[Albion] Graham Potter joins on four-year deal

[Hugo Rune]

To have the balls to ship out Andone, Locadia and Knocky, and then put your faith in the likes of U-21's Connolly, Alzate and Championship players Webster, Maupay and Burn takes an enormous leap of faith.
Whilst doing that he's trusted Dunk, Duffy, Murray, Propper, Ryan, Stephens, Gross to lead by example and mentor them.
They've turned into a true band of brothers with a clear team spirit.

If we stay up (we should now) we are so well placed to push on to become an established mid-table side and be an attractive option for possible signings.
With Ben White due to return next season our only obvious need is for a younger Glenn Murray.

They'll be questions about a few players (like there are in every club) but with a depressed transfer market we're looking in a far healthier position than many clubs to continue to 'Bloom'.

Great assessment.

With reference to a Murza replacement, I only have eyes for one man.

https://youtu.be/HXRb48MTje8

 

[blue-shifted]

Even so this season shouldn't have been as tough as it has been.
Naturally I'm going to point at the strikers (or lack of) and seemingly I can also cast an over the fans.

Even so an awful lot of points have been needlessly left on the pitch for which the manager has to carry the can.

You can only be in a false position for so long before it's no longer false.
We aren't watching a bottom 5 side and yet that's exactly what we had become since December and chances are would have been worse, not better, were it not for the break.

Points have been left on the pitch, but also we've scraped wins with late goals. Arsenal and Everton at home. We've scraped a lot of draws in 2020 having been losing.

The times it's gone the other way, it's not needless, nobody needs to carry the can. It just reflects that, we are on a similar level to a lot of teams and that it's a very competitive division and to get goals and points with a team without huge Premier League experience requires a herculean effort every match.

 

[Weststander]

Agree with these comments - it's impressive how we have a good core of players under 25: Lamptey (19), Bissouma (23), Mac Allister (21), Connolly (20), Alzate (21), and Maupay (23).

It appears that Potter is developing them well, and if they continue to improve at this rate then we'll have a very handy team.

And to think we've got a lot of good young players out on loan too.

Plus Ben White (22) to come back.

 

[Mellotron]

The future is looking very bright. Always felt this season was a "just stay up" one, with how the striking situation was left. It looks like we may do that with a little breathing space for once.

 

[jakarta]

Points have been left on the pitch, but also we've scraped wins with late goals. Arsenal and Everton at home. We've scraped a lot of draws in 2020 having been losing.

The times it's gone the other way, it's not needless, nobody needs to carry the can. It just reflects that, we are on a similar level to a lot of teams and that it's a very competitive division and to get goals and points with a team without huge Premier League MONEY requires a herculean effort every match.

Corrected for you, wish it wasn't so...

 

[blue-shifted]

Corrected for you, wish it wasn't so...

You're right of course, we're not paying £100k + salaries. What we do have is decent squad depth, with equal quality replacements for just about everyone on the pitch.

 

[blue-shifted]

Plus Ben White (22) to come back.

You could sort of see Ostigard taking Duffy's squad place and Molumby taking Stephen's place for the start of next season. Not writing off two fine club servants, by the way, but I can see they may want to be playing more football.

 

[Harry Wilson's tackle]

The future is looking very bright. Always felt this season was a "just stay up" one, with how the striking situation was left. It looks like we may do that with a little breathing space for once.

Oh, my. How four points changes things for some.

I'm still having to hunt for my underpants with a proctoscope . . . . .

 

[dazzer6666]

The future is looking very bright. Always felt this season was a "just stay up" one, with how the striking situation was left. It looks like we may do that with a little breathing space for once.

Potter has done a very decent job in what was always a 'transition' season without the benefit of 'his' squad to use. Tony took a bit of a calculated punt on bringing him in, hoping he could start to materially change our approach (use of academy products, change of style of play etc) whilst keeping us up before properly embarking on the next stage in the club's development. Fingers crossed but looks to have paid off............last night was a clear marker with the age of the team he put out.

 

[Gwylan]

Potter's done well in bringing through the youngsters - imagine how much younger it would have been last night with Alzate instead of Stephens

I'd like to see us safe with a few games to go. It would be mean that he could safely give some game time to Cochrane, Richards and Roberts (there must be a reason why they've been added to the first team squad).

 

[Weststander]

You could sort of see Ostigard taking Duffy's squad place and Molumby taking Stephen's place for the start of next season. Not writing off two fine club servants, by the way, but I can see they may want to be playing more football.

I’m a big fan of Dale’s, but there’ve been very mixed performances this season. He starred in some impressive early wins, but was not at the races last night imho. Hopefully ring rust. A quality younger DM will need to take his place sooner or later.

 

[Springal]

Does start to feel like changing of the guard. I did feel for Stephens last night, I am a fan of his and absolutely respect what he has done for us but some of his passing was pretty poor. I even remember him firing a bad pass into Mac Allister who managed to get it under control but starting to see a gulf in quality with some of these new players coming through.

Ryan is an interesting one for me - both games he has looked pretty nervy and potential for mistakes at times so will be interesting to see what happens with GK position this summer.

 

[Badger Boy]

I don't think Potter has been particularly good for any of our individual players. Possibly Alzate, who looks very good but hasn't really done anything in the team at this stage. I like the look of Aaron Connolly but I don't really feel like he's going to score a goal. I think there are positive signs and it's pretty clear what he wants to do with the squad and how he wants to mould his squad. The summer transfer window will be important for him but I hope we're a better team to watch next season than we are at the moment. I hope to see wingers playing as wingers, rather than Mooy playing on the wing and Trossard in the middle. That's clearly the wrong way around.

