[Albion] Perspective

[Change at Barnham]

Apart from Manchester City, every club today has supporters offering advice on social media on what their club should have done differently or how their club should have spent more money investing a bit more in their squad.
And if City don't win the treble I'm sure their disappointed fans will be expressing their frustrated views.

It will always be that way. Supporters all want just a little bit more to get their beloved club in a higher position than they are.

If there was a fan satisfaction survey of 92 clubs, I would think that as a group we would give Tony Bloom, Paul Barber, Roberto De Zerbi and the players close to the top score compared to any club in the country, and probably Europe.

We will always be frustrated when we suffer poor results and there will be poor results every season.
Successful people in life are those that deal with those setbacks in a clear manner and stick to a plan.

We are so fortunate to have such a brilliantly run club and it's lucky that none of us are involved in making the decisions.

Everything about the Albion's progress and performance is currently beyond our expectations and we are all very excited about the future.

I don't know any Brighton fans who wouldn't agree with the above sentence.

Even though this is a forum for discussion and views there is no need for us to get into a pickle between ourselves about the finer points of being frustrated over the most successful period in our history.

 

[AlbionBro]

I think the atmosphere at the city ground gave their players the strength to get all three point, we were stretching them ragged at times, but second half for some reason we tried working it through the middle all the time, they filled the middle and stole the ball back. We didn't get it out wide early enough. The Colwill lad was out of his depth.

 

[Wardy's twin]

The only important perspective is we are watching the best Brighton team in my 50 years of supporting the club , make the most of it while you can as just maintaining our position , rather than improving on it, is a very difficult task.

 

[Gabbiano]

Let people have a genuine emotional reaction to a shit series of events without screaming “HAVE SOME PERSPECTIVE!!!”

It’s gutting because so much hard work and success has been achieved but it feels like everything is slipping slowly out of our grasp. Realistically, chances like this don’t come around often for clubs like us, and probably it will be yet harder next year if key players leave and the big clubs get their shit together.

We’re not entitled to glory, but it hurts to get so close if we don’t end up making it there. At the end of the day we will all look back on this season and see the best season in our history, the best squad of players and the highest quality football.

We’re just in the middle of it all at the moment, so people are reacting accordingly.

 

[Insel affe]

No one is feeling entitled. Disappointed to see a cup final vanish and the dream of European football slip slightly further away yes, but entitled no.

Agreed, add into the mix some shocking decisions that have gone against us, costing us valuable points.
Hell, I am disappointed, not at the manager or squad, I am disappointed at the oh so nearly, I can touch it.....

We really need to get past the "15 years ago, we were....."
nearly ever club has a story of woe, apart from several elite clubs, even the champions elect 25 years ago were playing in Division two.
We must be proud of what we have achieved, but we can not use it as a stick to beat some fans with that either are too young to know or new fans that obviously we have attracted, we need them as much as the Ol'Skool grandads like us that fought the good fight.

I don't see entitlement, I see frustration, completely different.

 

[Lenny Rider]

For those who were there the day we got dicked 5-0 at Selhurst the current scenario is like a night out at Hooters.

Embrace it, if this is as good as it gets, then c'est la vie, if however TB backs RDZ in the summer with significant funds, then who knows what this squad, even minus Ally Mac and Moises, can achieve?

 

[Garry Nelson's Left Foot]

That's the breaks though. How do sides like us cope with Moder doing a cruciate when just getting to a really good PL level, or Mwepu having to retire, a manager change, a world cup in winter. It's like the Covid seasons - some sides coped better than others.

The squad has done brilliantly is the flip side of the conversation. Nothing more exciting than seeing genuine talent emerging this season as we have with Ferguson, Enciso, Sarmiento, Buonanotte. It almost makes you feel like MacA, Caicedo are old experienced pros in the side.

30 games 49 pts 14 wins 55 goals. I mean, had you said that to me March 2022, even with my rose tinted glass always half full I might have
spluttered my drink out.

