[Dolly]

Am already nervous about the Palace V West Brom game tonight.
If Palace win then we're down, but anything else and we have to beat Palace at home on Sunday to stay up.
Apparently they've already sold 6000 tickets for Sunday so depending on tonight's result they might have a full house or the ground to themselves.

I can't believe how many times in the last 3 days I've thought "If only we hadn't hit the post/conceded that goal/..." then we'd be safe

[Jaspersharpe]

Apologies to Wednesday fans but it's sort of win win for me. As a Brighton fan, I fucking hate Palace and would LOVE to see them relegated and us stuff them next season. However, if Wednesday go down then I get a local game to go to next season so I actually get to see Brighton stuff them instead.

 

Hope it goes down to the last game anyway. Would like to go to that if so but have other commitments.

[Dolly]

Last games of the season are the dog's aren't they ?
Having written that it looks daft, but I'm sure you know what I mean.
2 years ago we had to beat Norwich on the last day to stay up. We beat them 4 -1 and the atmosphere was electric. Soooo hope its like that on Sunday as I've already renewed my season ticket...

[Jaspersharpe]

We know all about last day of the season games.........



Brighton would probably have spent years in non league football if we'd lost or perhaps even gone out of business.

[john horscroft]

Erm, how'd I end up here??  Don't know anything about football............

[nai]

Apologies to Wednesday fans but it's sort of win win for me. As a Brighton fan, I quite dislike Palace and would LOVE to see them relegated and us stuff them next season. However, if Wednesday go down then I get a local game to go to next season so I actually get to see Brighton stuff them instead.

Or portsmouth go out of business and neither end up going down?

Last games of the season are the dog's aren't they ?

For just about every one of the 35 years I've been following blues it's come down to the last games to decide promotion or relegation, probably with never quite as much at stake as for Brighton on that day though.  Not experiencing that kind of unrest at this time or year is kind of odd as we push for try to hang on to a top half finish.  Really hope the Albion turn up tonight and Wednesday win on Sunday, can't stand Palace either.

[Jaspersharpe]

Likewise it seems odd for us to go into the last two games in a comfortable mid table position!

[Teaboy]

[ Boetang (who can talk the leg off a donkey) has been very critical now of Brown, and has suggested that 'the' team talk really was the beginning of the rot.

I heard this and wondered if he went any deeper into how being made to sit on the floor for 15 minutes makes them unable to run around, pass, tackle etc as well as they would otherwise be expected to or was he just suggesting that the players decided to sulk for the next season and a half? I know people suggest it might affect moral but to still be citing it as a reason a season and a half later just strikes me as excuse making or unbelievably precious.

Anyone know what this is all about? I know I'm doing exactly what the article writer is complaining about but I may as well be hung for a sheep as a lamb:

 http://timesonline.typepad.com/thegame/2010/04/scandalmongering-of-internet-gossips-a-shameful-practice.html

[nai]

Some stuff here from Boateng

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/premier_league/article7107824.ece

[tomtom]

[ Boetang (who can talk the leg off a donkey) has been very critical now of Brown, and has suggested that 'the' team talk really was the beginning of the rot.

I heard this and wondered if he went any deeper into how being made to sit on the floor for 15 minutes makes them unable to run around, pass, tackle etc as well as they would otherwise be expected to or was he just suggesting that the players decided to sulk for the next season and a half? I know people suggest it might affect moral but to still be citing it as a reason a season and a half later just strikes me as excuse making or unbelievably precious.

Anyone know what this is all about? I know I'm doing exactly what the article writer is complaining about but I may as well be hung for a sheep as a lamb:

 http://timesonline.typepad.com/thegame/2010/04/scandalmongering-of-internet-gossips-a-shameful-practice.html

Well, like you many of us felt the same... but it would appear that Brown had a rather ego-centric and unusual management style... from Nai's post...

"All the players have made errors, including myself, but I believe big, big errors were made under Phil Brown, where a lot of players fell out with the manager,” Boateng said. “I can take you back to December a year and a half ago, when we played at Manchester City — that’s when all the problems started. The team felt disrespected that day. We were sixth in the league and we lost two consecutive games — we didn’t feel we deserved to be treated like a bunch of kids.”

