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[Albion] If We Survive



el punal

Well-known member
Would you consider our recent appalling slump as a blessing in disguise? What would you consider to be the major problems affecting our form and how would you rectify them? I’m sure the club are aware of the same thing and will be addressing the issues, but it would be interesting to hear the views from a fan’s perspective.
 

The Sock of Poskett

The best is yet to come (spoiler alert)
Jun 12, 2009
2,802
Would you consider our recent appalling slump as a blessing in disguise? What would you consider to be the major problems affecting our form and how would you rectify them? I’m sure the club are aware of the same thing and will be addressing the issues, but it would be interesting to hear the views from a fan’s perspective.

1 Yes - if it makes us properly analyse what has changed in our approach over the last few months.
2 Well, put simply : attitude (we stopped recognising collective nous and determination can make up to a degree for lack of individual quality)
Defensive solidity - we started conceding goals we wouldn't have let in earlier in the season
Midfield tenacity and creativity - when we've had possession we've tended to run out of ideas in the final third
Poor decision making - players wasting good positions by not passing when someone's in a better position, or passing when they should be shooting
Not clinical enough - haven't taken chances created, often early in games
Poor quality shooting - wish I had a quid for every shot ballooned over the bar. Don't they coach players to keep their heads down and over the ball these days ��
Mental resilience - I'd like to know how the club develop the players' mental strength. Hard not to let confidence drop with the results we've had but there must be ways to counter that.

Bottom line - we've largely overachieved in the Premier League, based on the quality we have and the money we've spent. I do believe we can get established as a Premier League side but there's no magic bullet, and spending loads isn't any guarantee (see Fulham). We may have to yo-yo a bit as others have done. Looking forward to the ride.
 

Silverhatch

Well-known member
Feb 23, 2009
4,265
Preston Park
Second season syndrome. Suffering from it massively. Established players think (wrongly) that they’re better than they are. New signings are not grafting as hard as they need to and think (wrongly) that they’re better than they are. Gross has been injured and played too deep at home when he has featured. Lost a lot of experience from the dressing room.
 

GT49er

Well-known member
Feb 1, 2009
46,377
Gloucester
Would you consider our recent appalling slump as a blessing in disguise? What would you consider to be the major problems affecting our form and how would you rectify them? I’m sure the club are aware of the same thing and will be addressing the issues, but it would be interesting to hear the views from a fan’s perspective.
We need a new midfield. We need to blow most of our transfer budget on that - the rest can and will more or less take care of itself if midfield is controlling the game and pulling all the right strings.
 

BN41Albion

Well-known member
Oct 1, 2017
6,351
1 Yes - if it makes us properly analyse what has changed in our approach over the last few months.
2 Well, put simply : attitude (we stopped recognising collective nous and determination can make up to a degree for lack of individual quality)
Defensive solidity - we started conceding goals we wouldn't have let in earlier in the season
Midfield tenacity and creativity - when we've had possession we've tended to run out of ideas in the final third
Poor decision making - players wasting good positions by not passing when someone's in a better position, or passing when they should be shooting
Not clinical enough - haven't taken chances created, often early in games
Poor quality shooting - wish I had a quid for every shot ballooned over the bar. Don't they coach players to keep their heads down and over the ball these days ��
Mental resilience - I'd like to know how the club develop the players' mental strength. Hard not to let confidence drop with the results we've had but there must be ways to counter that.

Bottom line - we've largely overachieved in the Premier League, based on the quality we have and the money we've spent. I do believe we can get established as a Premier League side but there's no magic bullet, and spending loads isn't any guarantee (see Fulham). We may have to yo-yo a bit as others have done. Looking forward to the ride.

In summary, we've fallen apart in every department and need a lot of work. So slow in the build up. Even yesterday, whilst pleased with the result, it was still so frustrating to watch us give the ball away so cheaply all over the park, inviting pressure straight back on us. And so slow breaking forward, not once did we get in behind the wolves defence. We can't seem to do that at all anymore. Doesn't help when we have such limited pace though. Great to get a clean sheet and point on the road, but we need much more in attack v Newcastle to have any chance of beating them. We really need to as I really think Cardiff will pick up at least 4 points
 


