Chris Hughton says club will not panic in transfer window

[Cowfold Seagull]

It's not just about the strikers!
It's a simple fact that to be a successful team in this or any other league, you have to have at least one 20 goal-a-season striker. We haven't had one of those since Murray left. I can't see us picking up a decent striker in this window, unless we gamble on a foreign import like Ulloa. He was a gamble at the time, which paid off, and a player like him would be perfect for this side, but it is a gamble.
We do have a decent set of strikers in the squad, but the problem is not just their lack of confidence, is the lack of supply. Everyone was saying how great Wilson is when he came here, and he is class, but he's feeding off scraps. Zamora is still a brilliant player and can still make things happen, but even he is struggling. Hemed was looking good at the start of the season. Scoring 5 or 6, and looked like a great buy, but he has lost his confidence now. We know Baldock just can't seem score no matter what he does, even though he puts his heart and soul into every game. I feel they are all capable of scoring 20-a-season if they just get the right supply, and that's where the problem lies.
We have been plagued with bad luck and injuries, which is the reason why we haven't been able to win. We have had no-one to put the ball in those dangerous areas, where we can score. Since we lost KZ and Bong on the left we haven't looked the same side. Then losing Rosenior and March too, just killed off our attacking threat.
I love Calderon, but having him cover left back has weakened our defence. The injuries to Greer and Hunemeier have unsettled the central defenders too, and people are making mistakes.
We now have some cover at left back, and we now have KZ back and Knockaert, who will hopefully start to bring our forwards back into the game and take the pressure off our defence. With Rosenior and Bong hopefully back to fitness soon, our squad will start to look like tittle hopefuls again.
So do we really need to buy anyone? If we make the play-offs it will be a success on last year, and we have a squad we can build on in the summer, regardless of wether we go up or not.

Hmmmm as far as that very last bit of your lengthy post is concerned, about having a squad we can build on in the summer, how many times have I heard that before?

So often now, it's all about 'never mind, we'll make it next year', well, when is 'next year' going to arrive exactly?

I want to see my beloved Albion in the Premier League in my current lifetime, not the next one.

 

[Shropshire Seagull]

What I mean is, why do we spend (in my opinion) UNBELIEVABLE sums of money on every part of the club other than the main part that actually makes you money, ultimately?

Did we really need to spend £120m on the new stadium? Don't get me wrong, I am not for a second moaning about Bloom. I'm just slightly baffled by what seems to me as a very unbalanced way of looking at our spending. Fair enough if we don't want to go all out for the Prem, but in that case why spend such huge amounts of money on a stadium and training academy that appear designed with a Prem team in mind etc?

Ok, we all choose to spend our money differently - here's my analogy.
Some people live in a rented flat [the Withdean] whilst others choose to buy a comfortable 4 bed house [the Amex] - these are very different asset investment strategies. Some folk also have a second smaller holiday home [Lancing training academy].

Other people are different, one person might wish to own [buy or borrow the money] to own a decent car, maybe a Porsche or top of the range Mercedes [aka mid/top of the premier league standard squad]. Whereas another person might be content with a decent Audi or VW [mid table championship squad].

The main difference here is depreciation; cars [and often players] will generally depreciate in value (clasics accepted). Houses [and football stadia / infrastructure] tend to hold or appreciate in value.

So, I'm happy in my 4 bed house with my mortgage paid off [no one coming to evict me any time soon] and my 5 year old VW passat is reliable and serving me well. However, I'm now looking to part-ex my car for something of a bit more quality ......

Okay, might be a bit of a simplification, but that's how I'm seeing our current position - just my opinion like.

 

[Guy Fawkes]

It's a bit weird that the club never appears to have very much urgency about having a real go at reaching the promised land of the Premier League despite having had all the infrastructure in place for some time now. Always seem happy enough to just bump along with 20K+ STH, doing just enough to steer a steady path in the Championship. Even when we reach the play-offs we're always a couple of country miles off looking credible contenders to go up. Pretty sure this season will prove no different.

So what are you proposing we should be doing instead?

We have been (supposedly) trying to buy Calleri and / or Bolanos for around £10m each but so far he player hasn't agreed to join - is that because the club isn't showing enough urgency?

There are only a limited number of strikers, every team want the best and every team is competing with each other to either sign or retain these players. There isn't a surplus of these players so they have the power to decide what they do, where they go and if they want to move or stay put - is that the clubs fault?

