The Premier League. A negative twinge.

[Acker79]

**Miserable git alert**

So as we prepare for a big game on Sunday we will be scrapping for 3 points to help get us to the promised land of 17th place at the end of the season. If we manage to get there, after patting ourselves on the back, we will then start looking out for next seasons fixtures so we can start scrapping for survival points all over again.

Repeat this until we get finally relegated.

Fun? I'm not sure.

Sounds quite positive to me. You think there's a chance we're going to survive at least one season.

Me? I see us look like a team that doesn't have the strikers to go for goals so can't attack, and haven't shown an ability to keep out a full premier league side for 90 minutes suggesting defending isn't going to be the answer either, and am resigned to going down. Not that going down to the championship is a terrible thing.

I'm not in the 'don't care about the premier league, any way/would rather beat burton albion than lose to man city' group, simply the championship is a decent division, with a mix of teams, and there's always the chance to come back up (especially with the added finance). As someone else mentioned, it's not like the club will cease to exist when we get relegated from the premier league.

 

[Icy Gull]

You've lost me..

It's the idea of us scoring lots of goals at this level that made me smile. We are totally incable of enticing the players who can do that at this level. We had 4 months and didn't manage it. It will be harder in January. Just staying up will be a miracle, you can forget lots of goals imo.

 

[janee]

Having followed the Albion since 1973 and seriously as a grown up from 1982, I have felt a bit meh this season and also "my job is done here". For the first time, I am contemplating moving abroad ( having returned from the States in 1991 because I couldn't cope without the Albion).

I feel bereft. Anyone else?

Ps. I have attended all games so far

 

[rocker959]

For a club like yours the steps should surely be;

1. Promotion
2. Survival
3. Consolidation
4. Establish
5. Aim towards the limit of your capability

Any step may take a few years, you could skip a step, or you may need a couple of goes to achieve any one of them.

This season survival is the key, the money the tv deal brings will dramatically change the finances of your club, and the caliber of players you can attract will change to match that. A few seasons in the top flight under the right management (from boardroom to boot-room) and Brighton won't be a plucky little club patronised by the pundits and underestimated by the opposition, but a fixture of the league.

Look at Southampton, they came up after years in the lower leagues, stayed up and now a season flirting with relegation is unlikely. They'll be able to compete in the cups if they take them seriously and are fortunate with fixtures.

Hell the last time we went down and returned we fluked a 5th placed finish, a combination of poor management from the owner and a poor manager screwed us, but had we been better run we could have strengthened from a position of power and consolidated as a top half team.

The top of the Premier League isn't a closed shop as proven by Spurs. Sure they benefit from being financially secure and being a fashionable club, but with the right manager at the helm and sound purchases and they have (in my life time) moved from a quintessential midtable club, into one of the best teams in the country, playing some of the best football.

Also, I don't know how wealthy your owners are, but being in the top flight will have sickening rich people casting admiring glances your way. The kind of wealth that will allow you to grow exponentially. You also benefit from being close to London, which is a huge thing for a club these days as players will be more likely to sign for you than Burnley, say.

It may be years of midtable mediocrity, but as long as you don't treat the top flight as either a lovely adventure (like Blackpool/Hull) or the limit of your ambition (like Sunderland/West Brom/Stoke) it's ****ing brilliant.

Well said .

 

[Megazone]

And there was me thinking Leicester won the Prem only last year.

 

[BadFish]

Someone suggested to me a while back that Albion might follow the Watford/Burnley model, of going up and down a couple of times, staying well-managed, and using parachute payments to strengthen the squad, such that eventually you find yourself in the Prem with a squad easily good enough for mid-table, and potentially capable of pushing on.
I didn't pay much attention to it at the time, am starting to think there might be something in it.

I think this is the most sustainable model, if you add into this producing our own players then long term things are looking bright.

I hope at some point though we put out all into winning a cup of two, otherwise it means very little.

 

[LlcoolJ]

Middlesbrough 7th, Hull 17th and Sunderland 21st

Boro are 3 points off the top and the other two are clubs in a total mess so your point is?