Surf's Up

Well-known member
Jul 17, 2011
10,135
Here
1 Yes - if it makes us properly analyse what has changed in our approach over the last few months.
2 Well, put simply : attitude (we stopped recognising collective nous and determination can make up to a degree for lack of individual quality)
Defensive solidity - we started conceding goals we wouldn't have let in earlier in the season
Midfield tenacity and creativity - when we've had possession we've tended to run out of ideas in the final third
Poor decision making - players wasting good positions by not passing when someone's in a better position, or passing when they should be shooting
Not clinical enough - haven't taken chances created, often early in games
Poor quality shooting - wish I had a quid for every shot ballooned over the bar. Don't they coach players to keep their heads down and over the ball these days ��
Mental resilience - I'd like to know how the club develop the players' mental strength. Hard not to let confidence drop with the results we've had but there must be ways to counter that.

Bottom line - we've largely overachieved in the Premier League, based on the quality we have and the money we've spent. I do believe we can get established as a Premier League side but there's no magic bullet, and spending loads isn't any guarantee (see Fulham). We may have to yo-yo a bit as others have done. Looking forward to the ride.

+ we've been sussed and teams now know how to play effectively against us which has, in turn, exposed our managerial, coaching and player shortcomings because we do not have the collective ability or the playing resources to respond to the tactics now being used against us (most effectively and recently by Bournemouth and Cardiff)
 

Laridae

Active member
Apr 28, 2011
365
West of Sussex
Second season syndrome. Suffering from it massively. Established players think (wrongly) that they’re better than they are. New signings are not grafting as hard as they need to and think (wrongly) that they’re better than they are.

Nice post, sums us up perfectly.

For me, it's "complacency" - the players and the club. I wonder if we as fans have also become complacent as up until a few gameweeks ago we were easily the fourth worst team in the division, which was just enough. This league is brutal if you don't pay it respect.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk
 

boliviaseagull

New member
May 1, 2011
13
For me, one of the main issues is the lack of a strong leader in the dressing room. All teams have lulls, but I reckon the importance of a good captain in those moments shouldn't be underestimated. We've had Greer and Bruno in recent years (was there someone in between??), both of which felt like solid captains that could raise our team. Dunk is a great player but maybe isn't a strong enough leader for the tough times?

I vaguely remember a similar slump some years back when Cullip left, thought it was a similar problem then. I'm not sure we have the right person for the job in our current squad, I'd put that as a high priority for any summer recruitment, whichever division we're playing in.

Sent from my ONEPLUS A6003 using Tapatalk
 


ac gull

Well-known member
Jul 7, 2003
1,928
midlands
We need a couple of experienced PL "game manager" type players - who know how to go about the PL

Positions they play matters less than their ability to manage the dressing room as senior players
 

Se20

Banned
Oct 3, 2012
3,981
Now some of you realise how much money is needed just to survive in this league.
You’ve spent approximately £120 mill on players in two seasons, but how many of this season signings were in your team yesterday?
You need PL experienced players, and they’re not cheap .
 
Last edited:

Harry Wilson's tackle

Harry Wilson's Tackle
NSC Licker Extraordinaire
Oct 8, 2003
49,061
Faversham
I'm interested in solutions . These are:

1. Chris realises the coaching is flawed and changes the coaching staff. Awkward that, as he is one of the coaching staff. But it could be done.
2. Chris realises some of our players are not up to it and . . . .we lose a lot of money in sales and perhaps have players 'seeing out' contrcats because the only way for them would be down. But if we recruit well, then we go again.
3. Chris realises his entire approach, the use of the horse shoe formation and the 'don't concede' mentality have to change. He then makes rather different use of our squad, sets them up differently, approaching games differently. Possible, but history tells us unlikely.
4. Tony realises none of this is likely to happen and steps up the 'change the manager' strategy, deciding on who to approach over the next few weeks with the new man in within a week of the end of the season.
 


The Mole

Well-known member
Feb 20, 2004
1,048
Bowdon actually , Cheshire
For me, one of the main issues is the lack of a strong leader in the dressing room. All teams have lulls, but I reckon the importance of a good captain in those moments shouldn't be underestimated. We've had Greer and Bruno in recent years (was there someone in between??), both of which felt like solid captains that could raise our team. Dunk is a great player but maybe isn't a strong enough leader for the tough times?

I vaguely remember a similar slump some years back when Cullip left, thought it was a similar problem then. I'm not sure we have the right person for the job in our current squad, I'd put that as a high priority for any summer recruitment, whichever division we're playing in.

