[Albion] BHA - An absence of Stupidity

[Stato]

I loved Barney Ronay's comments about the Albion in today's Guardian Football Weekly:

https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-...ted-end-gunners-perfect-start-football-weekly

From about 23 minutes, he's asked about us and says that we are one of the clubs 'doping the system' by having intelligent and competent people in positions of authority. He says this goes against the usual football club model of having morons driven by ego and personal agendas and that it seems like cheating.

I have to say that I've been noticing more and more how our recent success is being based upon spotting things that bigger clubs are not doing well and becoming good at them: the signing of Caicedo was because of the hard work done to be able to function in the S. American transfer market, work that Man Utd wouldn't bother with, the awareness of clauses in player contracts allowed us to snap up Joel Veltman for a song, the scouting in minor / lesser known leagues has seen some first team gems unearthed and some money made developing and moving on players who may be undervalued because of where they are playing. In some ways it gives me confidence that the model can allow for the loss of individuals, whether they be players, or the likes of Ashworth, or at some future point, Potter. In other ways it worries me. I've recently made 'Moneyball' comparisons and remember from that book that their unique approach didn't see the Oakland Athletics become hugely successful for a sustained period, it instead changed the approach of the bigger clubs. We are doing well because of rich club complacency. I'd like to hope that our example won't wake too many of them up.

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

Always a soft option for a half-bright journalist to whip up something nonsense out of next to nothing. No way that piece of flimsy would 'of' been written six months ago

 

[Brovion]

I loved Barney Ronay's comments about the Albion in today's Guardian Football Weekly:

https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-...ted-end-gunners-perfect-start-football-weekly

From about 23 minutes, he's asked about us and says that we are one of the clubs 'doping the system' by having intelligent and competent people in positions of authority. He says this goes against the usual football club model of having morons driven by ego and personal agendas and that it seems like cheating.

I have to say that I've been noticing more and more how our recent success is being based upon spotting things that bigger clubs are not doing well and becoming good at them: the signing of Caicedo was because of the hard work done to be able to function in the S. American transfer market, work that Man Utd wouldn't bother with, the awareness of clauses in player contracts allowed us to snap up Joel Veltman for a song, the scouting in minor / lesser known leagues has seen some first team gems unearthed and some money made developing and moving on players who may be undervalued because of where they are playing. In some ways it gives me confidence that the model can allow for the loss of individuals, whether they be players, or the likes of Ashworth, or at some future point, Potter. In other ways it worries me. I've recently made 'Moneyball' comparisons and remember from that book that their unique approach didn't see the Oakland Athletics become hugely successful for a sustained period, it instead changed the approach of the bigger clubs. We are doing well because of rich club complacency. I'd like to hope that our example won't wake too many of them up.

Yes, I'd thought that. The big clubs have always been a bit complacent simply because they're 'big' and they know they can crush the little upstarts with the sheer weight of their financial clout. But yes, I think you may have a point, the longer we punch above our weight the more all clubs (big and small) will look at us and wonder if they can learn something, other than, yes, you need a good manager.

However I do feel the difference between soccer and baseball is that in soccer the difference between the big and small clubs is so large that the big clubs will always have a level of arrogance. In other words they accept that occasionally a little upstart club emerges, but eventually the natural order re-assets itself and they return to their 'proper' level. No need to change, nothing we can learn from #TeamsLikeBrighton, just spend billions on better players and get a good manager. I'd be more worried about the mid-range clubs getting their act together - but it's not that easy.

EDIT: Just adding that the first thing you need is a decent owner, not someone who sees the club as an investment to generate a return.
.

 

[Stato]

Always a soft option for a half-bright journalist to whip up something nonsense out of next to nothing. No way that piece of flimsy would 'of' been written six months ago

I'm not sure what you mean. No journalist has written anything. The link is to a podcast, where Ronay gives an ironic response to a question about whether our recent success is to do with Potter or the quality of the players.

 

[Easy 10]

Barney Ronay is one of my favourite journalists. Sometimes his similes can get a little laboured, but I do enjoy his off-piste slants when I read his match reports, or one of his pieces.

His book on the World Cup in Russia when he follows England around (amongst other games) is a really cracking read.

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

I'm not sure what you mean. No journalist has written anything. The link is to a podcast, where Ronay gives an ironic response to a question about whether our recent success is to do with Potter or the quality of the players.

Ah, right, my bad, just assumed all those giant slabs of text were copy'n'pasted from the written word

 

[Greg Bobkin]

One of the differences must be the money involved – to a point. Any 'big' club will have the financial clout to not have to worry too much about budgets, salaries and doing the hard work because they just sign off on a big transfer fee for a player and slot them in to the existing system.

Granted it might not work all the time (MUFC, I'm looking at you) but, then again, look at Chelsea this summer, MCFC and Liverpool in recent seasons and now Newcastle. The days of those clubs taking a punt of a few million on a player who ends up actually playing in the first team are long gone.

 

[Stato]

Ah, right, my bad, just assumed all those giant slabs of text were copy'n'pasted from the written word

Oh I see. No, I wrote the 'giant slab'.

An ex of mine coined the catchphrase 'In a paragraph please!' that she would use whenever I started going off on one.

 

[Not Andy Naylor]

I have to say that I've been noticing more and more how our recent success is being based upon spotting things that bigger clubs are not doing well and becoming good at them: the signing of Caicedo was because of the hard work done to be able to function in the S. American transfer market, work that Man Utd wouldn't bother with, the awareness of clauses in player contracts allowed us to snap up Joel Veltman for a song, the scouting in minor / lesser known leagues has seen some first team gems unearthed and some money made developing and moving on players who may be undervalued because of where they are playing. In some ways it gives me confidence that the model can allow for the loss of individuals, whether they be players, or the likes of Ashworth, or at some future point, Potter. In other ways it worries me. I've recently made 'Moneyball' comparisons and remember from that book that their unique approach didn't see the Oakland Athletics become hugely successful for a sustained period, it instead changed the approach of the bigger clubs. We are doing well because of rich club complacency. I'd like to hope that our example won't wake too many of them up.

And of course at least one bigger club (Boston) tried to sign Billy Beane, the man behind Oakland's success. It's worth saying that Tony Bloom has expressly rejected any comparisons between Moneyball and his statistical methods, but your point about bigger clubs finally learning the lessons is a good one. What can we do about it? Nothing except keep refining our model and keep trying to unearth good players. And above all, be light on our feet and adaptable. Southampton thought they'd cracked it with their academy but some years the production line fails to produce and they began to struggle. Now they've finally switched to bringing in young players from Europe rather than Hampshire and the New Forest, but not starting sooner took them close to relegation a few seasons ago. Our South American connections are proving fruitful at the moment but who knows whether that will always be the case?

But no doubt TB, PB, DW and the rest have already thought this through, just as we assume they have a list of possible replacements for GP if he goes elsewhere. I'd like to think that Bruno is on that list along with Lallana and perhaps even Danny Welbeck in the longer term. And also possible successors to Paul Winstanley, whose recruitment team find these gems.

 

[Smirko]

An ex of mine coined the catchphrase 'In a paragraph please!' that she would use whenever I started going off on one.

She was right...

 

[Stato]

She was right...

TSDR