[Albion] Guardian Season Preview 2020-21: Albion Prediction Finish Position: 16th

[portlock seagull]

It isn't upsetting, just ignores the fact that we have been lacking a goalscorer for some time, without ever slipping into the relegation zone ( apart from a 1 game spell at the start of our first season)
Even when Glenn was at his best, we were overly reliant on him and yet still managed to stay up without ever being in the relegation zone.

Last season we scored more than Palace and Newcastle and the same as Sheffield Utd.
West Ham scored 10 more goals than us, finished below us and their top scorer managed the same total as ours.
So why is it that we are seen as needing a goalscorer in order to survive?
Why do journalists think we will finish 2nd from bottom, if we are just lacking goals?



Our attacking options are better right now, than any other premier league season.
Our strength in depth, in all positions, has improved season on season.
It is injuries that cause more teams to fail rather than lack of goals.

19th? very lazy and clueless journalism.

Because it's been so tight, it only takes one or 2 results to go the other way and we'd be relegated. That's why we're deemed a good bet for relegation without boosting our attacking talents. We need to score more goals to creating that critical breathing space and push on, turn draws into wins and loses into draws.

 

[Springal]

That's very disrespecful to Maupay. 10 goals in your debut season in the PL in a lower half team is decent. What we need is more strength in depth up front. If something happens to him we look in a lot of trouble.

Agreed. Look at the scorers table and above Maupay is pretty much all big club household name strikers, exception of Pukki & perhaps Chris Wood.

What we need is more goals from other players

 

[Jim in the West]

I'm slightly surprised by the Guardian's prediction - I think they have some pretty knowledgable journals (their Football Weekly podcast is excellent - way beyond the quality of anything the BBC can produce, imho). I recall the season before last, Barry Glendenning was relentlessly negative about us, often predicting we'd go down. He turned out to be almost right - and if it wasn't for some crazy bad luck for Cardiff in their matches v Chelsea and Fulham at the back end of the season, we would have been down. But I very much doubt many at the Guardian have done much research on us recently. As far as the rest of the world knows, we've signed Lallana ("injury prone") and a guy from Ajax for less than £1m.

 

[BBassic]

Agreed. Look at the scorers table and above Maupay is pretty much all big club household name strikers, exception of Pukki & perhaps Chris Wood.

What we need is more goals from other players

Sums it up for me.

More goals from midfield and our enormous defenders actually getting on the end of some corners would do wonders.

 

[Seasidesage]

I don’t think there’s much negativity mate? More regards the ludicrous prediction made by the Guardian, not about our chances.

Personally I expect us to progress solidly from last season. With a bit of luck around mid table... an additional striker would make us even better.

I dunno there's plenty on this thread who seem to think we'll go down without a striker? Everyone is entitled to an opinion and I've definitely been wrong before but when I look at this team all I see is improvement in style, average age, organisation and technique. We look a team slightly under performing in terms of results versus our performances to me. I honestly think if we get the right man in upfront we will take off in terms of results. Trust me anyone who knows me would be astounded that I was this optimistic and I've not been this positive since the early days of Poyet if ever. There are all kinds of twists and turns you cannot foresee and a big injury to Maupay would be a real problem but I think we are seeing the beginning of a new era.

We are making amazing strides behind the scenes with a real top notch set up filled with talent Potter, Ashworth, recruitment and the Academy are all beginning to impact on the first team. There was never going to be a magic wand here but the scope afforded by the young players coming into the side gives us in the transfer market should enable us to buy at a slightly higher level moving forward and that can only help to move us forward. Time will tell I guess, but a couple of good buys now and who knows? I'm off to check I haven't been kidnapped by aliens...

 

[Uh_huh_him]

Because it's been so tight, it only takes one or 2 results to go the other way and we'd be relegated. That's why we're deemed a good bet for relegation without boosting our attacking talents. We need to score more goals to creating that critical breathing space and push on, turn draws into wins and loses into draws.

I agree with your point that we need a more clinical strike force to push on to the next level, but that isn't what is being debated here.
The perception is that we are relegation fodder. Predicted on average to finish 19th! Which kind of indicates that some pundits think we will finish bottom.

We have survived relatively comfortably in 2 out of 3 seasons and the other season, we were never in the relegation zone, let alone second from bottom.
It really hasn't been that tight.

The results "going the other way" cuts both ways, but even given that, we would have needed 4 wins to have been draws to have been relegated last season.

My question is what about our current squad indicates that we are going to struggle any more than the 3 teams coming up, and the other main strugglers last season (Villa/West Ham/Palace/Newcastle)
Do you really think that 6 of those teams are odds on to finish above us?

