The Official Brighton & Hove Albion v Bristol City Match Day Thread

[phantom]

Am sure we are all curious what our rivals are saying at different stages of the season, so to make it easier, Below are the links to all league rivals' club forums. 

 

ASTON VILLA  www.villatalk.com

BARNSLEY http://tyketalk.co.uk http://barnsleyfc.org.uk/forums/bulletin-board.130/

BIRMINGHAM CITY www.smallheathalliance.com/list.php?1

BLACKBURN ROVERS www.brfcc.com/mb/

BRENTFORD www.griffinpark.org/forums/forum.php

BRIGHTON & HOVE ALBION www.northstandchat.com/forumd...-The-Big-Board

BURTON ALBION http://burtonbrewers.proboards.com/

CARDIFF CITY www.cardiffcityforum.co.uk   www.ccmb.co.uk/fudforum/

DERBY COUNTY http://dcfcfans.uk

FULHAM www.friendsoffulham.com/forum/index.php

HUDDERSFIELD TOWN http://downatthemac.proboards.com

IPSWICH TOWN www.twtd.co.uk/forum/

LEEDS UNITED www.lufctalk.com/forums/

NEWCASTLE UNITED www.toonforum.co.uk/viewforum.php?f=3&sid=7e76713b46f589fffc225d41bebe07bd

NORWICH CITY www.norwichtalk.com/

NOTTINGHAM FOREST www.forestforum.co.uk

PRESTON NORTH END www.pne-online.net/forum/forum.php

QUEENS PARK RANGERS www.fansnetwork.co.uk/football/queensparkrangers/forum/

READING http://hobnob.royals.org/forum/viewforum.php?f=1

ROTHERHAM UNITED www.rotherham.vitalfootball.co.uk/forum/category-view.asp

SHEFFIELD WEDNESDAY www.owlstalk.co.uk/forums/ind...eld-wednesday/

WIGAN ATHLETIC www.wigan.vitalfootball.co.uk/forum/category-view.asp

WOLVERHAMPTON WANDERERS www.wolvesforum.co.uk/forum.php

IF YOU FIND A CLUB's FORUM THAT IS BETTER THAN THAT LISTED ABOVE PLEASE PM WITH THE DETAILS 

[havanatopia]

Good day everyone

Like most good Bristol City fans and those of other clubs a day visiting or entertaining a promoted club usually entails offering an admiring round of applause. I trust today, in Brighton, this will be no different.

Brighton, with a Chairman who has spent double the amount ours has on his new stadium, £93 million according to the Guardian, of which the excerpts below were taken, will be a Premier League team next season. Good luck to them. It has been a remarkable season not just for them but for two other south coast clubs, Portsmouth and Plymouth and my congratulations to them on promotion.

Here are the facts on Brighton as of 2014 (latest i can find)

Brighton and Hove Albion

Ownership

Owned by Tony Bloom, a professional gambler based in Brighton.

Turnover £23.4m

6th highest in the league

Wage bill £21m

8th highest in the league

Wage as a proportion of turnover 90%

Directors’ pay £801,038 for 10 directors, highest got £480,002

Loss before tax £14.8m

Net debt Not stated: £51m loans

Interest payable £0.006m

Accounts for the year to 30 June 2013

The State they’re in:

Epitomise the crushing economics of the Championship, losing £14.8m even with the huge boost gained by the move to the new American Express community stadium in 2011. Reliant on investment from Tony Bloom, a professional gambler whose family have long involvement in the club, Brighton support FFP, and are pledging to move towards breaking even.

And the comparable report on City, also 2014

Bristol City

Ownership

Owned by UK based financial services businessman Stephen Lansdown

Turnover £8m

Lowest in the league

Wage bill £15.2m

14th in the league

Wage as a proportion of turnover 190%

Directors’ pay £252,034 paid to three directors; highest £129,603

Loss before tax £11.3m

Net debt Not stated; £6.7m in loans

Interest payable £0.061m

Accounts for the year to 31 May 2013

State they’re in

Fairly desperate time for Bristol City, who spent nearly twice their turnover, the Championship’s lowest, on players’ wages, but still finished bottom, 15 points short of safety. Long supported by Stephen Lansdown, reportedly a billionaire, who made his fortune in financial advice and investment with his firm Hargreaves Lansdown. He converted almost £30m of loans to equity during 2012-13, and City are now battling in League One to reverse the long underperformance of Bristol football.