Sent from my ONEPLUS A6003 using Tapatalk

I think Gross showed good leadership skills yesterday - worked really hard. Also at the end he applauded all the fans.
 

Bold Seagull

strong and stable with me, or...
Mar 18, 2010
29,716
Hove
We need a new midfield. We need to blow most of our transfer budget on that - the rest can and will more or less take care of itself if midfield is controlling the game and pulling all the right strings.

It was an interesting point that once Newcastle bought Almeron, Perez has scored 10, and they’ve kicked in big time.
 

zefarelly

Well-known member
NSC Licker Extraordinaire
Jul 7, 2003
21,683
Sussex, by the sea
There are 2 obvious solutions . . . . Buy better players, and to get the consistent PL quality will be expensive and the wage ceiling will rise. Or change the manager . . . .probably cheaper, initially, but far more disruptive and could go either way. If TB went this route, who would want the job that's any better than CH? Let's say we persuaded Gerrard . . . Our style of play may improve but he'd want his own players and would he get a budget? Or be like Rafa at Newcastle. But fail due to lack of experience and walk. Leaving us right in the mire.

If we stick with CH and battle on, we need a striker and 2 decent midfielders at least, a new Bruno, a winger who can cross, and a few spare midfielders who can pass, shoot and tackle without getting sent off, whilst being able to run faster than my gran for at least 2hrs a week.
 


Diablo

Well-known member
NSC Licker Extraordinaire
Sep 22, 2014
4,172
lewes
There are 2 obvious solutions . . . . Buy better players, and to get the consistent PL quality will be expensive and the wage ceiling will rise. Or change the manager . . . .probably cheaper, initially, but far more disruptive and could go either way. If TB went this route, who would want the job that's any better than CH? Let's say we persuaded Gerrard . . . Our style of play may improve but he'd want his own players and would he get a budget? Or be like Rafa at Newcastle. But fail due to lack of experience and walk. Leaving us right in the mire.

If we stick with CH and battle on, we need a striker and 2 decent midfielders at least, a new Bruno, a winger who can cross, and a few spare midfielders who can pass, shoot and tackle without getting sent off, whilst being able to run faster than my gran for at least 2hrs a week.

Midfield and defence are ok IMO. We have conceeded 53 goals which is less than six teams. We have scored 32 which is more than only Huddersfield and Cardiff. It`s two strikers/goalscorers we need.!!
 

Weststander

Well-known member
NSC Licker Extraordinaire
Aug 25, 2011
63,157
Withdean area
Would you consider our recent appalling slump as a blessing in disguise? What would you consider to be the major problems affecting our form and how would you rectify them? I’m sure the club are aware of the same thing and will be addressing the issues, but it would be interesting to hear the views from a fan’s perspective.

A good question.

Yes. The lack of quality, would've drummed home to TB that we need to step up in signing far better players.
 

Lethargic

Well-known member
Oct 11, 2006
3,453
Horsham
Midfield and defence are ok IMO. We have conceeded 53 goals which is less than six teams. We have scored 32 which is more than only Huddersfield and Cardiff. It`s two strikers/goalscorers we need.!!
No way is our midfield close to ok, they should be the link between defense and attack not a second row of defenders. If we insist on this approach then the midfield need pace, pace and more pace to be effective at fast counter attacking on the few occasions we do actually attack.

Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk
 

BRIGHT ON Q

Well-known member
Jul 5, 2003
9,085
Wonder what the bloke we signed from Argentina will be like.
 


sussex_guy2k2

Well-known member
Jun 6, 2014
3,652
Now some of you realise how much money is needed just to survive in this league.
You’ve spent approximately £120 mill on players in two seasons, but how many of this season signings were in your team yesterday?
You need PL experienced players, and they’re not cheap .

The bigger question is how many of our players have actually improved under this management. I'd argue absolutely none. That's damning.
 

sussex_guy2k2

Well-known member
Jun 6, 2014
3,652
Midfield and defence are ok IMO. We have conceeded 53 goals which is less than six teams. We have scored 32 which is more than only Huddersfield and Cardiff. It`s two strikers/goalscorers we need.!!

No point in signing strikers and goalscorers if you're not creating chances. I'd also argue that we've conceded far too many goals considering just how defensive and deep we've been for much of this season.
 

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