[Albion] Pre Season Friendly vs West Brom @ Amex - Saturday 5th September, ***2pm***

[Silverhatch]

Give Danny Cashman a run out too

 

[Mellotron]

Some good singing, considering. Well done NSK.

I definitely felt a slightly edgy sense of "can we......chant?" for the first 2-3 minutes but then it relaxed.

It was weird but I think I can make peace with it, on the knowledge that it's only temporary, and definitely preferable to no fans.

 

[Worthing exile]

Give Danny Cashman a run out too

I agree. With us being short of striking numbers I would have him and Tolaj on the bench

 

[neilbard]

That is absolutely the plan - just not within a week.

They are hoping the next step will be 30% - probably around mid-October, then 50% at some point (perhaps around Christmas?) and so on.

I was at the game on Saturday and it seemed to run very smoothly to me, yes the atmosphere was a little anaemic compared to the "real thing" but personally I'd far rather how it was than no crowds at football.

I don't forsee a massive problem in ramping up to 30-40% capacity, the only potential issue is transport to and from ground as far as I can see, but there are ways to mitigate and lower risk there too.

What a lot of people on here are missing is that up north they are still having problems with Covid-19. Brighton and London seem to be doing better at the moment.

People who think that a percentage of fans will be watching Premier League football by October are sadly deluded.

See you in the New Year..

 

[crodonilson]

Do the club let you buy these games for a one off price and if so how much??

 

[Bozza]

That is absolutely the plan - just not within a week.

They are hoping the next step will be 30% - probably around mid-October, then 50% at some point (perhaps around Christmas?) and so on.

I was at the game on Saturday and it seemed to run very smoothly to me, yes the atmosphere was a little anaemic compared to the "real thing" but personally I'd far rather how it was than no crowds at football.

I don't forsee a massive problem in ramping up to 30-40% capacity, the only potential issue is transport to and from ground as far as I can see, but there are ways to mitigate and lower risk there too.

I'm struggling to see that, frankly, although it would be great if that were achieved.

It was mentioned to me that the Amex had been chosen as a first test event due to the size of the concourses, which are somewhat more spacious than many, particularly older grounds. However, on Saturday, I still felt the ESL concourse was about as busy as I'd want it to be, and that was with what I assume was 25% capacity for the stand.

That's not to say people have to stop on the concourse when they enter a ground - they can pass straight through to the seats, although on a cold/wet wintry day, that has limited appeal, particularly if your seat is located where you'll be getting wet.

Then there's the transport, as you say. People reported that trains on the West Coast line were busy heading towards Brighton on Saturday, mainly with non-football attendees, but once you start ramping up football crowds on top of that, trains could reach what may be considered over-crowding in the current environment. That's not to say that this would be a blocker - I think authorities and clubs will work on the infrastructure they have direct control over.

 

[Sarisbury Seagull]

I'm struggling to see that, frankly, although it would be great if that were achieved.

It was mentioned to me that the Amex had been chosen as a first test event due to the size of the concourses, which are somewhat more spacious than many, particularly older grounds. However, on Saturday, I still felt the ESL concourse was about as busy as I'd want it to be, and that was with what I assume was 25% capacity for the stand.

That's not to say people have to stop on the concourse when they enter a ground - they can pass straight through to the seats, although on a cold/wet wintry day, that has limited appeal, particularly if your seat is located where you'll be getting wet.

Then there's the transport, as you say. People reported that trains on the West Coast line were busy heading towards Brighton on Saturday, mainly with non-football attendees, but once you start ramping up football crowds on top of that, trains could reach what may be considered over-crowding in the current environment. That's not to say that this would be a blocker - I think authorities and clubs will work on the infrastructure they have direct control over.

Has anything been said about the discrepancy between the grounds in this country? Are we going to have an issue between clubs like us with modern stadia that can accommodate reduced capacities/social distancing etc more easily and those that will find it a lot harder with older grounds like maybe Burnley and Palace? If we're allowed fans in and they're not, I guess they could argue it makes the competition unfair.

Apologies if I've missed discussion about this.

 

[WilburySeagull]

So the feedback from the Chelsea game was positive, so we go back to behind closed doors rather than increasing the numbers able to attend to see how that goes.

