Gus Poyet has set his players a challenge for the second half of the Championship season, which he hopes will see Albion move into the play-off positions...
The Albion boss referred to Reading’s title-winning finish to the Championship last season, which he feels was inspired by their business during the January transfer window.
Poyet told seagulls.co.uk, “If I look at each game we didn’t win during the first half of the season it can be frustrating but I’m just trying to get enough points to get into the top six.
“If we improve a little bit and win two or three more games during the second half of the season we have a great chance of making the top six. That means that it’s in our hands.
“We need to earn another 40, 42 or 43 points from 23 games to get there. Nothing is out of my equations though because we play to win every game.
"The easiest thing to look at is Reading last season; they changed a few things in January, especially with Jason Roberts coming in, and they won the league."
The January transfer window opens in less than a week and Poyet is pleased with developments his recruitment team has made, but insisted that signings remain unpredictable until the deal is done.
“I’m happy with the way we have been looking at players and with the approaches we have made so far but the last part is the most difficult part. Until they sign you don’t know what’s going to happen.
“It’s almost the transfer window so now is my time. I will use it as much as I can. We have a target which is a main number nine target man, which we have been looking for everywhere.
“If we put a team on the back foot at the Amex and we put balls into the box we need someone to win the ball in the air and that will be with a proper number nine-style striker.”
Meanwhile, the Seagulls have had an extended break from match action over the festive season after their game at Ewood Park was postponed and the Boxing Day clash was moved forward, and the Uruguayan has used that time to implement new ideas on the training ground.
“I normally like to train. If you asked me when I was a player I just wanted to play matches all of the time but as a manager I like train because you can try different things and prepare in a different way, especially when the opposition does something different.
“Watford play different to the rest and most of the time they play a different system as well. We need to adapt and you need to train things for that system.
“In terms of tactical work it was similar to pre-season but not in terms of physical work. It was an interesting week for me to see lots of different things and to start bringing back some injured players but the result on Saturday will say if it’s been a good thing or not.”
Original article
The Albion boss referred to Reading’s title-winning finish to the Championship last season, which he feels was inspired by their business during the January transfer window.
Poyet told seagulls.co.uk, “If I look at each game we didn’t win during the first half of the season it can be frustrating but I’m just trying to get enough points to get into the top six.
“If we improve a little bit and win two or three more games during the second half of the season we have a great chance of making the top six. That means that it’s in our hands.
“We need to earn another 40, 42 or 43 points from 23 games to get there. Nothing is out of my equations though because we play to win every game.
"The easiest thing to look at is Reading last season; they changed a few things in January, especially with Jason Roberts coming in, and they won the league."
The January transfer window opens in less than a week and Poyet is pleased with developments his recruitment team has made, but insisted that signings remain unpredictable until the deal is done.
“I’m happy with the way we have been looking at players and with the approaches we have made so far but the last part is the most difficult part. Until they sign you don’t know what’s going to happen.
“It’s almost the transfer window so now is my time. I will use it as much as I can. We have a target which is a main number nine target man, which we have been looking for everywhere.
“If we put a team on the back foot at the Amex and we put balls into the box we need someone to win the ball in the air and that will be with a proper number nine-style striker.”
Meanwhile, the Seagulls have had an extended break from match action over the festive season after their game at Ewood Park was postponed and the Boxing Day clash was moved forward, and the Uruguayan has used that time to implement new ideas on the training ground.
“I normally like to train. If you asked me when I was a player I just wanted to play matches all of the time but as a manager I like train because you can try different things and prepare in a different way, especially when the opposition does something different.
“Watford play different to the rest and most of the time they play a different system as well. We need to adapt and you need to train things for that system.
“In terms of tactical work it was similar to pre-season but not in terms of physical work. It was an interesting week for me to see lots of different things and to start bringing back some injured players but the result on Saturday will say if it’s been a good thing or not.”
Original article