[Albion] Alexis Mac Allister and the class of 2018-19

[chickens]

I wonder what changed? I presume it’s the analysis which is key, as the data must be available to others. I think the club have said this. I also presume Bloom/Starlizard analyse the data? Did Bloom get better? Did the club bring in a better analyst?

Agree completely, everybody makes mistakes but the trick is being smart enough to learn the right lessons from making them.

We must (upon getting some of these players in) have realised that we’d failed to take some characteristics into account, and added checks on previously uncombined measurables.

I guess the recruitment team got better at using the data to filter out the long-shots, and give us a greater quantity of high-probability prospects. I don’t have any information though, and I’m not expecting the club to put their hard-learned lessons in the public domain.

 

[Machiavelli]

I wonder what changed? I presume it’s the analysis which is key, as the data must be available to others. I think the club have said this. I also presume Bloom/Starlizard analyse the data? Did Bloom get better? Did the club bring in a better analyst?

I think it's far more that -- as the club's stated strategy indicated -- the first few seasons were about survival. The pools the club pursued fit into that, as did the requirements of the then manager, who has a very different approach to his successor and RDZ. Once we'd got through those first two seasons the transfer policy increasingly moved towards the longer-term, rather than pursuing first-team-ready players. Ali Mac was the first sign of that. If you go back to NSC at that point, it was full of posters questioning the strategy of investing in the future.
Bloom does long-term thinking, and part of that is identifying when to do pragmatic, and when to pursue a broader vision.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

I think it's far more that -- as the club's stated strategy indicated -- the first few seasons were about survival. The pools the club pursued fit into that, as did the requirements of the then manager, who has a very different approach to his successor and RDZ. Once we'd got through those first two seasons the transfer policy increasingly moved towards the longer-term, rather than pursuing first-team-ready players. Ali Mac was the first sign of that. If you go back to NSC at that point, it was full of posters questioning the strategy of investing in the future.
Bloom does long-term thinking, and part of that is identifying when to do pragmatic, and when to pursue a broader vision.

Fair points. But the vast majority of the list did not become first team regulars. I counted 3 on the list.

 

[GT49er]

Mac Allister joined us in the January 2019 transfer window. It's incredible to look back at the players that joined us immediately before, and during, the 2018-19 season...

Date from	Position	No.	Name	From	Fee	Joining squad	Ref.
1 July 2018	CF	10	Florin Andone	Deportivo La Coruña	Undisclosed	First Team	[24]
1 July 2018	CB	14	Leon Balogun	Mainz 05	Free transfer	First Team	[25]
1 July 2018	GK	23	Jason Steele	Sunderland	Free transfer	First Team	[26]
1 July 2018	LB	-	Joe Tomlinson	Yeovil Town	Free transfer	Academy	[27]
5 July 2018	LB	30	Bernardo	RB Leipzig	Undisclosed	First Team	[28]
9 July 2018	GK	-	Hugo Keto	Arsenal	Free transfer	Academy	[29]
16 July 2018	GK	27	David Button	Fulham	Undisclosed	First Team	[30]
17 July 2018	CM	8	Yves Bissouma	Lille	Undisclosed	First Team	[31]
20 July 2018	ST	26	Percy Tau	Mamelodi Sundowns	Undisclosed	First Team	[32]
25 July 2018	RW	16	Alireza Jahanbakhsh	AZ Alkmaar	Undisclosed	First Team	[33]
7 August 2018	LW	-	Billy Arce	Independiente del Valle	Undisclosed	Academy	[34]
7 August 2018	RW	-	Anders Dreyer	Esbjerg	Undisclosed	Academy	[35]
9 August 2018	CB	-	Dan Burn	Wigan Athletic	£3,000,000	First Team	[36]
9 August 2018	LM	-	Peter Gwargis	Jönköpings Södra	Undisclosed	Academy	[37]
9 August 2018	RB	22	Martín Montoya	Valencia	£6,300,000	First Team	[38]
24 January 2019	AM	—	Alexis Mac Allister	Argentinos Juniors	Undisclosed	First Team	[39]
31 January 2019	DM	—	Tudor Băluță	Viitorul Constanța	Undisclosed	Academy	[40]
31 January 2019	CF	—	Jan Mlakar	Maribor	Undisclosed	Academy	[41]

With the departure of Mac Allister, late-bloomer Jason Steele is the only one of the 18 signings still at the Albion, and what a mixed bag it turned out to be.

