[Albion] There is ZERO chance of SIGNING anyone today.

mejonaNO12 aka riskit · May 4, 2017

I appreciate he's not been prolific AT ALL in the premier league but someone in the PL will pluck for Rudy Gestede.

A proper handful when the ball is crossed in. I've always been keen to see what he would do at a better team than the 3 he experienced PL football with (Cardiff, Villa, Boro)

I imagine Reading or Hudds would suit if they come up.

warmleyseagull · May 4, 2017

Stat Brother said:
No he didn't.

He spent x times more than anybody else, over paying for a team to guarantee promotion which he did with 1 game to go.

Were Villa not such a basketcase Benitez' 'achievement' would be laughed at.

Bit harsh as he made £45m net surplus on transfers, £30m out and £75m in.

Finchley Seagull · May 4, 2017

warmleyseagull said:
Bit harsh as he made £45m net surplus on transfers, £30m out and £75m in.

Think it was about £50 million spent. No doubting he made a profit (think it was about £30 million) but he had players he could sell that would make him that money e.g. Sissoko, and others who remained who were clearly better than most at this level e.g. Mitrovic, Shelvey etc. During the summer he was able to spend big on players who are proven at this level like Ritchie, Gayle, Clark, Murphy and Hanley. Just because others got it spectacularly wrong, it doesn't make the achievement of Benitez any higher. His squad should have ended up 10 to 15 points clear at the top rather than having to hope we drop points on the last day to win the title.

GT49er · May 4, 2017

Finchley Seagull said:
Think it was about £50 million spent. No doubting he made a profit (think it was about £30 million) but he had players he could sell that would make him that money e.g. Sissoko, and others who remained who were clearly better than most at this level e.g. Mitrovic, Shelvey etc. During the summer he was able to spend big on players who are proven at this level like Ritchie, Gayle, Clark, Murphy and Hanley. Just because others got it spectacularly wrong, it doesn't make the achievement of Benitez any higher. His squad should have ended up 10 to 15 points clear at the top rather than having to hope we drop points on the last day to win the title.

I don't understand all this trying to belittle Benitez' abilities. He had a job to do; he had a budget to spend. He spent the budget in a manner that achieved exactly what it had to do - it got his team straight back to the PL. In other words, he succeeded.
Just because he spent a lot of money, that doesn't make it unsuccessful. Mourinha and Guardiola, for instance, also spend lots of money; they also are good managers.

lawros left foot · May 4, 2017

May I be the first to say,

Its only just over three months to go till the season kicks off, and we haven't singed anyone yet!!

Barber out!!

Finchley Seagull · May 4, 2017

GT49er said:
I don't understand all this trying to belittle Benitez' abilities. He had a job to do; he had a budget to spend. He spent the budget in a manner that achieved exactly what it had to do - it got his team straight back to the PL. In other words, he succeeded.
Just because he spent a lot of money, that doesn't make it unsuccessful. Mourinha and Guardiola, for instance, also spend lots of money; they also are good managers.

But they are competing with a lot of teams who spend similar amounts. Benitez had the biggest budget in the league (only Villa really come close) and the basis of a team that should have stayed up. Arguably Hughton had a less good squad last time Newcastle were down and got them up with over 100 points.

Nobody is belittling his achievements, it's more putting his success in context. If they win the league on Sunday, he will have succeeded. If they don't, I would suggest he has under achieved even though the end result will be the same.

Finchley Seagull · May 4, 2017

lawros left foot said:
May I be the first to say,

Its only just over three months to go till the season kicks off, and we haven't singed anyone yet!!

Barber out!!

Disgraceful, isn't it? And if we lose on Sunday, there will be people on here saying we need to sell all our players and buy a whole new squad to compete in the Premier League. I can't wait.

The_Viper · May 4, 2017

I'm gonna say it. No rumours on this one at all, but I would LOVE us to try and sign Kevin PRINCE Boateng, playing for Las Palmas in La Liga, scoring goals and he is still only 30. If CH wants to play with one behind the striker or a bit of bite in midfield with 3 in there he would be an amazing signing. We'd be a step up from his current team, he has amazing experience and he's played in the prem before. You're welcome BHA scouting team if you're reading this.

GT49er · May 4, 2017

Finchley Seagull said:
But they are competing with a lot of teams who spend similar amounts. Benitez had the biggest budget in the league (only Villa really come close) and the basis of a team that should have stayed up. Arguably Hughton had a less good squad last time Newcastle were down and got them up with over 100 points.

