[Albion] Potter Polarising …

[Eric Youngs Contact Lens]

I think the Club have got what they wanted from his Appointment.

Results won't come with that type of Football without the Standard of players get better.

There is enough in that Squad to play that type of Football AND stay up.

To move to where West Ham Leicester and Everton are this season. You need to start paying for those Standard of players.

Very few players step out of the Swiss 2nd Division and turn a decent side into a very good side. That's not a dig at that particular player. It's just an observation of where the Club seem to be doing their shopping as opposed to the Everton purchase of James Rodriguez.

So far I have always voted IN when it comes to the Potter threads. I don't think he is as innovative as people think. I just think that he does what he has been asked to do. He has been asked to be brave and take chances and he is taking the chances he has been asked to take.

So you can't turn on someone who is fulfilling their " Brief " . However to claim he is some sort of Genius would be naive.

Agree with much of this. He has us playing this way because he is brave enough to do it. Crucially he has been able to get the players to commit to it, and be brave. He will staunchly defend them publicly so as not undermine that trust and retreat within themselves, but guess he challenges etc. He is not a genius, but appears to have strengths in key areas to allow him to fulfill the brief he has been given, and be be brave enough to see it through.

 

[DarrenFreemansPerm]

You see, I don't think he was hired primarily to win games. I think he was hired to change the entire philosophy of the playing side of things. To avoid expensive buying mistakes, promote youth and ultimately make the playing side of things self supporting. I think Tony is wise enough to realise he can't just keep shovelling money in to buy players who might fail. Much cheaper to promote youth, who still might fail but without the £20mil price tag. Next phase is to start selling the occasional the occasional academy product for £50mil. I think Tony is looking at the end game, and might actually have factored in a relegation whilst trying to avoid it without burning money.

i think he's a very wise man, and I think him and GP might represent the only viable long-term future for this club if we want to stay at the top level in the long term.

I agree with what you’ve said, but you’d have assume there’s some sort of expectation of the manager to win some football matches, no? Changing the culture and direction of the club is one thing, but professional football is about winning, something we seldom do, sadly. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not anti Potter, but I’m struggling to digest the 7 wins in 43 games.

 

[DarrenFreemansPerm]

If football is not about community the stadiums might as well stay closed.

Also, of course highly subjective as most things football, I dont think the results are far from what they should be. Bottom six squad, bottom six in the league.

Football is very much about the community, but that’s the club and the fans. Managers come and go, fans don’t. I’ll love this club regardless of the division, the manager or style of football, sure it’s nice of the manager is an all round good egg but equally I couldn’t care less if they were a complete shit if they bringing us results.

 

[SCassidy]

Difficult days? Really? 5 points clear of the bottom three in the Premier League and playing well. If these are difficult days then what were our Championship and League 1 days?

POTTER IN

 

[Yoda]

This all reminds me of Gus Poyet's early days. There was a large majority unkeen on the way we were trying to play, then all of a sudden over a few matches it clicked and we started ripping teams a new one. Suddenly that large majority disappeared and only came out a few times in the Championship when things weren't always going for us during the first season, and when we would lose the occasional game.

 

[boik]

And this. You are eloquent and wise

Why thank you kind sir. I am not worthy.

 

[dejavuatbtn]

Potter won’t be the first manager to struggle for a couple of years in getting his team getting the results it deserves. Personally I think he is on the cusp of great things with our club and, whilst relegation still may be an issue, will prove the doubters wrong.
From a playing point of view I can’t remember us having a better footballing side, and that includes all the successful teams since the early 60s. We might not have the flair individuals of the past or the rip roaring occasions we have all enjoyed, but I think these are still to come with Potter.

 

[Barnet Seagull]

Putting sentiment and belief aside, the harsh reality i.e. the League table says that currently Potter is doing an average job as a manager with currently average performing players.

 

[Sheebo]

Always strikes as a wee bit weird when random posters appear to have maintained a creepy scrapbook of something that - on the face of it - just another poster may or may not have offered an opinion on ten or maybe twenty years ago. Tho I'll take it as a compliment. Eh [MENTION=457]sheebo[/MENTION]?

Nah you’re just an outspoken poster who gets an awful lot wrong and then hates it when people point out the egg on your face... but then you are Scottish so I do feel for you with that start to life

 

[Thunder Bolt]

This all reminds me of Gus Poyet's early days. There was a large majority unkeen on the way we were trying to play, then all of a sudden over a few matches it clicked and we started ripping teams a new one. Suddenly that large majority disappeared and only came out a few times in the Championship when things weren't always going for us during the first season, and when we would lose the occasional game.

Graham Potter has already been with us for 19 months. Poyet started getting results before Christmas when he joined us in November.
The following season we were top of the league by September and remained there for the season.

I'm not saying we are going to win the league, but a win now and again would be nice instead of incessant draws.

