Brighton’s debacle at Nottingham Forest: Would a full refund to Albion fans mend fences?
So that went well didn’t it? There was me reminiscing about the win at Forest in 1979 and speculating whether lightning does strike twice in the same place. And what happened?
The Albion lose 7-0 – their heaviest league defeat for 68 years. A 9-0 loss against Middlesbrough on the opening day of the 1958/59 season was the largest, with the only tenuous link to 1979 that Brain Clough scored five goals for Boro that day.
A few days on from the X certificate show at the City Ground and fans are still coming to terms with what actually went on.
A tactical mistake seems to be a ‘popular’ theory, Albion boss Fabian Hurzeler wanted to attack high-flying Forest and this was reflected in his starting line-up which on paper did indeed look very cavalier but left the Albion seriously exposed at the back, and some.
The very small, but vocal, ‘Fab Out’ faction are almost crowing like Nigel Farage will be when he wins his first Westminster by-election, but that’s never going to happen, at least not for now... Albion sacking Fab, not Farage.
Rookie young managers in the EPL are almost like hen’s teeth, and Hurzeler’s mistakes on Saturday are as plain to see as the nose on his face, although in his defence, two weeks before this, he became the first manager this season to do the double over Manchester United and won three away games in eight days. It appears at times to be ‘Feast or Famine’ with young Fab.
What comes next is fairly apparent – he will have to be up front, take ownership of the situation and apologise to the fans.
Actions have always spoken louder than words and he must demand a reaction from the players this weekend: they owe it to the fans, and in fact to everyone associated with the club.
On the subject of the fans, in my extreme disappointment I was buoyed to receive a text from a senior figure at Forest, who is a Worthing boy by birth, hence the connection.
He typed: “Not texting to gloat but to say how magnificent your fans were. Lots of respect from the Forest fans for how they stayed, took it with humour and supported their team to the end.”
And perhaps by some way of recompense and damage limitation the Albion should go “old school”.
Back in the day, after heavy defeats, numerous chairman right across the 92 clubs have made the gesture of refunding their travelling support after a truly abject performance.
With the Albion ticketing system, the club will have the bank details of every fan who travelled to Nottingham on Saturday, and given the millions now generated in the EPL through TV money, and this game was selected by TNT Sports for live coverage, it would go a long way and perhaps mend a number of broken fences if the Albion returned everyone’s ticket money from the weekend.
The Albion are revered in football as ‘ground breakers’ but this old school gesture would speak volumes and perhaps give them even more kudos.