Andy Naylor can at best be described as dividing opinion in relation to the Albion. His support of Stoke City, despite being Brighton born and bred and having no connection with the Potteries, is odd. His reporting is structured and objective, never passionate, about the club and its supporters.
I was pretty hacked off that last week he even claimed that when we were promoted in 1979 we won 3-0 at Newcastle, when anyone who was around at the time and supported the club knew it was 3-1.
To me that shows his lack of emotional investment in the club, it's just a job to him, and if we are honest, for most of us, what we do for a living is the same, just a job.
I've been looking at the Evening Gazette (Boro paper) over the past week, and it comes across that the paper and its journalists appear to be fans, such is the enthusiasm with which they write their articles.
I then made the mistake of reading their player ratings for their 11 men against 10 in which their team drew 1-1 at home, which are as follows:
Ramirez was given a 10/10 rating, and I'm totally nonplussed with the narrative too. It's the type of stuff I would expect from an eight year old. How many goals did he score? None. How many goals did he make? None. Normally a 10/10 is given for an outstanding performance seen once or twice in a season, rather than for someone who wears shinpads the size of a set of Panini cards, who didn't last the 90 minutes, and who looked decent, but not a world beater.
Then start reading some of the articles (actually don't, it will start the steam coming out of your ears). There's an article by former Premier League Jeff Winter saying that Mike Dean got the decision right. The article doesn't mention that Winter is a Boro fan, and that might compromise his viewpoint.
Another article refers to Boro being in the Premier League 'where they rightfully belong'. Nothing to back up the comment.
Lots of gushing about chairman Steve Gibson, but the fact that he has used Boro's losses to reduce the tax bills of some of his other companies, and therefore effectively have Boro being subsidised by the taxpayer (and satisfying FFP rules) is ignored.
I genuinely hope that Boro have a good season in the PL. On the positive its good that they are owned by a local lad, and given the recent economic issues in the nearby vicinity it's a place that needs a lift.
It's bollocks like this that makes me start to wonder if Naylor's dispassionate analysis of the Albion is perhaps a better method. A cold viewpoint lacking passion or a one eyed blog style Boro can do no wrong reporting, what is the best?
Personally the best reporting of matches IMO comes from [MENTION=29900]Exile[/MENTION] on NSC. Someone (and it's not one of my many disguises, honest) who is incisive, witty, clearly a fan but also prepared to give the club and players stick whenever appropriate (which, to be fair, has been very rare this season).
I was pretty hacked off that last week he even claimed that when we were promoted in 1979 we won 3-0 at Newcastle, when anyone who was around at the time and supported the club knew it was 3-1.
To me that shows his lack of emotional investment in the club, it's just a job to him, and if we are honest, for most of us, what we do for a living is the same, just a job.
I've been looking at the Evening Gazette (Boro paper) over the past week, and it comes across that the paper and its journalists appear to be fans, such is the enthusiasm with which they write their articles.
I then made the mistake of reading their player ratings for their 11 men against 10 in which their team drew 1-1 at home, which are as follows:
Ramirez was given a 10/10 rating, and I'm totally nonplussed with the narrative too. It's the type of stuff I would expect from an eight year old. How many goals did he score? None. How many goals did he make? None. Normally a 10/10 is given for an outstanding performance seen once or twice in a season, rather than for someone who wears shinpads the size of a set of Panini cards, who didn't last the 90 minutes, and who looked decent, but not a world beater.
Then start reading some of the articles (actually don't, it will start the steam coming out of your ears). There's an article by former Premier League Jeff Winter saying that Mike Dean got the decision right. The article doesn't mention that Winter is a Boro fan, and that might compromise his viewpoint.
Another article refers to Boro being in the Premier League 'where they rightfully belong'. Nothing to back up the comment.
Lots of gushing about chairman Steve Gibson, but the fact that he has used Boro's losses to reduce the tax bills of some of his other companies, and therefore effectively have Boro being subsidised by the taxpayer (and satisfying FFP rules) is ignored.
I genuinely hope that Boro have a good season in the PL. On the positive its good that they are owned by a local lad, and given the recent economic issues in the nearby vicinity it's a place that needs a lift.
It's bollocks like this that makes me start to wonder if Naylor's dispassionate analysis of the Albion is perhaps a better method. A cold viewpoint lacking passion or a one eyed blog style Boro can do no wrong reporting, what is the best?
Personally the best reporting of matches IMO comes from [MENTION=29900]Exile[/MENTION] on NSC. Someone (and it's not one of my many disguises, honest) who is incisive, witty, clearly a fan but also prepared to give the club and players stick whenever appropriate (which, to be fair, has been very rare this season).
