Are we losing a little grip on reality as BHA supporters?

[Gabbafella]

I do wonder whether it would be like divorcing that bird off dictionary corner in countdown (who's absolute intellectual class clunge) for a disastrously disheartening fling with Cheryl Cole. I mean....Cole looks tremendous. But the reality of actually arriving there would perhaps be a Stella disappointment after initial explosion of joy.

If you know what I mean

Then go for Rachel Riley, best of both worlds.

 

[trueblue]

They did in the old Div 1 back in the 80s. Ok some of it due to safety measures meaning a drop in capacity had to be made, but there was also a real drop in support for matchday.

It's a realistic concern I think but we're also in a very different climate for football generally. Any Premier League club can afford to bring in players from across Europe of a level that would have been unthinkable for a club like Albion back then, and the sport is so much more popular and fashionable across a far wider spectrum of support. Crowds should hold up pretty well I think - certainly around the level we get now pre-Christmas.

 

[Blackadder]

In answer to the OP it's only a minority of the supporter base that are habitual moaners the vast majority can see the direction the club is heading.
There is only one destination. 20,000+ season ticket holders have faith in the club.

Within a decade we will be an established Premier League club whether Tony is at the helm or funding/control from a yet unknown source.

This is true. Unfortunately they are the most vocal, repeating the same old mantra over and over again. They are usually devoid of new ideas and like starting numerous threads stating the same things over and over again... but you are right..They are in the minority.

 

[Stato]

Some Brighton fans are acting like spoiled kids who want the most expensive presents and I think that is great.

Thanks to the creativity, stubbornness and determination of our supporters who fought the longest sustained supporters battle in British football history and then the subsequent enthusiasm and generosity of Tony Bloom, we are now able to have the petty squabbles about transfers that everyone else has. We can act like football fans instead of political activists. It may not be edifying, but its wonderful that our constant bitching and complaining is all about whether or not we win matches and promotion and no longer about whether we will have a club next season.

You ask 'why can't we enjoy this?' We are enjoying this. Even the most ardent pessimist on here is having the time of his life pretending it matters whether Stephens or Kayal sign another contract or whether West Brom are going to come in for Dunk. This is what football fans do for fun during the transfer window. It may not seem fun, but it's far more fun than working out motorway routes to Gillingham, attending public enquiries, standing for election, or talking to Graham Kelly.

 

[Stat Brother]

I agree 100%, the self-righteous bleating on here is unbelievable, but the club does need to own it's part in all of this.

We didn't ask for 'all of this', as a set of fans most of us would have been happy with 4 roofs.
Nobody forced Tony to build what he has with the consequences of that outlay.
Yet the implication is we should be responsible for paying for it.

Don't promise what appears to be impossible to deliver.
Don't give us an enjoyable family bar if your going to take it away.
Griping about free tea and coffee may well.be pathetic but I doubt anyone asked for it.
Doing away with it for cost cutting reasons is somewhat churlish.
Rightly be proud of the interest free DD and travel but stop beating us up over it implying how grateful we should be.

The club is fantastic but it too needs to not lose sight of what we were in it's pursuit of what it wants us to become.

 

[sir albion]

Leaving the UK in June has given me an interesting perspective on the Albion who I have been following since the mid 80s as far as attending games is concerned.

I've had my fair share of loss of perspective moments over the years as well as running on the pitch at the goldstone and being a prick through to the games in the darkens days attending rallies and gigs (notably Chester away)

Safe to say it's a different club now. Thank god.

However reading many social media outlets and of course the gospel that is nsc. It's made me wonder whether we have started to sound like ungrateful children, a bunch of self entitled bellends who have lost a little sense of what the last 5 years have given us.

The club make mistakes. We make mistakes. All of us. But the journey we are being taken on at the moment is something that I could not have comprehended as real 10 years back.

I know I will be hosed down as being unambitious.

But it's actually more about the way we portray ourselves to the best club and the people that have taken us this far.

