[Albion] The Mike Bailey Principle

[BensGrandad]

But just think of watching a match for entertainment.

When we had Vicente for example i would have paid double the money.

I know a lot of premier fans will put up with negative football just for the win. I would agree with it if I was a player but as a spectator I like entertainment, even if it does mean we yo yo.

It's worth the gamble IMO.

Isnt 80% of the entertainment value down to getting a result.

 

[Deleted member 2719]

Isnt 80% of the entertainment value down to getting a result.

Maybe for some but we had some entertaining matches over the years getting draws, i remember coming out thinking, ok we got a draw but we had peppered their goal.
Of course results are important but how many wins can you get away with that are just hard to watch.
I wouldn't want us getting the old Arsenal tag of 'boring, boring Brighton.' just because we want to hang in there for the big time.

Fortunately for the club many fans seem to put up with it nowadays.

 

[drew]

The top flight now is a very different animal to that of the early 80s. No live matches and a lack of money in the game meant that gate receipts were vital, consequently relegation wasn't the be all and end it is now.

In addition, there is no expectation that we will trouble the top 6 places and a top ten finish is dreamland territory. The Prem is huge, it's global, the world is watching so it's all about staying up, the 6-pointers are cup finals and taking the scalp of one of the big boys is the icing on the cake.

Exactly, no live matches back then and still the gates plummeted!

 

[PILTDOWN MAN]

Great thread. Currently I believe we have so much more to give and perhaps a little tinkering to do but the game has moved on from the old days.

The oldens these days are checking there heart as much as watching the game. As my mum used to say when in a tense situation “ I’m not going to grow any taller “

 

[Cheshire Cat]

We are not good enough, and can' afford it.

 

[GT49er]

There is a similarity between the Mike Bailey days and now - in both cases we were surviving in a tough division with some bigger and better teams, and were getting some success through wonderfully organised defending. Not pretty - and, tbh, our last three 'one-nil-to-the-Albion's haven't been exactly entertaining, apart from the three points (altough I suppose the traditional hanging on for dear life for the last twenty minutes is exciting in its horrid way!). The difference now is that we have a Chairman and a large number of fans who remember the mistake we made in getting rid of Bailey to get a 'name' in - and won't jump into doing it again. We've learned better.

And OK, I'll 'fess up. I was never calling for Bailey to go, but I was quite pleased and excited when Melia was brought in. Sorry......................

 

[chaileyjem]

This.

Goldstone crowds dimished steadily post 79 promotion. The feelgood factor of countless home wins 1976 to 1979, with up to 33,500, was never the same with the First Division giving an awful lot of losses against simply better teams.

Crowds were high in div 3/2 but few 30+ turn outs and there was a blip back up in that first season in div 1 and yes decline after that.

From 76 - 83
Average per season
15, 20, 25, 22, 24, 19, 18, 14 (thousand)

Via : http://european-football-statistics.co.uk/attnclub/league/bha.htm

 

[Kalimantan Gull]

But just think of watching a match for entertainment.

When we had Vicente for example i would have paid double the money.

I know a lot of premier fans will put up with negative football just for the win. I would agree with it if I was a player but as a spectator I like entertainment, even if it does mean we yo yo.

It's worth the gamble IMO.

I really really want to see Brighton playing entertaining football in the premier league. But to do that we have to get through this first 2 or 3 seasons and then build from that base.

Walk before you can run, otherwise you'll fall over and have to get back up again from the championship, and we'll have to do the first two-three years of struggling all over again. I don't think its worth the gamble when patience is whats required. I believe we're building something fantastic at Brighton, I don't want to yo yo

 

[chaileyjem]

Exactly, no live matches back then and still the gates plummeted!

They were plummeting everywhere. In 81/82 we had a average of 18k but still the thirteenth biggest crowd in country.
Last season 30,400 - the 14th biggest crowd...

 

[dangull]

They were plummeting everywhere. In 81/82 we had a average of 18k but still the thirteenth biggest crowd in country.
Last season 30,400 - the 14th biggest crowd...

