumped in to an old face in the WSL bar afterwards.

My expectations are set firmly at mid-table. I think I put that in the pre-season prediction I wrote for ANS. The only problem with that is that if you are in mid table then you are only one bad run away from a relegation dogfight. We now have our three main strikers and Bridcutt (how we missed him last night) out long term injured and a new signing in Agustien who is either being played injured or who is totally uninterested. My intuition tells me I am going to enjoy this season less and less with every game.

 

[BUTTERBALL]

Cold hard facts are that we have had a lot of injuries to key players. Bridcutt was the heartbeat of the team and has not played one single game. Not only that, but with all the turbulence in the summer, we did not enjoy the pre-season most clubs have had.

Oscar's style is a bit more direct. The only thing i am slightly disappointed to see is that we do not play the ball out from the back as often from the goalie, through the defence etc.

I do, however, have confidence in Oscar and to a certain degree view this season as one of transition. I think Gus's acrimonious departure left more damage than people realise. The good news is Keith Andrews and Calde talked last week about the tremendous team spirit within the club, so clearly the Manager and coaching staff are doing something right.

If we make a late surge for the play-off's when we have our best players back, then great. However, next season I will expect us to be in a top 6 spot all season with squad and style firmly established.

 

[forumwayseagull]

totally agree with you...First 20 minuites of every game i've watched this season we look good and then the opposition team susses us out.

Exactly what we thought too...look good, miss chances then wait for sucker punch...plan b I hear people say..sorry but I never really saw a plan A...
I also don't understand how we are told we will sign a striker early in the window to replace CMS and whilst everyone else appears to have done that, we haven't, and Surprisingly now our top scorer is injured...Perfect....!

 

[Thunder Bolt]

Exactly what we thought too...look good, miss chances then wait for sucker punch...plan b I hear people say..sorry but I never really saw a plan A...
I also don't understand how we are told we will sign a striker early in the window to replace CMS and whilst everyone else appears to have done that, we haven't, and Surprisingly now our top scorer is injured...Perfect....!

That's how I think. We could have had Matty Fryatt, who only joined Wednesday in the last few days and repaid them already.

Does anyone else think that if Ulloa was badly injured ie a broken foot, the news would have been released by now? Hopefully it's bad bruising.

 

[Acker79]

Does anyone else think that if Ulloa was badly injured ie a broken foot, the news would have been released by now? Hopefully it's bad bruising.

Nope. I would say the delay is getting a second opinion on bad news, the optimist in me hopes it's a case of finalising a loan deal to soften the blow of confirming long term ulloa absence with confirmation of another striker on loan.

 

[narly101]

I will always be an Albion fan and that will never change, however, what I do expect is that when I've paid over £800 for two season tickets a year, is to be entertained every now & then and not subjected to an abject performance like I have been for most games so far this season.

This Supaseagull. Very much this.

 

[goldstone]

I like the vehemently angry posts from supporters (perhaps JCLs?) whose sole reason for going seems to be to watch the Albion storming their way into the Premier league. I get a distinct "if we don't look like we've got a chance of being in the Premiershite next year I'm gonna stop coming" vibe from these guys.

My last trip to the Amex was the Watford game last Christmas. We lost 3-1, it pissed down with rain and I spilt boiling hot Bovril on my crotch.

And I bloody loved every minute of it.

The absolutely worst thing is when so-called professional football players play like numkins and put no effort into the game.

Give me a Gary Hart and an Alex Revell every time over this season's version of Spanish Dave and Mr Bruno. You knew with OGH and Revell they were giving 100% all the time and, personally, I like that in a footballer.