[Albion] Lose against Grimsby or lose in the semi?

[Neville's Breakfast]

Then we would all be moaning about the allocation. We can take loads more to Wembley than anywhere else.

Not everybody can travel to London so it’s swings and roundabouts versus providing a selfie moment for a load of day trippers.

 

[Wozza]

Were loose.

 

[Greg Bobkin]

The whole footballing world wants Grimbsy to win. The least we can do, as Albion fans, is get behind the boys!

 

[Justice]

Hate Wembley semis - they should be at a neutral stadium.

You would moan if you couldn’t get a ticket though

 

[SAC]

Hate Wembley semis - they should be at a neutral stadium.

To win a Wembley semi, I suspect, would be pretty special.

Hope to find out one day.

 

[Lenny Rider]

Naturally the best option for Brighton would be to win the whole damn cup.

But if we pretend this is not a possibility: would you rather go out against Grimsby or against say City in the semi-final?

I'm thinking:

Grimsby
+ It would be very fun with a League Two team in a FA Cup semi
+ Would mean a game less, which could be pretty huge actually
+ Limited risk they will be in the same division as Brighton any time soon so wouldn't have to face their
- Humiliating
- Not very good for the self-confidence
- Its fecking Grimsby and would feel like a missed opportunity... big time

Manchester Something
+ There are certainly excuses and it is very easy to shrug after a loss against City
+ The whole thing about being in semi-final is perhaps not the biggest thing ever but looks quite nice on paper
+ Some young players will get a lot of experience from playing a game like that
- Fecking pointless with another game, especially with the fixture congestion
- It sure is a bit of a "false hope" situation
- Easy to think cups and whatnot are quite meaningless afterwards because these monsters always win it

In this very hypothetical scenario... I think losing to Grimsby would be preferable. I hate the games against Manchester City... just feels utterly pointless most of the time. Teams that take points from them generally defend with 11 players with the odd counter, and Brighton can't play that sort of football, so City go two or three goals up before half time and then just snooze out the second half. Its utterly shite.

Might be a difficult choice... Maybe just winning the whole shit is just the best solution to it.

How much did you pay for your Angel Dust?

 

[Lenny Rider]

The semi finals should be moved back to neutral stadiums. The Taylor Report has made all top flight grounds safe, hasn’t it ? Oh, I forgot about the money.

Devils advocate here, say we beat Grimsby and Fulham beat United, would you rather play at Wembley or Tottenham in the semi?

White Hart Lane is possibly the best club stadium in Europe now but its a ballache to get to, when we did AJ vs Usyk we had to abadon the Love Bus 15 mins walk away.

 

[Eeyore]

Hate Wembley semis - they should be at a neutral stadium.

I do agree, although I've softened on it since it gives fans of smaller clubs a chance to visit.

Like us.

 

[Neville's Breakfast]

Devils advocate here, say we beat Grimsby and Fulham beat United, would you rather play at Wembley or Tottenham in the semi?

White Hart Lane is possibly the best club stadium in Europe now but its a ballache to get to, when we did AJ vs Usyk we had to abadon the Love Bus 15 mins walk away.

Fair question. I would prefer Tottenham as I think that semi finals at Wembley are a bit cup final lite. We did have a great day out at the Man City game although we didn’t live up north then. A Brighton v Fulham match is a different scenario to the one I raised though.

 

[Napper]

Wembley every time.

Going back in our life times is not guaranteed

 

[Eeyore]

My biggest worry is that we beat Grimsby Town then get done by Sheffield United in the semis.

 

[The Wizard]

I can’t believe that’s even a question myself, 100% beat Grimsby and lose at Wembley.

I feel like the only people who might vote the other way would be those who don’t support Brighton 100% (eg: thread starter)

 

[hart's shirt]

Who says we'd lose a SF?

With how we're playing and the wide Wembley wings for March and Mitoma to exploit, I'd fancy us against any opposition there.

 

[peterward]

No disgrace in losing to city - but there again we might not get city in the semi . We can beat Utd

Or the winner of Sheff Utd Blackburn.

Grimsby first though

 

[Coldeanseagull]

Even though it's a hypothetical question, there is another two games before the Grimsby one and I can't look that far ahead.
Ask me again next Friday!

 

[Poojah]

Just for balance, it’s interesting you’re actually having this debate. This is a very big game for Brighton, I have no doubt about that. Surely the best chance for you to win the FA Cup since 1983, and I’d imagine in your history given the strength of your current squad.

But for us, a victory (and I still see that as little more than a hypothetical outcome), would almost certainly the biggest result in my lifetime and probably of just about every living Grimsby Town supporter.

The play-offs last year were massive, given how difficult it can be for clubs to get out of the National League these days given the money, relatively speaking, sloshing about down there. Watching the play-off final against Solihull back, there’s a line from commentator Adam Summerton that stuck with me; it goes:

“Few football matches come with greater pressure. There are bigger games, there are more glamorous occasions, but in terms of what it means to the clubs and the fans involved, and how it affects future direction; not much can match this”.

It’s so true that. We won, and find ourselves firmly in the EFL and in the quarter final of the FA Cup, while Solihull - a brilliantly run little club by the way, find themselves 12th in the National League, with no chance of promotion of this season.

A win at the Amex would be considerably bigger than that, in my opinion. Symbolically, our first semi-final this side of WWII would be a fantastic sign of our club’s recovery. More than that though, in terms of future direction, the financial significance would be profound, adding roughly another £3m or £4m to the £1m we’ve made from this cup run so far. That’s a transformational amount of money for us.

If, somehow, God willing, we beat you, there will be tears in that away end. Floods of them. My eyes certainly wouldn’t be dry.

The odds are so massively stacked in Albion’s favour it’s not something worth overthinking, and of course defeat won’t be as crushing for us as it would have been in the play-offs at London Stadium. But if, however impossibly small our chances are, if we pulled it off, you can at least console yourselves with the fact you will have witnessed something very special indeed.

I wouldn’t lose too much sleep over it, just yet, mind…

 

[jackanada]

As I have relatives who are not just avid Lincoln City fans but entwined with the history of the club I have to pick beating Grimsby. They are world class grudge holders in the fens and their rivalry will last until the heat death of the universe.

 

[5Ways Gull]

I think losing to Grimsby would derail our season. Also can you imagine losing that game and finding Grimsby draw Burnley/Blackburn in the semi.

Don't think it will happen though

 

[JBizzle]

My son has never been to Wembley, so it's that for me

 

[dejavuatbtn]

No disgrace in losing to city - but there again we might not get city in the semi . We can beat Utd

To be honest I think we can beat either of them. We are certainly good enough and I think both teams are a bit scared of us too. This is a really good opportunity to win the first bit of decent silverware since 1910.