Moaning, criticising, expecting full updates from the club on transfers, demanding that we are provided with absolute clarity of up to date information so that we, the ignorant Ill-informed can then cast aspersions with no actual grounds for such accusations.

I know the club can make the odd faux pas. And as supporters we know full well the dangers of crooked owners.

But for the love of god can't we just enjoy this Whatever the outcome ? Life is brief for all of us. Think of what happened last August. How the club portrayed itself.

That's what I follow.

If faith and hope in Tony Bloom makes me a simpleton and a club apologist then that's what I am.

Enjoy the present. Otherwise life will be impossible to enjoy at all

These are just plastic fans mostly as no matter what division we're in is irrelevant to me and most to be fair.I hate the premiership personally and find it dire and that's down to the money factor naturally....saying that I 100% won't be going to any prem matches if we get promoted.

 

[Murray 17]

Stella disappointment or not

I wouldn't be disappointed with Stella, or any other Ruth Jones character [emoji5]

 

[brightonrock]

It's a realistic concern I think but we're also in a very different climate for football generally. Any Premier League club can afford to bring in players from across Europe of a level that would have been unthinkable for a club like Albion back then, and the sport is so much more popular and fashionable across a far wider spectrum of support. Crowds should hold up pretty well I think - certainly around the level we get now pre-Christmas.

Until we lost three on the bounce and the grumbles started...

 

[B.W.]

But Tony deseves a shot at the Prem. It would also repay his investment. Sets you up for life...if spent or saved wisely which we would.

And this is why the OP makes some good points, but comes across, ultimately, as lacking ambition...

 

[stevejoneslegend]

Hopefully you guys won't mind me dipping in on this thread... Having followed AFCB from the late 80s, through all the sh*t and also to all the sh*t, with a lot of sh*t days out, I can honestly say now, having started our second season in the PL, parts of me miss those sh*t days... At least they were real sh*t days instead of plastic sh*t days...

We've had a pretty meteoric rise through the leagues and no one really predicted, when we won promotion to the Championship, that in 2 season's time, we'd be partying at Charlton, having won the Championship title to the 'so-called' promised land.

For me, football will now never be better than the night we beat Bolton 2-0 to secure promotion to the PL... That was it, the pinnacle of supporting AFCB... Nothing (in reality) can eclipse that night. Even if we got relegated and prompted again, it still won't quite be the same...

Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed travelling all over last season and rubbing shoulders with the UK's elite teams... It took ages to sink in... However, the enthusiasm is already starting to rub off and I hate seeing games in the fixture list that you automatically discount as you know you're not gonna win, in fact it will be quite the opposite... There is no passion in the PL, as half the club's grounds are full of tourists... The whole thing is one big cash cow... Would I be too bothered, from a playing side, if we got relegated...? Not really...

As Frank Turner wrote "If you're all about the destination, take a f*cking flight...

The wanting to be, and the getting to the PL, is SO much better than the actual being in the PL...

Good luck tho, as you have everything set up for PL football and hopefully we won't cross over next May...

 

[LamieRobertson]

And this is why the OP makes some good points, but comes across, ultimately, as lacking ambition...

He actually says that he might be portrayed as unambitious but I think he says enough to counter that argument ..it's more like a enjoy the moment because you don't know what's round the corner

 

[WonderingSoton]

The issue is Brighton NEED promotion to the PL because we cannot keep losing upwards of 10m per season every season in the Championship. It simply isn't sustainable, Bloom or no Bloom. At some point the club needs to able to stand on it's own two feet without Bloom signing off a cheque, and the PL is the only way I can see us doing that. A few seasons in the PL being well run, and then the few years of parachute payments when we're likely relegated at some point as promoted clubs largely inevitably are, maybe working as a bit of a yo-yo club going forwards, would allow the club to stand on it's own feet for many years to come and not be propped up by Bloom.

Bloom has been utterly amazing to the club, utterly transformational and we will never ever forget that. But the club needs to be bigger than one man.

