Albion Fans’ Forum 2020 round up

The Brighton & Hove Albion Fans’ Forum is always one of the highlights of the Seagull supporting year. Tony Bloom, Paul Barber and Graham Potter subject themselves to an hour of questions from fans with often wonderful consequences.

For every sensible question regarding capacity at the Amex, you will get somebody wondering why they cannot bring a homemade apple crumble into the stadium.

There will be at least one complaint about loyalty points from a supporter who went to the 1983 FA Cup Final but hasn’t fancied Burnley away for the past three seasons and someone will normally ask about forks or chips or eating chips with forks.

Our favourite type of question is the one where a supporter asks the manager if he has thought of trying out a new tactic, as if a retired bus driver from Peacehaven suggesting that Brighton leave a man up when defending corners is something that Potter himself with 30 years experience in football has ever considered.

Sadly, the 2020 Brighton Fans’ Forum had to take on a slightly different format due to current restrictions. Tony Bloom wasn’t there for starters and rather than being held at the Amex, it was conducted via Zoom.

Not that this prevented it being an excellent event hosted expertly by BBC Radio Sussex and Johnny Cantor. We had the usual selection of madcap questions and there were even some insightful ones thrown in too.

The only disappointment was that hardly anyone for example introduced themselves as “Steve from Horsham, West Stand season ticket holder and Brighton fan for 37 years” as is normally the case.

Here are the highlights from the Brighton Fans’ Forum 2020.

Olivia (no location given) kicked things off with the traditional thanking of Graham and Tony for keeping us in the Premier League last season. She wanted to know if we were going to buy a young, tall, promising striker this summer?
No messing from Olivia is she dives straight in with the question that was the on the minds of most Brighton supporters watching the Fans’ Forum 2020.

Barber said strikers are always hard to come by at any level of football. What the Albion won’t do is not rush into buying a player; it has to be the right player to fit the club and what Potter requires at the time.

Rather ominously given that the season kicks off in four days time, Barber added that there was a long way to go in the transfer window. It sounds like if there is to be a new arrival, it will not be for a while yet. We better get everything crossed that Neal Maupay and Aaron Connolly do not get injured against Chelsea.

Even more ominous was Potter’s response about the striker situation. Rather than talk about new strikers, he said he would rather focus on improving the goal return of his current players like Maupay, Connolly, Leandro Trossard and Alireza Jahanbakhsh.

Jahanbakhsh’s name was particularly unexpected given he has barely featured in pre-season and struggled to get on the pitch even when Potter could use five subs at the end of the previous campaign.

Potter added that signing a new centre forward sounds like an easy solution but there is not a magic striker who will come in and score goals.

Some might even say he seems happy having only Maupay and Connolly to choose from. Again, start praying that our two strikers are not ruled out anytime soon.

Margaret from Eastbourne wanted to know if the government would take any notice of the fact that Covid cases are not rising in Sussex and that the test event against Chelsea at the Amex clearly worked?
The implication here was that Margaret felt that, while the Rule of Six was applied to the rest of the country, the people of Sussex should be allowed to watch the Albion again.

Barber said that while he wanted to get fans back as soon as possible, the club would only do so when safe. A much better response than much of the government have managed over the past six months.

Bob (no location give) said the loyalty points system used for the Chelsea friendly was not fair as the same people kept picking up points. What would the club be doing about it?
Tick one on your Brighton Fans’ Forum bingo card for a loyalty point complaint. Bob’s argument was that he would struggle to get tickets for home games in a reduced capacity Amex because he could never build up any loyalty points because tickets for all away games sold out to the same people.

Which was bollocks on every county. For starters, the Chelsea game ended up going on sale to every season ticket holder regardless of loyalty points. Barber also reminded Bob that 75 percent of away matches last season went to general sale, meaning that anyone who wanted to go to an away game could.

If a supporter like Bob wants to accumulate loyalty points, then it is very easy to do. Go to matches like Burnley away – where everyone can get a ticket – and you will be rewarded.

Trevor (no location given) wanted to know what the latest on Jose Izquierdo was?
Potter spent last season saying that Jose Izquierdo was “close” to a return and yet here we are over a year down the line and we still have seen neither hide or hair of him. No prizes for guessing what Potter’s answer to Trevor was – Izquierdo is close to a return, but he would not like to put a time frame on it.

