[Albion] Disquiet in the camp?

Mo Gosfield said:

Quite.
We indulged these players in the Championship because we were generally winning and their inaccuracy was excused. At this level, it is exposed. Knocky is far and away the worst offender but gets a free ride from many fans. The others mentioned are also culpable and we have to face facts that they are not going to improve. Over a period of time, we have to replace these players with those who can exec ute to a more accurate level. As our ability to play quick, simple, accurate football improves, so will our chances of prolonging our stay in the PL.

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zefarelly said:

I thought a few ales and a good nights sleep would be a fix, but I'm just as angry and pissed off this morning.

I'm off to stand in the wind and rain In the shithole that is Hollingbury and watch my son and a load of u14's play, its guaranteed to be better than yesterday's game.

Currently supporting the Albion ( AWAY ) is painful. A massive waste of time and money, but we don't matter as the PL is too much of a cash cow.

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Mo Gosfield said:

Quite.
We indulged these players in the Championship because we were generally winning and their inaccuracy was excused. At this level, it is exposed. Knocky is far and away the worst offender but gets a free ride from many fans. The others mentioned are also culpable and we have to face facts that they are not going to improve. Over a period of time, we have to replace these players with those who can exec ute to a more accurate level. As our ability to play quick, simple, accurate football improves, so will our chances of prolonging our stay in the PL.

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One Teddy Maybank said:

Knockaert wasn’t great Saturday, but to be fair on him for some reason he was left out when he was playing well, seemingly to give AJ a game (I cannot think of any other reason and certainly none tactically).

IMO this is a big season for Knocky, because last season he was ordinary at best and has a lot to prove.


I agree but remain to be convinced that he can change his style. In the Championship ,he got away with overplaying and his profligacy went unpunished a lot more. At Cardiff, he gave the ball away over and over again. You just cannot afford to keep doing this at this level and that is why CH puts his trust in others to retain the ball and pass it better than Knocky. The manager knows that he has a potential moment of magic in his locker but equally knows that he is his number one liability in the PL.

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Mustafa said:

Massive overreaction, as always.

We're still 12th. We were very unlucky today.

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spence said:

Maybe GT49er ?

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Mo Gosfield said:

One Teddy Maybank said:

Knockaert wasn’t great Saturday, but to be fair on him for some reason he was left out when he was playing well, seemingly to give AJ a game (I cannot think of any other reason and certainly none tactically).

IMO this is a big season for Knocky, because last season he was ordinary at best and has a lot to prove.


I agree but remain to be convinced that he can change his style. In the Championship ,he got away with overplaying and his profligacy went unpunished a lot more. At Cardiff, he gave the ball away over and over again. You just cannot afford to keep doing this at this level and that is why CH puts his trust in others to retain the ball and pass it better than Knocky. The manager knows that he has a potential moment of magic in his locker but equally knows that he is his number one liability in the PL.

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And this is maybe the issue that everyone is discussing in a wider context , especially for away games.
Do you play Knockaert who will give you a moment of magic but be a bit of a risk, or Jahanbakhsh who does what he is told, with the mentality of defend and don’t be too adventurous.
Eventually, surely, law of averages and all that, with the cautious mentality, we will end up drawing or losing, because if you never attack, you’re never going to score and you lose or draw. And this is why we have been the worst away team in the Premier League for two seasons.
I will always support this club through thick and thin, but away games are starting to become a complete waste of time, the football is so bad, it seems to get in the way of a good day out.
I completely agree with El Presidente on the finances and we can’t afford to go down too soon.
But is there no way for away games that we can take a few more risks and be a bit more entertaining?
We always these away games anyway so why not lose showing a bit more fight.


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El Presidente said:

Is it a case of CH reaching his ceiling or a case of the club as an entity within the football pecking order. Tony Bloom has spent £300 million of his hard earned taking the Albion from the bottom of League One at Withdean to presently 12th in the Premier League. He probably feels that the clubs should be self financing at this level and as such pragmatism overrides taking risks on the pitch.

In the Championship we had a competitive budget in terms of being able to invest in the squad thanks to Tony's benevolence and consequently had three playoff places and an automatic promotion in six years in that division.

In the Premier League we are less money than most as a result of stadium size, commercial contracts and sponsorship, and this is reflected in how the club competes in the transfer market. We were missing two of our most influential players and simply don't at this stage of our history in this division have the resources to replace them with players as good.

Yesterday's team included a left back signed on a free from Wigan, a midfield pairing from Celtic Reserves and Charlton, a second striker from Lewes and a 35 year old leading the line. The result was disappointing, but IMO we were the better team until the red card, defended well and counter attacked with promise in the last 10-15 minutes.

Cardiff, whilst favourites for relegation, are going to win some matches this season, and yesterday proved to be one of them, they had a couple of lucky breaks and made the most of it. They still had £10 million signings to come off the bench and influence the result, as well as some refereeing which went against us, as it will go for us at other times during the season.

Personally I loved the matches against West Ham and Wolves where we defended heroically and won both 1-0, just as much as I enjoyed the victory against Manchester United. All three of those sides had either greater resources than us and in the case of two of them far more PL experience than the Albion but we achieved victories. That didn't make us world beaters no more than defeat yesterday made us 'pathetic' in the eyes of some.

I think yesterday's result does open up a debate as to where realistically we should set our ambitions in this division. Being an old codger who watched us 1979-83 there are parallels in terms of the expectations of fans versus the econcomic realities of competing in a division where mistakes are ruthlessly exploited, as we have seen at Anfield, at home to Spurs and the Etihad.

Fulham are playing an 'attack, attack, attack' style of football in this division and are backed to the hilt by their owner, and look where they presently lie in this division. If that's what people want then that should be communicated to the club, but those advocating such an approach should also have a plan for how the £15-20 million a year losses that are the norm in the Championship are going to be financed too, as it's unfair to expect TB to continue to bankroll such an indulgence.

We will be relegated from this division in due course, there's a certain inevitabilty about it, but until then I'm loving every minute as it won't last forever. Whether that is after two years or four or ten, the idea of hosting some great clubs, travelling to iconic stadia and getting one over on the footballing establishment now and then are moments to savour, and getting turned over at the likes of West Brom, Huddersfield and Cardiff are part of the price to pay.

Whatever happens Chris Hughton is not the problem, as if you want an alternative he would have to be better, not just different, as the likes of Allardyce, Hughes, Pulis and Pardew are not going to turn us into world beaters playing silky football either.

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sydney said:

i think they can definitely improve on where they are at the moment ......to a man they seem to panic when they get the ball , really frustrating because when we do work a bit of space we are great to watch.... i really think we have the ability , it's a matter of a meter this way or that wether a ball is good or crap...!!

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