[Albion] Would a 17th placed finish in the Premier League next year constitute success?

[Postman Pat]

Would you regard this season as a success?

If we stay up......

We've done the double over our closest rivals and got to the semi-final of the FA cup and had a day out at Wembley.

I would say that is a successful season.

If we go down - then no it isn't.

The football since Xmas has been pretty dire, but the first half of the season was much better and more in the vein of the second half against Newcastle.

First season up we improved our starting XI, this season we have improved the overall squad. I suspect this summer will see us again try to improve the XI that start most games, with a new striker, more creativity in midfield and more pace on the wings.

 

[LlcoolJ]

Our transfer spend is much higher than 19th. We’ve spent more than Palace, Newcastle, Burnley, Huddersfield, Southampton and Cardiff.

As El Pres has pointed out, this is not true. You have to understand amortisation rather than what is "spent" on fees in one year to get a fair reflection of transfer spending.

If City spent £350m one year but £20m the next would you consider their transfer spending more or less than us spending £70m in both years?

That's why fees are written off over the term of the contract by amortisation in the accounts.

By that measure and by wages, we are punching above our weight.

 

[Icy Gull]

As El Pres has pointed out, this is not true. You have to understand amortisation rather than what is "spent" on fees in one year to get a fair reflection of transfer spending.

If City spent £350m one year but £20m the next would you consider their transfer spending more or less than us spending £70m in both years?

That's why fees are written off over the term of the contract by amortisation in the accounts.

By that measure and by wages, we are punching above our weight.

You ****ing accountants

 

[LlcoolJ]

You ****ing accountants

You know you love this stuff. Embrace your inner accountancy geek.

 

[LlcoolJ]

I know some people think the problem is Chris Hughton but that is playing the blame game because people want simple answers.

Last season we had the 19th lowest wage bill and 19th lowest transfer fee amortisation cost. This year I suspect we may sneak up to 18th and be above Cardiff and Huddersfield (Wolves and Fulham have spent money with vastly differing consequences), and I don't think the football played by either of those clubs has been entertaining either.

There's a fair chance we may stay up on goal difference, and in the eyes of Tony Bloom, Paul Barber and Chris Hughton that will vindicate the cautious playing style as it has stopped us conceding as many goals as Cardiff and will be worth £100 million next season if we are still in the Premier League.

View attachment 108480

As an aside, Man United's spending in comparison to how BANG average they are is nothing short of hilarious. Well done Jose (and Pob Woodward).

 

[Braggfan]

I understand people have been frustrated this season but I also think our expectations of what constitutes success needs to be lowered. At the start of this season there were fans suggesting on here saying that we needed to be aiming for Europe. I realise this was probably a minority, but that’s just crazy. It’s going to be a few more seasons yet before we can think of anything beyond a relegation battle. That’s not being negative just realistic.

Progression in the premier league isn’t achieved overnight. Throughout the season the gap between 7th and the relegation zone is never that big. The difference between the teams that pull away and those that drop into the relegation battle is consistency. So if consistency is the goal, then surely our best way of achieving that is playing to our strengths, which is our defensive nature.

Hughton will be dammed if we do dammed if we don’t. If he plays attacking, we lose and get relegated he’ll get the boot. If he plays to our strengths, plays defensively and keeps us up but the football is unattractive, people will be calling for him to get the boot. The only way he can win is to play attacking football, and drive us up the table, which is completely unrealistic. Guardiola wouldn’t be able to achieve that given the limitations a club of our size have in trying to compete.

If we want to progress and establish ourselves, we have to acknowledge that it’s done step by step, and is a gradual process. We will continue fighting for survival for quite a while and every time we achieve it we’ll get stronger. Those who are frustrated might just have to bite the bullet and accept that fighting a relegation battle in the premier league is better than when we were doing it in league 1 & 2. We can progress and we can establish ourselves, but only if we get behind Hughton and the team.

 

[Thunder Bolt]

When did Brighton fans become so entitled?

 

[Icy Gull]

You know you love this stuff. Embrace your inner accountancy geek.

Hmm, if it wasn’t for calculators my career would have been shelf stacking

 

[Icy Gull]

When did Brighton fans become so entitled?

Is it entitled to want to be entertained? In that case, guilty as charged

 

[Gritt23]

All depends on what we spend, as to whether we could expect better. If we spend like the teams in the next group up from us, then we could expect to be competing with them. But spend in terms of transfers and salaries, like a bottom 5 team, and we' do well to be at the top of that bracket, and finishing 16th or 17th.

As at the close of the August transfer window, we ranked joint 17th in terms of highest transfer fee paid in our history, and we are 17th. Not saying it correlates exactly, but I bet it's a similar result in terms of wager bill.

 

[Barham's tash]

When did Brighton fans become so entitled?

I’ve been continually embarrassed by the opinions of some fans who I certainly felt didn’t fall into this category until this season when they’ve taken leave of their senses and suddenly turned into idiots overnight.

Is it entitled to want to be entertained? In that case, guilty as charged

I too want to be entertained but there comes a time when you/one must recognise(s) the greater good is serviced by necessity and if that means dull as **** football to preserve Prem status then so be it.