That list includes seven players bought for the academy, none of whom ever played for the first team (not in the league anyway). I know selling on youngsters is part of the plan, but I wonder how well we did with those seven - we gave most of them away! Would loan fees have even covered the costs?

 

[chaileyjem]

Guess the longest serving player from the Aston Villa line up ?

Pascal.

Jack Hinshelwood has been on the clubs books since ...2012. Started as a 7 year old !

 

[Kosh]

Jack Hinshelwood has been on the clubs books since ...2012. Started as a 7 year old !

I suspected that might have been the case… what an epic journey that boy has had ! hope he makes it (or continues his trajectory) and further embellishes the Hinshelwood Albion story as we journey into our exciting future…

 

[Commander]

Mac Allister joined us in the January 2019 transfer window. It's incredible to look back at the players that joined us immediately before, and during, the 2018-19 season...

Date from	Position	No.	Name	From	Fee	Joining squad	Ref.
1 July 2018	CF	10	Florin Andone	Deportivo La Coruña	Undisclosed	First Team	[24]
1 July 2018	CB	14	Leon Balogun	Mainz 05	Free transfer	First Team	[25]
1 July 2018	GK	23	Jason Steele	Sunderland	Free transfer	First Team	[26]
1 July 2018	LB	-	Joe Tomlinson	Yeovil Town	Free transfer	Academy	[27]
5 July 2018	LB	30	Bernardo	RB Leipzig	Undisclosed	First Team	[28]
9 July 2018	GK	-	Hugo Keto	Arsenal	Free transfer	Academy	[29]
16 July 2018	GK	27	David Button	Fulham	Undisclosed	First Team	[30]
17 July 2018	CM	8	Yves Bissouma	Lille	Undisclosed	First Team	[31]
20 July 2018	ST	26	Percy Tau	Mamelodi Sundowns	Undisclosed	First Team	[32]
25 July 2018	RW	16	Alireza Jahanbakhsh	AZ Alkmaar	Undisclosed	First Team	[33]
7 August 2018	LW	-	Billy Arce	Independiente del Valle	Undisclosed	Academy	[34]
7 August 2018	RW	-	Anders Dreyer	Esbjerg	Undisclosed	Academy	[35]
9 August 2018	CB	-	Dan Burn	Wigan Athletic	£3,000,000	First Team	[36]
9 August 2018	LM	-	Peter Gwargis	Jönköpings Södra	Undisclosed	Academy	[37]
9 August 2018	RB	22	Martín Montoya	Valencia	£6,300,000	First Team	[38]
24 January 2019	AM	—	Alexis Mac Allister	Argentinos Juniors	Undisclosed	First Team	[39]
31 January 2019	DM	—	Tudor Băluță	Viitorul Constanța	Undisclosed	Academy	[40]
31 January 2019	CF	—	Jan Mlakar	Maribor	Undisclosed	Academy	[41]

With the departure of Mac Allister, late-bloomer Jason Steele is the only one of the 18 signings still at the Albion, and what a mixed bag it turned out to be.

And this is what the 'Brighton never get anything wrong with their recruitment' pundits don't see. We have got an awful lot wrong over the last few years. Have we just had a lucky run recently? I hope not, but I can't see how that would be totally out of the question.

 

[Bozza]

Fair points. But the vast majority of the list did not become first team regulars. I counted 3 on the list.

Three?

I'd say all of Bernardo, Montoya, Burn, Mac Allister and Bissouma became first team regulars for periods of time, whilst Jahanbakhsh was very much a first team squad regular - he racked up 50 appearances in his time here, probably 2/3 from the bench at a guess.

I've also not included Jason Steele in my first team regular list - you could make a case either way. No - he was here for five seasons and only played one league game. Yes - he's played the last 15 consecutive league games.

