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[Albion] Roberto De Zerbi - JOINS AS NEW HEAD COACH (4 year contract)

Albion and Premier League latest from Sky Sports

JBizzle

Members
Apr 18, 2010
5,440
Seaford
But Naylor says Brighton would never put release clauses in, yet we did for Potter so go figure ?!
Nothing on our side ever confirmed a release clause though did it? Only that we had a figure in mind and that we accepted it? Either way, Chelsea paid a HUGE sum of money to get Potter
 

Nobby Cybergoat

Members
Jul 19, 2021
4,255
My understanding of the Potter situation at the time was, there was no release clause. However, Chelsea wanted him, made him an offer, he accepted, made us an offer, we accepted.

Crucially we accepted because at that point it was sensible not to dig in and let him go, and not because we were obliged by a clause in his contract.

This is how the vast majority of transfers of players and managers happen in English football
 

dazzer6666

Members
Mar 27, 2013
46,938
Burgess Hill
My understanding of the Potter situation at the time was, there was no release clause. However, Chelsea wanted him, made him an offer, he accepted, made us an offer, we accepted.

Crucially we accepted because at that point it was sensible not to dig in and let him go, and not because we were obliged by a clause in his contract.

This is how the vast majority of transfers of players and managers happen in English football
Rather than a pure ‘buyout’, suspect his contract prevents him from walking into another similar role if he walks away from it - the compo payment means we allow him to take up another job.
 

jcdenton08

Hot blood and big balls
Oct 17, 2008
8,050
Rather than a pure ‘buyout’, suspect his contract prevents him from walking into another similar role if he walks away from it - the compo payment means we allow him to take up another job.
Right. I mean a contract is still a contract, a manager or player can’t just give notice then go to Man City for no compensation.
 

Swansman

Pro-peace
May 13, 2019
22,320
Sweden
Pretty much every manager these days will have a buyout clause (but not always referred to as such) because it is the safest way to ensure you get properly paid if someone goes for him. Unless TB wants some tribunal to decide how much his manager is worth, RDZ will also have a clause.
 

Sepulveda

Well-known member
Mar 19, 2023
212
Northern Italy


Well worth a watch

Can't watch it at the moment but will come back to it later, I enjoy watching these videos that show tactics as all these little puzzle pieces slotting into place, it's very aesthetically pleasing.


Being no tactics connoisseur myself though, I think a generic way to describe the describe De Zerbi-ball might be "creating a counter without losing the ball first". It would have been impossible (or much more difficult) years ago when teams didn't come pressing so high up the pitch as a unit, and preferred to keep a low block or a middle block when they didn't have the ball instead. But now that they do occupy the same areas when pressing without the ball as an old-school team would have occupied when attacking with the ball, you can basically find yourself in a counterattack transition position without ever having to first lose possession and then get it back in defense (as you'd do in the past.)
 
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dazzer6666

Members
Mar 27, 2013
46,938
Burgess Hill
Can't watch it at the moment but will come back to it later, I enjoy watching these videos that show tactics as all these little puzzle pieces slotting into place, it's very aesthetically pleasing.


Being no tactics connoisseur myself though, I think a generic way to describe the describe De Zerbi-ball might be "creating a counter without losing the ball first". It would have been impossible (or much more difficult) years ago when teams didn't come pressing so high up the pitch as a unit, and preferred to keep a low block or a middle block when they didn't have the ball instead. But now that they do occupy the same areas when pressing without the ball as an old-school team would have occupied when attacking with the ball, you can basically find yourself in a counterattack transition position without ever having to first lose possession and then get it back in defense (as you'd do in the past.)
DeZ seems to get analysed as much as virtually any other manager in the game (my son who is an analyst himself so follows these things more closely then me sees loads of it) - absolutely tons of stuff about his teams and tactics online.
 

Live by the sea

Members
Oct 21, 2016
3,693
Suffice to say I suspect the buy out amount for Roberto will be even more than £20 M which would put most clubs off , except Chelsea of course !
 

Beanstalk

Members
Apr 5, 2017
1,771
London
The club didn't have a release clause for Potter. The club had a long term contract with him and Chelsea wanted him to break that contract to become their new manager. Due to that the club entered into negotiations with Chelsea to allow him to be released from his contract. It resulted in a world record fee for a manager.

It's exactly the same as a player transfer. If Chelsea had said actually we will only pay £10m instead of £21m then the club would've been well in their rights to block that move. Instead they negotiated a fee that they felt was reasonable for the loss and the manager was happy to leave.

The reality of course is that Brighton had to remain quite strong to get that fee for Potter because he was well out of the door by the point Barber received LA Todd's phone call, but he wasn't immediately allowed to leave based on a set release fee in his contract.
 

Jim in the West

Members
Sep 13, 2003
4,042
Way out West
I assume if anything it is a compensation clause, if we agree to let De Zerbi go, his new team have to pay X amount to release him from his contract. It is not that difficult a concept to understand, no?

If we say no, then it is no, whether they offer us money for it or not.
I would imagine it's some formula based on unexpired contract length and salary. Did I see somewhere that De Zerbi is on £5m pa (and somewhere said "net" - which would imply a gross salary of nearly £10m pa)??? He has a 4 year contract, so there's approx 3.5 years left. Any "compensation" would be somewhere between circa £17m and £30m on that basis.

But why would De Zerbi want to jump ship now? He has pretty much the ideal set of players to play his way - where else is he going to find similar? In England, probably only Man City and Arsenal....further afield you could probably add Real Madrid and Barcelona, and perhaps Napoli - I'm sure there are others, and my knowledge of European football is a bit sketchy, but there aren't many.
 

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