[Albion] Will Potter Stick or Twist?

Kalimantan Gull said:

This is a real interesting time for Potter and how he coaches the team from now to the end of the season. He's been building something good and there have been a more promising performances than bad ones. Whilst there are a lot of teams out there that are playing a game to survive, from Sheffield United to Palace to Watford, we are building a style of play, blooding youth, building a squad.

But absolutely no doubt about it that right now we are facing a relegation battle. So will Potter stick or twist? Stick with what he is doing, keep on the same path with the faith that it will come good and lead on to sunnier times in the future. Or change it around, pick Duffy and Murray, change the style of play and go backs against the wall to keep us up, then go again next season? We've been here before, Slade putting Hart up front during his great escape; Hughton recalling Bruno for the run-in last season. Old heads, wise heads to do a job when the chips are down.

Like most I was surprised Murray wasn't used last night. Most of the season he has looked like his effectiveness at the top level has just gone, but there were signs of life at Everton, and if he's good enough to be on the bench he's good enough to get on the pitch. As for Duffy, well we know he wins stuff in the air and is dominant when we are defending deep. If we're going to try to smash and grab a couple of 1-0 wins, he's the man. I think Webster is going to be a top top footballer but last night I wouldn't have complained if someone just told him to have a rest out of the firing line for a few games.

On the other hand - so much about Potter's style really IS working. Looked at in isolation we've played Bournemouth off the park, gone toe-to-toe with Chelsea, came back strongly away at Everton coming agonisingly close to an equaliser on three occasions, a good first half against Villa and controlled large parts of last nights away game with 21 shots and getting undone in a 5-minute period of madness. If thats a run of games which results in the wailing and gnashing of teeth that we see on NSC, maybe its just because our expectations have been raised so high by some of the early season performances and results. We're only just over half-way through the season after all, its not last-chance saloon by any means. Our home form hasn't collapsed. There may not be much too wrong that a bit of good fortune can't change.

But Potter will be feeling the heat. And standing in the crowd at Bournemouth last night it was clear there were a lot of murmurings and discontent around. We're in a slump and we're going to learn a lot about what kind of manager he is over the next few months, whether he has the courage of his convictions and can bring the squad with him, and can keep the fans with him.

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Kalimantan Gull said:

This is a real interesting time for Potter and how he coaches the team from now to the end of the season. He's been building something good and there have been a more promising performances than bad ones. Whilst there are a lot of teams out there that are playing a game to survive, from Sheffield United to Palace to Watford, we are building a style of play, blooding youth, building a squad.

But absolutely no doubt about it that right now we are facing a relegation battle. So will Potter stick or twist? Stick with what he is doing, keep on the same path with the faith that it will come good and lead on to sunnier times in the future. Or change it around, pick Duffy and Murray, change the style of play and go backs against the wall to keep us up, then go again next season? We've been here before, Slade putting Hart up front during his great escape; Hughton recalling Bruno for the run-in last season. Old heads, wise heads to do a job when the chips are down.

Like most I was surprised Murray wasn't used last night. Most of the season he has looked like his effectiveness at the top level has just gone, but there were signs of life at Everton, and if he's good enough to be on the bench he's good enough to get on the pitch. As for Duffy, well we know he wins stuff in the air and is dominant when we are defending deep. If we're going to try to smash and grab a couple of 1-0 wins, he's the man. I think Webster is going to be a top top footballer but last night I wouldn't have complained if someone just told him to have a rest out of the firing line for a few games.

On the other hand - so much about Potter's style really IS working. Looked at in isolation we've played Bournemouth off the park, gone toe-to-toe with Chelsea, came back strongly away at Everton coming agonisingly close to an equaliser on three occasions, a good first half against Villa and controlled large parts of last nights away game with 21 shots and getting undone in a 5-minute period of madness. If thats a run of games which results in the wailing and gnashing of teeth that we see on NSC, maybe its just because our expectations have been raised so high by some of the early season performances and results. We're only just over half-way through the season after all, its not last-chance saloon by any means. Our home form hasn't collapsed. There may not be much too wrong that a bit of good fortune can't change.

But Potter will be feeling the heat. And standing in the crowd at Bournemouth last night it was clear there were a lot of murmurings and discontent around. We're in a slump and we're going to learn a lot about what kind of manager he is over the next few months, whether he has the courage of his convictions and can bring the squad with him, and can keep the fans with him.

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SI 4 BHA said:

Some good valid points, but in spite of lots of possession, is Potters style really working? This from the BBC ,

“Maupay, who has not scored since the 1-1 draw at Crystal Palace on 16 December, had just 34 touches of the ball"

Somehow Potter's style seems to overlook the need to get your only forward involved in the game?

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Gritt23 said:

I don't think it's one extreme or the other. I really don't see that bringing Duffy back for Webster abandons what Potter is trying to do here, and nor is giving Murray more game time.It's not just about the individuals it's what it gives the whole team. Dunk and Duffy is simply a better defensive partnership. Murray needs to be ahead of Connolly in the pecking order, as Connolly is in danger if drowning as we have thrown him in too deep. Maupay and Connolly could both benefit in their development by playing with Murray and learning from him. Bringing Murray in more doesn't therefore mean we are abandoning the idea of developing youth players.

We need to get back to picking the right players in the right positions. Right backs at right back etc. We need a more settled side, especially at the back, where the same players builds a solidity.

He does need to change a bit, and that's not a bad thing, it's not an admission of failure, it's just what you have to do. An idea, a philosophy, a way of playing, the players you use in certain situations, is always going to change and adapt if you are going to be successful. Potter is not a fool, I expect him to make a few subtle changes, and to use the experience we have in the squad a bit better.

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Gritt23 said:

I don't think it's one extreme or the other. I really don't see that bringing Duffy back for Webster abandons what Potter is trying to do here, and nor is giving Murray more game time.It's not just about the individuals it's what it gives the whole team. Dunk and Duffy is simply a better defensive partnership. Murray needs to be ahead of Connolly in the pecking order, as Connolly is in danger if drowning as we have thrown him in too deep. Maupay and Connolly could both benefit in their development by playing with Murray and learning from him. Bringing Murray in more doesn't therefore mean we are abandoning the idea of developing youth players.

We need to get back to picking the right players in the right positions. Right backs at right back etc. We need a more settled side, especially at the back, where the same players builds a solidity.

He does need to change a bit, and that's not a bad thing, it's not an admission of failure, it's just what you have to do. An idea, a philosophy, a way of playing, the players you use in certain situations, is always going to change and adapt if you are going to be successful. Potter is not a fool, I expect him to make a few subtle changes, and to use the experience we have in the squad a bit better.

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Lower West Stander said:

Stick.

But the whole object of football is to score goals and not let goals in. At the moment we have 1 and a half strikers and a dodgy centre half. It doesn’t matter how we play if we miss chances and make mistakes at the back.....


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

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blue-shifted said:

Yeh, there's a lot in between Potter's apparent pursuit of transcendental passing perfection and going on full on Wimbledon under Dave Basset.

My prediction is that he'll do what he should do.

Broadly stick with the style but take the worst edges off. In practice that means ....

He will recall Duffy
Give Murray more time from the bench than Connolly
Allow the team to engage in some Bournemouth style dark arts
End the Alzate right back experiment
Make fewer pointless changes, ie dropping goalscorers from the previous game

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hans kraay fan club said:

I've no idea where you find those stats, but I don't imagine that 34 touches for a striker is actually a low figure. I'd expect that Callum Wilson had fewer, for example.

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