What do honestly think Tony Bloom makes of the team & management at the moment?

[BLOCK F]

I would have thought he is rather unimpressed by our management's outbursts this week.
As far as the team are concerned,I should think he is concerned/disappointed that the likes of Hoskins,Buckley,Vicente and now Reyes are rarely to be seen and that we are clearly not playing to our star signing's strengths.Poor old CMS,I should think he is pretty hacked off himself.Don't suppose he's too impressed with Harley at the mo and what has happened to Vincelot?
Finally,our disciplinary record is appalling as well,whch can' make him happy.
To sum up,I would have thought he is concerned and thanks his lucky stars for our freakishly good start!

 

[Barrow Boy]

I would think that Tony Bloom is a very cool calculated man who does not make rash decisions. I would like to think he is quite content at this moment in time. However he is a fan as well as the chairman and I would be very surprised if he is happy about the lack of chances we are creating atm and the slightly negative tactics that are currently being employed by Poyet. With another 5 or 6 thousand seats going in next summer he will not want to see season ticket sales take a nosedive and if history shows us one thing, its that a lot of fans of this club are very fickle and want to watch entertaining football. Just ask Mike Bailey, highest ever league position and sacked, not because of results but because of negative tactics that saw people staying away from the ground.Poyet is on safe ground atm but relegation is unthinkable and if you get in a rut its very hard to turn it around. This really is Poyet's first sticky period as a manager. Is he up to it?...We will see.

A very well thought out post, I agree with all your points especially with the Mike Bailey comparison. These are indeed trying times for Mr. Poyet and the signs, so far, are that he's not handling the situation very well. An interesting couple of Months coming up I think. All aboard the Albion rollercoaster!

 

[Ernest]

I would IMAGINE he HAS his CHOPPER out TONIGHT

 

[BLOCK F]

Absolutely. In my life, I have never seen us look this comfortable in the second tier of English football. I think a lot of people look at Southampton and think we should be doing as well as them because of last season. But it doesn't work like that. If Southampton were also in mid-table I think we'd all be saying how well we're doing. If we finish this season somewhere in the middle without a major flirt with relegation it will be a VERY good first season. The aim next season should be to aim for, but not necessarily get in, the play-offs. And the third season, that's when I'm expecting the FIREWORKS.

Yes,if we finish about halfway then job done.Trouble is,the wheels have somewhat come off since our brilliant start.I know we lost to a very good team,but we must reverse this decline soon or else we may well have a serious flirt with relegation.
Re 'never in my life'etc.Shame you weren't around in the Glory Years,then you would have been lucky enough to see a really good 2nd tier team!

 

[El Presidente]

At the start of the season we had a poll to see where people thought we might finish, the consensus position was 12th, which is where we are.

No one likes the current run of form, or the fact that we are not creating chances, but compared to our previous season in this division we are doing very well. The majority of the squad don't have Championship experience, and the step up has caught some of them out.

We lost our two best players from last season, and their replacements (Hoskins, Vicente and Buckley), have been injured practically all season. Under those circumstances we are actually doing better than we should have done, although everyone is pissed off at the moment, and rightly so. Spending a lot of money and giving up a day to watch the club you love put in a supine performance is a miserable experience.

We've been there before many a time, and will no doubt be so again in the future, but it's the Albion, and they might be a bit crap at present, but I wouldn't change them for any other club, would you?

 

[Rookie]

Think he would look at the big picture. Remember we are only 4 points away from the play offs with a long injury list that will hopefully get a lot better in the next week

 

[Seagull over Canaryland]

I think Tony Bloom will feel the pain after a defeat like that, just like the fans are. I am sure his expectations are as even higher than ours but maybe tempered by knowing the team is still 'work in progress'. As runaway champions from Lge 1 and with some good pre-season signings we all hoped for great things this season. Our early season form was great if a little premature. Looking back it was maybe a false dawn and the Amex hype allowed our rivals to learn how to stifle our style from our regular exposure on TV. At least the early winning run got us essential points in the bank. I was encouraged that Bloom recognised we still need to build and allowed Gus to sign Vicente, Harley etc. However we have been done no favours by having most of our new signings and other key players on the injury list. If we had enjoyed 10 games with Buckley, Vicente, Hoskins, El Abd, Elphick, Dunk and Reyes all fit and selected I don't think we would be mid table. I also don't think Taricco would have played.

I would be more concerned come January and in the next close season if the future signings of the right calibre do not materialise, but have no reason to be believe that Tony Bloom will not continue to invest in the team. As regularly stated on here my own expectations are that the squad will not be true contenders for maybe another 12 months, so consolidation in the top half of the Championship this season might be disappointing and hard to take at times, but by no means not a disaster. Reflect on where we have come from 2-3 years ago and where we have got to ie a colouful name as manager, convincing Lge 1 champions, a new stadium, a series of record signings and everyone's expectations dramatically raised. Short term we are having a few hiccups but in the medium / longedr term our direction of travel is very positive indeed.