 

[Justice]

This all reminds me of Gus Poyet's early days. There was a large majority unkeen on the way we were trying to play, then all of a sudden over a few matches it clicked and we started ripping teams a new one. Suddenly that large majority disappeared and only came out a few times in the Championship when things weren't always going for us during the first season, and when we would lose the occasional game.

Poyet took half a season and one summer to get his team playing his way and winning. Two summers one and a half seasons in zero improvement unless you like watching the occasional pretty middle of the park possession football.

 

[Albion Dan]

This all reminds me of Gus Poyet's early days. There was a large majority unkeen on the way we were trying to play, then all of a sudden over a few matches it clicked and we started ripping teams a new one. Suddenly that large majority disappeared and only came out a few times in the Championship when things weren't always going for us during the first season, and when we would lose the occasional game.

Not sure I remember that at all. Poyet came in just before Xmas when we were bang in trouble, got some great results quickly (Saints, Wycombe away) and then later in the season we started firing big time with the arrival of the likes of King Calderon, who can forget Charlton away? We were looking fantastic. A few people didnt understand possession football after the Micky Adams attritional stuff they had got used to but the results more than spoke for themselves within half a season.

A year and a half of Potter. One home win in over a year. One more win than the bottom three. Zero progress.

 

[Kosh]

Thanks all, you’ve restored my faith in reasoned debate - some of the most impressive arguments and posts I’ve read in a thread for a while ... it started off well let’s be honest, but perhaps (elsewhere) I am indeed guilty of amplifying certain poster’s in my head.

Akin to Slash when he used to utterly dominate the other fine players in GnR... all hair, cigarette and over driven reverb ... yes he put on a performance, but his was a ‘light’ that shone with nought subtlety... Izzy however, he held it all together... as our more level headed scribes do so well ... herein in particular.

Rock on, yet humbly so. Peter Green like, yes ... that’ll do.

 

[Dawn Korus]

I'm not enjoying watching us one bit at the moment, whether that's our inefficiency in front of goal, not being there, or the arguments about everything. Or a combination of all three.

I've come to realise the match and result isn't so important any longer, it's about a day out with mates.

 

[Dick Knights Mumm]

Rock on, yet humbly so.

I think we can all agree with that.

Rock on.

 

[dejavuatbtn]

Graham Potter has already been with us for 19 months. Poyet started getting results before Christmas when he joined us in November.
The following season we were top of the league by September and remained there for the season.

I'm not saying we are going to win the league, but a win now and again would be nice instead of incessant draws.

Bit of a difference between League 1 and the Premier League, and even then Poyet had to break our transfer record twice to get things rolling.
I agree that we could do with a few wins though!

 

[Thunder Bolt]

Bit of a difference between League 1 and the Premier League, and even then Poyet had to break our transfer record twice to get things rolling.
I agree that we could do with a few wins though!

His first signing was Calde who was free, but as pointed out in this thread he won two games before Christmas to get us out of the relegation zone.

 

[Icy Gull]

Bit of a difference between League 1 and the Premier League, and even then Poyet had to break our transfer record twice to get things rolling.
I agree that we could do with a few wins though!

Prime example of what this thread is about. Waxing lyrical about how a manager turned us around in the third tier with one of the best budgets in that division and comparing it to a PL manager changing the style of play completely of a team that came within a couple of games of relegation in the previous season. Whilst having to mostly use the old manager’s players who cost less in total than one player from a top team, to do it. It’s a crazy crazy argument imo. As if doing this in the PL during a pandemic was something simple

I know it’s not a popular observation but we do have some pretty entitled fans these days both old and new too.

 

[Guinness Boy]

And some of us seriously strange posters believe you, junior, GB, neilbard etc are pretty bizarre yourselves.

Pretty much highlighting/confirming what Kosh is saying.

Ignore Junior. He's on another level. Was once banned for wanting to pistol whip a player IIRC. Certainly been banned for trolling in the past.

It's possibly a sign of the divisiveness, or just your prickly nature, that you lump me in with him. It really would take very little for GP to turn me back to "in". And that very little would consist of turning the odd draw at home against sides who are very low quality compared to historical EPL seasons into wins. I like the tactics, I like that he's brought in Sanchez and seems to be developing Ally Mac and Taz. Unfortunately he couldn't win at the Amex if his mortgage depended on it. I therefore conclude he's out of his depth. But not like a dwarf drowning in the Atlantic. Like a child who may grow tomorrow and touch the bottom with his toe tips. Let's hope eh?

 

[jimhigham]

I’m definitely Team Potter but I’m also a fan of the writing in The Guardian. You’d absolutely love this gem if it wasn’t about your own team.

“One long-term United target that appears to have got away is Moisés Caicedo, with the Ecuadorian teenager set to join Brighton. Graham Potter also wants MK Dons full-back Matthew Sorinola to join his all-passing, no-scoring performance art project.”