[Albion] Cold light of day - post Potter

[butchy]

1 home win in 9 months…..angry, yes very angry about the situation (and the dreadful timing of it) however actually quite looking forward to the reaction among the Chelsea Neanderthals when Potter takes a few months to bed in. Unless they completely wrote off this season (surely they can’t be) then I can’t see him lasting till May

 

[Mancgull]

Graham Potter leaving was obviously shocking and it has taken me a couple of days and several hours of sleeplessness in the past two nights to process it.. The feeling is still part disillusionment, part frustration/anger and part defiance. Bruno's departure was especially painful......

In spite of it all, I begin to feel our renewed support for the new manager (when appointed) and excellent players is vital to ensure the momentum and positivity is maintained.

We should not feel like victims, nor waste time feeling bitter, Our new manager WILL NEED our united vocal support.....

If we get behind him we can continue to surprise the football status quo with our beautiful play and achieve unprecedented success.... and I believe Potter's actions will ensure we generate a lot more support across the country...

Totally agree with this. Never be the victim. Be annoyed, angry and then react positively. Whoever takes over will be a very good manager, will get fantastic support from the senior management and the infrastructure set up.
Let's remember too that the sadness around Potter going is based on a bit of ' recency bias'....a phrase I remember Potter using in his tenure. 14 games ago we were languishing in the lower half of the table having got one point from the last seven games and that was a 0-0 home draw v Norwich. Caicedo then broke into the team, Welbeck came into form and since then we have gone on an amazing run.
If we hadn't, Potter wouldn't have been targeted by Chelsea. No way then with a record of LLLLLLD. As Potter himself said ' every game in the Premier League is tough and he had long stretches of poor home form. All the so called ' experts' seem to be forgetting that.
Potter has taken his chance while his stock is high. Fair enough, he did the same in Sweden after their European run.
We move on. Get a good replacement in and kick on.
It will be interesting to see how GP does at Chelsea but that's just a side show to me. What the main act will be is to witness our continued rise and to show the footballing World that our success is down to brilliant senior management not just a coaching team. UTA

 

[Super Steve Earle]

Being retired, I have more time to indulge my passion for the Albion to a greater extent than I probably should. With all of the management/coaching team gone, coupled with our fixtures coming to a jarring halt in the height of anticipation for what Potter and Co could achieve this season, there is a massive hole in my life by the side of a Queen sized hole. The light of day is indeed very cold. The light the Albion shines has dimmed and allowed reality to make it's way in. During the travails of Covid, lockdown and the other issues in life, we had an ever improving Albion to look towards for a lift. Southampton haven't recovered yet from player sales and the loss of Poch. Wolves look set for a period in the doldrums after losing their best manager in years. It's incredibly difficult in the cold light of day to imagine the club without Potter and Co and I imagine our young, impressionable players will be be so incredibly gutted. Some by the loss of Potter, others, Bruno, others Roberts. Every day they went to work, these men were their family. Now they are gone. This is their cold light of day. What happens next rests in the appointments of five or six people. Not only do they have to be great at the football side, they will have to be fantastic people. We still have a great club, infrastructure, academy, Bloom and Barber, a fantastic squad of young players and fourth place in the league to attract the best talent to take the team forward. But I wouldn't want to be in the shoes of Bloom and Barber at the moment, picking through the applicants. I find it incredibly hard to look with optimism at the 'published' shortlist, but then the same applies to the longer list outside those four. Coaches who have never coached in the Prem, or coaches Potter and Co outwitted. I'm too insular to know the best people for the job and we have to trust the much lauded statistical analysis and succession planning model. In the cold light of day, the Albion is my 'go to' uplift with my family in the face of political upheaval, wars abroad, financial challenges, energy and cost of living crisis and now the passing of the queen. I don't think Potter and Co are affordably replaceable in the cold late of day without a downgrade in fan expectations being needed right across the board. I hope I'm wrong.

 

[Perfidious Albion]

Totally agree with the last two posts. It is only now that I can bring myself to think constructively about the events. Now we start on a new chapter, the Potterball party is over. I share the above poster’s thoughts about the young players, some many thousands of miles from home, who have committed their immediate future to this club.
However it is now onwards , if not upwards. Our expectations have to be less now. Remaining in the Premiership will be a successful end to this disrupted season.

