mona
The Glory Game
Good debate I started here ! Exactly as I said, he does divide opinion. I'm a true fan and have been attending matches since Jimmy Langley was captain and Peter Harburn was the best centre forward I had seen. It was a long time ago !! I've been there watching in every division and as I said, like everyone else, I have an opinion. I'm not knocking Barnes, as some comments suggest, in fact I said he is young and has improved a great deal, I was just asking peoples views on whether or not you consider he should be selected ahead of Noone, Assulin, Sparrow, Razak, CMS, Vokes, Buckley etc. There comes a time when class has to take priority and given our recent acquisitions and increased strength in depth, it is class that has to govern team selection. The higher the level you play at, the more you must cherish possessions because class teams capitalise on errors. The Liverpool game highlighted that fact. We weren't 5 goals inferior as a team, but our errors led to goals. Ash has his critics and his supporters and I accept he is being asked to play a role that is different to what he played last season. He has adapted very well and I, along with everyone else was cheering his goals yesterday, but I still think we now have other players at the club who might be more able to fill that role more creatively. Two swallows dont make a summer and two goals dont make a player.
Sorry. It is not a good mass debate. After every single game somebody has to post something negative about Ashley Barnes or Ryan Harley. It just feeds the need that some Brighton fans have for a hate figure. This is not a modern phenomenon and I have supported the club almost as long as you and can remember the vitriol hurled at Windross who was nowhere near as good a player as Ashley Barnes.
Curiously there are few comments made about things like Craig Noone's loss of form or Lewis Dunk not playing well in 3 successive games. The manager obviously noticed but the usual suspects on NSC didn't because it wasn't part of their predictable agenda.
Having followed the Albion through some very bleak years I get increasingly pi**ed off by those who need a sacrificial victim when so much is going magnificently for the team. FFS Can't we be a bit more positive - of course some of the current team would struggle in the PL but lets not drone on about it.