What Steve Claridge said. This time I tend to agree.

[trueblue]

Disagree entirely. We were ravaged by injury problems in the first half of the season, Gus didn't exactly leave us in a great position, we had several loanees/new players and Oscar was trying to implement a different style of play to Gus's. Added to the fact we've only had one goalscorer in what feels like 2 months it's a minor miracle we are where we are imo.

I'm in this camp. Oscar's done a fantastic job so far and I see no reason to think Gus would have done any better given the injuries and resources available,

 

[happypig]

Do what they should or not do what is expected?

Do what they said they would at the outset, ie apply the rules. (and no, I'm not full of confidence either

 

[fly high]

Yes, off pitch situation.

And that didn't have an impact on the field as well! Wayne Bridge may have been outside our budget for wages but no chance of him staying without a manager. Plus new manager bedding in.

 

[LamieRobertson]

''Missing out on the play-offs would be an under-achievement''.

But we must realise apart from Ulloa we are toothless in attack.

Yes CMS and Hoskins injuries are unfortunate , but we need a Lee Steele / Gary Hart player desperate to do well, not a and untried loanee going through the motions, hoping his parent club might read good reviews.

Albion have no given right to do well or get promoted , but we are appear to be progessing side ways a little or maybe moving backwards , but certainly not forwards.

I don't like be negative and the standard of foorball was great yeaterday, but how come the 7 clubs above us have significantly lower attendances than us, yet are clear of us.

We have 46 points that is by no means a satisfactory haul.

We seem to take three or four steps forward (Birmingham Leeds Doncaster) but then suffer setbacks like yesterday.

How long can the club sustain making multi million signings and not acheiveing the goal that is the Premier League?

And Augustien? This crazy a palyer who could set Ulloa away time after time, a player who can beat a defender, frozen out.

We have all made some sort of sacrifice for Albion to be where they are now however small, getting to the Prem is a sooner rather than later necessity , rather than becoming an Ipswich or a Middlesbrough.

Make hay while the sunshine's, sign a decent,expirienced, striker on loan. Just like other clubs do.

WRONG QUOTE ..nicely adapted to suit your argument...he said ''is that an under achievement''....and he didn't know what the perception of the club was and went on to us having to cut our cloth accordingly due to losses....outs a different slant on the way you have taken what he said and in fact misquoted.

i find Claridge interesting....but recently he has been acting like a jilted lover over Brighton...and found a new one in Burnley ..he certainly doesn't appear that keen to give any credit to Garcia

 

[chaileyjem]

Exactly no further forward.

Really ? Finishing 4th or 5th again

 

[Diego Napier]

I don't like be negative and the standard of foorball was great yeaterday, but how come the 7 clubs above us have significantly lower attendances than us, yet are clear of us.

What on earth does crowd attendance have to do with league position?

 

[chaileyjem]

His "underachievement" was a rhetorical question. I think he hinted yes but admitted he didn't know how the club would perceive it. that said Tony Bloom has always said we are "aiming" for play offs. Here's Bloom's quote from October...

[tweet]395286922408378368[/tweet]

Here's Claridge's full quote >>

Its difficult to sum it up, he’s got a wonderful squad, they have lost 1 or 2 important players. But when you take over a football club, normally its under the circumstances when the previous manager hasn’t done very well and has had to move on. But Gus got the club to the play offs. So if that isn’t attained by Brighton this season then is that a underachievement ? I don’t know what the perceptions will be. I know the club will have to tighten their cloth because of the amount of money they’ve lost this season. I think he’s done ok, but there’s room for improvement.

 

[PILTDOWN MAN]

Claridge also said we will have to cut our cloth due to the losses. This does show that the "big" way we announce our financial status gets somewhat a distorted opinion. Now knowing Claridge is not exactly the sharpest tool in the box he may have taken time to look at other clubs results. We are in a far better position than most chasing promotion yet their losses are never questioned.

OT all I kept hearing yesterday was how poor Forest are having to deal with a crippling injury list, bless them. They have more strikers than we have first teamers.

 

[LamieRobertson]

His "underachievement" was a rhetorical question. I think he hinted yes but admitted he didn't know how the club would perceive it. that said Tony Bloom has always said we are "aiming" for play offs. Here's Bloom's quote from October...

[tweet]395286922408378368[/tweet]

Here's Claridge's full quote >>

exactly he actually said IS IT AN UNDER ACHIEVEMENT ..as per the op's it will be one..outs a different slant on things when the actual comment is read

 

[Sarisbury Seagull]

Bearing in mind what happened in the summer, the understandable lack of money spent on signings with our debt and our incredible bad luck with injuries, I think Oscar has OVER achieved.

 

[Codner's Wallop]

Reverting back to the thread's original theme; it's clear to me Claridge enjoys putting the boot into Albion. The Football League Show is an embarrassment. It's very poorly researched (if at all) and comprises two inept, bumbling fools (poorly) analysing a highlights reel. It's way past its sell-by date and the same could be said for Claridge who has proved time and again he hasn't the application or insight to be a pundit. Probably the worst of a crap bunch currently nosing the BBC trough....

 

[smeg]

''Missing out on the play-offs would be an under-achievement''.

But we must realise apart from Ulloa we are toothless in attack.

Yes CMS and Hoskins injuries are unfortunate , but we need a Lee Steele / Gary Hart player desperate to do well, not a and untried loanee going through the motions, hoping his parent club might read good reviews.

Albion have no given right to do well or get promoted , but we are appear to be progessing side ways a little or maybe moving backwards , but certainly not forwards.

I don't like be negative and the standard of foorball was great yeaterday, but how come the 7 clubs above us have significantly lower attendances than us, yet are clear of us.