 

[Lever]

Like any modestly funded club that achieves success, our hopes and expectations inevitably rise and then are dashed by the football status quo.

If I stumble on a TV football chatshow about what has happened with us in the Potter to Chelsea saga, it's all about the Chelsea gamble, Potter team set up etc; we become a footnote 'Potter reached the ceiling with what he could achieve there', '...now they are focused on finding a replacement' etc (how insightful!). In football chat terms we are seemingly like a child who enjoyed a bit of fun and now it's time for the adults to take back control.

We need to work on forgetting the hurt, maybe lower our expectation denominator (perhaps it was becoming too inflated anyway) and pull together to keep this club up there competing and the Seagulls harassing the bigger beasts.

 

[Lever]

Being retired, I have more time to indulge my passion for the Albion to a greater extent than I probably should. With all of the management/coaching team gone, coupled with our fixtures coming to a jarring halt in the height of anticipation for what Potter and Co could achieve this season, there is a massive hole in my life by the side of a Queen sized hole. The light of day is indeed very cold. The light the Albion shines has dimmed and allowed reality to make it's way in. During the travails of Covid, lockdown and the other issues in life, we had an ever improving Albion to look towards for a lift. Southampton haven't recovered yet from player sales and the loss of Poch. Wolves look set for a period in the doldrums after losing their best manager in years. It's incredibly difficult in the cold light of day to imagine the club without Potter and Co and I imagine our young, impressionable players will be be so incredibly gutted. Some by the loss of Potter, others, Bruno, others Roberts. Every day they went to work, these men were their family. Now they are gone. This is their cold light of day. What happens next rests in the appointments of five or six people. Not only do they have to be great at the football side, they will have to be fantastic people. We still have a great club, infrastructure, academy, Bloom and Barber, a fantastic squad of young players and fourth place in the league to attract the best talent to take the team forward. But I wouldn't want to be in the shoes of Bloom and Barber at the moment, picking through the applicants. I find it incredibly hard to look with optimism at the 'published' shortlist, but then the same applies to the longer list outside those four. Coaches who have never coached in the Prem, or coaches Potter and Co outwitted. I'm too insular to know the best people for the job and we have to trust the much lauded statistical analysis and succession planning model. In the cold light of day, the Albion is my 'go to' uplift with my family in the face of political upheaval, wars abroad, financial challenges, energy and cost of living crisis and now the passing of the queen. I don't think Potter and Co are affordably replaceable in the cold late of day without a downgrade in fan expectations being needed right across the board. I hope I'm wrong.

Great post and I agree with much of it.

Just to say that we have made fantastic progress over the last 6 or so years; there are things that we cannot affect but if we remain flat as a group it will have a negative impact on the players, staff and manager.

We must focus on what we can do, show solidarity and make an effort to lift each other and the club as a whole.

We need to be bring an end to the mourning sooner rather than later.....

 

[trueblue]

Being retired, I have more time to indulge my passion for the Albion to a greater extent than I probably should. With all of the management/coaching team gone, coupled with our fixtures coming to a jarring halt in the height of anticipation for what Potter and Co could achieve this season, there is a massive hole in my life by the side of a Queen sized hole. The light of day is indeed very cold. The light the Albion shines has dimmed and allowed reality to make it's way in. During the travails of Covid, lockdown and the other issues in life, we had an ever improving Albion to look towards for a lift. Southampton haven't recovered yet from player sales and the loss of Poch. Wolves look set for a period in the doldrums after losing their best manager in years. It's incredibly difficult in the cold light of day to imagine the club without Potter and Co and I imagine our young, impressionable players will be be so incredibly gutted. Some by the loss of Potter, others, Bruno, others Roberts. Every day they went to work, these men were their family. Now they are gone. This is their cold light of day. What happens next rests in the appointments of five or six people. Not only do they have to be great at the football side, they will have to be fantastic people. We still have a great club, infrastructure, academy, Bloom and Barber, a fantastic squad of young players and fourth place in the league to attract the best talent to take the team forward. But I wouldn't want to be in the shoes of Bloom and Barber at the moment, picking through the applicants. I find it incredibly hard to look with optimism at the 'published' shortlist, but then the same applies to the longer list outside those four. Coaches who have never coached in the Prem, or coaches Potter and Co outwitted. I'm too insular to know the best people for the job and we have to trust the much lauded statistical analysis and succession planning model. In the cold light of day, the Albion is my 'go to' uplift with my family in the face of political upheaval, wars abroad, financial challenges, energy and cost of living crisis and now the passing of the queen. I don't think Potter and Co are affordably replaceable in the cold late of day without a downgrade in fan expectations being needed right across the board. I hope I'm wrong.