 

[Bozza]

And this is what the 'Brighton never get anything wrong with their recruitment' pundits don't see. We have got an awful lot wrong over the last few years. Have we just had a lucky run recently? I hope not, but I can't see how that would be totally out of the question.

I wonder if most years would look similar ultimately?

- A lot of kids, many who were loaned out before being sold on cheaply or released.
- A few senior players who featured in and around the first team squad for a year or two.
- A few breakout names who became established first team regulars, although they may have been bought to slot straight in from the off.
- One younger player who develops at an exceptional rate, becomes "the next big thing" and is likely sold on for mega money.

It might be worth doing a thread for each of the two or three seasons that followed 2018/19. If you go too far forward, there will be some incomplete stories, that could still play out in many different directions.

 

[Greg Bobkin]

Jack Hinshelwood has been on the clubs books since ...2012. Started as a 7 year old !

I considered him, but you said lineup, so I assumed the 11 that started the game...

 

[chaileyjem]

I considered him, but you said lineup, so I assumed the 11 that started the game...

You got it right then !

 

[Commander]

I wonder if most years would look similar ultimately?

- A lot of kids, many who were loaned out before being sold on cheaply or released.
- A few senior players who featured in and around the first team squad for a year or two.
- A few breakout names who became established first team regulars, although they may have been bought to slot straight in from the off.
- One younger player who develops at an exceptional rate, becomes "the next big thing" and is likely sold on for mega money.

It might be worth doing a thread for each of the two or three seasons that followed 2018/19. If you go too far forward, there will be some incomplete stories, that could still play out in many different directions.

Yes I think you're probably right. For every Mitouma, there are countless others that didn't make it. Pundits and other fans don't see that, they just see some young kid burst on to the scene from nowhere and wonder how the hell we keep doing this. I'd love to see how much profit / loss we made on all those signings as a total each year. Do we need one to make it to make money, or can we make money (or at least break even) buying and selling like that, without the first teamer that we then sell on for big money 3 years later emerging?

 

[Mellor 3 Ward 4]

Guess the longest serving player from the Aston Villa line up ? Might not be who you think …

Are you including subs too?

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

Three?

I'd say all of Bernardo, Montoya, Burn, Mac Allister and Bissouma became first team regulars for periods of time, whilst Jahanbakhsh was very much a first team squad regular - he racked up 50 appearances in his time here, probably 2/3 from the bench at a guess.

I've also not included Jason Steele in my first team regular list - you could make a case either way. No - he was here for five seasons and only played one league game. Yes - he's played the last 15 consecutive league games.

Fair point. I thought @Machiavelli suggested the model at that time was buying players to go into the first team. Burn and Mac didn’t go straight in i.e. only 3 successes. But I misunderstood his post.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

Are you including subs too?

“Line-up” to me means starters. So Gross is the answer.

 

[Machiavelli]

Fair point. I thought @Machiavelli suggested the model at that time was buying players to go into the first team. Burn and Mac didn’t go straight in i.e. only 3 successes. But I misunderstood his post.

I said first-team-ready, as opposed to first-team-regulars. I could have been clearer.
I was saying that first-team-ready was distinct from our more recent signings, of which Mac was the pioneer, whereby they didn't come straight into the first team squad, but went out on loan having been bought. See also (roughly chronologically) Moder, Karbownik, Mitoma, Sima, Undav, Adingra, Enciso, Buonanotte, ... (who's next?)

 

[chaileyjem]

I said first-team-ready, as opposed to first-team-regulars. I could have been clearer.
I was saying that first-team-ready was distinct from our more recent signings, of which Mac was the pioneer, whereby they didn't come straight into the first team squad, but went out on loan having been bought. See also (roughly chronologically) Moder, Karbownik, Mitoma, Sima, Undav, Adingra, Enciso, Buonanotte, ... (who's next?)

Adingra definitely, Koswlowski (possibly) , Sima likely to be another loan i think.

 

[Machiavelli]

Adingra definitely, Koswlowski (possibly) , Sima likely to be another loan i think.

Would go along with that. Maybe Sima to be sold?