Do I want to watch it every game? No
Have we? No, realistically only since the turn of the year when circumstances and injuries dictated it.


Judge CH/TB based on another season of Prem recruitment and a fully fit squad before bemoaning things but ultimately vote with your feet if you can’t stomach this sort of situation at times as a team punching above our weight.

 

[Perkino]

I understand people have been frustrated this season but I also think our expectations of what constitutes success needs to be lowered. At the start of this season there were fans suggesting on here saying that we needed to be aiming for Europe. I realise this was probably a minority, but that’s just crazy. It’s going to be a few more seasons yet before we can think of anything beyond a relegation battle. That’s not being negative just realistic.

Progression in the premier league isn’t achieved overnight. Throughout the season the gap between 7th and the relegation zone is never that big. The difference between the teams that pull away and those that drop into the relegation battle is consistency. So if consistency is the goal, then surely our best way of achieving that is playing to our strengths, which is our defensive nature.

Hughton will be dammed if we do dammed if we don’t. If he plays attacking, we lose and get relegated he’ll get the boot. If he plays to our strengths, plays defensively and keeps us up but the football is unattractive, people will be calling for him to get the boot. The only way he can win is to play attacking football, and drive us up the table, which is completely unrealistic. Guardiola wouldn’t be able to achieve that given the limitations a club of our size have in trying to compete.

If we want to progress and establish ourselves, we have to acknowledge that it’s done step by step, and is a gradual process. We will continue fighting for survival for quite a while and every time we achieve it we’ll get stronger. Those who are frustrated might just have to bite the bullet and accept that fighting a relegation battle in the premier league is better than when we were doing it in league 1 & 2. We can progress and we can establish ourselves, but only if we get behind Hughton and the team.

You don't really get the idea of NSC. There's no room for well reasoned comments like this!

 

[RexCathedra]

Throughout the season the gap between 7th and the relegation zone is never that big.

Absolutely.

Prediction. Former champions Leicester (8th, 51 points) will go down before we do.... (For clubs 7-17 every year It's coin-toss odds any given club going down, so I'm not exactly making a bold prediction.)

 

[Uh_huh_him]

Is it entitled to want to be entertained? In that case, guilty as charged

Our chairman's vision is for the club to become financially self-sufficient.
Entertaining football in the Premier League comes at a cost. That cost is either increased risk of relegation or increased wage bill.
Both endanger his vision for the club.

It's his call which way we go.
So yes, in a way, demanding he changes his vision for the club is a little bit entitled.

 

[Icy Gull]

Our chairman's vision is for the club to become financially self-sufficient.
Entertaining football in the Premier League comes at a cost. That cost is either increased risk of relegation or increased wage bill.
Both endanger his vision for the club.

It's his call which way we go.
So yes, in a way, demanding he changes his vision for the club is a little bit entitled.

I doff my hat to any fan who goes next season happily accepting us being the dullest team in the football league for the second season running.

I’ll go, but most of the enjoyment will certainly be sucked out of me if we approach games like we have in the last three months.

Not my money so I see the logic but I’ll be yearning for Championship football again if last season goes on like this one is finishing.

Constantly being the whipping boys who don’t entertain will certainly take it’s toll on season ticket renewals next season imo.

 

[A1X]

Hang on we haven't finished this one...and yet you've already whistled through the next one....i'm going to start a thread for season 2024/2025 then...second thoughts I'll get on with the hoovering

It's Saturday 26th April, the 36th game of the Premier League season. Brighton need just one point to secure safety for an 8th consecutive season in a game against already relegated Sunderland. 41 year old Glenn Murray is hoping to break his 19 game scoring duck as the lone striker.

 

[Icy Gull]

Our chairman's vision is for the club to become financially self-sufficient.
Entertaining football in the Premier League comes at a cost. That cost is either increased risk of relegation or increased wage bill.
Both endanger his vision for the club.

It's his call which way we go.
So yes, in a way, demanding he changes his vision for the club is a little bit entitled.

Didn’t Madjeski have the same vision for Reading?

 

[Uh_huh_him]

I doff my hat to any fan who goes next season happily accepting us being the dullest team in the football league for the second season running.

There are many different reasons why people go to watch us. Some don't expect entertaining football as a starting point for their support. Whilst others look at the cost and rightly expect a level of entertainment for the money spent.

Personally I felt I got a better financial deal in the championship, but I understand that Tony was subsidising that.

 

[Uh_huh_him]

Didn’t Madjeski have the same vision for Reading?

Sure. What's your point?
We need a chairman with a more entertaining vision?

 

[Icy Gull]

There are many different reasons why people go to watch us. Some don't expect entertaining football as a starting point for their support. Whilst others look at the cost and rightly expect a level of entertainment for the money spent.

Personally I felt I got a better financial deal in the championship, but I understand that Tony was subsidising that.

Fair enough, the finances don’t really come into it for me, I have always gone hoping for some entertainment but accepting I may not get it every week. Now I don’t expect to be entertained at all but confess my dissatisfaction with the way the team is set up, at home, has ramped up big time since The Saints game.

I’m sure a great performance against City will see me change my possibly fickle attitude again ( and no I don’t expect us to win, just compete and if we lose by a margin, so what, it no longer matters)