Part of me won't mind defeat tonight...

[Albion Dan]

It's not that they can't handle it, it's about being in the best condition possible for the Tuesday night. Newcastle would give us the run around for plenty of the game if we do get through and with our injury/disciplinary strike rate at the moment chances are we'd lose a player or two as well

So you would rather lose Half a Million quid just so our players dont feel too tired? Get a grip.

 

[Brovion]

Don't get me wrong, I want the albion to win every game and win the cup - but I have concerns re getting through to play Newcastle:

We'll be playing on the Sat evening and Palace won't have a game that weekend and will be fresher for our meeting on Tues. I'm sure our 3 games in 7 days affected the players for the home game and they looked lethargical. It also cost us points vs Leeds (giving them a 2 goal head start) IMO. It's mental as well as physical - getting yourself up for a big game takes a lot mentally. I just don't want any advantage to Palace (again) for this game - however small you may feel it is...

Also we'll risk more injuries ahead of a crucial part of the league season.

Also we may have to play kids vs Newcastle to erradicate point 1 on tele and that could look bad on us - especially if they get tonked.

Plus we've already played 2 prem teams in a cup this yr at the amex and although i'm delighted with the Newcastle draw, if we did lose tonight, having played Sunderland and Liverpool already it softens the blow of a big prem team.

The Newcastle game may even put our players in the shop window again just before the window closes and draw some big clubs' attention to them..?!

On the plus side we get to play a big game on TV and get more money and have a chance to prove our worth...

So am I being too negative or does anyone feel the same?

Negative. Very very negative. Palace's immediate game before the 31st is the second leg of the League Cup semi final. How many of their fans do you think are saying "Forget the Cup the main thing is that we beat Brighton"? Bugger all I'll bet you; indeed there's been at least one one here saying he'd happily trade defeat on the 31st for a trip to Wembley in a Cup final. And in order to GET to a semi-final they had to take the earlier games 'seriously', none of that defeatist talk that you sometimes hear from Brighton fans: "Well we're not going to win the Cup so why bother?" (Or if there was any talk like that from the fans the Palace manager and players were made of sterner stuff).

As a Brighton fan I want us to win every game. And playing, especially against a good team such as Newcastle, is better than a training session. Beat Wrexham, beat Newcastle, beat Palace. That's what I want, and that is NOT an impossible task by a long chalk. Now stop being so negative and dream of beating Palace and getting to Wembley!

"Oh we're going up AND WE'LL win the Cup!"

 

[MattBackHome]

Indeed - it's interesting that Palace are willing to forego the 31st for their return trip to Wales - whilst we seem to want to do the opposite. Ultimately, it means that some fans of whoever loses on the 31st will assign some blame to the Newcastle/Cardiff match.

 

[leigull]

So you would rather lose Half a Million quid just so our players dont feel too tired? Get a grip.

Yep very good, well done. Was just explaining the point of that side of the argument as you didn't seem to grasp it.

 

[Brovion]

Sorry, something else I want to add. Last season some of the more cowardly and gutless Brighton fans wanted us to get knocked out of the Cups so that we could concentrate on promotion. Whilst I had no sympathy with that view I could 'sort of' see that there was a kind of weird logic to it, especially if you subscribed to the theory that a Cup run always automatically damaged your league form. (Utter bollocks but there you go). Now people are wanting us to get knocked out of the Cup just so that we can concentrate on ONE league game. Yes I know it's Palace, but come on! Surely people's ambitions aren't that narrow?

 

[Not Andy Naylor]

31/1/2012 is all that matters.

We aren't realistically going up or down this season, we've done well out of the cups. The blip is "we scored 3, they scored 1" which must be avenged!

Four points off the playoffs ...

 

[middletoenail]

I'm sure if you asked Palace whether they would rather reach Wembley, or beat us they would say the former. The money generated by a decent cup run means so much more than 3 points, or at least it should do.

Therefore, I would rather forego a win against Palace and take £1m. Wow that sounds mad!

 

[Sheebo]

Sorry, something else I want to add. Last season some of the more cowardly and gutless Brighton fans wanted us to get knocked out of the Cups so that we could concentrate on promotion. Whilst I had no sympathy with that view I could 'sort of' see that there was a kind of weird logic to it, especially if you subscribed to the theory that a Cup run always automatically damaged your league form. (Utter bollocks but there you go). Now people are wanting us to get knocked out of the Cup just so that we can concentrate on ONE league game. Yes I know it's Palace, but come on! Surely people's ambitions aren't that narrow?

Brov - I take on board what you say. But nobody has really said on this thread they WANT us to lose at all. The thread was 'part of me won't mind defeat'. IE I would take a defeat tonight a lot better than a league defeat! Of course I want us to win but IMO there may be some positives injury / tiredness wise if we did lose which may help us for the Palace game. As I said in the original post - I'd love us to win the cup!

 

[Sheebo]

So you would rather lose Half a Million quid just so our players dont feel too tired? Get a grip.

He was merely pointing out to you that we weren't saying the players couldn't handle 2 games - as I said earlier just look at March last yr - 8 games (and wins!) in a month. What we were saying was we'd like them to be as fresh as possible and if it happens that we do lose tommorow, it won't be as bitter pill to take. Leighgull and myself cannot influence what happens on the pitch tommorow - we were just talking about small positives if we do lose - you'll notice I mentioned the money as a positive in my original post. With all due respect, nobody needs to get a grip but you misunderstood the point matey.

