By Tim Hodges
Tony Bloom, Sami Hyypia and not least David Burke have an important two weeks coming up to rebuild and extend Albion’s depleted first team squad.
A Liverpool reserve, a couple of free transfers and unknown Dutchman are not going to cut much ice with Seagulls fans, many of whom spend a small fortune attending matches at the Amex.
If the current trend of plenty of possession but no league goals or points continues, they may begin to vote with their feet.
Bill Shankly may have said that he never bothered looking at the league table until Easter but in the modern-day Championship, six or perhaps even nine points is a lot to make up at any stage of the season.
It’s built but they still won’t come …
A few years ago Withdean and training in a dog muck strewn local park were the reasons suggested why Albion failed to attract players of a certain calibre.
Now with the Amex and a state of the art training complex Albion still can’t seem to compete with rival clubs when it comes to recruitment.
What are the reasons for prospects like Adam Clayton and Stephen Ward choosing to go elsewhere?
Ok, Ward was offered a guaranteed season in the Premier League but Clayton preferred Middlesbrough to Brighton and Hove.
Surely the twin towns have a little more to offer.
But is that the key. Brighton (and Hove) is not seen as a football area. Brian Clough said: “People don’t go to Brighton to watch football!”
The flamboyance of the area may not be everyone’s cup of tea, especially a rugged Yorkshireman, and it’s certainly not a cheap place to live or that easy to school a child.
Glass ceiling
Depending on which forum you read, Albion’s wage limit ranges from anything from £10,000 to £25,000 a week, the lower amount still being a cool half a million a year.
That’s astonishing for a club who were begging its fans for 40 quid just 10 or so years ago.
So if Middlesbrough or Reading (as in the case of Wayne Bridge ) are prepared to offer £5,000 more a week and fly in the face of Financial Fair Play, the financial incentive, for what is a short career, is plain to see.
How relevant are FFP sanctions if you are 10 points clear at the top?
The Albion always appear to miss out on the players they have identified, even those who appear to enjoy previous loan spells with the club.
Whether this is due to unattractive wage offers or unsuitable contract terms, Bloom and the board must surely look to loosen the pursestrings and not react so much to FFP rules and guidelines going forward.
Or it may not be long before some smarty pants edit’ s the clubs new tag line to “One Club, League One Ambition”.
What has happened to our fabulous club? I have been a Brighton Supporter since Archie McCaulys day and cannot remember such a bad feelings with the supporters about our future prospects as this season. Why did we lose Orlandi and others, who definitely wanted to stay, but allowed to leave.
I cannot see any improvement even with the cash from recent selling of players like Leonardo and Will Buckley. A very disappointed supporter of our Club at present, as a top six position is now not even realistic, I fear for us this season.
What has happened to our fabulous club? I have been a Brighton Supporter since Archie McCaulys day and cannot remember such a bad feelings with the supporters about our future prospects as this season. Why did we lose Orlandi and others, who definitely wanted to stay, but allowed to leave.
I cannot see any improvement even with the cash from recent selling of players like Leonardo and Will Buckley. A very disappointed supporter of our Club at present, as a top six position is now not even realistic, I fear for us this season.
What has happened to our fabulous club? I have been a Brighton Supporter since Archie McCaulys day and cannot remember such a bad feelings with the supporters about our future prospects as this season. Why did we lose Orlandi and others, who definitely wanted to stay, but allowed to leave.
I cannot see any improvement even with the cash from recent selling of players like Leonardo and Will Buckley. A very disappointed supporter of our Club at present, as a top six position is now not even realistic, I fear for us this season.
Easy to make comments from a keyboard when you don’t know the full facts.
Let’s see what the next 2 weeks 2weeks brings. I would rather have a financially stable club than suffer the indignation again of what happened to the club in the past. Get behind the club and Tony Bloom and stop being negative please.
Easy to make comments from a keyboard when you don’t know the full facts.
Let’s see what the next 2 weeks 2weeks brings. I would rather have a financially stable club than suffer the indignation again of what happened to the club in the past. Get behind the club and Tony Bloom and stop being negative please.
Easy to make comments from a keyboard when you don’t know the full facts.
Let’s see what the next 2 weeks 2weeks brings. I would rather have a financially stable club than suffer the indignation again of what happened to the club in the past. Get behind the club and Tony Bloom and stop being negative please.
If we cannot gain promotion with the likes of Ulloa,Buckley,Bridcutt ,Barnes,Kusczak and others that were released what is the point in keeping them . We have been able to recoup a lot of the losses that were incurred and can now start again,I too have been a supporter for a long time nearly 50 years and this is the best time any true supporter has probably experienced . Ok so we got to the 1st Division and the F. A Cup Final but the club was not on such a strong footing as it is now, the game has now become a very big business and for us to be a successful part of it we need a management team that will make sure we operate within our means.
If we cannot gain promotion with the likes of Ulloa,Buckley,Bridcutt ,Barnes,Kusczak and others that were released what is the point in keeping them . We have been able to recoup a lot of the losses that were incurred and can now start again,I too have been a supporter for a long time nearly 50 years and this is the best time any true supporter has probably experienced . Ok so we got to the 1st Division and the F. A Cup Final but the club was not on such a strong footing as it is now, the game has now become a very big business and for us to be a successful part of it we need a management team that will make sure we operate within our means.
If we cannot gain promotion with the likes of Ulloa,Buckley,Bridcutt ,Barnes,Kusczak and others that were released what is the point in keeping them . We have been able to recoup a lot of the losses that were incurred and can now start again,I too have been a supporter for a long time nearly 50 years and this is the best time any true supporter has probably experienced . Ok so we got to the 1st Division and the F. A Cup Final but the club was not on such a strong footing as it is now, the game has now become a very big business and for us to be a successful part of it we need a management team that will make sure we operate within our means.