I am sure there are more up to date numbers and reports and I suspect City's turnover will perhaps have more than doubled in the new stadium when the full year's accounts are released; at least the abbreviated accounts which is all we shall be party to I assume at Companies House.

City are indeed a couple to three years behind Brighton in their investment program, I would suggest.

What these two examples show, of course, is that the state of the average club's finances in the Championship is dire. That is known. The point of the comparison is my thoughts for the day, or call it my thoughts for the season and it is this..

How much longer can British owners sustain these levels, or indeed increasing levels, of losses year in and year out? The increase in foreign ownership tells us that the stomach for loss amongst our fellow countrymen is declining rather rapidly. Unless and until the Football League and The Premier League can come up with a system of prize money vis a vis wages and turnover that is truly sustainable I can see a day when there will be only a minority of clubs in the entire league pyramid in British hands. Should we be worried? I believe fundamentally the game is changing and will inexorably do so as this rather inevitable looking trajectory continues unabated. I think that is serious cause for concern. A free market is not always good. We have already seen this government pull back on one or two national security issues where foreign power was seen or is seen to be detrimental. Football, or soft power, may be way down the food chain but leave it to idly do its worst and we may end up with a shocking state of affairs. I hope not.

As for our club? Once again an opportunity to say how wholeheartedly relieved I am that we are owned by a fan even with all his foibles and backing of a manager the majority of us seem to have lost faith in long ago. In the bigger picture I am trading that for who he is. Long may he be at the helm. 

I don't do predictions on the match day thread but if I did it would probably be the wildest prediction in the world.

I hope everyone enjoys their day out on the south coast for the last away day of the 2016-17 season. UTC.

p.s. While the Amex is a lovely stadium i suspect this is the best interior in Brighton:-

Every time I go to Brighton I just marvel at the Royal Pavillion. Built for the Prince regent later King George IV in three stages in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. As well as a seaside residence it served as a civic building and a WW1 hospital.

 

 

[Major Isewater]

Hi H , good work again.

Well done to Brighton for their season and promotion.

A good club run by good people , they deserve their chance in the Prem.

Today you can let your hair down , have a party and we'll take care of the three points for you, it's only right .

I  predict a City win . I know you all think it's mad but I just have a funny feeling that we'll bomb their party like your parents arriving home too early when you were a teenager . 

Yes , I was a teenager once .

Go City , make us proud .

[Mike Hunt-Hertz]

16 minutes ago, havanatopia said:

Good day everyone

Like most good Bristol City fans and those of other clubs a day visiting or entertaining a promoted club usually entails offering an admiring round of applause. I trust today, in Brighton, this will be no different.

Brighton, with a Chairman who has spent double the amount ours has on his new stadium, £93 million according to the Guardian, of which the excerpts below were taken, will be a Premier League team next season. Good luck to them. It has been a remarkable season not just for them but for two other south coast clubs, Portsmouth and Plymouth and my congratulations to them on promotion.

Here are the facts on Brighton as of 2014 (latest i can find)

Brighton and Hove Albion

Ownership

Owned by Tony Bloom, a professional gambler based in Brighton.

Turnover £23.4m

6th highest in the league

Wage bill £21m

8th highest in the league

Wage as a proportion of turnover 90%

Directors’ pay £801,038 for 10 directors, highest got £480,002

Loss before tax £14.8m

Net debt Not stated: £51m loans

Interest payable £0.006m

Accounts for the year to 30 June 2013

The State they’re in:

Epitomise the crushing economics of the Championship, losing £14.8m even with the huge boost gained by the move to the new American Express community stadium in 2011. Reliant on investment from Tony Bloom, a professional gambler whose family have long involvement in the club, Brighton support FFP, and are pledging to move towards breaking even.