What I said was that we will be in a FAR stronger position than if we hadn't been in the PL at all. This is a fact as we would have had the massive windfall this season plus the hugely increased parachute payments. How could this not be a better position than never having had any PL cash and having to be bankrolled by Tony and shackled by FFP?

 

[Dolph Ins]

Absolutely understandable. For me, my love of the Albion, and excitement about all things Albion, reached a thrilling crescendo towards the end of last season that I massively doubt will ever be reached again. I just can't see how it realistically will be.

I currently have no interest in going to away games this year to watch us at best struggle and at worst get seriously outplayed.

HOWEVER, I am massively looking forward to every game at The Amex. I simply love the place and every match we start there with a realistic chance of it being a good match for us. When the big boys come to town that has its own appeal and challenge - against the rest then there is the excitement of knowing that we have to get something from the game.

ALBION! ALBION!

This post is quoted in the i fan matrix today. No I can't embed a physical paper

 

[Weststander]

It's the idea of us scoring lots of goals at this level that made me smile. We are totally incable of enticing the players who can do that at this level. We had 4 months and didn't manage it. It will be harder in January. Just staying up will be a miracle, you can forget lots of goals imo.

Ta.

I meant if we manage to stay up, from season 2 onwards. In answer to the discussion that half the clubs in the PL seem to spend much of the time fearing relegation, looking over their collective shoulders and enduring losing runs. I'd say only Stains and Leicester have spent / got to the level where their fans can relax on that front, making the PL experience far more enjoyable. (In addition to the mega spending 7).

 

[Weststander]

Boro are 3 points off the top and the other two are clubs in a total mess so your point is?

What I said was that we will be in a FAR stronger position than if we hadn't been in the PL at all. This is a fact as we would have had the massive windfall this season plus the hugely increased parachute payments. How could this not be a better position than never having had any PL cash and having to be bankrolled by Tony and shackled by FFP?

But just one of ten or twelve clubs who think they can do it and have the money to spend big to get promoted.

Plus players such as Dunk, Gross, Duffy, Stephens and Knockaert won't, justifiably, want to play in the Championship in their prime. As Paul Barbour said on BT TV "Staying in the PL is everything". Immediate relegation would be colossal financial and squad hammer blow to the club.

 

[Guinness Boy]

From a fan's point of view I'd happily go back to the Championship tomorrow. More games, better chance of winning, better chance of away tickets, fans and players more together. big fish in small pond etc etc. More mid week and Saturday 3pm kick offs too. The only bit of our "incredible journey" I've enjoyed so far is the 90 minutes against West Brom.

But that won't be how TB sees it. We're finally players in a global brand with a chance to actually make some money rather than pile in 8 million a month or whatever it was in the Championship. It's not how CH sees it either, he's earned his right to have a crack at the Premier League. Nor will it be how the team see it either. Players like Knockaert and Dunk have earned their crack at the big time and still have the potential to be regulars at this level. As a player you always want to be playing at the highest level you can.

That said I don't see our model as being simply scrapping to stay up. Paul Hayward said at an Albion Roar live event that if Leicester can win the league then so can we. That has been made much harder by the influx of Middle Eastern money and the strengthening back up of teams like Chelsea and Man City (and United look very decent this season too) but we realistically have to look to strengthen in every window and eventually push for European football. Bournemouth finished 9th last season. I think this is why everyone at the club was disappointed by striker-gate - we've just made that much harder for ourselves.

 

[Bold Seagull]

It's the idea of us scoring lots of goals at this level that made me smile. We are totally incable of enticing the players who can do that at this level. We had 4 months and didn't manage it. It will be harder in January. Just staying up will be a miracle, you can forget lots of goals imo.

I could just never be this negative. I have to go to football with a bit of positivity, no matter how misplaced that might be. How do you motivate yourself to get to the ground?

 

[Icy Gull]

I could just never be this negative. I have to go to football with a bit of positivity, no matter how misplaced that might be. How do you motivate yourself to get to the ground?

