[Albion] When we were promoted, would you have taken three seasons in the Premier League?

[pb21]

I will happily smile through any insults but definitively NO , and without just playing the Tony card , i am playing the TONY BLOOM card . The man is one of life`s winners ( thank heavens ) and i would find it hard to believe he would accept defeat after all the hard work he and everybody else had put in with pure blood sweat tears and hard graft .

Every single thing this club has , began with good people not willing to lie down , TB is the "Keystone" that makes sure that never changes .

I understand what you are saying and to a large extent I agree with you.

Also think that given Bloom's vision and planning that a stay of three seasons, or less, was probably considered the most likley way things would pan out, or at least a very realistic possibility, before bouncing back.

Credit to Hughton, as much as Bloom IMO, for that not happening IMO.

 

[Mellotron]

Probably. Definitely 5.

And as ridiculous as this might sound - as well as we are doing, there's still a not insignificant part of me that misses the Championship.

 

[brighton_tom]

Yes! So many clubs go up and come straight back down. Or go up and forever find themselves just about avoiding relegation. So it felt likely our situation would be similar, and there's only so long you can be a relegation candidate and not face the drop. So to be where we now, and still improving, is amazing.

 

[Dick Knights Mumm]

Yes. Of course. I mean I hoped for more. But Blimey. Of course.

 

[Brovion]

No. We managed four years last time (before the invention of football obviously) and that for me was the benchmark, I'd have been disappointed with less. Obviously relegation from the PL is not the worst thing in the world, but there's no guarantee we'd ever get back. Certainly at that promotion party on the seafront if someone had said "You'll have two or three years of struggle and then that's it", I would have been hugely disappointed.

 

[ozzygull]

At the time we got promoted I hoped we would stay up at least one season and cause one big upset. But the longer we have stayed up and progressed, I would now be really upset now if we went down. Not in an angry, wanting people to be sacked or wanting TB to be replaced way, just that it would mean all the great progress the club has made over the last few years would be lost.

I could never of dreamed that we would be where we are now at the time.

 

[jackanada]

Just getting to the PL felt like the end of a very long journey. Everything after is a bonus, like getting unexpectedly upgraded to the honeymoon suite.
After our first ever PL game Vs city I was sure we'd stay up and they'd be champions. Second season I was amazed Cardiff didn't overhaul us.
I think the club was being smart in the way it hedged it's bets though, having two of the best centre backs in the championship on our books as well as a smattering of spare midfielders and the odd forward who may do well at that level. It meant if we did go down we were well equipped to ride out the inevitable departures.

 

[WATFORD zero]

When I first walked up the steps of the Amex v Donny and looked around, I genuinely thought that we could be a top end championship club with occasional forays into the Premier. I'm still pleased with anything more than that

Thank God Tone's a bit more ambitious

 

[oldboyroy]

Oh without a doubt. Just getting there was fantastic. Now however, I'll be disappointed if we don't qualify for Europe! Saying this optimistically of course as I think we're capable of doing this with the current squad and current manager playing the way we currently are

 

[el punal]

I made a point of going to as many away games as possible in that first season for the simple reason that that it could have been our one and only term in the PL. In total I managed fourteen trips and apart from the Swansea game I never saw the Albion win a game!

 

[bluenitsuj]

Of course not. It would be just as silly as those that would take a point every week when 3 are up for grabs.

 

[tronnogull]

I fully expected us to be a yo yo club getting relegated and re- promoted a couple of times. But eventually, due to the TB factor, getting a decent run in the Prem. I think that if it had not been for Cardiff then this could have been the way it turned out. As it is, we have a very good shot at becoming pretty well established. This is completely down to the club's superb management keeping us on an upward spiral. However, you only need look at some of the clubs who have gone down in recent seasons and Southampton, Leicester, Everton this season to know that unless you have owners with bottomless cash and egos then remaining established is very tough.

 

[Wardy's twin]

Yes because I was worried that we would only get one year even though one year would have been a great achievement looking upwards from 2016.....

We stayed up because we had a brilliant defensive pairing with Dunk and Duffy meaning we conceded a lot less than those around us and made up our lack of goals. The AMEX was much more of a fortress then.

Dunk was best player that season and that's why I would always put him above Lawreson in the debates about who is Albions greatest player.

 

[Bold Seagull]

The premier league was not the same place as the Bolton, Stoke, Portsmouth, Swansea etc. stays up there in 2017. The top 4 had firmly become a top 6, top 7 even. Increasingly sides promoted who hadn't previously been there were ejected out. It's not uncommon now for 2 or even all 3 of the promoted teams to be straight back down. Looks like Forest and Bournemouth may well be the candidates this season.

As of this season, only 9 clubs have a spell of longer than 10 seasons. 9 clubs have only been there 6 seasons or less, and 6 of them have only been there 3 seasons or less. It's brutal.

 

[Harry Wilson's tackle]

The premier league was not the same place as the Bolton, Stoke, Portsmouth, Swansea etc. stays up there in 2017. The top 4 had firmly become a top 6, top 7 even. Increasingly sides promoted who hadn't previously been there were ejected out. It's not uncommon now for 2 or even all 3 of the promoted teams to be straight back down. Looks like Forest and Bournemouth may well be the candidates this season.

As of this season, only 9 clubs have a spell of longer than 10 seasons. 9 clubs have only been there 6 seasons or less, and 6 of them have only been there 3 seasons or less. It's brutal.

It's better now, though. Better stadia. Better behaved supporters. Less shitehousery on the pitch. I think that going from a top 2 (and Liverpool were a top 1 when I was at university) to a top 7 makes it more interesting in general, albeit tougher for Brighton to win the league. However, we never came close to winning the league in the past, because we were shite. So.....perspective.

And it is easy for some to say they would never have settled for two or three seasons in the top flight, 1979-83 being the benchmark....God yes I wanted us to surpass the 4 years, but on the day we played City, before KO, I really expected us to bomb.

So where we are now is like dying and going to Heaven (even more so in my case, given that I'm an atheist).

Still....I respect those who will never cease whinging for perfetion. It's part of the human spirit and what sets us apart from the likes of my cat. The lazy feckless bastard.

 

[Jeremiah]

When we were chasing promotion to the Prem I said I didn't care if we went up and were immediately relegated ,as long as we got there.
Then when we went up and struggled I said I didn't care if we went down in our second season as long as we stayed up in our first season.
Now I am moaning that we let a late goal in at Everton when we were 4-0 up and in the top eight !!! - never happy. Football fans

 

[dazzer6666]

Definitely. Thought we’d yo-yo for a few years before eventually maybe making a decent fist of being more of a lower-table fixture in the PL once the club learned how to operate. Bloom and Barber have meticulously planned our evolution far better than almost anyone hoped/expected.

 

[CaptainDaveUK]

I’d have to say no, but then I’m the eternal optimist. Bloom’s vision for some time has been that we are an established top ten team. The long term planing and vision for our club has been a joy to see. Remember when PB declared we were now Premier League ready? If we continue as we are we could be enjoying top flight football for a generation. UTA.

 

[drew]

Have to say no because if you know what's coming then the journey isn't as great. What's the point of going if you know the outcomes beforehand?

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

Presuming the alternative is to take-a-punt-and-see-how-long I’d go for this…..I think. Took me a while to decide