[Albion] Playing Devil’s advocate here but

Icy Gull · Oct 5, 2020

If Albion really are that strapped for cash would we not have been better off selling White and spending the money on a striker?

I guess all will become clear by the close of the window but given how we were well stocked with CBs before the season started it’s a thought isn’t it?

FWIW I really like White and have been impressed with his skill on the ball but all three centre backs currently look awful at defending set pieces. Maybe Potter could have considered adapting things and keeping Duffy whilst letting White go and signing a striker

Go gently on me, it is just a thought :smile:

If we do end up signing a decent striker maybe a mod would be kind enough to delete this thread please :lolol:

Mellotron · Oct 5, 2020

Icy Gull said:
If Albion really are that strapped for cash would we not have been better off selling White and spending the money on a striker?

I guess all will become clear by the close of the window but given how we were well stocked with CBs before the season started it’s a thought isn’t it?

FWIW I really like White and have been impressed with his skill on the ball but all three centre backs currently look awful at defending set pieces. Maybe Potter could have considered adapting things and keeping Duffy whilst letting White go and signing a striker

Go gently on me, it is just a thought

If we hadn't sold Duffy, I'd possibly agree...I do wonder if Potter hasn't quite balanced out the attributes correctly across the back 3.

We do seem massively lacking in physical presence since Duffy and Murray left - both very good in the air defensively.

junior · Oct 5, 2020

Glad somebody has started a thread about us needing a striker. Thought we were going to go all transfer window without one of them.

Springal · Oct 5, 2020

Mellotron said:
If we hadn't sold Duffy, I'd possibly agree...I do wonder if Potter hasn't quite balanced out the attributes correctly across the back 3.

We do seem massively lacking in physical presence since Duffy and Murray left - both very good in the air defensively.

Duffy & Murray hardly played last season, and I don’t recall us lacking for physical presence last season really

Greg Bobkin · Oct 5, 2020

Who's said the club is 'strapped for cash'?

Westdene Seagull · Oct 5, 2020

Are we strapped for cash ? IMHO it's more that Bloom and co know how to run a business ( and understand what happened last time we 'splashed the cash' ).

Yes, we might need a striker, but so do many teams, thus making that type of player come at stupid prices. I'd rather have a club that tries to break even than one that breaks the bank.

Hugo Rune · Oct 5, 2020

We’re not strapped for cash. We are just being a lot more careful with our finances removing a number of high earners and replacing them with youth.

We wouldn’t have gone after Nunez if we didn’t have a good war-chest to spend.

What we can’t afford to do is take a punt if the player is not 100% right for us or take part in daft bidding wars for players like Watkins.

Couldn't Be Hyypia · Oct 5, 2020

I wonder if we're missing BDB more than Duffy? How much cover did he give us, and physical presence at set pieces? Solly is on the up, but he's not going to contribute to that.

WATFORD zero · Oct 5, 2020

Springal said:
Duffy & Murray hardly played last season, and I don’t recall us lacking for physical presence last season really

Good point re Duffy. Is it the White for Burn switch that has effected us more in terms of physical presence defensively ?

Mellotron · Oct 5, 2020

Springal said:
Duffy & Murray hardly played last season, and I don’t recall us lacking for physical presence last season really

You're right that they didn't always play. Who were the aerial colossi for us last season though? I can't think. UPDATE - Good point above, Burn was a starter pretty much all last season, perhaps he should be taking one of the 3 CB berths at times...

I'm absolutely #TeamPotter - we play lovely, fearless attacking football under him and I still think we will get more wins against the bottom 12 or so than any of our recent Prem seasons.

However - as I'm sure has been mentioned numerous times, I haven't been reading recent fallout - the amount of goals from set pieces and numerous times we have conceded straight after scoring suggests we are lacking in a bit of nous, having said goodbye to a lot of senior players now.

Icy Gull · Oct 5, 2020

Greg Bobkin said:
Who's said the club is 'strapped for cash'?

It’s been discussed but who knows how true it is? What do you think the reason for only having two strikers when we aren’t blessed with others contributing to goals is? I accept that Biss and Trossard look like they will contribute this season.

Ali J could, but will GP even play him much?

raymondo · Oct 5, 2020

Icy Gull said:
If Albion really are that strapped for cash would we not have been better off selling White and spending the money on a striker?

I guess all will become clear by the close of the window but given how we were well stocked with CBs before the season started it’s a thought isn’t it?

FWIW I really like White and have been impressed with his skill on the ball but all three centre backs currently look awful at defending set pieces. Maybe Potter could have considered adapting things and keeping Duffy whilst letting White go and signing a striker

Go gently on me, it is just a thought

If we do end up signing a decent striker maybe a mod would be kind enough to delete this thread please

It's a reasonable thought IMO too. However, Potter seems quite purist/ ruthless in the type of player he wants. He won't adapt the way he wants to play to fit the players available: hence Duffy's departure. Not saying Potter's right or wrong... only time will tell.