And the comparable report on City, also 2014

Bristol City

Ownership

Owned by UK based financial services businessman Stephen Lansdown

Turnover £8m

Lowest in the league

Wage bill £15.2m

14th in the league

Wage as a proportion of turnover 190%

Directors’ pay £252,034 paid to three directors; highest £129,603

Loss before tax £11.3m

Net debt Not stated; £6.7m in loans

Interest payable £0.061m

Accounts for the year to 31 May 2013

State they’re in

Fairly desperate time for Bristol City, who spent nearly twice their turnover, the Championship’s lowest, on players’ wages, but still finished bottom, 15 points short of safety. Long supported by Stephen Lansdown, reportedly a billionaire, who made his fortune in financial advice and investment with his firm Hargreaves Lansdown. He converted almost £30m of loans to equity during 2012-13, and City are now battling in League One to reverse the long underperformance of Bristol football.

I am sure there are more up to date numbers and reports and I suspect City's turnover will perhaps have more than doubled in the new stadium when the full year's accounts are released; at least the abbreviated accounts which is all we shall be party to I assume at Companies House.

City are indeed a couple to three years behind Brighton in their investment program, I would suggest.

What these two examples show, of course, is that the state of the average club's finances in the Championship is dire. That is known. The point of the comparison is my thoughts for the day, or call it my thoughts for the season and it is this..

How much longer can British owners sustain these levels, or indeed increasing levels, of losses year in and year out? The increase in foreign ownership tells us that the stomach for loss amongst our fellow countrymen is declining rather rapidly. Unless and until the Football League and The Premier League can come up with a system of prize money vis a vis wages and turnover that is truly sustainable I can see a day when there will be only a minority of clubs in the entire league pyramid in British hands. Should we be worried? I believe fundamentally the game is changing and will inexorably do so as this rather inevitable looking trajectory continues unabated. I think that is serious cause for concern. A free market is not always good. We have already seen this government pull back on one or two national security issues where foreign power was seen or is seen to be detrimental. Football, or soft power, may be way down the food chain but leave it to idly do its worst and we may end up with a shocking state of affairs. I hope not.

As for our club? Once again an opportunity to say how wholeheartedly relieved I am that we are owned by a fan even with all his foibles and backing of a manager the majority of us seem to have lost faith in long ago. In the bigger picture I am trading that for who he is. Long may he be at the helm. 

I don't do predictions on the match day thread but if I did it would probably be the wildest prediction in the world.

I hope everyone enjoys their day out on the south coast for the last away day of the 2016-17 season. UTC.

p.s. While the Amex is a lovely stadium i suspect this is the best interior in Brighton:-

Every time I go to Brighton I just marvel at the Royal Pavillion. Built for the Prince regent later King George IV in three stages in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. As well as a seaside residence it served as a civic building and a WW1 hospital.

 

 

That`s the planned concourse, for the slags` new stadium!

[exAtyeoMax]

17 minutes ago, havanatopia said:

How much longer can British owners sustain these levels, or indeed increasing levels, of losses year in and year out? The increase in foreign ownership tells us that the stomach for loss amongst our fellow countrymen is declining rather rapidly. Unless and until the Football League and The Premier League can come up with a system of prize money vis a vis wages and turnover that is truly sustainable I can see a day when there will be only a minority of clubs in the entire league pyramid in British hands. Should we be worried? I believe fundamentally the game is changing and will inexorably do so as this rather inevitable looking trajectory continues unabated. I think that is serious cause for concern. A free market is not always good. We have already seen this government pull back on one or two national security issues where foreign power was seen or is seen to be detrimental. Football, or soft power, may be way down the food chain but leave it to idly do its worst and we may end up with a shocking state of affairs. I hope not.

Yes… and it will carry on until the tower collapses …oops, didn't see that coming 

 

Anyway, the sun is out and the sky is blue. Brighton should be sunny too. Looking forward to an away day to Brighton and a good game of football.

I'm not expecting a City win - but who knows! Anyone can win on the day.

