Simster

*tips hat* Seriously, I can say this without worrying about offending anyone because I don't know the admin bods on here and I don't rely on saintsweb as I'm not a Southampton fan - but this site is absolutely appalling. I tried to get on here last night and it crashed probably 4 or 5 times before I managed to log in. Then it crashed over and over again, so I gave up. If people are paying for this service then that is disgraceful. It's not just NSC (our site) that relies on click-thru income, there are loads of free forums out there, many attracting more users than this one does. And I'll repeat it, just so that you know how much you £5 people are being ripped off - Darren (our web administrator) has got a lot of money (£000s!)swilling about in the NSC bank account, all from click thru income. He's admittedly dipping into that (but only a little bit) as traffic increases, but it is very fast, and very reliable, and I suspect our traffic levels are not massively different from yours. Apart from click-thrus (now exclusively Amazon, incidentally), funds have also been raised by the site sponsoring a player - we were asked to chip in for £10 a head, but that also gets the site a corporate package for six people to a match, the places for which were then randomly awarded to six of the sponsorship contributors. Of course it was overpaid by NSCers, so that leftover was added to the NSC slush fund. At the very least, the admins on here should be exploring alternative ways of funding it, and should have abandoned the company hosting the site YONKS ago, because they are clearly SHìTHOUSE. Can you imagine this place if you need a win to go up on the last day of the season or whatever? I guess the fact that this site is being run for profit sticks in the craw, too. I'm fairly sure I'll be slaughtered by some on here for these opinions, but I've always felt a fan site is best managed as a labour of love, not for a bit of extra cash.

Or Southampton? You're right, it gives us the potential to be like any other provincial team. Fair point. I think the £93m price tag might provide more evidence than anything else that this stadium isn't going to be like a bigger version of Colchester or Chesterfield. And with that, I have to leave this tin-pot site as I have reached my 3 post limit. A shame, because most of you seem decent enough. Seriously, what an embarrassing way to run the main football forum for your clubs fans. I bet we get as much traffic on NSC as you do, the bloke running this site could do worse than PM Bozza (Darren) on our site and ask him how we cope. Darren still has £6K in the coffers, running a busy site funded purely out of click-thrus to Amazon FFS.

It's not big enough, sure. The fact that we've sold 10,400 season tickets already, and have 4,000 presentations lined up in March (all of whom can buy up to 4 tix) are testament to that fact. They were targeting 17,000 season tickets, but it looks like they might sell all 19,000 seats to season ticket holders. Good job it's been built to house 30,000 really, with the seats missing from the corners and the stadium configured so that a tier can be added to another stand with ease. We're simply waiting on planning permission. When he says one of the best stadiums in the country, I'm not sure it's top 2 because of the concept that many hold that it is a relatively small small ground capacity, but in terms of the spec and quality of build, it is certainly one of the very best. We have a bloke on our site who is worker on the site and has said as much (he's a Swansea fan calling himself natterjack). He says it pìsses on pretty much every other provincial stadium. It certainly is a thing of beauty when you're up close.

No, many of us haven't. And it is for this very reason that so many of us are looking forward to welcoming HUDDERSFIELD TOWN as our final visitors to Withdean. It really would be a pity if we were already promoted by then and Gus played a second string for this one, especially after having played a first team against Southampton the week before (and beat them) in an attempt to "keep up with Southampton" (© Adkins) at the top of the table. *s*******

We are a smaller club, or at least have been. But lets be honest, it's all about the ground isn't it? You're arguably bigger than Sheffield Wednesday these days because of your stadium, but you forget that pre-St Marys, you were very much small fry. Premiership gates of 13,000 under Branfoot anyone? Our catchment area is similar to yours, and in the past when playing at similar levels, our attendances have been about the same (although that is going a long way back now). When we have a 30k stadium with no debt to service because the chairman has more or less given it to us, what will be the difference between you and us? Oh and finally, next season we will probably have more season ticket holders than you. The club is expecting to sell 17,000 STHs and have sold 10,000 already including the 2,400 corporate seats, and they haven't even finished selling to existing STHs yet, never mind putting them on general sale. I've posted 3 times now, so please don't think I'm being rude by not responding. :-)

That's ONE game, and there was only one team going to win it once we approached the last 20 mins at 0-0, and then we missed a penalty ourselves. It does make me chuckle when players of supposed bigger clubs puff their chests out and put on a show for a one off game against the league leaders as if to say "look at us, ignore the league table, we're the best team in this division, not little Brighton". And their fans seem to lap it up. Great. You could have beaten us in that game when we were a bit average by our standards - big deal. Now look at the league table and you'll see what everyone else sees. And perhaps you should expect that level of performance EVERY game rather than just against the league leaders and undisputed best team in the division!

