[Albion] After 12 games, Albion's four Premier League seasons

[doogie004]

Says it all potter out !


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[Weststander]

Fulham will start with aggression, pace everywhere and power, counter attacking in numbers. Under the radar, they completelt replaced that hopeless defence of Sept/Oct, a very busy late transfer window.

Can our possession game, relying on slide rule accuracy, overcome their disruptive pacey game?

Concerned.

 

[nicko31]

Says we are still in transition, but how long will it take?

 

[southstandandy]

Still find it hard to believe that with only 10 points from 12 matches (roughly a 3rd of the season) we are still outside of the bottom three!

Maybe 30 points will be enough to keep us up this year although I struggle to see us getting that many from what I've seen so far.

 

[Recidivist]

Says we are still in transition, but how long will it take?

Longer than Brexit!?


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[zamora the merrier]

What....like West Brom and Burnley!

Having seen Fulham run Liverpool ragged in the first half and the confidence that Burnley's win at Arsenal will generate, doesn't fill me with a great deal of hope that we are going to keep out of the bottom three. We are a lightweight, pretty side, lacking steel and grit ( Bissouma excepted ) with no punch upfront and now conceding nearly two goals a game on average.

There are too many errors within the side. Pass after pass given away. Maupay and Connolly cannot hold the ball in forward positions and we are expecting lots of goals from a striker with a career hit rate of 1/5-6. The BDB experiment ( which is what it is ) should have been shelved many months ago. The manager now seems confused about his best CB formation and is showing every sign of not having a clue what is his best starting eleven Without the ball, we seem incapable of closing people down and it seems as if all the emphasis on moving the ball forward at every opportunity has been at the expense of defensive organisation.

I have grave doubts about the calibre of Potter's back up team, as the same mistakes keep being made, over and over again. In trying to develop a totally new style of football, pleasing on the eye but not particularly effective, it feels like we have overlooked some of the principles that are likely to keep us in the division. The manager is going to have to find a new way of mixing and matching styles and trying to grind out results. Not easy but its the only way we will have a chance of staying up.

Spot on - I really hope he can turn it around but have grave doubts. Next 2 matches will tell a lot

 

[mothy]

In the next 4 games I would be happy with 1 win & 3 draws

 

[zefarelly]

Says we are still in transition, but how long will it take?

If you can't transition in a season then you've failed IMO, having said that, this year has been exceptional. which could have swung either way for quite a few teams. So the Jury is still out.

There are a few key pointers however, most teams have come up with a performance and caused an upset. not us. MOst teams have ground out a few results, not us.

It's starting to look like the transition has stagnated and there is no plan B.

IF that is the case, we go down and the transition continues with a slightly different agenda.

 

[Justice]

Once the team stop believing in GP’s tactics he has to go and it looks like that’s happening judging by players body language.

 

[RandyWanger]

It wouldn't be a particularly nice atmosphere in a full Amex ATM.

I don't think the Amex would be full with that record. Especially not at 90 minutes to boo the dullard.

I don’t like zonal marking!

neither do the players by the look of it.

One of the Amazon pundits was talking about this, defending set pieces we looked like we were behind and reacting to them, if we were man marking, you go with your man, not react to something that might be happening. Also with man marking there's accountability.

It’s the ridiculous blue shirts with daft collars.

1983 special, we all know how that ended.

Says it all potter out !

I think we need more people in first. Go for it in January even if we don't get the basement bargains we want to sign. Staying in the league should be the 2nd highest priority after keeping the club running.

Time for the board to backup their top 10 statement.

 

[Bold Seagull]

Once the team stop believing in GP’s tactics he has to go and it looks like that’s happening judging by players body language.

Why do you just keep repeating the same thing across so many threads?

It’s not going to happen. We’re just reaching 1/3rd of the season gone, we’re outside the bottom 3 - no way Bloom is pulling the trigger. I don’t know why people keep wasting their breathe? Do you think if you post on NSC enough TB is going to stumble upon your posts and think, do you know what, that’s convinced me that has, today’s the day he’s got to go.

I think we can debate team selection, tactics, formations, goalkeepers all day, but Potter being sacked is a waste of energy.

 

[trueblue]

We've played seven of the top eight, taking only one point from a possible twenty one those games, with -10GD. We've taken nine points from a possible fifteen in the other five games, not losing any of them with a +4 GD. Its been a very tough start. We need to start to show a bit of steel in the next few as we're perfectly capable of beating the teams around us.