Surely they should all be chomping at the bit to join a 2nd tier club which isn't that well known beyond the country it plays in, hasn't been in the top flight to raise it's international profile in a very long time (players we may be after weren't in all likelyhood even born when we were relegated from that top division)

Why should they be more interested in other clubs if they are bigger, far more internationally famous clubs with much more history and prestige and may be interested in signing them, surely they would rather sign for us instead because we have 20k ST holders or a nice ground (even if the other clubs ground is known around the world, or they have bigger crowds than our max attendance limit)

We are trying to spend a significant amount on at least one striker but it is not and has never been all down to the club and it's attitude / urgency, etc. You can offer a massive deal in trying to get a player to sign for us but it doesn't mean that they will and they may instead take a lesser deal to play at a a club elsewhere that is held in higher esteem or simply better suits their aims / ambitions

 

[Guy Fawkes]

Stadium - #1 in Championship (by a mile)
Academy - #1 in Championship (by a mile)
Squad - #9

Do you now see the disconnect in our spending?

Which of the other clubs in that list needed to build a new home because they are renting an old athletics track on a temporary basis?

How many of the teams above us in that list have had multi-millions to spend from parachute payments after relegation from the premier league?

How many of those above us have a higher worldwide profile than us? making them more appealing for potential new signings (to join them rather than a similar but less well known club)

 

[Guinness Boy]

So what are you proposing we should be doing instead?

We have been (supposedly) trying to buy Calleri and / or Bolanos for around £10m each but so far he player hasn't agreed to join - is that because the club isn't showing enough urgency?

There are only a limited number of strikers, every team want the best and every team is competing with each other to either sign or retain these players. There isn't a surplus of these players so they have the power to decide what they do, where they go and if they want to move or stay put - is that the clubs fault?

Surely they should all be chomping at the bit to join a 2nd tier club which isn't that well known beyond the country it plays in, hasn't been in the top flight to raise it's international profile in a very long time (players we may be after weren't in all likelyhood even born when we were relegated from that top division)

Why should they be more interested in other clubs if they are bigger, far more internationally famous clubs with much more history and prestige and may be interested in signing them, surely they would rather sign for us instead because we have 20k ST holders or a nice ground (even if the other clubs ground is known around the world, or they have bigger crowds than our max attendance limit)

We are trying to spend a significant amount on at least one striker but it is not and has never been all down to the club and it's attitude / urgency, etc. You can offer a massive deal in trying to get a player to sign for us but it doesn't mean that they will and they may instead take a lesser deal to play at a a club elsewhere that is held in higher esteem or simply better suits their aims / ambitions

My understanding is that we need to find the right striker at the right price. How does Nick Blackman for 2.5 million not qualify? Were we even in the frame for that one?

 

[BBassic]

Unless we sign some quality this month, we'll look back in May at a season of two distinct halves; unbeaten table-toppers in the first half; mid-table plodders in the second.

Which is still better than last season.

 

[Guy Fawkes]

I too am slightly surprised by the level of ambition that only seems to reach a point, i.e. just BELOW what is needed. We have spent SHITLOADS on this club to get it absolutely perfect for the Prem, but the one thing we need, the final, vital piece of the jigsaw, we seem unbelievably casual about.

We have spent SHITLOADS on this club to get it absolutely perfect for the Prem BECAUSE we were that far behind all the other teams in this division with ultimately the same ambitions as us.

Do you think that if we had build a smaller cheaper stadium then the difference would have been spent on the squad instead?

All we can do is try to be appealing as possible to potential signings and set our transfer sights high (Calleri, Bolanos, etc) but if they are reluctant or unwilling to sign for you then it won't happen and it won't matter what you do, what your facilities are like, etc. (the infrastructure is trying to make us the more attractive proposition, making up for our lack of profile but it is a very competitive market)

 

[Guy Fawkes]

My understanding is that we need to find the right striker at the right price. How does Nick Blackman for 2.5 million not qualify? Were we even in the frame for that one?

We may never know because the club keep their cards close to their chest

Or maybe his record at Reading meant that we didn't think he was what we were looking for
2013–2016. Reading - played 103, 18 goals (5.7222 games per goal)

With players at this club deemed not good enough by some fans, even with a better strike rate than Blackman, i'd wonder if the fans would accept his signing or say it's the cheap option, no ambition and all the other stuff they spout on here and elsewhere before he'd even kicked a ball in anger for us

 

[5mins-from-amex]

We have spent SHITLOADS on this club to get it absolutely perfect for the Prem BECAUSE we were that far behind all the other teams in this division with ultimately the same ambitions as us.

Do you think that if we had build a smaller cheaper stadium then the difference would have been spent on the squad instead?

All we can do is try to be appealing as possible to potential signings and set our transfer sights high (Calleri, Bolanos, etc) but if they are reluctant or unwilling to sign for you then it won't happen and it won't matter what you do, what your facilities are like, etc. (the infrastructure is trying to make us the more attractive proposition, making up for our lack of profile but it is a very competitive market)

If FFP didn't exist then yes I do believe that.