 

[Swansman]

I don't think Potter has been particularly good for any of our individual players. Possibly Alzate, who looks very good but hasn't really done anything in the team at this stage. I like the look of Aaron Connolly but I don't really feel like he's going to score a goal. I think there are positive signs and it's pretty clear what he wants to do with the squad and how he wants to mould his squad. The summer transfer window will be important for him but I hope we're a better team to watch next season than we are at the moment. I hope to see wingers playing as wingers, rather than Mooy playing on the wing and Trossard in the middle. That's clearly the wrong way around.

You gave the manager 1/10 after beating Arsenal. I don't know what you expect really.

 

[vagabond]

I don't think Potter has been particularly good for any of our individual players. Possibly Alzate, who looks very good but hasn't really done anything in the team at this stage. I like the look of Aaron Connolly but I don't really feel like he's going to score a goal

Eh? “Possibly Alzate”? He wouldn’t even have made the team if it wasn’t for Potter!

I can see vast improvements throughout our team, tactically, capable of playing (and switching) multiple systems and formations mid game, able to dominate games with possession... a world away from the Hughton days.

And then you have Connolly, who also may not have played if not for GP, Dan Burn as a LB.

So yeah I don’t really get your comment. I see vast improvements throughout the squad.

 

[Icy Gull]

IF we do the unthinkable and go down what odds would you put on Potter being here next season?

Got to be a target for a bigger PL club surely given what he has done with so many non Potterball players?

Or would his reputation be tainted by the relegation and inability to turn it around?

 

[Gwylan]

IF we do the unthinkable and go down what odds would you put on Potter being here next season?

Got to be a target for a bigger PL club surely given what he has done with so many non Potterball players?

There's no chance of Potter going elsewhere. He's got, what is it, five years left on his contract? That's a hell of an amount of compo to pay.

 

[Badger Boy]

You gave the manager 1/10 after beating Arsenal. I don't know what you expect really.

That's correct, you strange little fella in a basement in Sweden.

Eh? “Possibly Alzate”? He wouldn’t even have made the team if it wasn’t for Potter!

I can see vast improvements throughout our team, tactically, capable of playing (and switching) multiple systems and formations mid game, able to dominate games with possession... a world away from the Hughton days.

And then you have Connolly, who also may not have played if not for GP, Dan Burn as a LB.

So yeah I don’t really get your comment. I see vast improvements throughout the squad.

Respectfully, I think the things you're talking about are partly what is, in my opinion, holding us back. Alzate doesn't contribute to the attack, neither does Dan Burn although I'll admit that he has been a big surprise. My expectations of him were so low that all he really needed to do was be able to move and I'd have been surprised. He's a very athletic player but he's not got any quality at all. He can't contribute in attack either.

Keeping the ball forever is fine but there's no real creativity going forward because there are too many players who either can't contribute or they're in the wrong positions to get the most out of them. Mooy's not a winger, but that's where he plays. Trossard is a winger playing centrally for no benefit to the team.

March came on yesterday to play left wing back to move to three at the back and he did less than nothing going forward. I've not been impressed with Potter this season but it takes a manager time to stamp their mark on the squad. Hopefully next season he'll settle down his team selections, resume playing genuine wingers on the wing and the formation won't change every time a sub comes on which disrupts the flow of the team and usually prevents us producing anything late on. Obviously Arsenal is a glorious exception and it was recent, so that's what matters - but look at the whole season and see how ineffective the changes have been and how rare it is for us to come from behind. This time next year we'll have completed a second season with Potter so it will be fairer to judge him, but right now, this is how I feel. But I'm not suggesting we should make a change, not at all. We've made our choice and he's going to achieve the aim of survival.

 

[Nixonator]

March came on yesterday to play left wing back to move to three at the back and he did less than nothing going forward. I've not been impressed with Potter this season but it takes a manager time to stamp their mark on the squad. Hopefully next season he'll settle down his team selections, resume playing genuine wingers on the wing and the formation won't change every time a sub comes on which disrupts the flow of the team and usually prevents us producing anything late on. Obviously Arsenal is a glorious exception and it was recent, so that's what matters - but look at the whole season and see how ineffective the changes have been and how rare it is for us to come from behind. This time next year we'll have completed a second season with Potter so it will be fairer to judge him, but right now, this is how I feel. But I'm not suggesting we should make a change, not at all. We've made our choice and he's going to achieve the aim of survival.

Sorry, what?

Open to you giving me statistics to the contrary, but feels like we have consistently bounced back after going a goal down, sometimes multiple goals down. We just haven't been able to subsequently take the lead or hold a lead, hence the amount of draws we have.

Edit: Had a quick look at our last 7 games, we equalised against Arsenal, Sheffield United, Watford, and twice against West Ham in the same game. You're going to have to do some convincing.

 

[blue-shifted]

I don't think Potter has been particularly good for any of our individual players. Possibly Alzate, who looks very good but hasn't really done anything in the team at this stage. I like the look of Aaron Connolly but I don't really feel like he's going to score a goal. I think there are positive signs and it's pretty clear what he wants to do with the squad and how he wants to mould his squad. The summer transfer window will be important for him but I hope we're a better team to watch next season than we are at the moment. I hope to see wingers playing as wingers, rather than Mooy playing on the wing and Trossard in the middle. That's clearly the wrong way around.

Well. He set one up, then won us a penalty in his 2 (not full) appearances since the lockdown. Fired one narrowly over against Leci in the first half as well. He looks like he'll score to me