Peter from Weston Super Mare wanted to know what contingency plans the Albion had in place if supporters are not allowed back and whether the club would be looking to stream games not shown on Sky and BT?
Barber said the club do not own the rights to the live broadcast of matches, so the Albion could not show games for supporters even via live streaming on MyAlbion TV.

For that to change, the Premier League would have to negotiate with their broadcast partners to allow clubs to show their matches independent of the current deals in place.

Barber does not believe that will happen anytime soon, but he added it was good news that there was a compromise in Sky and BT agreeing to show the first three games for free. The Portsmouth game in the Camila Cabello Cup has also been selected for live coverage.

Barber added that moving fixtures for broadcast in the United Kingdom has major repercussions for international broadcasters too. If Brighton versus Liverpool is on 3pm on a Saturday in England, an Asian rights holder is broadcasting that live at 11pm in China.

Moving the game to 6pm on a Thursday night to suit Albion and Liverpool fans who want to watch means it now takes place at 2am on a Friday morning in China, significantly reducing the value of the broadcast contract to that Asian carrier.

That leads to the Premier League and its clubs needing to pay out rebates and suddenly, you have a financial black hole developing. Those international broadcast deals are worth billions of pounds, making them much more valuable to the league and the Albion than pleasing 30,000 Brighton fans who want to watch their side for free on Sky.

Roger from London said there had been a lot of good news about Brighton players getting called up for international duty. He wondered what Graham felt about it and the challenges of them going away and whether he felt Lewis Dunk should be called up to England?
Potter said he was always happy when his players got called up to represent their countries as it was an honour. Losing players to international duty is part and parcel of football and you just have to hope that players do not get injured while they away.

As for Dunk, Potter said he had enough problems selecting his own side, let alone somebody else’s. A sadly diplomatic answer for anyone hoping that Potter would use the Brighton Fans’ Forum to call Gareth Southgate a twat.

John (no location given) started by thanking Paul for the communication the club had displayed throughout lockdown. He also thanked Graham for playing entertaining football and making interesting team selections. John wanted to know what Graham had learnt in his first season and what his highlight had been?
Potter said he was learning all the time, especially during lockdown. He said he was proud of the way the Albion led from the front by publicly stating their opposition to restarting at neutral venues and that the criticism and accusations of self-interest from other clubs and supporters had taught him a lot.

Potter’s highlight was achieving the club’s aim of staying in the Premier League and the number of points garnered in doing so. His favourite moment was the 2-1 win over Arsenal at the Amex delivered via Maupay’s last minute winner.

Potter said that the roof would have been blown off the Amex had 30,000 fans been allowed inside the ground for that moment, seemingly forgetting that 10,000 of those would have been in a queue for a bus or train by the time Maupay struck in the 95th minute.

Colin (no location give) wanted to know if more car parking would be available at the Amex, given the challenges of social distancing on trains and buses?
Barber said he was working with everyone he could possibly think of to find more car parking options around the Amex. He added that if the capacity is to expand from 3,000 to 10,000 and upwards to 30,000, then it is fairly obvious that there will not be parking for everyone.

Drop off and pick up points might provide a halfway house between parking and public transport and train and bus companies would need to play a part in finding solutions too. Which bodes well when Southern Rail are involved.

Miles (no location given) felt that Sussex By The Sea before, at half time and after the game was overkill. Was there any way of getting some Fatboy Slim back?
Potter said that the players play Fatboy Slim and Stormzy in the changing room before games. And that was the end of that one.

Theresa (no location given) had tried to ask a question earlier but nobody could hear her. She had a fiddle and now her microphone was working. Theresa wanted to know what Graham thought supporters could do to help if we cannot come to games?
Potter said the support from the 2,500 at the Chelsea game was excellent.

As for the second part of Theresa’s question, he was not really sure how supporters could help while football remains behind closed doors. Some fans had written to players during the final nine games of the season wishing them well and Potter said those letters had been read out to the group as a reminder of the backing they had.

Sounds like as good an excuse as any to send a poem to Dale Stephens if you ask me.

Linda (no location given) wanted to know what the club’s ambitions for the 2020-21 season were and what success would look like?
Barber said that improving on the season just gone is always the aim and that would help the Albion in their long-term ambition to become an established top 10 club.

He pointed out that if we avoid relegation this season, it will be the longest stretch Brighton have had in the top flight in their history. That would be a big achievement.