 

[vagabond]

I dunno there's plenty on this thread who seem to think we'll go down without a striker? Everyone is entitled to an opinion and I've definitely been wrong before but when I look at this team all I see is improvement in style, average age, organisation and technique. We look a team slightly under performing in terms of results versus our performances to me. I honestly think if we get the right man in upfront we will take off in terms of results. Trust me anyone who knows me would be astounded that I was this optimistic and I've not been this positive since the early days of Poyet if ever. There are all kinds of twists and turns you cannot foresee and a big injury to Maupay would be a real problem but I think we are seeing the beginning of a new era.

We are making amazing strides behind the scenes with a real top notch set up filled with talent Potter, Ashworth, recruitment and the Academy are all beginning to impact on the first team. There was never going to be a magic wand here but the scope afforded by the young players coming into the side gives us in the transfer market should enable us to buy at a slightly higher level moving forward and that can only help to move us forward. Time will tell I guess, but a couple of good buys now and who knows? I'm off to check I haven't been kidnapped by aliens...

Well firstly you’re preaching to the choir here mate [emoji482], I’m fully onboard the Potter train and have complete faith in his vision and management along with Tony and Ashworth.

We are a club going places.

Ive not seen anyone outright say we’re going down? I think some have voiced concern that we could be better stocked with an additional striker, as we’d be in trouble if Maupay were injured.

 

[kevo]

I do find it bizarre that they automatically put us in the relegation spots every year, when we've only ever spent 1 week in 18th and never been in the bottom two in our 3 years in the Prem.

When was the week we were in 18th? I thought we'd never been in the bottom 3?

 

[Bevendean Hillbilly]

I’d like to think our development guys have a decent goalscorer in the pipe.

We can’t just keep banging out world class defenders.

 

[The Large One]

Without goals we will struggle again. We haven’t strengthened there so the prediction isn’t far off the mark. Don’t know why this is upsetting so many?

I think you've contradicted yourself.

We may (or may not) have 'strengthened' - this is working on the assumption our strikers aren't capable of improving - but our lack of goals this season got us to 15th.

So where is the assumption we will finish 19th?

 

[The Large One]

This is probably the time to trot out the stat that, since promotion to the Premier League, we have spend one - ONE - week out of 114 in the bottom three, and that was in week 2 of the first season.

Since then, the relegation places have been unsurprisingly Brighton-free.

 

[zefarelly]

Sums it up for me.

More goals from midfield and our enormous defenders actually getting on the end of some corners would do wonders.

This . . .our corners and Duffy/Dunk on the end of them were a constant threat under CH . . . . absolutely missing in action this last season. WHY?

 

[dejavuatbtn]

This . . .our corners and Duffy/Dunk on the end of them were a constant threat under CH . . . . absolutely missing in action this last season. WHY?

Because it’s Potterball, not Hooferball.

 

[zefarelly]

Because it’s Potterball, not Hooferball.

I understand that, but we have basically given up trying to score from corners, seems to be x player just passes it direct to keepers gloves.

 

[Uh_huh_him]

When was the week we were in 18th? I thought we'd never been in the bottom 3?

First season - first 2 games were losses (City & Leicester) we drew the third against Watford and haven't looked back since

 

[Eeyore]

FourFourTwo have us as 14th. FWIW Villa, Fulham, WBA for the drop.

This is the first season I’d predict us out of the bottom three. If your beat is say the northwest, and you know more about those clubs it’s easy to see how someone just puts us down. Perhaps they don’t think we’ll land a big striker.

I wish I could be encouraged by that, but FourFourTwo predictions are the most insanely inaccurate ones of all each year.

 

[Gwylan]

I generally dislike that 'lazy journalism' tag because it is, in itself, pretty lazy, but in this case you are spot on. Over the Dunk to Leicester thing last season and the Ben White situation, I have been phoned for a steer by precisely two journos - David Anderson of the Mirror and Tony Banks of the Express (which is now part of the same group as the Mirror). Both good guys and to be trusted. Neil McLeman of the Mirror is another who calls to check stuff.

So, that's where Tony Banks is now. I was at university with Tony and last I heard he was leaving the Informer group of newspapers for The Sun ... and that was about 25 years ago. He's a good bloke and was a decent reporter, so I'm not surprised that he's thorough.

I have a jaundiced view of national sports journalists ever since I sat next to a correspondent from the Torygraph when I was working for The Cricketer. The bloke was totally pissed and kept asking me what was going on.

 

[Uh_huh_him]

I wish I could be encouraged by that, but FourFourTwo predictions are the most insanely inaccurate ones of all each year.

I looked up their 2019/20 entry on us. They felt that it would be down to whether Trossard/Maupay/Webster could adapt to life in the Prem.
They guessed not.

Not the worst prediction ever to be fair.

 

[Seasidesage]

TBF to the journalists here. Its a guess no more no less. If we pick up Messi on a free next week, I suspect our outcome might change a bit. Similarly if Maupay is hit by an asteroid (possibly more likely) our chances lessen...

 

[Lush]

Which pundit was it who said he couldn't decide if we were going to be just outside the top six or six points adrift by Christmas?