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[Albion] Assuming we survive, is CH the right man for 19/20?



Thunder Bolt

Silly old bat
Fair points, but for us, we have invested a few bob in new players since our first season and I think most fans had the reasonable expectations that we would make at least some modest progress this season. It hasn't really happened, our abysmal away form persists and our home form has, of late, been 'wobbly'.
Yes, we are in the semis of the downgraded FA Cup, but to be honest, we have had a relatively easy passage and very nearly made a hash of the quarters.
I'm not being shouty, but more like having a polite grumble. We wouldn't be fans if we didn't disagree or get grumpy now and then, would we?

That few bob we have invested stills puts us 16th in budget terms. We are currently in 15th place with a couple of games in hand over teams around us, and just one point behind where we were this time last year.
 




BLOCK F

Well-known member
Feb 26, 2009
6,726
We should consider ourselves lucky and fortunate if Chris is the manager next season.I'm amazed nobody has poached him yet.

Who would he be a target for?
Can't see many/any prem clubs coming in for him and why should he go to a lower level than we currently play at?
Just curious.
 


BLOCK F

Well-known member
Feb 26, 2009
6,726
That few bob we have invested stills puts us 16th in budget terms. We are currently in 15th place with a couple of games in hand over teams around us, and just one point behind where we were this time last year.

Yes, I know all that lark about budgets, but aren't you even a teensy bit disappointed with our league performances, this season?
Maybe not, but plenty are and it is a reasonable position to take. As I said, 30,000 fans are never all going to sgree.
 








The_Viper

Well-known member
Oct 10, 2010
4,345
Charlotte, NC
I'm amazed so many people consider going down as an option. If we did go down there is a slight chance we would come straight back up, but what is more likely is that we will be stuck in that division for years... or worst case scenario, drop down another into the abyss and be in real trouble.

If it looks as if we are at real risk of relegation, despite what he has done for the club, he would have to go. There is no point being sentimental about it - we just cannot risk going down.


This season? By the time we know if we're f'ed or not it'll be too late either way to let him go. If we go down he has the pedigree to get us back up.
 




BLOCK F

Well-known member
Feb 26, 2009
6,726
Surely that is always the case - the team that finishes 4th from bottom in the PL only survives because the bottom 3 are worse !

Perhaps I should have made myself clearer.
'I think we will stay up this season, just; because thankfully, there may be 3 teams who have been even shittier than us.:clap:
 




Thunder Bolt

Silly old bat
Yes, I know all that lark about budgets, but aren't you even a teensy bit disappointed with our league performances, this season?
Maybe not, but plenty are and it is a reasonable position to take. As I said, 30,000 fans are never all going to sgree.

Some have been poor, but some have been great. That's a season in a nutshell.

When you've been to games and seen us beaten 7-1, or away to Rotherham on a Tuesday night being beaten 2-0 (just recently) or being trounced at home by Burnley, when the referee ignores a blatant handball only to give a penalty at the other end within a minute, then a scrappy defeat to Southampton doesn't seem too much to get het up about.
 


AmexRuislip

Retired Spy 🕵️‍♂️
Feb 2, 2014
34,823
Ruislip
Chris Hughton, already in the Albion hall of legends, for what he has done for the club.
Why get rid of him, can't see anyone else coming in at short notice.
CH is no Guardiola, working with talent dropping out of every corner.
Let's back him to keep us up FFS,
 


trueblue

Well-known member
Jul 5, 2003
10,971
Hove
If we survive, then absolutely. 2 seasons in the Premier League and a Cup run to Wembley would be an outstanding achievement and he’d fully deserve the chance to progress the team further in the summer. A poor start to next season though and I could see the natives getting restless... so it’ll be interesting to see if we follow the pattern of our previous top flight experience. Sacking Mike Bailey for his ‘boring’ football back then didn’t turn out to be much of a master stroke.
 




abc

Well-known member
Jan 6, 2007
1,401
Heart says yes but brain says I'm really not sure.

We either have a squad that are not good enough for the prem or a manager that cant get enough out of the squad. I do wonder just how many of our squad would get regular 1st team football with teams like Watford, West ham and Leicester (to whose league position we ultimately aspire). Gut feeling is that we have the right manager who is doing his best with an inadequate squad
 


BLOCK F

Well-known member
Feb 26, 2009
6,726
Some have been poor, but some have been great. That's a season in a nutshell.

When you've been to games and seen us beaten 7-1, or away to Rotherham on a Tuesday night being beaten 2-0 (just recently) or being trounced at home by Burnley, when the referee ignores a blatant handball only to give a penalty at the other end within a minute, then a scrappy defeat to Southampton doesn't seem too much to get het up about.

I've experienced a fair number of ups and downs in supporting the Albion since my first match in 1963 and I no longer get as het up as I used to in my younger day, win or lose.
It is an age thing with me!:thumbsup:
 


ferring seagull

Well-known member
Dec 30, 2010
4,607
No. This season has been dismal. More of the same next season is a very gloomy prospect.