Expectation has got nothing to do with it. It's all about the players on the pitch, the coaching and the tactics. What on earth makes you think that? In three years time, we'll be similar sized clubs playing in similar sized stadiums (ours will probably be expanded to 30k by then) and right now you're playing catch up. We're going up, whereas you might go up. I bet some of us do! I think you'll find there are as many morons on our site as there are on yours. He's right you know. We're battering everyone in this division, we're not squeezing past Scottish teams down to ten men at home. But the real reason we're better than you is down to Gus. Not just his tactics and training methods, but the fact that unlike Atkins, he's been allowed to build his team from scratch, and he's bought very well. He's kept one or two players from the dark days that divided our fans beforehand and turned them into undisputably quality players (Adam El Abd, Glenn Murray) and the players he's brought in have been mostly hungry lower league players previously wrongly discarded and keen to join a club on the up. You won't have heard of most of our midfield until this season. Elliot Bennett has made a big name for himself, but there are other unsung players all over the pitch who have contributed massively. The key to success has been our home form, where we've dropped 8 points all season. Of the four teams to draw, none of them even deserved a point. The only team who deserved anything from their Withdean trip have been Oldham who were quality. And your lot battered them 6-0 away! And therein lies the real difference between Brighton and literally everybody else: consistency. (I think I can say that without needing to know every team in the division as well as my own)

TO put this into context, when we (BHA) went top in September, we were 9 points clear of 18th placed Southampton. Today, we are 8 points clear of 4th placed Southampton, which shows that a) your form has picked up to be promotion form but b) not enough to overhaul us, as you have earned one point more than us over that four month period, having played one more home game than us. Southampton remain my favourites for second place, as Albion would have to suffer a horrendous loss of form to lose it from here. And all those discounting Bournemouth should really take another look. Dean Court remains an absolute fortress, they rarely play really badly, and they've taken 4 points off Brighton this season and there won't be many who manage that.

That can't be right. Pompey were getting 20k last season, and they were building a 36k stadium which was still far too small for a club of their stature apparently, and they're paying newly signed players 20k a week which they obviously wouldn't do on such small gates. *confused* Or alternatively, it IS lovely to see these goons falling below Southampton, Albion AND Reading in the southern clubs pecking order, as they will be next season - in both size and league position. Very pleasing. Again, that can't be right. Your manager was *insistent* that it was all about us keeping up your team of WORLD beaters. Eight points? Surely you're leading US by 8 points aren't you? I think this is nearer the mark. You might catch us, but nearly half a point a game is an awful lot to make up when half our games are seeing us take maximum points! I'm still hoping for Albion to win it, with Southampton and Bournemouth (or Charlton) to follow us.

Eh? We don't give a toss about Southampton! Just because ONE poster called "BHA" who turns out to be a Man Utd fan has given it the biggun on your site, and dozens of you have been MUG enough to reply to him, doesn't mean we care about you. Most of our support is CRINGING at the multitude of Southampton threads on our site. It is lame, and some people will use any excuse to call you "arrogant", but these thread starters are the same sort of mugs as the pillocks on this thread replying to "BHA". I'll say it one more time: we don't consider you rivals any more than you consider us rivals. Palace is our derby game, although I'd say 20% of our support probably hate Pompey more. In times when Pompey have been playing at the same level as us (and Southampton have been notably superior), I'd say it was similar the other way round too. But as is the way with secondary rivalries, we're well off their radar at the moment as they've been far above us for the best part of 2 decades owing to our well documented troubles. As for Palace, I find it amazing that they still consider us their main rivals, but apparently they do. Millwall are a close second for them, and they like to pretend they don't give a monkeys about Charlton. I always found this interesting when this out a few years ago. You can tell how long ago, just by taking a look at the secondary (and third) rivalries. http://www.footballfanscensus.com/issueresults/Club_Rivalries_Uncovered_Results.pdf I can't really speak for Bournemouth fans, but it stands to reason they hate you more than anyone else. Half of Bournemouth supports Southampton, stemming from the days not so long ago when you weren't shìt. ;-p