COYRs  

[Ivorguy]

Following on from the opening thread,

Had SL held a fans meeting prior to today's game, as rumoured, I would have asked him the following question:-

Do you think the power of the owners in The Premiership and Championship have over the game is good for football long term in this country?

Perhaps there is no fans meeting because he got wind of a number of otib members preparing questions! In the words of the Blessed Margaret is he frit? 

 

 

 

 

[deadredfred]

They'll be gunning to win the league and well done to them for a fantastic season.

They may have taken it easy v Norwich after promotion was in the bag, but you can bet your bollocks to a barn dance that Hughton will want them to pip Newcastle to the title.

We can hope for complacency from their players,  but at home, on a bank holiday weekend, they might want to flex their guns.

Hopeful for a point, fearful of a tanking. 

[old_eastender]

5-1 Brighton... but Brum lose to Huddersfield and we are safe anyway.

[Swede]

I think Brighton are the best team in this League by far and deserve to go up as Champions.

I congratulate them.

I am especially pleased for Sam Baldock I think he's a tremendous player, always works his socks off. A great professional. I hope he gets a chance in the Premier League.

It could be a Sammy & Tammy partnership next season!

 

[pongo88]

Interesting thread as ever Havana. Brighton will be a bit nervous following Newcastle's win last night, so City will flabbergasticate the Sky viewers with a 2 goal win. Taylor and Abraham. 

[Son of Fred]

58 minutes ago, Major Isewater said:

Hi H , good work again.

Well done to Brighton for their season and promotion.

A good club run by good people , they deserve their chance in the Prem.

Today you can let your hair down , have a party and we'll take care of the three points for you, it's only right .

I  predict a City win . I know you all think it's mad but I just have a funny feeling that we'll bomb their party like your parents arriving home too early when you were a teenager . 

 

 

 

Quote

Yes , I was a teenager once .

Go City , make us proud

 

Major,you were always"to the manor born",the ability to fit in anywhere-a style of conversation..

And asking after "The Papers" by the age of seven

[Sweeneys Penalties]

only briefly flicked on to Cardiff v Toon at Half Time...recognised Steven Taylor but who was the other bloke with him. I think he was a winger who played for Norwich, but apart from that.....I really couldn't put a name to the face. Keith? Something.

Anyway back on track.....pressure does odd things to people (especially if they press the panic button), and I suspect we might see one or two of those pressed tonight from both teams. I don't think we'll be in for a tanking unless we lose early goals... and the longer we keep them scoreless, the more the pressure will build.

Honestly wouldn't wish to predict tonights outcome

 

[Septic Peg]

Morning Hav and all.

Never realised Mr Bloom was a pro at the bookies. Good luck obviously follows him. 

42 minutes ago, Ivorguy said:

Following on from the opening thread,

Had SL held a fans meeting prior to today's game, as rumoured, I would have asked him the following question:-

Do you think the power of the owners in The Premiership and Championship have over the game is good for football long term in this country?

Perhaps there is no fans meeting because he got wind of a number of otib members preparing questions! In the words of the Blessed Margaret is he frit? 

The rumour was it was scheduled for a SL/fans discussion but that idea was sunk when it looked like we were in the shit. SL would only have answered questions about LJ and relegation so I can see why it was dismissed.

 

On to today and I feel we won't get that monumental schooling from BHA that everyone is on about. But I still feel a 3-1 loss for us.

Don't care as long as Blackburn lose.

We will know more at 5pm...

[BobBobSuperBob]

17 minutes ago, Sweeneys Penalties said:

only briefly flicked on to Cardiff v Toon at Half Time...recognised Steven Taylor but who was the other bloke with him. I think he was a winger who played for Norwich, but apart from that.....I really couldn't put a name to the face. Keith? Something.

 

Keith Andrews , Sweeney ex MK Dons , Ipswich , Wolves, Blackburn etc

[Red Bill]

Congratulations to B&HA!

Sadly cannot make the game due to mobility reasons.  Lovely stadium, excellent pies and Harvey's Bitter.  Mmmm.

[Major Isewater]

2 minutes ago, Red Bill said:

Congratulations to B&HA!