Nobody is belittling his achievements, it's more putting his success in context. If they win the league on Sunday, he will have succeeded. If they don't, I would suggest he has under achieved even though the end result will be the same.

At the end of the day, whether they nick the title on Sunday or not, he has succeeded.

Ⓩ-Ⓐ-Ⓜ-Ⓞ-Ⓡ-Ⓐ · May 4, 2017

The_Viper said:
I'm gonna say it. No rumours on this one at all, but I would LOVE us to try and sign Kevin PRINCE Boateng, playing for Las Palmas in La Liga, scoring goals and he is still only 30. If CH wants to play with one behind the striker or a bit of bite in midfield with 3 in there he would be an amazing signing. We'd be a step up from his current team, he has amazing experience and he's played in the prem before. You're welcome BHA scouting team if you're reading this.

Good article about him a few months back in the Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/football/2017/feb/07/kevin-prince-boateng-las-palmas-interview

SeagullofMalaysia · May 4, 2017

The_Viper said:
I'm gonna say it. No rumours on this one at all, but I would LOVE us to try and sign Kevin PRINCE Boateng, playing for Las Palmas in La Liga, scoring goals and he is still only 30. If CH wants to play with one behind the striker or a bit of bite in midfield with 3 in there he would be an amazing signing. We'd be a step up from his current team, he has amazing experience and he's played in the prem before. You're welcome BHA scouting team if you're reading this.

Has had attitude issues in the past, but I'm sure CH definitely knows how to manage him, and he seems to have rehabilitated himself at Las Palmas

Why not?

Papa Lazarou · May 4, 2017

GT49er said:
At the end of the day, whether they nick the title on Sunday or not, he has succeeded.

Yep. No-one (accept some peed off BHAFC fans) will remember anything other than the final league table.

IF we don't win it, everyone will remember Newcastle as the best team in the Championship 2016/17.

chaileyjem · May 4, 2017

sparkie said:
We should get news of contract extensions soon after the Villa game.

Although I suspect that at least for Stephens it'll still be uncertain for now.

Yep. Hughton has to do a retained list early next week.
Players in first team squad who we are letting go, have signed or have been offered new contracts.
Most of the key players in the squad are tied down to new , long contracts but for those who are not...

My predictions:
Letting go: COG, Ankergren, Forren, Maenpaa
New contracts/offered: Stephens, Bong, Sidwell, Stockdale
Uncertain: Lua Lua, Manu, Towell will probably be wondering if they will be sold/out on loan again/remain on the fringes as they still all have 1 year left on their contracts.
Loanees : I guess only Poco out of our 3 loanees might be coming back.

Clive Walker · May 4, 2017

chaileyjem said:
Yep. Hughton has to do a retained list early next week.
Players in first team squad who we are letting go, have signed or have been offered new contracts.
Most of the key players in the squad are tied down to new , long contracts but for those who are not...

My predictions:
Letting go: COG, Ankergren, Forren, Maenpaa
New contracts/offered: Stephens, Bong, Sidwell, Stockdale
Uncertain: Lua Lua, Manu, Towell will probably be wondering if they will be sold/out on loan again/remain on the fringes as they still all have 1 year left on their contracts.
Loanees : I guess only Poco out of our 3 loanees might be coming back.

understand that Casper is actually part of the coaching set up and has been for some time, unofficially (having a squad no etc)

sparkie · May 4, 2017

Clive Walker said:
understand that Casper is actually part of the coaching set up and has been for some time, unofficially (having a squad no etc)

I'm sure he won't make the 25 man squad, but maybe he'd be registered in case of a cup emergency.

chaileyjem · May 4, 2017

chaileyjem said:
My predictions:
Letting go: COG, Ankergren, Forren, Maenpaa
New contracts/offered: Stephens, Bong, Sidwell, Stockdale
Uncertain: Lua Lua, Manu, Towell will probably be wondering if they will be sold/out on loan again/remain on the fringes as they still all have 1 year left on their contracts.
Loanees : I guess only Poco out of our 3 loanees might be coming back.