 

[nwgull]

If FFP didn't exist then yes I do believe that.

I'm glad we didn't for whatever reason. The stadium was only ever going to be built once in our lifetimes, so I'm glad they did it properly instead of half arsed.

 

[Guy Fawkes]

If FFP didn't exist then yes I do believe that.

If FFP didn't exist, the difference between the 2 may have been spent on players anyway regardless of what stadium we go for all we know or maybe Bloom was only willing to put that much in if the majority of it was to secure our long term future by building a ground and other infrastructure. Everything else is just temporary and he said around the time the stadium opened that he wanted this youngsters to have somewhere to be able to watch the club in the years to come (paraphrasing but you hopefully get the drift) meaning we needed a permanent home

It's so easy to spend other peoples money, and when someone is very, very generous and has invested a massive amount in something like a football club it's all a bit ungrateful to then see and hear lots of stuff saying that it's not enough and they haven't put enough in or spent it how they feel he should have when they didn't have to put anything in at all.

 

[El Presidente]

I want to see my beloved Albion in the Premier League in my current lifetime, not the next one.

Having experienced it 1979-83, it's not all that it's cracked up to be.

We ended up with sub 10,000 crowds at home and sub 100 travelling to some away matches.

 

[Mutts Nuts]

ALBION boss Chris Hughton insists the club will not panic in the January transfer window in response to their barren run.
The Seagulls have added Richie Towell, Liam Ridgewell and Anthony Knockaert to the squad.

They also remain committed to signing another striker to boost their firepower as they try to recover at Blackburn tomorrow from seven League games without a win after Tuesday’s defeat at Rotherham.
Hughton said: “We’re certainly aware we mustn’t panic. The level of competition is no different to what it was earlier in the season, when we were doing well and on a very good run.
“The Rotherham game is probably the only game I could say I don’t think we deserved to get anything.
“Even in the Ipswich and Wolves games you couldn’t fault our endeavour to try and win, so one thing we certainly mustn’t do is panic.
“We also have to be conscious that, come the end of January, we’ve got the best squad available to go through to the end of the season and be exactly where we want to be.”

Hughton expects transfer activity in the Championship to gather pace at the end of the January window.
He said: “It’s been a bit quiet but, generally, going into that last week most teams are really thinking hard about making sure they don’t get left behind.

Is this code for......

reading between the lines , no prolific goal scoring striker coming in any time soon promotion this season not an option .Yet again the club are showing lack of ambition this season

 

[deslynhamsmoustache1]

We have spent SHITLOADS on this club to get it absolutely perfect for the Prem BECAUSE we were that far behind all the other teams in this division with ultimately the same ambitions as us.
Do you think that if we had build a smaller cheaper stadium then the difference would have been spent on the squad instead?

All we can do is try to be appealing as possible to potential signings and set our transfer sights high (Calleri, Bolanos, etc) but if they are reluctant or unwilling to sign for you then it won't happen and it won't matter what you do, what your facilities are like, etc. (the infrastructure is trying to make us the more attractive proposition, making up for our lack of profile but it is a very competitive market)

This, this and this. Probably 20 years behind the like of Derby and Middlesbrough hull etc,new grounds in the 1990's,established academy's and the like but we are closing in fast. There can only really now be two reasons a player wont sign for us, (1)He wishes to keep himself and his family in a certain region or country.
(2) The money.

 

[jamie the seagull]

Having invested so heavily in the Amex and the training ground there may not be enough in his pot to spend on the quality in depth that we clearly need if we want to go up..

But it make's us a prime takeover target......

 

[Guy Fawkes]

But it make's us a prime takeover target......

But clubs debt of around £200m would prevent most potential buyers / takeovers

(cost of ground & academy + losses every season bar one since selling the Goldstone Ground)

 

[jamie the seagull]

Manchester City boss Manuel Pellegrini to send forward Bersant Celina out on loan with Derby and Middlesbrough interested

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/fo...y-Middlesbrough-interested.html#ixzz3xL9RZOnl
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

 

[Psychobilly freakout]

But clubs debt of around £200m would prevent most potential buyers / takeovers

(cost of ground & academy + losses every season bar one since selling the Goldstone Ground)

When you put it like that, let's start a petition "save our Albion"....

God I'm depressed now, guess we will get hammered Saturday

 

[Mutts Nuts]

Having experienced it 1979-83, it's not all that it's cracked up to be.

We ended up with sub 10,000 crowds at home and sub 100 travelling to some away matches.

Very true but the facility that we now have is not financially sustainable in this division, lack of investment in the squad will be the clubs downfall. Under our current management structure we are going to be demoted before we are promoted

 

[DarrenFreemansPerm]

But it make's us a prime takeover target......

Which might be why Mike Ashley and his entourage have been in the area.