Agreed irrespective whether in the Premier League OR the Championship.

Do consider that we are a very different option than previously, given where we have got to - performance apart, and would almost certainly attract interest from highly qualified candidates.

I suppose this thread would have been better started at end of season !
 
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Not Andy Naylor

Well-known member
Dec 12, 2007
9,004
Seven Dials
Heart says yes but brain says I'm really not sure.

We either have a squad that are not good enough for the prem or a manager that cant get enough out of the squad. I do wonder just how many of our squad would get regular 1st team football with teams like Watford, West ham and Leicester (to whose league position we ultimately aspire). Gut feeling is that we have the right manager who is doing his best with an inadequate squad

Exactly. The squad is short of a box-to-box midfield player, a strong central striker and a natural leader. Too many pleasant chaps in midfield who aren’t great tacklers, with the result that when they try to get a bit physical they risk red cards. Murray is an all-time Albion great but his best days are just about coming to an end. If by some miracle (which we may have witnessed yesterday) we do stay up, we need the above players with Premier League experience, not someone who takes half a season to adjust to the difference between Holland and England.
 


Pavilionaire

Well-known member
Jul 7, 2003
31,285
The goal for Season 1 is always easy - survival.

However, good players will want to play in a system that gives them an opportunity to express themselves, and so the problem with having survival as the goal for Season 2 and 3 means that you will always compromise your attacking potential.

If the goal was to better last season and finish 14th and obtain 41 points then what the hell was Saturday all about? A full house, an international break and an opportunity to put 6 points between us and Southampton and yet we were flat at the start and flat coming out at half-time.

I'm worried that some of our player might be having the attacking instincts coached out of them. I'm sure that isn't the intention but the stats indicate the goals are drying up and periods of attacking domination in any match are few and far between. Gross hasn't been the same, Izquierdo really should be starting matches by rights, Glenn's looking his age, Propper and Stephens never look like having a shot.

We're getting to the stage that when people talk about Brighton we're being placed in the same bracket as a Burnley. No pundit ever says they're looking forward to a Brighton game, only that we'll be tough to beat and seldom get rolled over.

I'm OK with dull football in season 2 but if Leeds, Villa and Norwich come up while Fulham, Hudds and Cardiff go down then next season will be an even bigger test than this, so we have to start showing we're capable of scoring two goals in a match.
 






8 Ward

New member
Jan 13, 2014
7
The possible problem that is building momentum here, is for how long will the ground be filled with fans feeling that they are getting value for money, entertainment-wise, when they are paying over £600 for a season-ticket to be numbed into bored silence (as has been the case on many occasions this season), by the unambitious, safety-first, defend in numbers fare we are being served up with. Is this the uncomfortable reality for the Premier League, for us, tasked with mere survival, grinding out just enough points to not be the 3rd worst team, or can, and will, we strive for more. The pure novelty of being in this division won't last indefinitely, at which point you go back to seeking something more . It seems undoubtedly the case that for 'the Club' the be-all and end-all is the money, but the by-product is the increased fear factor which so inhibits us now. The 1983 season and the sacking of Mike Bailey in our fourth season in the First Division always comes up, but the Goldstone still held c.28,000 then and yet by the time he left only c.10,000 felt it worth attending, so , no, fans won't endlessly fork out top-dollar if they perceive they are not getting entertainment, be it the top division or League Two.
 


Hastings gull

Well-known member
Nov 23, 2013
4,652
The possible problem that is building momentum here, is for how long will the ground be filled with fans feeling that they are getting value for money, entertainment-wise, when they are paying over £600 for a season-ticket to be numbed into bored silence (as has been the case on many occasions this season), by the unambitious, safety-first, defend in numbers fare we are being served up with. Is this the uncomfortable reality for the Premier League, for us, tasked with mere survival, grinding out just enough points to not be the 3rd worst team, or can, and will, we strive for more. The pure novelty of being in this division won't last indefinitely, at which point you go back to seeking something more . It seems undoubtedly the case that for 'the Club' the be-all and end-all is the money, but the by-product is the increased fear factor which so inhibits us now. The 1983 season and the sacking of Mike Bailey in our fourth season in the First Division always comes up, but the Goldstone still held c.28,000 then and yet by the time he left only c.10,000 felt it worth attending, so , no, fans won't endlessly fork out top-dollar if they perceive they are not getting entertainment, be it the top division or League Two.

My thoughts entirely. CH really is a one-trick pony. Yes, he is a super chap, and the Albion owe him much for promotion/Pl survival etc but there is a limit to the amount of defensive football that the fans will tolerate. We are not near that tipping point yet, but next season, assuming we stay up, may well result in ever decreasing levels of satisfaction.
 


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