[Albion] Do you think Uncle Tony is happy?

[Invicta]

Let's forget Europe, would absolutely stuff us next year sadly.

 

[Han Solo]

The way Manure & Spuds collapsed it was a golden opportunity.

I'm a 35-year-old childless chain-smoking hobo renting a dirty room in Malmö and I think I've aged better than Manchester United has after their last league victory.

Will be plenty of chances to finish above them, they are a few years of competent work from achieving anything, and they're not competent.

 

[Home and Away]

Don’t know whether he is happy or not. But I really dislike it when people refer to him as ‘Uncle Tony’

Just sounds creepy

(Any nephews and nieces he may have excluded, obvs)

What about Uncle Paulie? Is that creepy as well?

 

[BadFish]

He's probably not happy, but has seen football before and can appreciate the bigger picture so will be philosophical about our current situation.

 

[London Irish]

Do you think Hinshelwood is progressing? I’m not to sure he played better and looked more assured last season at right back fill in.

Is Adingra progressing? Is Verbruggen progressing? Is Dunk? Is Mitoma as good as last season? Pedro as good as last season? There’s a lot of misfiring parts that’s dragging our season to the midtable mediocrity

 

[portlock seagull]

Yeah, but we made Europe two seasons ago.....why have we not kicked on from there ?

In part because our fan base is small minded and will always be grateful for surviving not thriving. To criticise and expect anything more like one trophy in 125 years is to invite, well, just watch…

 

[BadFish]

My guess Tony is working on sorting out our problems as we speak. Him and Paul Barber have drawn up a list of wingers and number 10s to sign for next season.

 

[Han Solo]

Is Adingra progressing? Is Verbruggen progressing? Is Dunk? Is Mitoma as good as last season? Pedro as good as last season? There’s a lot of misfiring parts that’s dragging our season to the midtable mediocrity

Some players will progress and others won't. Same as in all teams and under all managers.

 

[London Irish]

Some players will progress and others won't. Same as in all teams and under all managers.

When it’s the big performers, fortune cookie cliches like that ain’t that comforting

 

[Han Solo]

When it’s the big performers, fortune cookie cliches like that ain’t that comforting

Its the reality though.

Look at last season. How many players played better last season when we finished 11th, than in 22/23 when we finished 6th? Very very few.

MANY of our players have been a lot better than last year. Pervis, Veltman, Webster, Baleba, Lamptey, Mitoma, Welbeck. Arguably Verbruggen and Van Hecke.

 

[SeagullDubai]

Do you think TB is happy with how things are? Do you think his expectations have been met?

Yes he’s making money

 

[Mike Small]

If Albion finish top twelve and sack their manager they will be the laughing stock of English football.

Bollocks would we. From where we’ve come to now is incredible and anyone laughing at us would be a fool. The football world were not happy when we sacked CH but these bold decisions have meant we are a solid PL team for the past 4 years at least.

I don’t think they’ll sack FH but I’d hope they are watching him closely and I would hope and am sure TB would get someone else in if FH had lost the plot or if we haven’t improved by the half way point next year. After those wins he would have hoped for more. As an owner, he would have hoped for more.

 

[Han Solo]

Yes he’s making money

There's something very fun about a lad living in Dubai mocking the alleged greed of a lad running a football club in some rural Brightonian suburb connected to the world through two rusty draisines, as if there was no easier or more effective way for Tony to make money.

 

[Eeyore]

Yes he’s making money

Last I heard he was £300 million, or something in that region, down.

This all going a bit.... Spursy/Arsenal fanish

The aim of the club is to be able to stand on its own two feet, which is pretty sane when it comes to the possibility that one day we may join the 15 clubs who have dropped since we moved upstairs.

 

[HangletonGull]

Let's forget Europe, would absolutely stuff us next year sadly.

Ridiculous comment, we need European football

 

[Nobby]

Tony Bloom is an incredible mathematician and has set an algorithm and recruiting process that is the envy of the football world.
So
His analysis will be showing him that despite having most of his defenders out injured his team went on an incredible run.
And now
When all (nearly) of his defenders are out injured and his captain is playing injured and his two key attackers are out injured, his team are on a poor run.
So although yesterday’s result was dreadful, he would be looking at the xG and assessing if the performance should have been better based on all of the above.
This years management performance target would have been a European place, probably top seven.

So I think that any decision on the manager will be assessed on whether performances are worse than predicted - taking into account the huge injury list.
And I think that FH is still in massive credit.

If the performances remain below what has been predicted by the algorithm, then Bloom will act accordingly. If the injury list improves, and performances don’t, then I would imagine we could perhaps expect changes.

 

[Lenny Rider]

If he wasn’t ‘happy’ we’d know about it by the fact that changes would be made, if he has to act he does, Poyet, Hypia, Hughton , RDZ, it’s all there in black and white, or should that be blue and white.

People talk about ‘Spursy’ but it’s we’ve got a bit of that ourselves, four bad results yet it’s not beyond the realms of possibility that we go on and win the next 6 and still get into either the Europa League or Conference.

 

[Happy Exile]

Yeah, but we made Europe two seasons ago.....why have we not kicked on from there ?

We’re doing better than most clubs that have qualified for Europe without the kind of sustained astronomical spending of the traditional top clubs and even they struggle sometimes.

This is, I think, teams that have qualified for Europe the past five completed seasons, in bold are those who have done it more than once in that time. (Apologies for any errors, got stuff to do today!)

• Arsenal
• Aston Villa
• Chelsea
• Liverpool
• Manchester City
• Manchester United
• Tottenham Hotspur
• West Ham United
• Leicester City
• Brighton & Hove Albion
• Wolverhampton Wanderers
• Newcastle United

Of the one-time clubs our trajectory at the moment is more like Newcastle than any of the others, and we’re doing better than multiple qualifying West Ham and Man United…so in the context of qualifying for Europe and having a sustained run of good domestic seasons only Arsenal, Villa, Chelsea, City and Liverpool are doing better.

…and Villa are in talks with UEFA for breaching squad spending rules.

Obviously I’d like us in Europe again soon, but I also think we’re continuing to break the trends with how well we’re doing despite a disappointing few weeks.

 

[BN41Albion]

Yeah, but we made Europe two seasons ago.....why have we not kicked on from there ?

Yeah, clubs our size should easily kick on from europa league to champions league to winning the league

 

[Bold Seagull]

Do you think Hinshelwood is progressing? I’m not to sure he played better and looked more assured last season at right back fill in.

Yes I do, progress is rarely linear, he’s 20 and playing more than one position in the Premier League. I dare say he’d be playing better ar RB with a settled CB pairing, but he’s getting the minutes and the experience.