durrington gull
Well-known member
The game is up for Ali J , only on the bench because of injuries- clearly not in Potters plans and a real shame we couldn’t get rid of him
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[Albion] Alireza Jahanbakhsh joins Feyenoord
- Thread starter alexanderhills
- Start date
GT49er
Well-known member
Does make you wonder a bit about our recruitment in the CH years - our three record-breaking attacking buys (OK, we got Andone on the cheap because of a relegation clause in his contract, but we were prepared to pat a lot more for him earlier) were all purchased, we were assured, with CH having the final say. Strangely though, CH didn't seem that keen on playing them - let's just say he used them very sparingly!
That - in part - lead to his sacking (not the main reason, certainly, but a contributory factor). Then along comes his successor who promptly shifts two of them out, and plays the third one even less than Chris did. Maybe CH was right about them all along? Which brings me back to the bit I'm wondering about - did he really have the final say about transfers or was that just a load of flannel?
That - in part - lead to his sacking (not the main reason, certainly, but a contributory factor). Then along comes his successor who promptly shifts two of them out, and plays the third one even less than Chris did. Maybe CH was right about them all along? Which brings me back to the bit I'm wondering about - did he really have the final say about transfers or was that just a load of flannel?
Exactly.
To bring on Bong instead of AJ was mystifying and surely an indictment of how Potter feels about him ability wise.
Hughton May have had final say but surely his verdict would have been influenced by a dossier provided by the recruitment department. Duff info, it would seem.
Those poor signings set us back a year . It’s one of the reasons why the change of style isn’t producing the goods. We needed a stronger squad in place to make it work, with new signings on top of that.
Hughton had to go but we should have had a middle ground manager before a potter revolution type.
Hoping youngsters with no track record at even league one level will bail us out in the premier league is even more folly. Not to knock alazate, he’s done well in his minutes so far , but why not properly blood him on loan in the championship first ?
Jermain Jenas said on motd last night “I wonder how long it will be before they revert to type”. The answer to that question will define whether we have a chance of staying up.
Not saying potter should necessarily be fired but a pragmatic approach needs to be brought in asap.
It was always way too much of an ask to turn out playing style upside down with an average squad in the toughest ever premier league.
LamieRobertson
Not awoke
How manny youngsters do you think hes relying on? Alzate/Connelly|?
Toughest ever?...maybe in recent times...think that would need a bit more thought to make that definitive
Will start v Spurs, as he always has an excellent game against them, and will prove all his doubters wrong.
In arguably the single-most important position in the pitch we are looking to a young player with no experience at first team level, let alone a goal scoring record.
Maybe Connolly is the new Michael Owen, I’m sure he’s very talented. But More likely, he will be learning the pro game as our prem status hangs in the balance.
If Ben white or Clark came back to the club and made the first team picture I’d get it. They’re performing at championship level, But not signing another striker, allowing andone to go (even if he is a c**k) , and looking to Connolly to get the goals is just plain reckless .
Bong is left sided. AJ plays on the right.
If the game had stayed at 1-0 maybe AJ may have got on for 10-15 in place of Gross
GT49er
Well-known member
Disagree almost entirely with that, but not going to go through it all bit by bit!
The one thing I will comment on is the young players being brought in. Alzate is doing fine, and - along with Connolly - will be a valued part of the squad (and often the team too) this season. On merit. No point loaning them out to The Championship now that they've made the breakthrough here. As far as loaning youngsters out to The Championship, apart from White and Walton, the youngsters we loaned out aren't getting much game time anyway.
Not under Hughton he didn’t, and he is quite capable of cutting inside.
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Let’s go with the first point I made.
So You don’t think the recruitment team would have played a major part in identifying aj, locadia and andone as suitable? What do you imagine the recruitment team does then ?
Re young players . As I said , Alzate has started well . It might come off. Massive gamble and ask though to deliver throughout the season .
Same with Connolly . He might take to outwitting some of the worlds best defenders, and playing week in week out for the first time, like a duck to Water. He hasn’t scored yet but Maybe he’ll get 20 this season .what do you reckon?
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GT49er
Well-known member
And therein is the reason why I decline to go through it point by point! But yes, the recruitment team undoubtedly did identify all three duds. OK?
LamieRobertson
Not awoke
...and yet he came closest to scoring at Newcastle and of course has not yet started a PL game, so maybe relying upon him is perhaps stretching it...anyway you mentioned youngsters hence my query and why i added Alzate ...so that makes two and they’ve hardly been on the pitch at the same time.....too early to call judgement imho
Not giving the young players a chance was a mistake by hughton . Understandable that bloom has said to the new manager “ please make use of my very expensive academy”. But I prefer the gradual approach we’ve taken with say, white and Walton.
This season has felt like too much change too quickly without the squad infrastructure to back it up.
Pretty sure the club said blooding youngsters was one of potter’s objectives when he came, so I’m sure more will get a chance . Nothing wrong with that . Like any fan, I love watching home grown players succeed. I’d sooner They had a solid track record before getting selected in such a competitive league. You make a Fair point though - bar a superb defensive Newcastle clearance, Connolly would be on his way. Fine lines.
.
I'd hazard a guess Mr Potter's first words to Mr Bloom were:-
'I will make use of your very expensive signings'.
That went well.
LamieRobertson
Not awoke
Mixture of youth and experience ye? Perfect way would of course be blooding youngsters into a winning side, but........
Ⓩ-Ⓐ-Ⓜ-Ⓞ-Ⓡ-Ⓐ
Hove / Παρος
I think a lot of it's down to injuries at the moment. Our squad makeup looks like this at the moment, hence the backup youngsters coming into the match day squad (and doing well I might add)
(red: injured, orange: coming back from injury, blue: youth teamer)
...................... Ryan .....................
... Webster .... Dunk .... Burn .......
Montoya ....................... Bernardo
....... Pröpper .... Stephens ..........
March ........................... Trossard
.................. Maupay.....................
Bench: Button, Duffy, Bissouma, Gross, Jahanbakhsh, Izquierdo, Murray
Backup: Steele, Balogun, Bong, Schelotto, Alzate, Baluta, Mooy, Connolly
Richy_Seagull
Well-known member
To be fair though, Alzate took up an attacking mid position when Bong came on at LWB.
GT49er
Well-known member
Alzate has shown that he's first team ready, so no way should he be binned to the back-up squad. Connolly on the bench too. We've already seen that they haven't let the team down - in fact they've been some of the better players in their performances.Ⓩ-Ⓐ-Ⓜ-Ⓞ-Ⓡ-Ⓐ;9088032 said: