Which club in this division.......

[Dick Knights Mumm]

At the end of the day we can all argue ourselves silly over who has the biggest club, but to me it is the team who finishes highest in the league.

I thought we were having a sensible discussion. I am out of here.

 

[Peter Grummit]

Okay I misread you. But the way I think is you only have potential if you have a good squad, start to get results, have your books in order and get good attendances.
At the end of the day we can all argue ourselves silly over who has the biggest club, but to me it is the team who finishes highest in the league.

We have more in agreement than not!

League position is key, I agree. Debates about 'big club' are ultimately just willy waving. But gate size is relevant to finances and to atmosphere and therefore the whole matchday experience as Barber would call it (the craic to us fans).

Realised I've got 2 double-entendres into a debate with a Palace fan, I claim my prize!

PG

 

[Triggaaar]

I'd have to put some of you lot up there on the basis how many think 1.5 seasons of decent crowds makes Brighton 'bigger' (whatever that means) than Leeds, Sheffield Wed etc etc

Brighton fans don't think that.

 

[Beastie]

As a Wednesday fan I'm quite saddened by this TBH...seeing us as so many fans idea of deluded

Not that I disagree with you, exactly the opposite.

I think you're right, MOST of our fans are deluded, especially those thinking we have a divine right to be in the top tier. It does my head in...even moreso when they base those delusions on crowd size and history and all sorts of rubbish...

But not all of us think like that and some of us KNOW we are where we are for a reason and being totally honest with you I can wait for us to get to the Premier League and if it never happens it won't bother me in the slightest.
I know I'm in a huge minority in feeling this but the Premier League is everything that's wrong with football IMO and since we dropped from that level I've felt closer to MY club, more a part of it and that's the same for my kids...we have more interaction with the club now than we ever did or would in the Premier League.

I know a lot of fans, ours especially, don't like where we've been but to me it's been fantastic and whilst I have no wish to go back any time soon, I've loved our exploits in League 1...the clubs and grounds we've been to in League 1 are exactly what I love about football and the togetherness you build on a journey like that is incredible...but as I say, it's not for everyone.

I love the Championship though, I was pleased to get back here and it's the best league in Europe IMHO...keep your top league footy, I'm happy here...or anywhere below if it has to happen.

 

[EDS]

It does not tend to work like that. How many clubs go up - get the money and piss it up against the wall, returning back down to Administration with no investment in infrastructure ?

I thought we were having a sensible discussion. I am out of here.

I thought we were as well

 

[Hamilton]

I'm not sure why everyone is picking Wednesday on this thread. Probably because we have just played them.

I'd have thought it would be Blackburn or Bolton because of their fall from grace. Most of the rest of us are just pleased to be here, know how hard it is to get here, or know how hard it is to stay here.

That said, having spoken to some of the Bolton fans they seemed quite resigned to the slog it was going to take to get back up.

It's a hard call, but I'd say - Leicester. I think they've had a few years of investment and genuinely think they should be going up. I can understand where that has come from too.

Is it us? I hope and believe not, but if the poll said yes then it should mark as a wake up call.

 

[EDS]

We have more in agreement than not!

League position is key, I agree. Debates about 'big club' are ultimately just willy waving. But gate size is relevant to finances and to atmosphere and therefore the whole matchday experience as Barber would call it (the craic to us fans).

Realised I've got 2 double-entendres into a debate with a Palace fan, I claim my prize!

PG

I thought it was 3 double entendres

The way I see it is, if we get a new stadium we will have higher attendances, if we get promoted then our gates will shoot up. So as I see it, as and to be honest what I care about is league position. Yes it would be nice to have 40k+ crowds but I could live with 20-25K if we were in the premier league.

 

[Grombleton]

I'd say we were definitely up here. Obviously it isn't a massive amount of people but many seem to think that we should be walking the league and thumping everyone 5-0 each time. Fortunately, there are the people that realise that this is still a work in progress and appreciate that's an incredible time for us, regardless of how results go.

If we end up in the championship for another year or two then fine- i'd rather we make continued progress than go up and do a Derby.

 

[DarrenFreemansPerm]

I'd rank us up amongst the worst

 

[Dick Knights Mumm]

I thought we were as well

How could you take offence ? Am I wrong ?