At least there is a stream to watch

We were always just the 1st in a series of trials to test if it would be viable for all grounds to have some fans in on 1 Oct which again was always the target date. The club are not the deciders in this the govt will make the decisions.

 

[Nameless]

I'm hoping it'll be a little more than just the U23s given it's our final pre-season before the real thing starts. Feel horrendously under-prepared - the Chelsea game felt like a VERY early Pre-Season to me in terms of pace/intensity of the game etc - but I guess it's the same for every club.

Newcastle just got beat 5-1 by boro and have apparently demanded a rematch

Thought we looked okay against Chelsea, was a pre season friendly but the football got better as the game went on in terms of being under prepared we're probably about right.

 

[AZ Gull]

I agree. With us being short of striking numbers I would have him and Tolaj on the bench

I don't know if Tolaj is going to be available or not. An article on the Albion website last week suggests he has been called up to a Swiss U-21 training camp. However, the Swiss U-21s have a couple of UEFA U-21 Championship qualifiers and he hasn't been named in that squad. There isn't any info on the Swiss FA website about any other training camp for an U-20 or U-21 squad, so who knows?

 

[portslade seagull]

Can anybody step up and cover the striker shortfall, HWT , Sheebo ,Bladders get your boots polished

 

[Mellotron]

What a lot of people on here are missing is that up north they are still having problems with Covid-19. Brighton and London seem to be doing better at the moment.

People who think that a percentage of fans will be watching Premier League football by October are sadly deluded.

See you in the New Year..

You better tell Arsenal Football Club that they are also deluded

Plans are in place for a limited number of fans at the 3rd October game vs Sheffield United, based on current guidelines.

https://www.arsenal.com/news/202021-season-tickets-and-reduced-capacity-games

 

[crodonilson]

Should be a good watch

 

[Turkey]

So I'm guessing we'll start with something like?

Ryan; Alzate, White, Dunk, Webster, Burn; Gross, Bissouma, Lallana; Mac Allister, Maupay?

Obviously more than possible Bernardo, March, Stephens, Jahanbakhsh could start.Could potentially see Yapi, Roberts, Cochrance, Sanders and Cashman appear as subs?

 

[SimpKingpin]

I really want to see Alzate and Bissouma bossing central midfield together. Keep developing that partnership.

But sadly I just don't know who else we'd play at right back, or right wing back?

 

[GT49er]

I really want to see Alzate and Bissouma bossing central midfield together. Keep developing that partnership.

But sadly I just don't know who else we'd play at right back, or right wing back?

White and Webster have both played there. If we still want to play three at the back, Roberts could get a run out as one of the three - or bring in Burn, with March at LWB

And come to think of it, where's Yapi? - we could give him a go too, couldn't we?

 

[b.w.2.]

Behind closed doors, game will be streamed on Albion TV as per.



How controversial to "gender" the club like that...

Interesting that Gyokeres is part of first team squad (but not for this game)...

 

[GT49er]

Interesting that Gyokeres is part of first team squad (but not for this game)...

On international duty?

 

[b.w.2.]

On international duty?

Yes, I meant the bit about him being part of our 1st team squad... if so, only 1 striker incoming?

 

[The Large One]

Has anything been said about the discrepancy between the grounds in this country? Are we going to have an issue between clubs like us with modern stadia that can accommodate reduced capacities/social distancing etc more easily and those that will find it a lot harder with older grounds like maybe Burnley and Palace? If we're allowed fans in and they're not, I guess they could argue it makes the competition unfair.

Apologies if I've missed discussion about this.

In meetings between the FSA and the PL, yes it has. Brighton was (is) only one of three grounds who could have hosted that test event.

The PL is, in effect, throwing down the challenge to each and every club to come up with a percentage that will, in the first round of matches, be safe. Selhurst and Goodison are grounds that have been specifically earmarked as 'potential pinchpoints'. There may have been others.

It leads us to another argument - i.e. are the limits going to be set by percentage, or by safe numbers? For instance, 25% at the Amex is around 7,500 or so, while 25% at Old Trafford is about 18,000. Or... is it set at a nominal amount - say... 10,000?

It's just that it appears Brighton is ahead of the curve on this.