 

[AmexRuislip]

Leaving the UK in June has given me an interesting perspective on the Albion who I have been following since the mid 80s as far as attending games is concerned.

I've had my fair share of loss of perspective moments over the years as well as running on the pitch at the goldstone and being a prick through to the games in the darkens days attending rallies and gigs (notably Chester away)

Safe to say it's a different club now. Thank god.

However reading many social media outlets and of course the gospel that is nsc. It's made me wonder whether we have started to sound like ungrateful children, a bunch of self entitled bellends who have lost a little sense of what the last 5 years have given us.

The club make mistakes. We make mistakes. All of us. But the journey we are being taken on at the moment is something that I could not have comprehended as real 10 years back.

I know I will be hosed down as being unambitious.

But it's actually more about the way we portray ourselves to the best club and the people that have taken us this far.

Moaning, criticising, expecting full updates from the club on transfers, demanding that we are provided with absolute clarity of up to date information so that we, the ignorant Ill-informed can then cast aspersions with no actual grounds for such accusations.

I know the club can make the odd faux pas. And as supporters we know full well the dangers of crooked owners.

But for the love of god can't we just enjoy this Whatever the outcome ? Life is brief for all of us. Think of what happened last August. How the club portrayed itself.

That's what I follow.

If faith and hope in Tony Bloom makes me a simpleton and a club apologist then that's what I am.

Enjoy the present. Otherwise life will be impossible to enjoy at all

What a great read, after waking up this morning to another hard fought win.
I think the OP sums it all up in a nutshell.
Following the Albion is a real, part of your life emotion, as in if you lost an arm or a leg, you would definitely miss it.
Akin to a soap opera, many characters, whether good or bad.
I'd watch Albion if it were.

 

[Thunder Bolt]

Hopefully you guys won't mind me dipping in on this thread... Having followed AFCB from the late 80s, through all the sh*t and also to all the sh*t, with a lot of sh*t days out, I can honestly say now, having started our second season in the PL, parts of me miss those sh*t days... At least they were real sh*t days instead of plastic sh*t days...

We've had a pretty meteoric rise through the leagues and no one really predicted, when we won promotion to the Championship, that in 2 season's time, we'd be partying at Charlton, having won the Championship title to the 'so-called' promised land.

For me, football will now never be better than the night we beat Bolton 2-0 to secure promotion to the PL... That was it, the pinnacle of supporting AFCB... Nothing (in reality) can eclipse that night. Even if we got relegated and prompted again, it still won't quite be the same...

Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed travelling all over last season and rubbing shoulders with the UK's elite teams... It took ages to sink in... However, the enthusiasm is already starting to rub off and I hate seeing games in the fixture list that you automatically discount as you know you're not gonna win, in fact it will be quite the opposite... There is no passion in the PL, as half the club's grounds are full of tourists... The whole thing is one big cash cow... Would I be too bothered, from a playing side, if we got relegated...? Not really...

As Frank Turner wrote "If you're all about the destination, take a f*cking flight...

The wanting to be, and the getting to the PL, is SO much better than the actual being in the PL...

Good luck tho, as you have everything set up for PL football and hopefully we won't cross over next May...

This is the reality, but unfortunately, it has to be for the money. I've always said the journey is better than the destination.

 

[Bigtomfu]

This is a good thread and very true.

I just wonder IF we get to the prem and hold our own for 3-4 years, what will the expectations be then?

Satisfied with mid-table mediocrity? Having achieved 'the dream' would attendances drop?



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

They did in the old Div 1 back in the 80s. Ok some of it due to safety measures meaning a drop in capacity had to be made, but there was also a real drop in support for matchday.

That was also down to Mike Bailey's football....

Just wonder whether history will repeat itself


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I want to watch us in the Premier League before my dad pops his clogs because I never got the chance the first time around and I want to know that we deserve to be amongst the best in the land even if it's only for a season.

Do I think we've got what it takes to push on and cement our position there a la Stoke or maybe as Bolton did before? Who knows.