Sadly cannot make the game due to mobility reasons.  Lovely stadium, excellent pies and Harvey's Bitter.  Mmmm.

Is he indeed ? 

[cityexile]

Fully expect Blackburn (cheered on by 7,000 Villa fans) and Birmingham (Huddersfield sound like they will rest key players) to win today. It is football, so who knows, but par for this one is most likely Brighton by a couple. Despite great home form recently, our away form has remained poor. 

As long as our players have not believed all the hype about us being safe, no reason for us to take a battering today. Still nervous, and if we really are safe by the time we kick off, that is a bonus. If we finish the day say +6 gd to Blackburn then if I have to I will take that.

2-0 Brighton.

[1bristolcity]

1 hour ago, Swede said:

I think Brighton are the best team in this League by far and deserve to go up as Champions.

I congratulate them.

I am especially pleased for Sam Baldock I think he's a tremendous player, always works his socks off. A great professional. I hope he gets a chance in the Premier League.

It could be a Sammy & Tammy partnership next season!

 

What? 

Only on OTIB 

[exAtyeoMax]

4 minutes ago, 1bristolcity said:

What? 

Only on OTIB 

keh?

[Aizoon]

I suppose the big question is - can we concede the 9 (NINE) goals we need to achieve relegation?

[Son of Fred]

22 minutes ago, cityexile said:

Fully expect Blackburn (cheered on by 7,000 Villa fans) and Birmingham (Huddersfield sound like they will rest key players) to win today. It is football, so who knows, but par for this one is most likely Brighton by a couple. Despite great home form recently, our away form has remained poor. 

As long as our players have not believed all the hype about us being safe, no reason for us to take a battering today. Still nervous, and if we really are safe by the time we kick off, that is a bonus. If we finish the day say +6 gd to Blackburn then if I have to I will take that.

2-0 Brighton.

It is possible a few of ours may well be "on the beach"-Brighton' certainly won't be,most likely "all guns fire at will" ....

A few cool heads/awareness and maybe they could be vulnerable 'on the bounce???...

[Major Isewater]

Just now, Robert the bruce said:

It is possible a few of ours may well be "on the beach"-Brighton's certainly won't be,most likely "all guns fire at will" ....

A few cool heads/awareness and maybe they could be vulnerable 'on the bounce???...

Poor old Will . 

[BigTone]

2 hours ago, havanatopia said:

Good day everyone

Like most good Bristol City fans and those of other clubs a day visiting or entertaining a promoted club usually entails offering an admiring round of applause. I trust today, in Brighton, this will be no different.

Brighton, with a Chairman who has spent double the amount ours has on his new stadium, £93 million according to the Guardian, of which the excerpts below were taken, will be a Premier League team next season. Good luck to them. It has been a remarkable season not just for them but for two other south coast clubs, Portsmouth and Plymouth and my congratulations to them on promotion.

Here are the facts on Brighton as of 2014 (latest i can find)

Brighton and Hove Albion

Ownership

Owned by Tony Bloom, a professional gambler based in Brighton.

Turnover £23.4m

6th highest in the league

Wage bill £21m

8th highest in the league

Wage as a proportion of turnover 90%

Directors’ pay £801,038 for 10 directors, highest got £480,002

Loss before tax £14.8m

Net debt Not stated: £51m loans

Interest payable £0.006m

Accounts for the year to 30 June 2013

The State they’re in:

Epitomise the crushing economics of the Championship, losing £14.8m even with the huge boost gained by the move to the new American Express community stadium in 2011. Reliant on investment from Tony Bloom, a professional gambler whose family have long involvement in the club, Brighton support FFP, and are pledging to move towards breaking even.

