[Albion] Supporters attitude towards players leaving…

Frankie · Jan 23, 2023

I would assume there's a very decent European qualifying bonus for players and staff alike if that comes to pass,I'd be amazed if players like Mitoma and Caciedo would want to leave knowing there could be a extra 50 quid in their pay packet.

It's probably best not to get ahead of ourselves as supporters but it's very hard not to be thinking about far away places watching Brighton and Hove Albion in Europe!

Not losing your best players is always a good thing for a football club,keeping them happy seems to be impossible when they get the text from the devil saying another club wants you for double the money.

I've stopped believing managers and players saying they're happy blah blah but I do trust the owner of the football club and whatever he says he will do I can believe he'll do it and do it for the greater good of the football club he loves.

Poskettspurpose · Jan 23, 2023

I was having this conversation with my in laws over the weekend (season ticket holders). Its a bitter sweet feeling knowing the club has been so brilliant in their recruitment that we have sold (and pending value of players) in the region £3-400m and the success and attention they have brought to the club. However without the massive financial (impossible?) push it would take to get us winning silverware and challenging the top 6 regularly it leaves us in this wonderland of wierdness where we are inevitably having to sell our talent as they want more money and success. Should the recruitment not maintain these incredible finds we could find ourselves back in a relegation fight like our good friends along the coast who have arguably been using this very model to great effect for years, in fact they might have been one of the pioneers in that respect.

I console myself by believing that should we go down, our infrastructure is sound and along with Tony and Paul's contingency planning, we would bounce back and most importantly the football would remain highly entertaining.

Bold Seagull · Jan 23, 2023

Johnny RoastBeef said:
You may be correct, who knows? But both Lamptey and Gilmour left Chelsea for us, so there is an argument that we can still offer something to young ambitious prospects.

Absolutely, I only replied because you suggested a couple of players chose us over a big club offer through their hunger - I was just offering the opinion that they didn't have that choice and we were probably the best real offer on the table.

There's no argument from me that we are an excellent place to be for ambitious young prospects who will get a far bigger shot at breaking through here than at some other clubs.

Bold Seagull · Jan 23, 2023

HalfaSeatOn said:
As long as we sell big to ‘the big 6’ and not the others , can’t see the problem. It’s great being ahead of some and on the tails of the big 6 but to mix it up with them on an on going basis? Really? There’s 2 leagues in the EPL. If we can sustain competing to lead EPL B that would be some achievement and pounce on the cups (bloody Charlton)

Teams like Leeds in the 90s, Leicester recently have tried to live with the spending power of these big clubs, offering the big contracts to their star players to keep them, and it ends in financial difficulty.

Unless football follows American sporting models of salary caps to try to keep a more level playing field, not sure how a club like Brighton trying to keep salaries within financial sustainability can compete with clubs who at the drop of a hat can offer to triple a player's wages or more.

Cheeky Monkey · Jan 23, 2023

Poskettspurpose said:
I was having this conversation with my in laws over the weekend (season ticket holders). Its a bitter sweet feeling knowing the club has been so brilliant in their recruitment that we have sold (and pending value of players) in the region £3-400m and the success and attention they have brought to the club. However without the massive financial (impossible?) push it would take to get us winning silverware and challenging the top 6 regularly it leaves us in this wonderland of wierdness where we are inevitably having to sell our talent as they want more money and success. Should the recruitment not maintain these incredible finds we could find ourselves back in a relegation fight like our good friends along the coast who have arguably been using this very model to great effect for years, in fact they might have been one of the pioneers in that respect.

I console myself by believing that should we go down, our infrastructure is sound and along with Tony and Paul's contingency planning, we would bounce back and most importantly the football would remain highly entertaining.

Bitter sweet indeed, the frustration of what could be for us, doubly so when these big clubs have enough resources of their own to source players and there is already such an imbalance in the league without them snuffing out any potential lesser challengers by picking off their talent, on top of that the media fawning over the these big clubs and the amazing talent (some of which was once ours, Southampton’s, whoever's) in their squads rubs further salt into things.

trueblue · Jan 23, 2023

Johnny RoastBeef said:
You may be correct, who knows? But both Lamptey and Gilmour left Chelsea for us, so there is an argument that we can still offer something to young ambitious prospects.