I would be equally happy being competitive at the top of the Champ and bottom of the PL as long as in any relegation years it's exciting and goes to the wire.

Can TB sustain his spending indefinitely to get us there? Probably not but as a fan with means he may well let his heart rule his head and keep doing so. I will salute him as long as he's willing to. I'd do the same if I had his wealth.

 

[amexer]

Just for excitement and experience would like a year or 2 in premier league. But above all I would be pleased for Tony Bloom. Hopefully wih money available and parachute payments we would be self sufficient. Other then that i feel entertainment value in championship is fantastic and good value. I paid £130 for 2 tickets at theatre Royal on Monday albeit to see 2 world renowned actors.

 

[kjgood]

For the little it matters I agree with the views within your post. The 'Club' or you could have said 'The business' has and will make mistakes, God knows the business I work for has made more than their fair share of mistakes over the past few years.

There are few other businesses where its customers have such a passionate interest in the product and think they have a right to know the fine detail of how the business is managed or funded and who's critcal staff fit into the prima donna category.

I for one am happy with what I have been served up over the past few years, of course it could be better and we all know it could be worse. Finally i'm still actually on the fence regarding being in the Premier League, there are arguments both for being in or staying out.

Leaving the UK in June has given me an interesting perspective on the Albion who I have been following since the mid 80s as far as attending games is concerned.

I've had my fair share of loss of perspective moments over the years as well as running on the pitch at the goldstone and being a prick through to the games in the darkens days attending rallies and gigs (notably Chester away)

Safe to say it's a different club now. Thank god.

However reading many social media outlets and of course the gospel that is nsc. It's made me wonder whether we have started to sound like ungrateful children, a bunch of self entitled bellends who have lost a little sense of what the last 5 years have given us.

The club make mistakes. We make mistakes. All of us. But the journey we are being taken on at the moment is something that I could not have comprehended as real 10 years back.

I know I will be hosed down as being unambitious.

But it's actually more about the way we portray ourselves to the best club and the people that have taken us this far.

Moaning, criticising, expecting full updates from the club on transfers, demanding that we are provided with absolute clarity of up to date information so that we, the ignorant Ill-informed can then cast aspersions with no actual grounds for such accusations.

I know the club can make the odd faux pas. And as supporters we know full well the dangers of crooked owners.

But for the love of god can't we just enjoy this Whatever the outcome ? Life is brief for all of us. Think of what happened last August. How the club portrayed itself.

That's what I follow.

If faith and hope in Tony Bloom makes me a simpleton and a club apologist then that's what I am.

Enjoy the present. Otherwise life will be impossible to enjoy at all

 

[dazzer6666]

For the little it matters I agree with the views within your post. The 'Club' or you could have said 'The business' has and will make mistakes, God knows the business I work for has made more than their fair share of mistakes over the past few years.

There are few other businesses where its customers have such a passionate interest in the product and think they have a right to know the fine detail of how the business is managed or funded and who's critcal staff fit into the prima donna category.

I for one am happy with what I have been served up over the past few years, of course it could be better and we all know it could be worse. Finally i'm still actually on the fence regarding being in the Premier League, there are arguments both for being in or staying out.

Agree with you. If and when we do go up, suspect the moaning will be much more than it is now. We'll get a far greater proportion of shoeings and dull games and all that leads to..............................the type of whinging we get about taking 8 points from 4 undefeated opening games will pale into insignificance...............but TB more than anyone deserves some return (not that I think for a minute that's his objective)

 

[RohanInceEnthusiast]

Yes and no. The reality then was totally different to how it is now. Whilst I agree with what you say about the club doing a cracking job with overcoming difficult times, it also must be kept in perspective that the reality NOW is that we're pushing for PL, especially after last season with us coming so close.

 

[JBizzle]

Great post. I love following the #bhafc feed on Twitter but I'm blocking about 3-5 people a day at the moment. It's just how silly people sound "When are we going to spend £15m on a striker?", "Why is Hughton not playing Goldson", "Who is this Skalak mug?" to name a few.