If Brown’s very visible approach had been intended to ease the pressure on his players, eventually it became an interference. On the final day of last season, when Hull survived because of the frailty of others, Brown grabbed a microphone and serenaded fans. “I will just say this, did you ever see Alex Ferguson do that?” Boateng said. “We were saved by luck.”

As time elapsed and results refused to turn, Brown’s increasingly extreme attempts to embrace psychology caused relationships to fracture further. “After we lost 6-1 to Liverpool [in September], Phil Brown sacked the whole canteen staff for a week,” Boateng said. “We were not fed. After training, we had to drive and get food from a petrol station. Those things don’t help. We were not together enough.”

Thats just bonkers - and an example of the 'poor man mangement' that Boetang also talked about. Theres a long interview with Boatang to be broadcast on radio Scumberside tonight so I'll be interested in what he has to say. In the last couple of years there was lots of talk of the 'naughty step' that Brown bought in. Certain players were told they would never play for him again (cousin, folan) Boetang himself didnt play for 6-8 weeks as he was out of favour... If you listen to George he has a very calm and reasoned demeanour - he's not the sort just to shoot off his mouth  - this had been brewing for a while.
The Duffen/Brown era was a time of great excess... there are loads of tales/anecdotes about Brown and Duffens ellaborate and expensive celebrations... piss ups and general throwing of money around. THeir favourite local restaraunt has a couple of c.£100 bottles of wine (remember this is 'ull) that were the beverage of choice of Brown & Duffen...

Still, Brown must have had something in him as he took the bunch of partially talented individuals that make up the HCAFC squad and got them to perform some miracles - more than once (we are still one of 7 teams that won at the Emirates - and were for a few heady hours joint top of the league!). Personally I dont think the sit down team talk screwed things itself, but it was a watershed moment - after which the rot set in. Look at the results after that - its something like 8 wins in 18 months... Pure relegation form.

As the home fans sang on Saturday "this is the best trip we've ever been on....."

[Jaspersharpe]

I think the rumour in question is about Steeveegeee.

[Falling Down]

It is about Gerrard and was all over Twitter and the footie boards on Saturday but seems to have no factual basis whatsoever hence I won't bother perpetuating the rumour.

[Jaspersharpe]

 

[GraemeA]

Likewise it seems odd for us to go into the last two games in a comfortable mid table position!

Same here, at the start of March I was worried about relegation, now we are in the top half of the EPL. 3 easy points on Sunday to look forward as well 

Ps any Scum haters fancy the Byron on Sunday 

[Jaspersharpe]

I'd love to but have other commitments unfortunately. On that note though......

SUPPORT THE GLAZERS!

 

[Jaspersharpe]

Full extent of the mess at Hull City:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog/2010/apr/27/hull-relegation-business-model

[Dolly]

Last night watching palace v west brom was probably the most stressed I've been in 90 minutes of football on TV
Did anyone watch it ?
WBA should have scored 6 and then 6 minutes into injury time they saved one off the line which would otherwise have sent us down. My heart was doing close to max I think at the end - is that good training ?

Bring on Sunday @ Hillsbro

[Falling Down]

I had it on in the background - a good game and two crazy own goals 1st half.

[Jaspersharpe]

Didn't see much of it but it sounded as if Palace's keeper kept them in it.

All to play for now. I wouldn't bet on the outcome of this one!

[Jaspersharpe]

The Irishman reiterated that he had been unimpressed with the Senegalese's attitude before the game and in training, and Faye responded by, in the words of a club source, "belting him in the face".

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/apr/27/stoke-city-abdoulaye-faye-glenn-whelan

[Dolly]

Match @ Hillsbro on Sunday against Palace now sold out. Apparently over 7000 tickets were sold yesterday.
I'm not quite sure what the definition of capacity is now as the BBC are apparently taking out the NW corner stand to broadcast the game live.
Still its going to be rammed and the atmosphere should be something else. I've already started dreaming about it (I  couldn't get into the ground and we won (beating Spurs for some reason) 2-1 )

[Jaspersharpe]

  Would love to have gone to that.

Check this out for a tackle.......



I defy you not to wince.

[GraemeA]

I have just winced, then they replayed it so I winced again, then.........................

[Dolly]

You'd have thought they could have used a few more angles

[Plattsy]

Italia '90 Panini Sticker album

Don't think I had this one. Some class photos/hairstyles there and amazing how many names I remember. Great to see Johnny Harkes in there too.