Chin up. I know what you mean but… we’ve got some excellent players who might just be galvanised by this even further once they work with a new coach. It’s Potter that’s left them high and dry, not the Albion. The right person could be able to channel that disappointment successfully - some may be motivated by it.

Hard to imagine our football will be as intricate in future - but that’s only been consistently successful in the past few months. It brought its own frustrations during the team’s development as, hopefully, Chelsea’s fan base will soon find out. Let’s see if they’re so patient.

There are plenty of ways to play successful football, and a middle ground between Potter’s quest for perfect goals and the full Sean Dyche. Let’s see what the future brings and keep the faith.

So much rides on the right appointment. The biggest decision Bloom’s ever had to make I reckon. Can’t guarantee he’ll get it right but hard to think of a better person to be entrusted with that responsibility.

 

[Gully Forever]

Regardless of who comes in, I can see us playing the way we did against Fulham for a fair amount of time. Potter leaving was one thing, But the entire coaching staff, you're having a laugh.

 

[Biscuit]

I adored Potterball but Graham the man I always struggled to warm to. His slightly barbed comments in press conferences seemed at odds with someone with such high emotional intelligence. I can't take away his brilliance as a football manager though and I'm not surprised to see him take on a top job.

Potter always saw us as a stepping stone and always thought he was bigger than us. I don't blame him for that but I don't particularly like it. I would enjoy seeing his project at Chelsea going belly up tbh because I'm not a Chelsea fan and feel nothing towards Potter now other than disappointment for the way he left us.

We could have done something incredible this season. It was, to be honest, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I hope we get the right management team in and the players react well to them. It'll be a huge change, especially for the younger players. It'll be a very rocky road.

He's done what's right by him, and I understand it. But it's negatively affected my football team and I love my football team. So, quite frankly, the man's dead to me. I've gone from dreaming of European football for the first time ever to thinking, '27 points to safety'. Gutted.

Enjoy the money.

 

[Brixtaan]

Haven’t been on NSC for what seems like years but here I am needing some balance and reassurance after actual real sleep disruption in the last 48hrs. The usual wise words are being spoken here by many and I look forward to going through this whole thread today after a reflective dog walk. I burst into rage Thursday night after learning that Chelsea had completely cleaned us out firing off anger into various WhatsApp groups but now it’s time for calmness and remembering that pre Potter we were on a successful upward trajectory thanks to TB’s long term genius and money. Which I will always be grateful for. I still think he needs to come out onto the steps and address his subjects though in the hour of need . Thanks NSC and I look forward to reading everything today

 

[B-right-on]

Haven’t been on NSC for what seems like years but here I am needing some balance and reassurance after actual real sleep disruption in the last 48hrs. The usual wise words are being spoken here by many and I look forward to going through this whole thread today after a reflective dog walk. I burst into rage Thursday night after learning that Chelsea had completely cleaned us out firing off anger into various WhatsApp groups but now it’s time for calmness and remembering that pre Potter we were on a successful upward trajectory thanks to TB’s long term genius and money. Which I will always be grateful for. I still think he needs to come out onto the steps and address his subjects though in the hour of need . Thanks NSC and I look forward to reading everything today

You'll meet a new, needy and obstinate poster from Sweden called Swansman. Do your blood pressure some good and put him on ignore.

He's Potters no 1 rectum cleaner and we're hoping he's off to the Chavs forum soon, as he just follows his hero around.

 

[Lever]

...still processing what has happened.

Am I alone in being completely unable to enjoy rewatching recent victories on youtube? Until Thursday I got a buzz from looking at our victories. I don't bother with them now; feels like a long time ago rather than just 7 days...