Finally I do agree with the Poyet vs Mike Bailey analogy. Bailey was a safe and very conservative pair of hands but did not exactly get the juices flowing. Poyet is a total contrast - the South American with a cosmopolitan footie pedigree and loads of flair but inexperienced as a manager. With that you get the latin temperament and the occasional emotional outburst. He has to learn - and as long as there is evidence that Gus is learning from his mistakes then all is ok. What would we rather prefer - playing with patience, flair and style or park the bus and hoof it on the break? Somehow we need to find the best bits of both styles for the right moments in games and with all the right players available we will take the next step forward.

 

[DIFFBROOK]

People keep talking about Jan and I'm sure funds will be made avalible but it must not be overlooked that Poyet has actually spent quite a few million already.

I think what may have worried TB is that he gave Gus a decent budget, yet rather than spend on solid Champ defenders/defensive midfielders and ensuring that we dont get beat, he spent money on perhaps luxury players such as Lua Lua, Harley and Vicente. If we are not getting the defensive basics right, then maybe even CMS was the wrong player to spend our budget on. I know CMS is a fantastic player, but its no use having 1 or 2 fantastic offensive players if the rest of the team are struggling to keep clean sheets and creating chances. At the moemt CMS is wasted cos he isn't getting the service and so cant score goals.

Come January, I hope TB gives Gus his backing and that Gus spends it wisely on a goalkeeper, two fullbacks and a defensive midfielder - all of which Gus clearly worries about cos he has either got loans in or has asked a 38 yr old out of retirement. January could be a defining moment for Gus and the team.

 

[kevtherev]

Think he would look at the big picture. Remember we are only 4 points away from the play offs with a long injury list that will hopefully get a lot better in the next week

But what slightly concerns me is we have just had the international break, I must say I did expect some of the usual suspects to have been available for selection again. But no such luck, as I have said before im told that Buckley's problems might not be so much due to an injury, more due to something else.

 

[Barnham Seagull]

I think what may have worried TB is that he gave Gus a decent budget, yet rather than spend on solid Champ defenders/defensive midfielders and ensuring that we dont get beat, he spent money on perhaps luxury players such as Lua Lua, Harley and Vicente. If we are not getting the defensive basics right, then maybe even CMS was the wrong player to spend our budget on. I know CMS is a fantastic player, but its no use having 1 or 2 fantastic offensive players if the rest of the team are struggling to keep clean sheets and creating chances. At the moemt CMS is wasted cos he isn't getting the service and so cant score goals.

Come January, I hope TB gives Gus his backing and that Gus spends it wisely on a goalkeeper, two fullbacks and a defensive midfielder - all of which Gus clearly worries about cos he has either got loans in or has asked a 38 yr old out of retirement. January could be a defining moment for Gus and the team.

Thts how I see it also.

January will be a massive month

 

[Billy the Fish]

Mid-table, first season in the division. I Don't think he'd be unhappy.

Very much this.

I'm not sure what people are expecting. We are a mid-table team all day long. We will build again in the summer, and the one after that. Slowly slowly catchy monkey

 

[Devon Seagull]

Thanks for some really good, well thought out and intelligent replies. Looks like January transfers is going to be very important on how we pan out for the rest of the seasons. It also sounds like TB is looking Long term and Gus is part of his long term plan. Let's stick behind are team and be proud of what we have and to look forward to future success.

Remember Rome was not built in a day!

 

[clippedgull]

Amex sold out every week, no worries at all. But he will have an eye on his business plan for next season, relegation is not an option he will want to entertain and I would expect him to move on his management team if things are looking bleak in Feb/Mar.

 

[Mutts Nuts]

We matched Saints first half. They scored, we had one off the line. Then the ref decided he wanted to be centre of attention and that was that

We lost one nil in my book, the pens the sending off of Tanno were a joke, and and so was the ref.

 

[albion68]

If we had all our players available we would be better, but not creating chances is worrying all good teams are able to pass and move which creates time and space ,when Liverpool played at the Amex with better quality players they made it look easy but Albion played quite well themselves in that game .Deffinately think that Gus is loosing focus going on the media all the time is that not what all the failed managers do ? If we are to compare with the team that got in the top division years ago we had Horton who drove us forward we need that type of player good fullbacks and wingers who put good crosses in and Lawrenson in defence ,Wardy always seemed to score when one against one against the keeper but there are a lot of ingrediants that make up a winning team and i dont think anybody knows how much money the club can spend in January and we are going to need some good young players coming through as well .

 

[BensGrandad]

Think TB will be cool and calm and ask Gus what is going wrong. are the players that we have good enough, if not who do we need. He will then stand back and evaluate Gus's answers but not do anything in haste. As I said on another thread I think we need toi either get Vicente fit or bring in a fit similar player, experienced and knowledgeable.