 

[chucky1973]

That doesnt make 95% of people on here deluded

It was just an unexpected result, on paper we should have beaten them but we didnt - doesnt make you deluded.

why?

 

[Beastie]

Perhaps fans are their own worst critics?

It might be that because we all mingle with our fans more often and we see the attitudes up close and personal week in, week out we see more of it in our own.
Be interesting to see if other clubs thought along the same lines, I suspect they do...

As much as fans of some other clubs wind me up, without a doubt none wind me up more than our own and again I suspect most fans see the same thing amongst their own...

 

[Kinky Gerbil]

You do have to go some to Beat certain Brighton fans, then again thats the same with most clubs.

 

[Beastie]

Those of you who think your own club Brighton are amongst the worst, do think this has changed significantly since you got the new ground or was it there before?

 

[Acker79]

why?

[in response to "on paper we should have beaten them "]

Over 29 games, they were 20th best in the dvsion, while we were 7th.
Their goal difference was -11, ours was +10
We were undefeated this calender year, they'd only won 2 this year.
Our away record was W5, D6, L3 thei home form is W4, D2, L8

We have recent premier league and champions league experience in Upson and Bridge in our defence, we have slightlymore distant/minimal prem/champ league experience with Kuszczak We have lopez with europa, la liga and champions league experience.
On our bench we had La Liga, Champions League, and Europa experience in Bruno and Vicente,

While they have kirland, Gardner, Prutton, Pugh, Prutton, and Lita with prem experience, it that is minimal and/or distant past.


To say that on paper we should have beaten them isn't a particularly controversial statement.

 

[Turkey]

We're right up there that's for sure.

 

[HawkTheSeagull]

why?

Because our team looked stronger than theirs, but their tactics were better than ours and we made a lot of mistakes - so they won.

Those of you who think your own club Brighton are amongst the worst, do think this has changed significantly since you got the new ground or was it there before?

For me, its got worse since the Amex, what with a fair few new fans and those who think because we have a great new stadium, we should be in the top flight.

That said the Amex is ready for top-flight football though.......well when they get the pies right of course.

 

[Acker79]

Those of you who think your own club Brighton are amongst the worst, do think this has changed significantly since you got the new ground or was it there before?

Some people, the type that like to put themselves above other fans (you know the type - "I've been to more games" "I have more replica shirts" "I supported us on rainy tuesday nights in crap grounds") like to project the more negative aspects of our fanbase on to those who have started to attend more games now we have the amex. I don't believe it is that simple. I think a portion of our fan base has had those delusions, but tempered them with our circumstances, (instead of "we should be in the premier league" more a "When we get a new ground we'll return to our deserved spot in the premier league").

I think by simple statistics, when you have such an increase in crowds, you will get increases in the groups within the crowd. If, say, 20% of our crowd was deluded that's only abut 1,200 of an average withdean crowd. It would now be closer to 6,000. So, perhaps it is louder, and appears worse now, I think proportionately it is the same.

Our increased crowds aren't all new fans. Some of them are long term fans who, for one reason or another didn't/couldn't go to Withdean, and I imagine the are the same proportion of deluded/reasonable.

While the newer fans who are used to following top premier league clubs I imagine isn't so demanding of instant success as some of our longer term fans paint them as. In fact, I'd go the other way and say just as many are indifferent to losses because their affiliation to the club is less passionate simply due to its new nature, so I don't think there's a skew of new fans being more deluded, proportionately, than long term ones.


I suppose in conclusion, to put it simply by number of people deluded, yeah it's worse, by proportion of fan base, no, I think it's the same.

 

[Durlston]

Leeds fans have realised now that they're not entitled to be in the Premier League. In fact, most of them preferred or prefer going to places like Exeter City, Gillingham, Oldham Athletic, Portsmouth, Bristol City etc where locals support their team rather than being ripped off in the Premier League in soulless grounds.

Would have to say Sheffield Wednesday. They'll get used to having no divine right to being back in the top division.

 

[albionite]

Those of you who think your own club Brighton are amongst the worst, do think this has changed significantly since you got the new ground or was it there before?

Since new ground but we did have signs of it in our last season at withdean when we won the league, but that was mainly argueing with saints fans and wednesday fans ( not sure what we have got against each other and where it has come from, seems daft)