Yeah I think we're basically on the same page. The team and squad have done brilliantly.

My point is that we've lost players that we're part of the squad and budgeted for and if we had them we would probably have done even better and been able to better ride the vagaries of the season. My follow on point is that I don't think it is entitled to point this out nor is it detracting from the achievements of the season so far.

 

[Garry Nelson's Left Foot]

I think the posts you have missed over the last few weeks have been the ones saying that RDZ needs to be backed in the transfer market in purchasing ‘PL ready’ players. That would be a radical departure from the business model.

I don't know. Again it depends on definition. We've spent 15-20million on Trossard, Bissouma, Maupay, Webster, Mwepu, Caicedo and Estupinian. We reportedly offered circa 25m for Darwin Nunez and, I think, several other players(but I may quite easily be wrong on that last point).

When/if we sell Ally Mac this summer I would expect us to spend some money on an 'established' first team replacement. Obviously not 50m or anything crazy but in line with what we've spent before.

So I guess it depends on what constitutes PL ready and how much people are advocating spending on them.

I don't want us to spend huge amounts on individual players and the attendent salaries that come with it. I do want us to sign some players who can step into the first team from day 1 a la Estupinian last summer.

 

[Garry Nelson's Left Foot]

What we don't need is the insinuations (by others) that somehow we have dropped a bollock by deliberately not buying more players during the Christmas break when we had willing recruits available out there to buy and that the owner needs to be held to account. Which is being repeatedly insinuating by people who start out by saying that "we have had a great season but....". Anyway, that's just my own valueless opinion.

Yes, I agree with that.

 

[Insel affe]

For those who were there the day we got dicked 5-0 at Selhurst the current scenario is like a night out at Hooters.

Ok, if I use that analogy we can spunk a load of cash on mediocre food and look but not touch

 

[Hamilton]

Roberto goes into every game expecting his teams to fight and to win.

I'm with Roberto.

I also remember our past and appreciate where we are now.

These two thoughts can live side by side.

 

[Hamilton]

I'll add, that this is all part of Tony's masterplan. The club is where he wants it to be and it's on an upward trajectory.

 

[The Antikythera Mechanism]

The perspective for me is that shit happens. If anyone can analyse the shortcomings from our performance and fix them it’s RDZ.

 

[HCxUK]

Does all feel a bit like... Perspective: we used to be shit, so we should just be happy to be here

 

[Harry Wilson's tackle]

Yes, I agree with that.

You forgot to highlight "my own valueless opinion"

 

[DavidinSouthampton]

Agreed, add into the mix some shocking decisions that have gone against us, costing us valuable points.
Hell, I am disappointed, not at the manager or squad, I am disappointed at the oh so nearly, I can touch it.....

We really need to get past the "15 years ago, we were....."
nearly ever club has a story of woe, apart from several elite clubs, even the champions elect 25 years ago were playing in Division two.
We must be proud of what we have achieved, but we can not use it as a stick to beat some fans with that either are too young to know or new fans that obviously we have attracted, we need them as much as the Ol'Skool grandads like us that fought the good fight.

I don't see entitlement, I see frustration, completely different.

I was at Saints v Bournemouth last night, dragged along by Mrs DiS.
Sainnts were clueless. I’m very happy to be where we are rather than where they are! Mrs DiS moaning about team selection. They woke up in the last 10 minutes, but to no avail. A disallowed goal on 88 minutes was a bit harsh.

and I only went hoping to see Bournemouth get beaten.