This is the crux of it. Comparing runs in Premier League seasons is largely pointless as the way the fixtures fall has such a huge effect for clubs at our level. It’s pretty rare to put a sequence of victories together so even 2 or 3 in a row can be enough to transform the season in the area we’re in.

Let’s hope the players’ confidence isn’t as fragile as many of the observers on NSC. If we play as we can and, crucially, take our chances against Fulham and Sheffield United, the points tally will be a respectable return.

If we don’t, there’ll be cause for concern.

As for progress, yes, there’s been some. Staying up while playing attractive football instead of grinding out results is still the realistic short term target, which GP did well to achieve first season. Mid to top half long term would be no mean feat. For about a dozen clubs, that’s the best that can be expected in the Premier League. The occasional shock result and faring well in the 12 club mini-league.

 

[raymondo]

Removing CH was the right decision. Hiring GP was a gamble and extending his contract so soon was like ‘going all in’ with a pair of 9’s.

Looking like a mistake to me.

The early contract extension was indeed reckless, it's been all down hill since then

 

[durrington gull]

Why do you just keep repeating the same thing across so many threads?

It’s not going to happen. We’re just reaching 1/3rd of the season gone, we’re outside the bottom 3 - no way Bloom is pulling the trigger. I don’t know why people keep wasting their breathe? Do you think if you post on NSC enough TB is going to stumble upon your posts and think, do you know what, that’s convinced me that has, today’s the day he’s got to go.

I think we can debate team selection, tactics, formations, goalkeepers all day, but Potter being sacked is a waste of energy.

Pretty much agree - GP on a 6yr contract, i think he'll be here if we go down

 

[Harry Wilson's tackle]

Fans are now starting to examine how tactically astute Potter actually is. We keep hearing about his attributes as a deep thinker ( reminds me of Sven ) but it doesn't require a deep thinker to realise that all the emphasis in our play is when we are in possession. We are poorly coached out of possession. We stand off players, give too much space and leave huge holes where there shouldn't be holes. We are brittle and very beatable.
It was a gamble to massively extend his contract before he had really proved himself. Now he has to show more flexibility and get some basics back into our play. If it takes ugliness to get serious points off Fulham and Sheff U, so be it.

Your two analytical posts are very good.

At the start of the game yesterday I took off my blue and white spectacles (easy when we are in yellow and white) and watched as a neutral. I was shocked in the first 10 minutes how many times a player passed to an opponent. After Ali J's two nice moves (the fine shot, and the delicate pass that put Welbs through for a chance he should have buried) we were half a pace too slow, and there for the taking. At the end of the game I simply felt that we are not very good. Sad really.

 

[elwheelio]

I'm pretty well on the way to concluding that GP isn't up to it. There's tactical flexibility and strategy, and then there's throwing stuff at the wall and seeing what sticks. Constant changing in personnel and positioning, failure to defend set pieces, a lack of character on and off the pitch and really poor in-game management from him and his players. Can't see a change coming as this is Ashworth's gamble and if GP goes Ashworth is in an embarrassing position. We'll probably end up with bloody Southgate next. Christ.

 

[rippleman]

The early contract extension was indeed reckless, it's been all down hill since then

I tend to agree. That long contract extension just removed any pressure from Potter. How many of us are guaranteed our job for at least 5 years knowing that if the boss decides to get rid of us in the next 5 years because we are shit we would get paid in full for 5 years work?

A reckless gamble that just doesn't appear to have paid off.

 

[Justice]

Why do you just keep repeating the same thing across so many threads?

It’s not going to happen. We’re just reaching 1/3rd of the season gone, we’re outside the bottom 3 - no way Bloom is pulling the trigger. I don’t know why people keep wasting their breathe? Do you think if you post on NSC enough TB is going to stumble upon your posts and think, do you know what, that’s convinced me that has, today’s the day he’s got to go.

I think we can debate team selection, tactics, formations, goalkeepers all day, but Potter being sacked is a waste of energy.

I appreciate your blind faith and optimism that Potter will turn it around, I don’t have to agree with you it doesn’t make you a better fan or whatever you think it does. It’s an opinion that is all.

 

[Brian Fantana]

Those stats make for very uncomfortable reading, especially goals conceded in our first PL season vs this.

 

[Dunk&Disorderly]

Seems nit-picky but possibly valid... what's been the average fixture difficulty rating or equivalent for our first 12 games in each season?