[Albion] Pascal Groß the raumdeuter - officially leaves for Dortmund :(

[Hamilton]

It's still early in the window and there's major competitions on which are distracting everyone. I'm not too concerned yet.

But, it will be sad to see Pascal go without having been able to say thanks and goodbye to him.

 

[Han Solo]

If we are settling for players that the club clearly don't want, then that is an incredibly disappointing window, Potter was widely ridiculed for bring Locadia on once he came back. If we want to be serious about next season we will have to bring people in, before we sell deadwood that we'll be getting nominal fees for. Leonard is the only one worth looking at IMO, he will need to make a big jump though, maybe a Kozolowksi loan to the championship. We need to get better at loans this season, we had a poor season last year, no one shone on loan.

Of course it is disappointing but thats sometimes just the reality. Most likely another striker would have been signed in 21/22 if it had been possible to find a club for Locadia and a loan for Connolly (who probably turned it down). Shane Duffy returning from a poor Celtic spell obstructed a new CB signing (should be said Duffy did well upon returning). Thats just the reality managers have to work with, and the reason why it is important to get signings right (or at least not terribly wrong). Can't just pile up players and wages and having them aimlessly wandering around the facilities.

Agree some improvement is needed on the loan side. Too many didn't quite work out.

 

[Hiheidi]

I don't know why people keep mentioning Marc Leonard; Naylor said he's being sold and there's lots of interest from Championship, L1 and abroad.

 

[AstroSloth]

I agree with both those points, yet in a 3-4-3 we wouldn’t play Buonanotte as our central attacker, so if he plays, it would be as a midfielder, and while he’s played out on the wings to cover, it’s not his natural position.

To your first point, I've seen some analysis of Hurzeler's system and the wingers tend to tuck inside whilst the wing backs overlap.

This would suit Buonanotte a lot more than the winger position he was being asked to play under De Zerbi.

I also do think he would be really good as a deep lying playmaker but needs time to get up to speed there.

 

[Gabbiano]

Of course it is disappointing but thats sometimes just the reality. Most likely another striker would have been signed in 21/22 if it had been possible to find a club for Locadia and a loan for Connolly (who probably turned it down). Shane Duffy returning from a poor Celtic spell obstructed a new CB signing (should be said Duffy did well upon returning). Thats just the reality managers have to work with, and the reason why it is important to get signings right (or at least not terribly wrong). Can't just pile up players and wages and having them aimlessly wandering around the facilities.

Agree some improvement is needed on the loan side. Too many didn't quite work out.

Remarkable amount of very specific Potter era knowledge there from a new Swedish member.

I would say generally that the club have been pretty good at finding clubs for our deadwood. They don't tend to run down their contracts here, we usually find at least loan clubs. Locadia went to MLS, Andone to Spain, Ali J back to Holland. Who knows what discount these clubs got to take them off our hands, but they're not usually hanging around Lancing stinking out the place for too long.

 

[jackalbion]

Of course it is disappointing but thats sometimes just the reality. Most likely another striker would have been signed in 21/22 if it had been possible to find a club for Locadia and a loan for Connolly (who probably turned it down). Shane Duffy returning from a poor Celtic spell obstructed a new CB signing (should be said Duffy did well upon returning). Thats just the reality managers have to work with, and the reason why it is important to get signings right (or at least not terribly wrong). Can't just pile up players and wages and having them aimlessly wandering around the facilities.

Agree some improvement is needed on the loan side. Too many didn't quite work out.

Very much my point, we have to make sure the signings are right thats why we need to not scrimp and save, we need to get our top targets.

 

[Publius Ovidius]

Remarkable amount of very specific Potter era knowledge there from a new Swedish member.

I would say generally that the club have been pretty good at finding clubs for our deadwood. They don't tend to run down their contracts here, we usually find at least loan clubs. Locadia went to MLS, Andone to Spain, Ali J back to Holland. Who knows what discount these clubs got to take them off our hands, but they're not usually hanging around Lancing stinking out the place for too long.

We can find out if Hans solo is that Swedish idiot by posting this:

hey Hans…potter was really shit, do you agree?

sits back with popcorn

 

[Baldseagull]

Why? What does he do, I'm not really sure if he has a future here beyond being back up, when the other options are far superior.

He is a very good footballer, with pace and a good first touch. One of the quickest players we have in the squad, he played more as one in a double pivot in Poland, Potter had him out on the wing, but dribbling isn't his forte. He has quality and I reckon Hurzeler will find a role for him. Maybe he is back up to start with, he is still coming back from a long lay off, but with game time, I believe he will show his qualities.

 

[Guinness Boy]

The problem many people don't understand when it comes to signing players is that its a lot easier to buy them than to sell them.

Ok, so Moder, Dahoud, Leonard and Kozlowski perhaps shouldn't be in first team plans, but they're going to be somewhere. And just like Potter had to accept Locadia, Andone and a few other undesired players taking up squad place when we couldn't find loans or transfers for them, we may find ourselves in the same situation with a player like Dahoud. As a free transfer signing, he is quite likely to have a good salary that he just won't find in another club (unless we can ship him to some oil country).

Similar situation with Jakub Moder, although we should be able to at least find a loan deal for him. I can't imagine many clubs are willing or able to buy him permanently at this point. A bottom team in PL, Serie A or La Liga, or a mid table team in Germany or France is probably the best he can hope for. He has done very little over quite a lot of years.