I don't really care tbh, it's never been my thing. I still cringe when we turn up with 3,500 at places like Southend and Orient and it all kicks off. Funny how these never people were nowhere to be seen at the Den in 1986 when half their crowd left with 20 mins still to play and the next thing we hear are bricks being hurled over the exits into the away end. The tone of your reply makes me cringe in the same way. "your lot...flying colours"? Pmsl. I've been to the Dell dozens of times (half my family are Southampton, as is my best mate) and I've never seen any trouble, or indeed more than a handful who look like they would belong to any sort of firm.

Your out of town question is a very good one. In the long run, it could prove to be a massive problem. Right now, with Albion not having had a proper home for 14 years, people are all too happy to talk about trying out the various methods of getting too and from the ground. Lots of people will hope to drink in central Brighton followed by an easy bus or train ride. Others will happily try out the bars at the ground. One thing is for sure, people will take a while to figure out their new routine. It won't be as simple as a few beers then a walk to the ground. The biggest issue is that tickets will not be pay on the gate - I think we're all going to be expected to carry smart cards around! But these issues are not insurmountable as long as the club is run professionally, and the signs are good: The club are aiming for high (16,000) season ticket sales. They expect to hit this target and I think they will. Prices are reasonable and importantly, you can pay for them interest free over 12 months via direct debit, which I think is hugely impressive as that will cost quite a bit to administer. We've already sold out of 2,500 "1901 membership" season tickets, aimed at the corporate sector and wealthier fans. To be honest, Albion will need to have a higher season ticket base than most because of the difficulty in attracting walk-up trade (as I say, the ground is tricky to get to, and you cannot pay on the gate). The club is also doing a fine job rebuilding our fan base, which has skipped an entire generation because of inadequate facilities. We now have 11,000 junior seagulls and the freebies they give away to the kids simply beggars belief. Free match tickets, free Albion first team shirt (!!!!), as well as all the usual gubbins like signed photos, free rucksacks, pens, pencils, and a free xmas party attended by three of four first teamers. Five years before my time but I thought he was talking about the 1986 cup game where that certainly didn't happen. But nobody ever mentions this "trouble" in 1978, unlike the Spurs home game in that season which apparently had the worst trouble ever seen in Brighton. We had 34,000 for that one and the place was wrecked with fights everywhere. Anyway, I too am happy at the current top 3 and in that order, but in truth would prefer Charlton to be promoted than Bournemouth. Charlton is always a great away day for us as we tend to fill their away end. Bournemouth is far less convenient for us. I don't really mind though.

I remember that game. That was the worst Albion performance of the season, and the writing was on the wall the minute Eric Young kindly escorted Glen Cockeril into our six yard box. We were never in the game after that. Bender (the OP) is my brother, and he didn't go. He was probably still a Man United fan at the time. Eh? Don't remember that. Most people wouldn't even know that Southampton even had a firm. ??? Anyway, this really is a very embarrassing thread. Personally I don't consider Southampton fans to be "arrogant", any more than most of our fans are "deluded". Brighton/Southampton on the whole has been a reasonably friendly rivalry down the years. Clearly you're a bigger club by most yardsticks but next season the gap will hopefully be much smaller with both teams in the Championship and with Albion finally in a proper home. Bender, you are a complete clown for taking that bet on our site. Albion will *easily* average over 14,000 next season - no question about it. They might slump the following year if we have a bad season, but we're nailed on for average gates of over 17,000 I should think.

Initial bid of £250k rejected, but unofficially this has been upped to £300k apparently.

Great news. Albion have officially signed Craig Noone: http://www.seagulls.co.uk/page/Latest/0,,10433~2254716,00.html

This is the correct answer. He took "one for the team" against Brentford about 6 weeks ago when we lost possession in a dangerous area and he body checked the on rushing striker. Meaning he was out after that 5th booking. We're lucky though, because we have 3 quality centre backs so losing one has rarely costed us.

