Most would see this as a season of change Where top six and promotion were out of range And generally speaking that´s what it has been With genuine high spots few and far between And although since New Year we´ve been hard to beat That won´t get you that far, if wins don´t repeat Goal-shy we´ve been too, which can´t help the cause When hoping to conjure up regular scores Only a goal a game, on average, shows Just where we are weakest, when blows come to blows Especially since keeping possession all day Does seem a key feature of the Germans´ play Whether or not this year will lead to more Is hard to know, but we´ll need more through the door While hanging on grimly to those who´ll be sought Like Maddison, whose patience may just run short But if, as expected, we fail in our task It will only make next year a bigger ask And so on and so on, as seasons go by When regular parachuting payments die And although water under bridges has passed Chris Hughton´s success continues to last Which gladdens me much, but saddens me some As we may have misssed out on what was to come Nothing I´ve seen of the new structure, yet Suggests it will be a better PL bet Than the years of old, when a manager ruled But it wouldn´t be the first time we´ve been fooled.
Patience needed sir, as I said on another thread, the improvement to our defence is plain to see and was very much needed. The improvement up front is a work in progress, when Leitner and Hernandez are up to speed who knows how good they can be
Patience has never been a problem for me Dave, but I just wonder how much of it players like Maddison will continue to have, when ( as they will) the big boys come calling in the summer. Parachute payments stop then too, which will also alter the picture somewhat and make big offers harder to turn down. Lastly, I still have considerable doubts as to Herr Farkes´ credentials, and to Webber´s long lasting commitment.
Illustrated beautifully yesterday with a fine win over Arsenal - and I know Arsenal are creaking at the hinges right now, but nevertheless. To even be back in that sort position again, would be something. Good luck to him and to Brighton.
One more boring home stalemate, with tons of possession but where most of it was wasted - goodness knows when Farke will begin to learn. We´d have done far better to have stuck with Alex Neil, who's getting Preston remarkably close to the play-offs, or better still C. Hughton, neither of whom provided any worse entertainment than Herr Farke is managing at the moment.
It's a work in progress, one that wasn't going to come to fruition this season, and one that I still believe in. I quite liked Hughton, didn't care for Neil. Either way, I wouldn't want either of them back. Time to look forward methinks. There's work to be done and it won't happen overnight. Ah, those good old days when fans had a little patience.
Morning gandy, more frustration than lack of patience on my part , and any amount of patience isn´t going to change the fact that I don´t yet believe in the Webber/ Farke project. Everyone (Club included) has been stressing how important getting back up to the PL was, this season, and to have wasted it in this way, when the coming years will only be harder still, seems criminal. And I´m one of those who doesn´t really mind if we get back there or not , so think what it must be like for those who really do care.
Morning RBF. I do understand your viewpoint, and I’m also one who’s not that fussed about promotion. It does seem it’s all about the money it brings, never mind that we can’t possibly compete with most of the clubs there. If it’s all about that, then it’s not for me. I’m still clinging to the belief that this new set up can at least bring some excitement for the fans, especially those who part with large sums of money to attend games. I guess next season will tell us more, one way or the other. As I’ve said, I’m not really a great fan of Alex Neil, though good luck to him. He seems to be doing OK. My opinion of Chris Hughton is different. I believe we were wrong to sack him when we did. We had a roller-coaster ride with Paul Lambert, but we weren’t big enough for him it seems. I truly believe Hughton could have been a perfect fit for us, but we’ll never know now. 'Deutschland für immer'!
I for the main agree with RBF, we couldn't afford to just write this season off, next season we have considerably less money and it gets harder. OK so Farke may have learnt a thing or two this season and be more ready for next. But, he still has no idea how to balance solid defence with productive attack. Will he next season? He likely won't have Maddison who has pretty much singlehandedly lifted us from being relegation threatened to mid-table mediocrity. What few have impressed, we could easily lose too, as next season all but 4-5 teams will pay more, have bigger transfer kitties and many will look better more ambitious places to play your football. This was the last season where we could really hold on to a proper competitive squad and we have blown it. With that said, I am still behind Webber, now we are in this situation he is our best hope of staying moderately competitve. Farke I'm not so sure about. A side that does not score goals is unlikely to get promoted, in the PL a solid base is important, but it is the teams that cannot score that will inevitably come back down. I don't make any decisions at CR but if Farke starts next season as this one is panning out, no excuses of lost Maddisons will wash, so if by November he has us scoring at only a goal a game, or worse and we still suck at home and bore the pants off half the fan base, for me he would have to go, so Webber could bed the new guy in ready for some January tweeks. As for ex managers; I'm not sure I would call Lamberts time a rollercoatser, more of a rocket ship blasting upwards. Maybe it was a good time for him to leave? But I think not, both his career and our club have stalled and fallen since he left. Lets see if he can avoid relegation this season and get his star on the rise again? Hughton left with very good reason and was terrible for us at that point. The fact was though that leaving it so late and then appointing Adams was worse than keeping him. Hughton for all his faults whilst in charge, was perhaps the best man to have rebuilt following relegation, that is not to say that I wouldn't have sacked him before January but the timing was ludicrous and the succession planning worse. Neil I liked and can't quite put my finger on what went wrong, the PL he was very clearly out of his depth, understandably given his experience to that point, but the form and football across all of last season left us little choice but to get rid, once again though too late. The thing is though, right now with the deadwood cleared I think I might back all three and even Irvine to be doing better and entertaining us more than Farke (except maybe Hughton, but even he would likely be winning more games and that is in itself better entertainment). Long term maybe Farke will sort the balance out and prove me wrong but, I can't understand why people think particularly highly of him? He has put out very defensive sides and sacrificed attack for defence, not a lot more so far. Maddison and Lewis look to be coming on nicely under his guidance (With their natural talent is this also inspite of him?), but Basil, Murphy and really anyone in the final 3rd have found it almost impossible to play well for him. Bah!
Well, to say I was slightly surprised by today´s scoreline, is a vast understatement - I´d expected a 1-0 or even more likely, a 0-0, but having read the match report, and discovered 4 penalties, it begins to make a shade more sense. But whatever happened to Farke? ( the master of defence) , especially considering we were 3-1 up!! I know - patience, patience, patience, but don´t be surprised if it soon begins to run out.