Kozlowski is a little bit shit but I guess Hurzeler will have a look at him. Dreadful for Vitesse this season and I don't know where we should put him if he can't stand out in the worst team in the Eredivisie. League One maybe? Its a weird jump though.

Leonard... time will tell.

Your midfield setup looks good except I don't think KDH is really happening anymore. But it depends on getting rid of unwanted players. If someone like Dahoud can't be moved on, we're probably going to have to settle for him.

Everton were in for Moder 6 months ago.

Of course, whether they have the money / headroom is another thing…

 

[One Teddy Maybank]

Don't get me wrong, I agree, still think theres a lot of potential there, but I think its a massive risk relying on him to fill in for our biggest contributor to G/As.

100% agree

 

[macbeth]

I get the concern for Hinshelwood, but I have hopes he will be more like Pascal than Solly.
Play anywhere and be one of the most influential players on the pitch, wherever he is.

if that ends up being the case then he won’t be here for long

 

[jackalbion]

He is a very good footballer, with pace and a good first touch. One of the quickest players we have in the squad, he played more as one in a double pivot in Poland, Potter had him out on the wing, but dribbling isn't his forte. He has quality and I reckon Hurzeler will find a role for him. Maybe he is back up to start with, he is still coming back from a long lay off, but with game time, I believe he will show his qualities.

I remain sceptical, I think the pace thing is just a one off as he was running back to defend as a counter, I really don't think he's got a big future here.

 

[peterward]

If we are settling for players that the club clearly don't want, then that is an incredibly disappointing window, Potter was widely ridiculed for bring Locadia on once he came back. If we want to be serious about next season we will have to bring people in, before we sell deadwood that we'll be getting nominal fees for. Leonard is the only one worth looking at IMO, he will need to make a big jump though, maybe a Kozolowksi loan to the championship. We need to get better at loans this season, we had a poor season last year, no one shone on loan.

Players yes, keepers no

 

[Baldseagull]

I remain sceptical, I think the pace thing is just a one off as he was running back to defend as a counter, I really don't think he's got a big future here.

That's OK, we can agree that he hasn't really produced here yet. I think he was beginning to before his injury though.

 

[peterward]

He is a very good footballer, with pace and a good first touch. One of the quickest players we have in the squad, he played more as one in a double pivot in Poland, Potter had him out on the wing, but dribbling isn't his forte. He has quality and I reckon Hurzeler will find a role for him. Maybe he is back up to start with, he is still coming back from a long lay off, but with game time, I believe he will show his qualities.

I don't think so, it's all relative isnt it.... is he crap? No, he's not. Is he good enough to he a regular starter in a team vying for a European place? No he's not.

He's a squad player, somewhere between 15-25, not better than any in first 11, and to kick on we need to go for those that can be better than our first 11.

fwiw I'd put Igor in similar category. Alright, not amazing, decent enough for lower PL side, but not really top 10 regular starter quality.

 

[Baldseagull]

I don't think so, it's all relative isnt it.... is he crap? No, he's not. Is he good enough to he a regular starter in a team vying for a European place? No he's not.

He's a squad player, somewhere between 15-25, not better than any in first 11, and to kick on we need to go for those that can be better than our first 11.

fwiw I'd put Igor in similar category. Alright, not amazing, decent enough for lower PL side, but not really top 10 regular starter quality.

Igor has been fit and playing the last couple of years, I don't think he is going to show us more than he has. Moder has been out for the best part of 2 years. He may be just a squad player, at the moment, but he is already here, not someone we need to go for, and I think he can be a frequent starter. We don't need to move him on.

 

[Hiheidi]

He (Moder) is now into the final year of his contract (as is Lamptey), so he's either moved on this Summer or has a lot to prove next season.

 

[Baldseagull]

if that ends up being the case then he won’t be here for long

I am not expecting it from him next season, but in time.

 

[Bozza]

I don't think so, it's all relative isnt it.... is he crap? No, he's not. Is he good enough to he a regular starter in a team vying for a European place? No he's not.

He's a squad player, somewhere between 15-25, not better than any in first 11, and to kick on we need to go for those that can be better than our first 11.

fwiw I'd put Igor in similar category. Alright, not amazing, decent enough for lower PL side, but not really top 10 regular starter quality.

Agreed.

And, unpopular opinion probably, I'd put Gilmour in the same group.

 

[Jimmy Grimble]

That's OK, we can agree that he hasn't really produced here yet. I think he was beginning to before his injury though.

Moder’s injury was arguably the turning point in our trajectory. We had been on a dismal run, then a space was freed up in the XI for Caicedo and we never looked back.

There was no point during that rich run of form we had from the end of 21-22 into 22-23 where people were clamouring for Moder to return.

Since his return to the team, our trajectory has turned back the other way! Obviously there are lots of other variables at play, but our win percentage when he’s in the team is really poor - I’m pretty sure the worst in the squad. I don’t think it’s a coincidence.

As others have said, he’s a decent squad player but I wouldn’t want him in our XI if we’re pushing for Europe.

What he really needs to do is pick a position and have a manager stick with it. If it was up to me, I’d have him developing his game as a defensive midfielder, mostly based on his physical skill set. He’s pretty steady at everything but if he could work on the qualities needed most in a #6 then his physical attributes could help him kick on there.