Potter echoed Barber, saying that unless you are one of eight clubs, you are always fighting to stay in the league and so that was the overriding aim as well as improving and developing players.

Mark (no location given) wanted to know if fans could be tested for coronavirus when entering the Amex to speed up the return of supporters?
Barber said until a rapid test was available then there was little point testing at the turnstiles. Results take 24-48 hours, so you would only find out if someone was carrying Covid two days after the game they had attended. If a quicker test was developed, then that would change – but Barber did not think that was likely to happen anytime soon.

Nicholas (no location given) wanted to know if Graham knew what his best team is and whether a back three was how he would play in 2020-21?
Potter looked a little flustered at this, which perhaps should not be a surprise given that “knowing your best team” is a phrase that you could never associate with a bloke who played Davy Propper at right back.

Unsurprisingly, Potter said that he was not in a position to name his best team as it was all about the best combinations to pose a threat and contain the opposition (just not Propper at right back, please). A back three was certainly an option, but you had to stay flexible in the Premier League.

Host Johnny Cantor then got a good question in – which player from another Premier League club would Graham like to sign?
Potter said the player who had stood out the most was Virgil van Dijk. Another bloody defender! At this rate, the Albion will end up with more centre backs than Justin Bieber has Instagram followers.

Paul (no location given) wanted to say thanks to Graham, Paul and everyone for the job they did in 2019-20. Paul had noticed that Solly March often passes back rather than taking on a man. Paul also said that Steve Alzate’s best position was as a central midfielder. He wanted to know if Graham had considered asking March to beat players and whether he had thought about using Alzate in central midfield?
Ding ding ding! It took a while, but we finally got out favourite type of Brighton Fans’ Forum question as a supporter dishes out some tactical advice to the manager.

Potter said the challenge for March was that he was playing against Premier League defenders and it is not always easy to get around them. Sometimes, a backwards pass is better for drawing out a defence and creating space to exploit.

Then something very surprising happened. Perhaps for the first time ever at a Brighton Fans’ Forum, a manager actually agreed with the tactical wisdom a supporter was passing on as Potter said he agreed that Alzate’s best position was in central midfielder.

We now look forward to seeing Potter use him at right back, right wing, left wing, centre back, up front and in goal at various points this season.

Johnny Cantor then jumped in again to ask about the financial situation in light of the lost revenue through lockdown and football being played behind closed doors?
Host Johnny clearly did not want Potter getting bombarded with more tactical advice and so he moved the evening on by asking Barber to shed some light on the current financial situation.

Barber said that we are very lucky to have Bloom bankrolling the club, but even with his hundreds of millions the Albion still needed to protect their other revenue sources – namely, that massive overseas television deal which makes up the bulk of the club’s income. Again, he seemed very keen to highlight just how important kick off times in Shanghai and Calcutta are.

He also touched upon the significant amounts of money that the Albion were losing all the time the Amex does not open; through no gate receipts, lack of sponsorship and other non-football events which are normally held at the Amex being cancelled.

Barber added that however bad it is for us, it is far worse down the pyramid. That is why the club are keen to lead from the front to try and get stadiums open again.

Clubs in the Championship, League One and League Two need to have supporters in attendance as a matter of urgency to prevent them going out of business. The Albion wanted to help by trialling ways for it to be done safely.

Ray (no location given) wanted to know if Ben White would play a major role in 2020-21 and whether he had it written into his new contract that he would have more playing time?
Another welcome Brighton Fans’ Forum moment is a good old fashioned conspiracy theory getting an airing, this time that White had only signed his new deal because it stated Potter had to play him in a certain amount of games.

It was a hark back to the good old days when Micky Adams played Adam Virgo as a right winger, sparking rumours that Virgo had a clause in his contract stating that he must start every week following his return from Celtic.

Potter confirmed that there was no such clause in White’s contract stating that he must play. He looked completely baffled that somebody could even think such a thing exists.

You will have to trust us on this one Graham, but if you watched Virgo trying to beat a man and get a cross in away at Northampton Town in September 2008, then you could well believe it to be a real.

Russell (no location given) wanted to know if the club had any plans to stop Marcelo Bielsa spying on Brighton training this season?
Barber said there were very high fences at Lancing. We are not convinced those fences will do much good when there is an airport next door full of light aircraft and helicopters, Paul.