After Gillingham and all the shit that went around then? I expect nothing this season and go in the hope that we will win. I get behind the team at the game and going to the Albion is always a day out regardless of how we do, winning is just a bonus. The last two years have been real highspots. I just wish CH was not so negative now, although I understand why he is. At the risk of incurring the wrath of NSC I'd much rather we took the Bournemouth attitude of scoring more than conceding. I guess you actually need strikers to play like that and CH has been badly let down by the recruitment team on the striker front so I guess he doesn't have options. Doesn't mean I have to enjoy how we play now and neither does it mean I'll just give up either

 

[LlcoolJ]

But just one of ten or twelve clubs who think they can do it and have the money to spend big to get promoted.

Plus players such as Dunk, Gross, Duffy, Stephens and Knockaert won't, justifiably, want to play in the Championship in their prime. As Paul Barbour said on BT TV "Staying in the PL is everything". Immediate relegation would be colossal financial and squad hammer blow to the club.

Am I speaking Chinese or something? Of course it's better to stay up! But it's worse not to go up at all than to go up and then get relegated. I'm not sure which bit of that is so difficult for people to grasp.

Additionally, we've already proved that we have the right setup to be challenging for promotion year after year. With the huge additional income and the stability of the club, why would anyone think that would change should we be in the Championship next season?

If we HADN'T gone up last season then that would have been a major worry as I said in my original post.

 

[Bold Seagull]

After Gillingham and all the shit that went around then? I expect nothing this season and go in the hope that we will win. I get behind the team at the game and going to the Albion is always a day out regardless of how we do, winning is just a bonus. The last two years have been real highspots. I just wish CH was not so negative now, although I understand why he is. At the risk of incurring the wrath of NSC I'd much rather we took the Bournemouth attitude of scoring more than conceding. I guess you actually need strikers to play like that and CH has been badly let down by the recruitment team on the striker front so I guess he doesn't have options. Doesn't mean I have to enjoy how we play now and neither does it mean I'll just give up either

Sorry, I'm not questioning your commitment or getting behind the team, I didn't mean that, I just meant a generally outlook of doom, when actually after the first 2 games, the next 3 should have given us a bit of an optimistic boost. As for the Bournemouth attitude to scoring, they bought in Gray and Defoe and they've scored less than us so far...

I'm not also sure about blaming the recruitment team either. They have a wage structure and budget set by TB which they have to work within. There are then moving parts outside their control. It was a real let down not to get a striker, but not sure I can lay the blame at any one particular place. We could probably have landed someone last minute had TB been willing to smash his whole wage structure that he will feel has produced the great team spirit we have in the first place.

 

[Icy Gull]

Sorry, I'm not questioning your commitment or getting behind the team, I didn't mean that, I just meant a generally outlook of doom, when actually after the first 2 games, the next 3 should have given us a bit of an optimistic boost. As for the Bournemouth attitude to scoring, they bought in Gray and Defoe and they've scored less than us so far...

I'm not also sure about blaming the recruitment team either. They have a wage structure and budget set by TB which they have to work within. There are then moving parts outside their control. It was a real let down not to get a striker, but not sure I can lay the blame at any one particular place. We could probably have landed someone last minute had TB been willing to smash his whole wage structure that he will feel has produced the great team spirit we have in the first place.

Fair enough but watching your team play with 11 men behind the ball after the euphoria of watching us play over the last couple of seasons is not enjoyable for me. It's my problem, there is no reason we should be setting this division alight, so maybe I should just try and stop banging on about it and just live with it. I totally get why we play that way.

 

[Simster]

Nah, Leicester won the League, Southampton, West Ham, Hull, Swansea, Wigan, Stoke, Fulham, Middlesborough, Birmingham, Bolton - all made European Competition. Cups to be won. What's to get negative about?

I agree with the OP AND with this. I won't mind the annual scrap for staying up as long as we have a go at the cup competitions. Ultimately in 50 years time it is all about the club honours, nobody will care about all of Arsenal's 4th place finishes, but the cup trophy wins will mean more in the future than they do now. Plus of course, that is also a ticket into Europe, something we've never managed before.

So if we give cups a go, I'm all for staying in this division. If we don't, where else is the fun in this division?

 

[Whoislloydy]

Leicester