[Albion] Time to start looking at this league differently?

[Pavilionaire]

We have a better squad than last season and we're 10th with virtually nil contribution from record signings Ali J and Locadia.

We have some tough games coming up, chances are we'll drop three places but there' s still clear blue water between us and the bottom 7.

The objective has to be to finish in our highest ever top flight position, so 12th or higher. Finishing above Palace would be a boost for the fans too.

 

[studio150]

I am still firmly looking downwards until we are assured of being safe. At the moment we are 12 points (or 4 games) above the line, and I see Saturday against Burnley as an opportunity to move to 15 points (5 games) above at least 1 team in the bottom 3.

We are seeing the team evolve into a better unit than last season, but we need to be careful as we have had more injuries and suspensions than last season, although to balance we have greater depth in the squad (particularly to cover for Murray now).

But this isn't the time to get carried away with breaking into the Europa League next season. We will lose Ryan in January, and we don't know how this will affect the defensive unit for the period of games that he is unavailable for. We could fall backwards, so my focus is firmly on the 40 point target presently.

A couple or more between now and mid January and the bedwetters will be out in force

 

[Beach Hut]

My view is we are progressing and it seems the class of 2018 new signings are gelling well in the team.

We have a lot still to do though, very tough run of games coming up but we have a good goal difference and points on the board which quite a few others don't.

I see the Premier League as three separate leagues and currently we are doing well in the middle section however no room for any complacency as it has happened to many other clubs with a nasty surprise.

 

[dazzer6666]

Agree with the general sentiment and was thinking exactly the same earlier.....start looking up rather than down.....

....then, ahh, no, too early. We *could* have a run of 10 games without a win and plummet. I don't think we will though - we've got into a great position without actually playing that well mostly. The last couple of games have demonstrated improvement and progress and I think we'll get even better. A handful of big signings will be first choices soon.

10th would be good, and is doable.

Exciting times eh?


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[Sompting_Seagull]

Wonder what hotshot technical director Dan Ashworth will bring to the table next month?

 

[Greg Bobkin]

One game at a time for me, but things are looking hopeful for avoiding the relegation dog fight.

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[Stat Brother]

I'm with you [MENTION=457]sheebo[/MENTION].

I was getting a tiny bit titsy listening to the post match interviews.
Dunk must have referenced us being a 'small club' & 'trying to survive' about 5 times, and he was all but copying the manager.

On a level I get it, but it's hardly the most forward thinking of views.

At what point to we stop fighting for 4th from bottom?
When do we stop being scared of the promoted teams?

The entire clubs ethos is incremental gains, it would be nice to know the players and manager think they now belong at the top table, instead of being happy with the crumbs given to us by teams who are Isthmian league standard.

 

[Stat Brother]

Five of our next seven league opponents:

Chelsea
Arsenal
Everton
Liverpool
Man U

I'm not looking up yet, but I travel with a little more hope in my heart.

We've beaten 2 of those teams held our own with one and the outlier in those 5 is a home game.

 

[sydney]

we have an excellent manager and we have a fanatical , shrewd chairman.,.....we have one of the largest catchments in England for up coming talent , we have a state of the art stadium with a plethora of liquid and solid refreshment .............personally i have never thought of us as candidates for relegation , call it stubbornness , ignorance , one eyed attitude but i always , always have the attitude we can beat anyone on our day and with the way this squad is evolving it is a very exciting time to be following BHA fc.

 

[Bold Seagull]

I'm with you [MENTION=457]sheebo[/MENTION].

I was getting a tiny bit titsy listening to the post match interviews.
Dunk must have referenced us being a 'small club' & 'trying to survive' about 5 times, and he was all but copying the manager.

On a level I get it, but it's hardly the most forward thinking of views.

At what point to we stop fighting for 4th from bottom?
When do we stop being scared of the promoted teams?

The entire clubs ethos is incremental gains, it would be nice to know the players and manager think they now belong at the top table, instead of being happy with the crumbs given to us by teams who are Isthmian league standard.

Doesn’t take much to get you feeling a bit titsy though does it.

 

[Saunders]

I'm with you [MENTION=457]sheebo[/MENTION].

I was getting a tiny bit titsy listening to the post match interviews.
Dunk must have referenced us being a 'small club' & 'trying to survive' about 5 times, and he was all but copying the manager.

On a level I get it, but it's hardly the most forward thinking of views.

At what point to we stop fighting for 4th from bottom?
When do we stop being scared of the promoted teams?