 

[Albion Dan]

He was merely pointing out to you that we weren't saying the players couldn't handle 2 games - as I said earlier just look at March last yr - 8 games (and wins!) in a month. What we were saying was we'd like them to be as fresh as possible and if it happens that we do lose tommorow, it won't be as bitter pill to take. Leighgull and myself cannot influence what happens on the pitch tommorow - we were just talking about small positives if we do lose - you'll notice I mentioned the money as a positive in my original post. With all due respect, nobody needs to get a grip but you misunderstood the point matey.

I didnt misunderstand at all. I was just stating that the argument is lame. For half a million we should be desperate to win, and the players, being professionals, should be more than fine to play a game (regardless of opposition) on a saturday and another on Tuesday and put in a good performance without pathetic excuses of being tired.

The liverpool, leeds palace situation was completely different as we had 4 matches in 10 days.

 

[Sheebo]

I didnt misunderstand at all. I was just stating that the argument is lame. For half a million we should be desperate to win, and the players, being professionals, should be more than fine to play a game (regardless of opposition) on a saturday and another on Tuesday and put in a good performance without pathetic excuses of being tired.

The liverpool, leeds palace situation was completely different as we had 4 matches in 10 days.

Fair enough. Maybe i'm worrying too much after the ridiculous 4 in 10 that lead to the Palace game. Either way if playing on Sat affects our performance on the 31st by 1% or 2% I'd rather it not happen - 500k is nothing compared to beating them this season IMO (not my money I know )

 

[Notters]

Fair enough. Maybe i'm worrying too much after the ridiculous 4 in 10 that lead to the Palace game. Either way if playing on Sat affects our performance on the 31st by 1% or 2% I'd rather it not happen - 500k is nothing compared to beating them this season IMO (not my money I know )

I agree with you sheebo, I can't face another defeat to that lot. Especially as I'm going.

 

[El Presidente]

Four words that mean getting through in the Cup is incredibly important. IKEA IF WE LOSE

My view is that if we win tomorrow then 19,000 of us can watch the Albion play a fourth round tie against Premiership opposition, and I would love to be in that crowd rather than being dragged around the shops on a Saturday.

Oh, and I do believe a certain bunch of Nigels are already OUT of the cup in R3, so it would be good to have done better than them.

 

[AMEXican Wave]

Negative. Very very negative. Palace's immediate game before the 31st is the second leg of the League Cup semi final. How many of their fans do you think are saying "Forget the Cup the main thing is that we beat Brighton"? Bugger all I'll bet you; indeed there's been at least one one here saying he'd happily trade defeat on the 31st for a trip to Wembley in a Cup final. And in order to GET to a semi-final they had to take the earlier games 'seriously', none of that defeatist talk that you sometimes hear from Brighton fans: "Well we're not going to win the Cup so why bother?" (Or if there was any talk like that from the fans the Palace manager and players were made of sterner stuff).

As a Brighton fan I want us to win every game. And playing, especially against a good team such as Newcastle, is better than a training session. Beat Wrexham, beat Newcastle, beat Palace. That's what I want, and that is NOT an impossible task by a long chalk. Now stop being so negative and dream of beating Palace and getting to Wembley!

"Oh we're going up AND WE'LL win the Cup!"

Absolutely. The cup is magical - I would be truely gutted if we lose.

Do people really want to miss out on 500K, and for the Newcastle match to be 'the match at the AMEX that never was' ?

A million times NO - that Newcastle match will be special. Sod worrying about Palace until after that.

 

[Goldstone Rapper]

It's hardly going to boost morale at the club for us to lose to a non-League side. Palace fans would have a field day, which could have a negative effect on 31st.

 

[leigull]

Just wish it was Palace on the Saturday and Newcastle on the Tuesday, would make it so much easier

 

[brakespear]

Absolutely. The cup is magical - I would be truely gutted if we lose.

Do people really want to miss out on 500K, and for the Newcastle match to be 'the match at the AMEX that never was' ?

A million times NO - that Newcastle match will be special. Sod worrying about Palace until after that.

absolutely this.

 

[BLOCK F]

Don't get me wrong, I want the albion to win every game and win the cup - but I have concerns re getting through to play Newcastle:

We'll be playing on the Sat evening and Palace won't have a game that weekend and will be fresher for our meeting on Tues. I'm sure our 3 games in 7 days affected the players for the home game and they looked lethargical. It also cost us points vs Leeds (giving them a 2 goal head start) IMO. It's mental as well as physical - getting yourself up for a big game takes a lot mentally. I just don't want any advantage to Palace (again) for this game - however small you may feel it is...

Also we'll risk more injuries ahead of a crucial part of the league season.

Also we may have to play kids vs Newcastle to erradicate point 1 on tele and that could look bad on us - especially if they get tonked.

Plus we've already played 2 prem teams in a cup this yr at the amex and although i'm delighted with the Newcastle draw, if we did lose tonight, having played Sunderland and Liverpool already it softens the blow of a big prem team.

The Newcastle game may even put our players in the shop window again just before the window closes and draw some big clubs' attention to them..?!

On the plus side we get to play a big game on TV and get more money and have a chance to prove our worth...

So am I being too negative or does anyone feel the same?

Negative.
If our players are unable to 'get themselves up' for a couple of big games then it is a pretty poor show.How on earth would we cope in the Prem. where big games would come thick and fast?
Go to Wrexham,get a result,play Newcastle ,win or lose enjoy the day and make a few bob for the club.Play Palace and hopefully win.
Shame Gus didn't go all out for a win first time round against Wrexham tho'.Thought he had learned about unwanted replays!
Finally,no more bookings or sendings off!