Bridcutt is the man we're going to miss the most. The others are decent enough but Elphick is not really first choice (El Abd and Greer are our first choice CBs although not much to choose between all 3), Sparrow is a decent player but a bit of a sicknote and Lua Lua had only been used sparingly away from home before his recent long term injury. Some of our fans are fearing the worse, which seems odd to me. Afterall, if we hadn't conceded in injury time we'd have bounced back to winning ways already and the mood would be very different. Despite this, the fact that this is a local game against a promotion rival whets the appetite, and our tickets sold out 10 days ago. Prediction: a cagey game that will end up as a draw and if there is a winner I doubt there will be more than a goal in it. Delusional of fans on either side to expect a thrashing.

Your daft rules on 3 posts a day means I'll have to reply to you all at once. Just a lurking Brighton fan. Not for me. I'm working late. Too funny. No really. Like you did last year? I remember us outclassing you at St Marys and being 2 minutes away from taking six points off you . Again, absolutely hilarious. Bless. A trifle touchy when faced with a dose of realism it would seem. My best mate is a Saints fan, my brother is a Saints STH, my dad is a Saints fan; but I belong to the better half of the family, the Albion half. Consequently, I do come on here especially with our game coming up soon. And obviously, I've spent a lot more time on our own site, but there's only so many times that you can read "we're f**king brilliant" without it getting boring so I came on here instead, seeing as it's a fairly recent phenominon for your lot. I registered and have posted on here as soon as Saints and Albion started playing in the same division. What more do you want? Anyway, in all honesty I do hope you join us in the Championship next season as I do like the games between us. Whisper it quietly but I do think we might lose against you actually, primarily because at some point we are actually going to lose a match, and a match with the opposition bang up for it for a couple of reasons is exactly the sort of game we might lose.

Do me a favour. You're only just in the playoff places FFS. On the other hand, we've taken 30 points from 36 and have conced just 8 goals in 15 matches. "We're f***ing brilliant"

Do me a favour. You're only just in the playoff places FFS. On the other hand, we've taken 30 points from 36 and have conced just 8 goals in 15 matches. "We're f***ing brilliant"

We certainly are. We're looking a different class. Luckily, our worst performance of the season was saved for the telly. lol I do feel your pain and can well believe this. Having seen Hammond more times than I care to remember, I can't believe he's your captain ffs. He honestly wouldn't come anywhere near our bench to be honest. This thread is like a million on our thread down the years. We're all football fans and there's never a middle ground. Personally, I'd be fairly shocked if Southampton weren't a top six side at the end of the season, but the inconsistency has to be left behind before the end of October if you're going to challenge the top 2. It's easy enough to soar up the lower reaches of the table but the top teams don't often drop points for you to make up!

It really isn't weak at all. That's wishful thinking on your part, IMO. Ourselves (Brighton), Peterborough, Plymouth and Huddersfield are all being bankrolled to a certain extent, and Sheff Wed and MK Dons have fairly strong squads on their own merit. Throw in three sides unexpectedly starting the season well (Rochdale, Carlisle and Bournemouth) and it's made for a very competitive and interesting start. At the end of the day, every single one of expected 8 or 9 top contenders are already in the top half of the table, with the sole exceptions of Plymouth and yourselves. If I was a betting man, I'd be laying the odds on Southampton. It's not that you won't go up, just that those odds grossly overstate your chances, IMO.

Your chairman is making your club an absolute laughing stock. But I guess you all seem to know that already. Carry on.

Because, my six fingered friend, Boscombe are a noddy two bob outfit who aren't really rivals with the Stains. Or anybody for that matter. So they nick everybody elses horrid words for clubs they'd like to be rivals with, because everybody else considers them a joke.

An Albion shirt shall be purchased for him so that he doesn't feel out of place when he comes along with Sam and me to the Amex in future years. Lets face it, he won't fancy the 2 hour drive to your cookie cutter stadium when our CATHEDRAL is on your doorstep and Uncle Simster is happy to take him along.