I suppose the thing with those 2 is that they were already experiencing the reality - no pathway to first team football. Not working out great on that front for them currently either, but that’s a different issue. A teenage foreigner who’s striving to play at the highest level is going to find the lure of the biggest clubs hard to resist if there’s a genuine offer. I don’t think many will have grown up dreaming of wearing the Albion shirt… but maybe the next generation will…

Bold Seagull · Jan 23, 2023

Poskettspurpose said:
I was having this conversation with my in laws over the weekend (season ticket holders). Its a bitter sweet feeling knowing the club has been so brilliant in their recruitment that we have sold (and pending value of players) in the region £3-400m and the success and attention they have brought to the club. However without the massive financial (impossible?) push it would take to get us winning silverware and challenging the top 6 regularly it leaves us in this wonderland of wierdness where we are inevitably having to sell our talent as they want more money and success. Should the recruitment not maintain these incredible finds we could find ourselves back in a relegation fight like our good friends along the coast who have arguably been using this very model to great effect for years, in fact they might have been one of the pioneers in that respect.

I console myself by believing that should we go down, our infrastructure is sound and along with Tony and Paul's contingency planning, we would bounce back and most importantly the football would remain highly entertaining.

The difference with Southampton is that successive owners have not had any passion or love for the football club. Katharina Liebherr inherited her later father's ownership of Saints in 2010 and had little interest in football, fell out with Nicola Cortese who had been running it and bought the likes of Pochettino in. They're now owned by 'Sport Republic' after taking over from Gao Jishen who took control from Liebherr in 2020.

I see Saints mentioned a lot across social media in relation to us with selling your best players and look what happens, but Southampton's cautionary tale isn't about the selling, it's about ownership, management, reinvestment etc.

nicko31 · Jan 23, 2023

Bold Seagull said:
Teams like Leeds in the 90s, Leicester recently have tried to live with the spending power of these big clubs, offering the big contracts to their star players to keep them, and it ends in financial difficulty.

Unless football follows American sporting models of salary caps to try to keep a more level playing field, not sure how a club like Brighton trying to keep salaries within financial sustainability can compete with clubs who at the drop of a hat can offer to triple a player's wages or more.

Yep, all the time the likes of Chelsea and Citeh are allowed to distort the game, nothing will change.

TugWilson · Jan 23, 2023

Justice said:
TBF we don’t know if there has been a genuine approach or it’s a case of social media wishful thinking.

True , but i thought i read that Chelsea had offered £55m in writing , although that was from an item on Newsnow . But i do remember Arsenal making it clear to any suitors to stay the heck away , do not come after our players , and they didn`t .

Clive Walker · Jan 23, 2023

im usually a little non plus when it comes to players leaving. At my age i've seen the ups and downs and normally support the club and not an individual. However, with us heading in the direction we are I am feeling increasingly uneasy about letting our stars leave as it is becoming even harder to replace them.

However, in comparison to my eldest (9 year old) who has been moping around the house all weekend like a love sick puppy by virtue of his fav player leaving for Arsenal on Friday. Kids today tend to support the player or players over the club and while I do feel for him it will only get worse if he/they keep up that mentality. I guess its a sympton of brighton being in the EPL his entire footballing life wheraas the vast majority have experienced real heartache when it comes to BHAFC.

Javeaseagull · Jan 23, 2023

I’m going to try to remain relaxed about the whole thing so long as we have TB as the owner. We are moaning about bigger, richer clubs cherry picking our players when that is exactly what we do to other poorer, smaller clubs! It’s about being smarter, in the words of our leaders.

DavidRyder · Jan 23, 2023

It’s a privilege to watch the current Brighton team play, and unfortunately with that comes teams poaching our best. But I’m really impressed with our recruitment model. Buy players, loan them out, bring them in when they’re up to speed and watch them go (not literally, hopefully). My worries of losing a key player are nowhere near as bad as they used to be, as I’m confident that we can bring in very able replacements now. And when players do go, we are maximizing the price. The club is run by an amazing man with a great business mind. We are very lucky.

Eric the meek · Jan 23, 2023

Does anyone know if Bloom/Barber see the transfers of our star players as the problem that we do?

Perhaps they see them as opportunities, as confirmation that the grand plan is working and sustainable, and a pipeline of cash to help the bottom line.

attila · Jan 23, 2023

There will be bigger Clubs,

Mustafa II said:
We are better than ever.

We are bigger than ever.

There will always be bigger and better teams.

However we are approaching a time where some of the worlds best players genuinely want to play for us.

If we continue our trajectory, then a time will come where we can and will keep our best players.

I think we're nearly there already.

There will always be bigger clubs, historically, but not always better teams

pocketseagull · Jan 23, 2023

Springal said:
Caicedo at least Man Utd walked away because there appeared to be 3 or 4 agencies claiming to represent him so they felt it became a difficult deal to do

Yep and this is where I worry about Winstanley, our personal contact into that market is now at Chelsea.