 

[Icy Gull]

Just looked at the photo of Potter’s grinning Chelsea coaching team and it struck me that I don’t think that any of them, apart from Bruno actually played at the level most Chelsea players have, or won anything of note?

I wonder how that will play out with the more Prima Donna Chelsea players when things are not going well.

 

[brightonbaz]

I personally don't know how people can be so blasè about this. Yes I know we've been in worse places, yes I know 'little' Brighton will never be top of the food chain, and yes I know I should just accept it as part of football and move on. But for the rest of my life now, whatever happens next, I will always think 'what if?' We are 'little' Brighton. Clubs like us don't challenge for a place in the top six very often, let alone by playing such brilliant football. Where could we have got to if Potter had at least stayed until the end of the season? This was our chance and it's gone and God knows if it'll come again.

And don't tell me "It'll be ok, Tony Bloom's got it under control". I know the club have 'succession planning' if individuals leave (such as Ashworth or Bissouma), but I think that plan will be sorely tested by having to replace a whole group, including some club stalwarts and not just Potter's own team. I cannot see the next manager (and his team) being an upgrade on Potter, and I feel 'peak Albion' has now been reached.

Of course if the new guy does turn out to be better and we win the FA Cup and qualify for Europe then please bounce this post and I will happily eat humble pie, but at the moment I really can't see it.

100% this.....sums up exactly how I feel.....sorry but can't wish Potter success at Chelsea like some on here....

 

[Lawros Lip]

Can only hope that for the rest of the season the players, fans and ultimately the new management team can demonstrate that our recent success and respect for the way we play was not just down to the wizardry of Potter and his staff. Might not happen that way of course, but it’s what’s keeping my Albion mojo going at the moment.

 

[Perfidious Albion]

Well, the party is over and we are back to not knowing what the future holds. I was reading PB’s comments about the “ethos of the club” and his determination to keep that going . I guess they are looking for a manager that is made from the same mold and has similar ideas and style to GP. He can’t be the only one....
Whoever, and it is bound to be someone we have not heard of, it will take time to settle in . Points will be lost . Initially, performances will suffer . We must be patient and lower our expectations for the season. Staying up will now be success.

 

[Icy Gull]

I wasn't quite sure where to put this, so this thread will have to do!

I have noticed on my pc home page which has all sorts of bits of news on it that Chelsea, Potter, Chelsea players, players opinions on Chelsea, Todd Boehly etc etc are pretty relentless

Loads of it passing opinion, suggesting player problems, fan problems, analysing and general Chelsea talk

It then dawned on me how GP used to talk about "the noise" around performances, good and bad was just noise and he ignored it

Now I get that he could ignore it when he was here because Albion are seldom more than a footnote in the national press apart from when we pull of surprises but surely all the "noise" he is getting now can't be ignored unless he never goes online

Made me wonder if being so much in the spotlight is something that may wear him down as he seems quite a private guy by nature to me?

Not worth a thread of it's own but I'll be interested to see how he copes with it, I assume he thought it through before he agreed to join Chelsea

Yes I know his bank balance and managing a CL club will probably help but he really is high profile now, with lots of noise around him.

Random thought over

 

[Denis]

Sky sports news have been running a series of The making of a manager-Graham Potter, during the last couple of mornings. It has footage of him going way back to the early 2000’s. Is this Todd giving him all this publicity? It all seems so unlike the Potter we had at Brighton.

 

[timbha]

Sky sports news have been running a series of The making of a manager-Graham Potter, during the last couple of mornings. It has footage of him going way back to the early 2000’s. Is this Todd giving him all this publicity? It all seems so unlike the Potter we had at Brighton.

I think Potter has been told to up his game in terms of profile, PR and media relations. He showed some cracks after the Leeds game (booing/history) and the press lapped it up cos it was little old Brighton with ungrateful supporters. It’ll be a different story at Chelsea when every word and movement is scrutinised and twisted to suit their story.

 

[Mancgull]

I think that some managers thrive on it and others don’t. Not sure that Potter will.... just don’t think he’s ‘made in Chelsea’ type.
Still, cant blame him for trying.