We have 46 points that is by no means a satisfactory haul.

We seem to take three or four steps forward (Birmingham Leeds Doncaster) but then suffer setbacks like yesterday.

How long can the club sustain making multi million signings and not acheiveing the goal that is the Premier League?

And Augustien? This crazy a palyer who could set Ulloa away time after time, a player who can beat a defender, frozen out.

We have all made some sort of sacrifice for Albion to be where they are now however small, getting to the Prem is a sooner rather than later necessity , rather than becoming an Ipswich or a Middlesbrough.

Make hay while the sunshine's, sign a decent,expirienced, striker on loan. Just like other clubs do.

What do you mean about becoming another Boro or Ipswich, we haven't been top flight since 1983 and both of these clubs have

 

[Henfield One]

I don't think we have had a truly prolific striker at the club since Murray left and before that in the days of Knight and Zamora. When it comes to identifying and buying strikers that are exceptional, we do appear to be lacking compared to many other clubs. I'm not sure why this is but it is bloody frustrating. Time after time we create chances but fail to put the ball in the net. We are never likely to get promoted to the Premiership unless the club sort out and adequately invest in our forward line.

Spot on - I have lost count on how many times we have left after matches at The Amex, feeling 'if only', it's so frustrating. Heaps of possession. but final ball so desperately poor. And if we were by some miracle get to the Premiership, unless we find a decent striking partnership we will be as good as relegated by January.

It's been like that since Murray left -ie the majority of our Amex matches. Yet we flatter to deceive in being in the top 10 of the Championship. Defensively & midfield, we're good (albeit we are missing Crofty).

Lose Kuszczak or Upson at the end of the season of course, then that's a further problem.

So if we want to get to the Premiership, invest now in a decent up front partnership. Goals means crowds, and if FFP is a problem - look again at the running costs and salaries/wages in particular.

Added to which, yesterday's Bennett's Field parking edict makes the 1901 renewals very interesting.

Win tomorrow night and finances will be in a better shape - but who can/will score?

 

[surlyseagull]

I think we are trying to. Not impressed Doug, he runs around a lot. But so does my 4 year old. He runs out of ideas quickly and looks a little disinterested, again like my 4 year old.

Give the guy a chance ,yes he does run around,but disinterested ,cant see that .He has only been here five mins for goodness sake .I do think Agustein should be given a fair chance though.

 

[trueblue]

And if we were by some miracle get to the Premiership, unless we find a decent striking partnership we will be as good as relegated by January.

/QUOTE]

We're clearly light of another good striker but drawing conclusions about what would happen in the Premier League from that is hardly worthwhile. Even if we push the boat out to bring new strikers in, there's very little chance they would be the forwards we would rely on in the top flight. The calibre of player required to be the mainstay of a Premier League front line is only really available once the club has the TV money from going up.

 

[surlyseagull]

Spot on - I have lost count on how many times we have left after matches at The Amex, feeling 'if only', it's so frustrating. Heaps of possession. but final ball so desperately poor. And if we were by some miracle get to the Premiership, (unless we find a decent striking partnership we will be as good as relegated by January).

It's been like that since Murray left -ie the majority of our Amex matches. Yet we flatter to deceive in being in the top 10 of the Championship. Defensively & midfield, we're good (albeit we are missing Crofty).

Lose Kuszczak or Upson at the end of the season of course, then that's a further problem.

So if we want to get to the Premiership, invest now in a decent up front partnership. Goals means crowds, and if FFP is a problem -( look again at the running costs and salaries/wages in particular.)

Added to which, yesterday's Bennett's Field parking edict makes the 1901 renewals very interesting.

Win tomorrow night and finances will be in a better shape - but who can/will score?

Bit of contradiction in term really Henfield .To find two strikers would be a lot of money and decent money on wages ,so to then say cut the wages ..We are certainly missing Crofts though ,a lot more than people realise ,he was an integral part of the team who chipped in with some decent goals .

 

[Easy 10]

"I know the club will have to tighten their cloth because of the amount of money they’ve lost this season"

Thanks Steve. Better than cutting our cloth or tightening our belts I guess.

 

[BensGrandad]

I am not saying it is wrong but why do we appear to be one of a very few clubs sticking to FFP. T here have been many strikers go on loan and we couldnt or wouldnt compete for their signature. Conway scored for Blackburn to out them up level with us on points.

 

[We're the Stripes]

Claridge also said we will have to cut our cloth due to the losses. This does show that the "big" way we announce our financial status gets somewhat a distorted opinion. Now knowing Claridge is not exactly the sharpest tool in the box he may have taken time to look at other clubs results. We are in a far better position than most chasing promotion yet their losses are never questioned.

Going slightly off-tangent here, but have any of the other Championship clubs announced their losses yet? Had a quick Google search earlier but couldn't find anything (aside from us and Yeovil).

As for the original question, there is nothing to agree with Claridge on really, as he's simply posed a fairly simplistic question based on us finishing last season very strongly under a very settled regime. Anyone expecting us to walk into a play-off spot again this season probably hasn't given much thought to the numerous things we've been up against from the moment Oscar arrived.

 

[chaileyjem]

I am not saying it is wrong but why do we appear to be one of a very few clubs sticking to FFP. T here have been many strikers go on loan and we couldnt or wouldnt compete for their signature. Conway scored for Blackburn to out them up level with us on points.

"sticking to FPP" ? - well to some degree yes. but the playing budget went up 46% for 2012/13 and has gone up again this season. (5-10% reportedly). Oscar and Gus both have had reasonable budgets to play with. Also we didn't think Lewis Grabban's wage matched our valuation. Should we not have done that ?