Joey Jo Jo Jr. Shabadoo · Jan 23, 2023

pocketseagull said:
Yep and this is where I worry about Winstanley, our personal contact into that market is now at Chelsea.

Not necessarily, Sam Jewell, Paul's son is our main scout in that South American market. He's still involved with the club. I'm sure Tony Bloom isn't stupid enough to have only 1 person who knows the in's and out's and pitfalls of bringing in players from that continent.

Cheshire Cat · Jan 23, 2023

Players come, players go - like owners, managers and supporters.

We go up the league. We go down the league.

There is summer. Followed by winter.

Poskettspurpose · Jan 23, 2023

Bold Seagull said:
The difference with Southampton is that successive owners have not had any passion or love for the football club. Katharina Liebherr inherited her later father's ownership of Saints in 2010 and had little interest in football, fell out with Nicola Cortese who had been running it and bought the likes of Pochettino in. They're now owned by 'Sport Republic' after taking over from Gao Jishen who took control from Liebherr in 2020.

I see Saints mentioned a lot across social media in relation to us with selling your best players and look what happens, but Southampton's cautionary tale isn't about the selling, it's about ownership, management, reinvestment etc.

I understand what your saying and agree Tony Bloom is a relatively unique phenomenon in elite football currently, but not historically ie Jack Walker (owner and a fan) at Blackburn. You're still left with the same issue though which is holding on to star players in a top half of the table squad that's competing for Europe or silverware. How much can we afford to pay the players to stay? What is our ceiling? What is the catchment for the Albion in the south east as far as attendances at the Amex? What is our potential market abroad? Are we truly trying to achieve something unique with ever increasing capital investment in the team or is Tony just going to start pocketing the proceeds of these big money sales going forward?

Bold Seagull · Jan 24, 2023

Poskettspurpose said:
I understand what your saying and agree Tony Bloom is a relatively unique phenomenon in elite football currently, but not historically ie Jack Walker (owner and a fan) at Blackburn. You're still left with the same issue though which is holding on to star players in a top half of the table squad that's competing for Europe or silverware. How much can we afford to pay the players to stay? What is our ceiling? What is the catchment for the Albion in the south east as far as attendances at the Amex? What is our potential market abroad? Are we truly trying to achieve something unique with ever increasing capital investment in the team or is Tony just going to start pocketing the proceeds of these big money sales going forward?

I think the point is that you have a structure in place that defines earnings and salaries for players, and if a player reaches the point of someone else offering riches and a chance beyond that, then at the right price you have to sell or have someone toxic in the dressing room. That is the balancing act you have to play.

Can't speak for what TB is ultimately looking to do, but the club is laying down foundations, probably at some cost, to scout and explore talent around the world. Not only does this identify some absolute stars in the making, our global presence has been transformed in a relatively short period of time. Even without the World Cup, in South America, Japan, Africa - Brighton is suddenly a team worth paying attention to. You not only get a player, you get an extended fan base and exposure.

This bigger global reach isn't just shirt sales, the sponsorship opportunities are multiplied from provincial football team to global brand that other brands will pay to be associated with. It is one area of growth that the Albion can really tap into to.

For me, Tony's unique ownership isn't just that he's a fan, it's the detailed knowledge and effort he puts into owning a football club. I heard from a friend of a friend, and what has cropped up now and again that TB keeps a spreadsheet of potential candidates for every role at the club, constantly monitoring the world of football for who is doing what in their field of expertise, whether scouting, coaching, analysis etc. He meets regularly not only with senior figures at the club, but roles throughout the staff, chatting about what what they are doing, what they need, how their role is. I don't think many owners put that kind of time into it.

rippleman · Jan 24, 2023

el punal said:
I would like to think that our successful methods in the recruiting and developing of raw, young talent is being taken on board by the so-called big clubs. That way their lazy, splash the cash, disruptive approach to obtaining players from clubs like us is curtailed.

I, with many other Brighton fans, am hacked off with certain outfits (Chelsea?) who decide that they can cherry pick your best players on a whim. Apart from Ben White at Arsenal, who’s transfer was conducted ‘properly’, the players that have moved on have had a hard time of it. Perhaps the grass isn’t always greener on the other side.

And Big Dan Burn. I believe he asked nicely if he could take up the opportunity at his boyhood club and was allowed to leave kerfuffle free. But possibly someone with closer contacts within the club knows otherwise.

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