The entire clubs ethos is incremental gains, it would be nice to know the players and manager think they now belong at the top table, instead of being happy with the crumbs given to us by teams who are Isthmian league standard.

Of course they dont believe that, its so you dont come across as Berty big bollocks until you get anointed that status by almighty Sky from being plucky little Brighton. Dont kid yourself they would absolutely crucify anyone who sticks their head out to be shot at in future games.

 

[The Optimist]

The objective has to be to finish in our highest ever top flight position, so 12th or higher. Finishing above Palace would be a boost for the fans too.

This would be a really nice achievement, the highest league finish in the club’s history.

 

[West Upper Seagull]

One of the things I’ve struggled with in this league is constantly looking at the relegation places and keeping teams in there. Is it time to start looking at where we can finish in this league? Wanting he likes of Wolves & Leicester to lose rather than obsessing with the bottom? We shouldn’t go down now so is it time to look up?

Thoughts...

I do both - look up and down ! But my first priority is to always look at the gap between us and the bottom 3 and then turn my attention to how far we can move up if we win the next game, but never look beyond the next game.

 

[Machiavelli]

I am still firmly looking downwards until we are assured of being safe. At the moment we are 12 points (or 4 games) above the line, and I see Saturday against Burnley as an opportunity to move to 15 points (5 games) above at least 1 team in the bottom 3.

We are seeing the team evolve into a better unit than last season, but we need to be careful as we have had more injuries and suspensions than last season, although to balance we have greater depth in the squad (particularly to cover for Murray now).

But this isn't the time to get carried away with breaking into the Europa League next season. We will lose Ryan in January, and we don't know how this will affect the defensive unit for the period of games that he is unavailable for. We could fall backwards, so my focus is firmly on the 40 point target presently.

A couple or more between now and mid January and the bedwetters will be out in force

I know you're being cautious, but if you really think that 40 is the survival total, go large with a spread betting firm, rather than sharing that view with us. There's a reason the spread bet firms have the survival points total where it is. I'd be surprised if 13 more points wouldn't see us safe. As someone else has said on this thread, we've still got most of the bottom half to play at home. It's not so much about looking up the table, but at least contemplating whether we could maintain our position and/or average points total.

 

[Marshy]

I would still take 4th from bottom now.

 

[Simster]

As a fan I am definitely looking up rather than down the table for now. I'll call it now - we are clearly far too good to go down this season. We've had only 1 or 2 truly disappointing results - Cardiff was entirely down to a sending off and Leicester was only a bad result because of the way the match unfolded.

Never forget that comparable clubs have had good seasons in the Premier League era. Leicester obviously, but also Burnley last year, then Fulham and Middlesbrough not so long ago reached European glory heights. Why not us?

Those next 8 games referred to above - if I was a player at this club under these circumstances, I'd be absolutely RELISHING them:

Burnley
CHELSEA
Bournemouth
ARSENAL
EVERTON
West Ham
LIVERPOOL

No fear. We will lose a few, but I actually wouldn't be surprised to see us do better than 8 points from that lot. We could lose all 8 and in all likelihood would still be well clear of the relegation zone.

 

[Harry Wilson's tackle]

Not yet.

Change is incremental, and must be sustainable. We are on a run of games playing teams outside the top six - and therefore teams we needn't be afraid of. However, as the game against Everton showed, we need to have our overall game raised a few notches before we can start dreaming of glory.

We're not in a false position at the moment - we are where we are. However, the feel good factor from the last couple of games shouldn't kid us that it can all too easily go wrong as well. Leicester, Cardiff and Everton are all living testaments to that.

We are clearly headed in the right direction, but for now, our target is improvement on last season, and ensuring that next season's target (improvement on this season's) is attainable and sustainable without bankrupting the club.

This.

If all goes our way over the weekend we could be sitting in 6th. However I will still check the table from the bottom up (and start losing interest after I've looked to see who is one or two points above us).

 

[Harry Wilson's tackle]

Wonder what hotshot technical director Dan Ashworth will bring to the table next month?

Tantric yoga

 

[Waynflete]

We will be alright Sheebo but I still like to see Cardiff, Huddersfield and Fulham slip up.
Next season we might be looking at the Everton and the Leicester’s......who knows.

I actually feel the opposite... we have enough points in the board that for this season I’m starting to hope we may finish solid mid table, maybe even top half.

But next season I’ll start again with the hope of finishing 17th. The moment we think we’re ‘established’ is the moment we risk going the way of Stoke, West Brom, Bolton et al.


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