WATFORD zero · Oct 5, 2020

Icy Gull said:
If Albion really are that strapped for cash would we not have been better off selling White and spending the money on a striker?

I guess all will become clear by the close of the window but given how we were well stocked with CBs before the season started it’s a thought isn’t it?

FWIW I really like White and have been impressed with his skill on the ball but all three centre backs currently look awful at defending set pieces. Maybe Potter could have considered adapting things and keeping Duffy whilst letting White go and signing a striker

Go gently on me, it is just a thought

If we do end up signing a decent striker maybe a mod would be kind enough to delete this thread please

I think the fact that we didn't sell White (or Dunk) simply shows that we are not 'cash strapped' :shrug:

Psychobilly freakout · Oct 5, 2020

Greg Bobkin said:
Who's said the club is 'strapped for cash'?

This, if we were prepared to spend 20 plus million on young Darwin Nunez then we surely have the money for the right player.
And that is the crucial part "right player" not an U23 player, not a punt, but the right player.
I would not at all be surprised in the next few hours we pull a blinder outta the bag, we are very very good at keeping things quite and low key in the transfer market so far this season.

Watch this space...
#liveinhope

Stat Brother · Oct 5, 2020

As has already been said, the £25m bid for Nunez rather throws a spanner in the works.
It would seem the money is there for the right player, perhaps it has an 'its all you're getting so spend it wisely' caveat.

As for losing Duffy, that was never going to be easy and will take time to adjust.

Silverhatch · Oct 5, 2020

raymondo said:
It's a reasonable thought IMO too. However, Potter seems quite purist/ ruthless in the type of player he wants. He won't adapt the way he wants to play to fit the players available: hence Duffy's departure. Not saying Potter's right or wrong... only time will tell.

Ashworth, as Technical Director, will be equally if not more influential in what type of player we are keeping, acquiring and developing. The club appears to have a long-term plan and is going to stick to it.

Greg Bobkin · Oct 5, 2020

Icy Gull said:
It’s been discussed but who knows how true it is? What do you think the reason for only having two strikers when we aren’t blessed with others contributing to goals is? I accept that Biss and Trossard look like they will contribute this season.

How can you play devil's advocate when you don't know if what you're saying is true? You're basing your whole theory (that the club has no money and/or is choosing to spend what money it does have on squad players in other positions) on rumours. Bonkers.

There could be countless reasons for a striker not being signed. One of them MIGHT be down to finances at the club. I'm not about to start questioning what the club does and how it spends its money – consecutive seasons remaining in (arguably) the first tier of English football – at the first time of asking in it's current guise – is enough to suggest that the people there know what they are doing :shrug:

WATFORD zero · Oct 5, 2020

I'm still hopeful that the right player is there and we will get him, but if not, I'd rather go with Ali J, Ali Mac, Trossard, Gross, Lallana, March, Izquierdo and Andone (when fit) as attacking options rather than another Locadia, 2020/21 Murray, or whoever that Spurs striker was that we desperately tried to sign on deadline day a couple of years back

GT49er · Oct 5, 2020

Guess it was an option. £25M could have paid for Callum Wilson or Watkins. Who knows how that might have worked out? Personally, I'm pleased we kept White - I like the policy of developing youth and growing our own players.

At the end of the day it's just a bit of harmless whatiffery.

dingodan · Oct 5, 2020

Not sure what all the fuss is about getting a striker. We could use a backup, but we have two very good strikers, and we have a whole bunch of players who could come in and play as a No.10 if needed. Trossard, Izquierdo, Jahanbakhsh, are all goal scorers. We have a potential backup in Zeqiri too. Maupay has 4 goals in his last 3 games. Another striker as backup would be nice, sure. But are we expecting to improve on 4 in 3? Everyone always wants a "magic bullet" striker, but this is a team sport. If the team plays well the front players will score goals. We have a good team, we keep the ball well, we create chances, and we are scoring goals. We probably haven't scored as many as we should have so far, but that isn't because of a lack of finishing ability. It's only been 4 games and we've had some crazy bad luck.

Defensively we certainly need to improve, and that is almost exclusively on set pieces, how many times have we been carved open in open play? Not many at all. Sort out set pieces, which I'm sure we will, and we will be fine.

Selling White, or any of our young players, would be foolish. Short term thinking for a quick fix which is never garaunteed.

Whatever happens today, we will be fine. Don't overeact because we had a bad day and got fairly well beaten by the team outplaying everyone and currently top of the league.

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