If the Amex was a bit bigger, we may have been a bit higher.

 

[Weststander]

If the Amex was a bit bigger, we may have been a bit higher.

I'll never forgive Derek Chapman for not making it 45,000, with much longer train platforms at Falmer. But that's another thread.

 

[Dave the OAP]

I seem to remember there was a rush for people going to see the stiffs too

 

[Not Andy Naylor]

I'll never forgive Derek Chapman for not making it 45,000, with much longer train platforms at Falmer. But that's another thread.

I don't think it was up to him!

 

[Perry Milkins]

There is a similarity between the Mike Bailey days and now - in both cases we were surviving in a tough division with some bigger and better teams, and were getting some success through wonderfully organised defending. Not pretty - and, tbh, our last three 'one-nil-to-the-Albion's haven't been exactly entertaining, apart from the three points (altough I suppose the traditional hanging on for dear life for the last twenty minutes is exciting in its horrid way!). The difference now is that we have a Chairman and a large number of fans who remember the mistake we made in getting rid of Bailey to get a 'name' in - and won't jump into doing it again. We've learned better.

And OK, I'll 'fess up. I was never calling for Bailey to go, but I was quite pleased and excited when Melia was brought in. Sorry......................

Wasn't Melia on the staff anyway, perhaps as a scout?

I will admit to being bitterly disappointed. Also cringed at his publicity stunts during the cup run and when he was booted out. Didn't he appear in the North Stand versus massive?

 

[drew]

Haven't read the whole thread so apologies if it has been mentioned. On another thread someone blamed the sacking of Bailey as the reason the club almost went into terminal decline which seems odd bearing in mind, now I might be wrong here, that it was the club that gave players ludicrous 10 year contracts that were not sustainable. Having to support those contracts on the back of falling attendances no doubt contributed to the demise of Bailey. However, was it not the case that the problem was not sacking Bailey but in a cheap appointment of someone who had no worthwhile managerial experience and, as it seemed, was just a puppet for the senior members of the team?

 

[Perry Milkins]

Haven't read the whole thread so apologies if it has been mentioned. On another thread someone blamed the sacking of Bailey as the reason the club almost went into terminal decline which seems odd bearing in mind, now I might be wrong here, that it was the club that gave players ludicrous 10 year contracts that were not sustainable. Having to support those contracts on the back of falling attendances no doubt contributed to the demise of Bailey. However, was it not the case that the problem was not sacking Bailey but in a cheap appointment of someone who had no worthwhile managerial experience and, as it seemed, was just a puppet for the senior members of the team?

Harsh but seems very fair. That was the talk in the town at the time.

 

[chaileyjem]

Blimey - 3 games of winning 1-0 in a row and we've turned into Arsenal and Mike Bailey.
Only a few weeks ago our defence had gone awry and we were generously giving teams 2-0 leads and throwing caution to the wind getting back into the game.
Presumably when we play Man United again we'll be peak Albion, all imperious and scoring half a dozen. Well probably.

or perhaps its all a bit early to judge...

 

[GT49er]

Wasn't Melia on the staff anyway, perhaps as a scout?

I will admit to being bitterly disappointed. Also cringed at his publicity stunts during the cup run and when he was booted out. Didn't he appear in the North Stand versus massive?

You may be right - I don't know; I was living in Scotland at the time and my only sources of information on the Albion were newspapers (Scottish editions!) and the radio, plus the occasional visit to the Goldstone when I came south to visit my parents in Sussex - no internet back then, either!
From afar, and with minimal information, I was delighted that a 'name' like the great Liverpool player Jimmy Melia was coming to manage little ole' Brighton to greater heights (and Cup Finals!) And yes, I felt the same way when that other former Liverpool great, Sami Hyypia, arrived.......

 

[Leekbrookgull]

Where did the Jimmy Melia appointment actually arise from,as his track record was all most non extant at the time?

 

[GT49er]

Where did the Jimmy Melia appointment actually arise from,as his track record was all most non extant at the time?

Same ethos as the Mullery appointment, wasn't it? - recently retired big name successful player from a big successful club.