And the comparable report on City, also 2014

Bristol City

Ownership

Owned by UK based financial services businessman Stephen Lansdown

Turnover £8m

Lowest in the league

Wage bill £15.2m

14th in the league

Wage as a proportion of turnover 190%

Directors’ pay £252,034 paid to three directors; highest £129,603

Loss before tax £11.3m

Net debt Not stated; £6.7m in loans

Interest payable £0.061m

Accounts for the year to 31 May 2013

State they’re in

Fairly desperate time for Bristol City, who spent nearly twice their turnover, the Championship’s lowest, on players’ wages, but still finished bottom, 15 points short of safety. Long supported by Stephen Lansdown, reportedly a billionaire, who made his fortune in financial advice and investment with his firm Hargreaves Lansdown. He converted almost £30m of loans to equity during 2012-13, and City are now battling in League One to reverse the long underperformance of Bristol football.

I am sure there are more up to date numbers and reports and I suspect City's turnover will perhaps have more than doubled in the new stadium when the full year's accounts are released; at least the abbreviated accounts which is all we shall be party to I assume at Companies House.

City are indeed a couple to three years behind Brighton in their investment program, I would suggest.

What these two examples show, of course, is that the state of the average club's finances in the Championship is dire. That is known. The point of the comparison is my thoughts for the day, or call it my thoughts for the season and it is this..

How much longer can British owners sustain these levels, or indeed increasing levels, of losses year in and year out? The increase in foreign ownership tells us that the stomach for loss amongst our fellow countrymen is declining rather rapidly. Unless and until the Football League and The Premier League can come up with a system of prize money vis a vis wages and turnover that is truly sustainable I can see a day when there will be only a minority of clubs in the entire league pyramid in British hands. Should we be worried? I believe fundamentally the game is changing and will inexorably do so as this rather inevitable looking trajectory continues unabated. I think that is serious cause for concern. A free market is not always good. We have already seen this government pull back on one or two national security issues where foreign power was seen or is seen to be detrimental. Football, or soft power, may be way down the food chain but leave it to idly do its worst and we may end up with a shocking state of affairs. I hope not.

As for our club? Once again an opportunity to say how wholeheartedly relieved I am that we are owned by a fan even with all his foibles and backing of a manager the majority of us seem to have lost faith in long ago. In the bigger picture I am trading that for who he is. Long may he be at the helm. 

I don't do predictions on the match day thread but if I did it would probably be the wildest prediction in the world.

I hope everyone enjoys their day out on the south coast for the last away day of the 2016-17 season. UTC.

p.s. While the Amex is a lovely stadium i suspect this is the best interior in Brighton:-

Every time I go to Brighton I just marvel at the Royal Pavillion. Built for the Prince regent later King George IV in three stages in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. As well as a seaside residence it served as a civic building and a WW1 hospital.

 

 

I'm half tanked in Kuala Lumpur so you can condense it yourselves this week.

1-1

[Major Isewater]

2 minutes ago, BigTone said:

I'm half tanked in Kuala Lumpur so you can condense it yourselves this week.

1-1

Only half , your standards are slipping Tone . 

[BigTone]

17 minutes ago, Major Isewater said:

Only half , your standards are slipping Tone . 

Give me an hour or so

[RumRed]

I'm just hoping that the only thing I see battered today is my cod.

[Cider_boy]

Skybet odds of either team winning by 3 or more goals:

Brighton 3/1

City 66/1

Not surprising, we aren't very good scoring against Brighton!

Although 14/1 on Flint to score a header is tempting

[finbarr_in_z]

3 hours ago, havanatopia said:

Brighton and Hove Albion

Owned by Tony Bloom, a professional gambler based in Brighton.

Reliant on investment from Tony Bloom, a professional gambler whose family have long involvement in the club.

What sort of example does this give to the kids players ??

[Offside]

Tough game today. Can't see us getting anything out of it. If we are going to lose, hopefully it will only be by one or two goals.

Then again, I thought we'd get thumped at Newcastle and we came away with a point. 

[WhistleHappy]

37 minutes ago, Cider_boy said:

 Skybet odds of either team winning by 3 or more goals:

Brighton 3/1

City 66/1

Not surprising, we aren't very good scoring against Brighton!

Although 14/1 on Flint to score a header is tempting

Tony Bloom 'professional-gambler' .....

Hmm, Flint headed goal 14/1 ....Bristol City away win 5/1 ...how the heck can he resist a punt on those ?