If Lua Lua, Manu and Towell are sold/loaned, (and Ince) and the 4 out of contract all accept new offers, then that would leave a first team squad of 21...looking like this with room for 4 (assuming nobody goes anywhere) "quality" signings.
h/t http://www.northstandchat.com/content.php?655-Brighton-Hove-Albion-squad-contract-durations-2016-17

GOALKEEPERS
13. David Stockdale June 30 2017
26. Christian Walton June 30 2018

DEFENDERS
2. Bruno Saltor June 30 2018
3. Gaetan Bong June 30 2017
4. Uwe Huenemeier June 30 2018
5. Lewis Dunk June 30 2021
12. Sebastien Pocognoli
18. Connor Goldson June 30 2020
22. Shane Duffy June 30 2020
23. Liam Rosenior June 30 2018

CENTRAL MIDFIELDERS
6. Dale Stephens June 30 2017
7. Beram Kayal June 30 2019
14. Steve Sidwell June 30 2017
21. Oliver Norwood June 30 2019

WIDE MIDFIELDERS
8. Jiri Skalak June 30 2019
11. Anthony Knockaert June 30 2021
15. Jamie Murphy June 30 2019
20. Solomon March June 30 2020

FORWARDS
9. Sam Baldock June 30 2018
10. Tomer Hemed June 30 2018
17. Glenn Murray June 30 2019

warmleyseagull · May 4, 2017

Finchley Seagull said:
Think it was about £50 million spent. No doubting he made a profit (think it was about £30 million) but he had players he could sell that would make him that money e.g. Sissoko, and others who remained who were clearly better than most at this level e.g. Mitrovic, Shelvey etc. During the summer he was able to spend big on players who are proven at this level like Ritchie, Gayle, Clark, Murphy and Hanley. Just because others got it spectacularly wrong, it doesn't make the achievement of Benitez any higher. His squad should have ended up 10 to 15 points clear at the top rather than having to hope we drop points on the last day to win the title.

I got my figures from Soccer base: http://www.soccerbase.com/teams/team.sd?team_id=1823&teamTabs=transfers. This mentions £30m spend and net £45m in. Benitez does IMO deserve credit for reengineering his squad, not only recruiting the right payers, but making good money on leavers. Villa and Norwich show how parachute payments don't necessarily bring about instant Championship success.

It is easy to say how relegated teams should go straight back due to parachute payments, wonder whether we shall be as presumptuous if it happens to Albion.

Finchley Seagull · May 4, 2017

warmleyseagull said:
I got my figures from Soccer base: http://www.soccerbase.com/teams/team.sd?team_id=1823&teamTabs=transfers. This mentions £30m spend and net £45m in. Benitez does IMO deserve credit for reengineering his squad, not only recruiting the right payers, but making good money on leavers. Villa and Norwich show how parachute payments don't necessarily bring about instant Championship success.

It is easy to say how relegated teams should go straight back due to parachute payments, wonder whether we shall be as presumptuous if it happens to Albion.

Re spend. If you look at that list, it is £30 million plus seven undisclosed fees. They weren't all free. Hanley for example cost more than Duffy did.

I'm not saying they should all go back up but they had by far the best squad to go down in the last couple of years and added to it with a number of signings. It's not a great achievement, just matching expectation.

GT49er · May 4, 2017

Finchley Seagull said:
........................ but they had by far the best squad to go down in the last couple of years and added to it with a number of signings.

Questionable, considering how carp they were in the PL. The point you're persistently ignoring is that most of that team was shipped out (Sissoko, Wijnaldum, Townsend, Jammat, Cabella, Cisse, Collocini, Taylor, Tiote, Krul - plus plenty of others) and Benitez had to practically build a new team from scratch. Yes, there was then money to spend. Can you not possibly agree that he might just have spent it wisely, and should also be credited for getting a virtually new team up and running very effectively pretty quickly?
If not, I'm afraid you must just be wearing some sort of anti-Benitez blinkers.

Finchley Seagull · May 4, 2017

GT49er said:
Questionable, considering how carp they were in the PL. The point you're persistently ignoring is that most of that team was shipped out (Sissoko, Wijnaldum, Townsend, Jammat, Cabella, Cisse, Collocini, Taylor, Tiote, Krul - plus plenty of others) and Benitez had to practically build a new team from scratch. Yes, there was then money to spend. Can you not possibly agree that he might just have spent it wisely, and should also be credited for getting a virtually new team up and running very effectively pretty quickly?
If not, I'm afraid you must just be wearing some sort of anti-Benitez blinkers.

I'm not anti Benitez, I'm just making a point about not going over the top with praise. Hughton has done far more with less resources.

I think the issue I have is he may have spent wisely but when you can spend £10 million plus on the likes of Gayle and Ritchie, it is hard to spend badly at this level. And he may have lost a whole team but he still had the likes of Lascelles, Colback, Darlow, Mitrovic, Shelvey, Dummett, Mbemba, Anita, Gouffran and Perez. Hardly down to the bare bones.

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