 

[Baldseagull]

No, it's time to realise that the next step is not a step we can make financially. There are seven mega clubs in this league now:

Manchester City
Arsenal
Manchester United
Tottenham Hotspur
Chelsea
Newcastle United
Liverpool

We will not make a step into that group on any permanent basis. But, by being clever, we can cause them problems. And we are being clever. Like this season (which is still presenting an opportunity)

We can't break into that group financially, nor even the West Ham, Aston Villa etc group that make up the next rung of spenders, not next season anyway. I do believe though that we can and will be able to compete on the pitch with them. 2-4 of that group will likely be above us for the forseeable future, but also 2 or 3 of them will have appointed the wrong manager, have held onto a couple of star players one season too long, bought badly in the transfer market, or have a squad that falls out.
This does not mean that I am an entitled fan that believes we should be challenging for a top 4 spot, but I believe we are well set up and provisioned to be able to take advantage when a couple of the expected front runners slip up, this season being one of those seasons, it is a bit frustrating that we probably are not quite able to take full advantage.
The loss to Forest was not a blow to me, they are decent at home, and they played well, with good support and we were off it.
Losses to Tottenham and Fulham are where we should really be 6 points better off from right now, which made not getting points away at Forest just a bit sadder.

 

[7dialssouthpaw]

We can't break into that group financially, nor even the West Ham, Aston Villa etc group that make up the next rung of spenders, not next season anyway. I do believe though that we can and will be able to compete on the pitch with them. 2-4 of that group will likely be above us for the forseeable future, but also 2 or 3 of them will have appointed the wrong manager, have held onto a couple of star players one season too long, bought badly in the transfer market, or have a squad that falls out.
This does not mean that I am an entitled fan that believes we should be challenging for a top 4 spot, but I believe we are well set up and provisioned to be able to take advantage when a couple of the expected front runners slip up, this season being one of those seasons, it is a bit frustrating that we probably are not quite able to take full advantage.
The loss to Forest was not a blow to me, they are decent at home, and they played well, with good support and we were off it.
Losses to Tottenham and Fulham are where we should really be 6 points better off from right now, which made not getting points away at Forest just a bit sadder.

I really feel the Chelsea bubble has popped and they will turn into an also-ran. The Abramovich era is gone.I'm not sure on Newcastle's place at the big table yet, either - they've played it very wisely this season, but feel they have a ceiling.
No chance against the others as it stands now, however, although the hubris from watching Spurs' descent this year is getting funnier each day.

 

[Justice]

We can't break into that group financially, nor even the West Ham, Aston Villa etc group that make up the next rung of spenders, not next season anyway. I do believe though that we can and will be able to compete on the pitch with them. 2-4 of that group will likely be above us for the forseeable future, but also 2 or 3 of them will have appointed the wrong manager, have held onto a couple of star players one season too long, bought badly in the transfer market, or have a squad that falls out.
This does not mean that I am an entitled fan that believes we should be challenging for a top 4 spot, but I believe we are well set up and provisioned to be able to take advantage when a couple of the expected front runners slip up, this season being one of those seasons, it is a bit frustrating that we probably are not quite able to take full advantage.
The loss to Forest was not a blow to me, they are decent at home, and they played well, with good support and we were off it.
Losses to Tottenham and Fulham are where we should really be 6 points better off from right now, which made not getting points away at Forest just a bit sadder.

We only lost to Forest because of the squad selection imo. Caciedo was clearly done after twenty minutes looking back it was a game for the bench to have a game and impress the manager we lost anyway. ColwelL was awful I would have took him off at half time. He is too slow to be a top defender he blunders and then can’t recover.
He’s not out player PVH should have started. It was a championship quality game Forest aren’t great and we were utter shite compared to what we usually bring to the table.

 

[WATFORD zero]

For those who were there the day we got dicked 5-0 at Selhurst the current scenario is like a night out at Hooters.

Embrace it, if this is as good as it gets, then c'est la vie, if however TB backs RDZ in the summer with significant funds, then who knows what this squad, even minus Ally Mac and Moises, can achieve?

Just a minor point Lenny, but I think that with all these new contracts in the last few months (and hopefully a couple more to come), I would say TB is certainly backing RDZ with what are probably very significant funds already. Whether it is enough to keep the gang together who knows ? But we are definitely trying everything we can