[Albion] De Zerbi quote

[oldboyroy]

Bearing in mind we were generally the better side yesterday despite the gulf in spending between us and United.

 

[Weststander]

This with bells and ribbons.

The fans and, in our case, owner remain. No-one else. However much commitment they show why they are here, they are passing through.

I only learnt this lesson when Potter walked out, going through all the stages of grief , then witnessing RDZ deliver even better football.

Holding back something for myself, for when RDZ chooses to move on.

The same principle with players, I'm factoring in Caicedo and Mac A leaving this summer, for a combined £140m. If one ends up staying, that'll be a bonus.

All in all, making following the Albion calmer and happier.

 

[Moshe Gariani]

DeZerbi quote I like from yesterday is "I was a fan. I am especially sorry for our fans". That is the sort of empathy you don't find in a university textbook.
He understands the emotional experience of being a fan. The highs, the lows, the joy and frustration. Football is nothing without fans and it is the fans that matter rather than the millionaire players or, god forbid, the poor old manager himself...

 

[raymondo]

The fact Baounette & Ayari have had minutes more recently than wee Billy says a lot

Fair comment

 

[trueblue]

Can we assume that Gilmour needs to be moved on? He’d probably have got more game time if he’d stayed at Chelsea. RDZ obviously doesn’t rate him.

One of the Scottish newspapers was suggesting he should move to Rangers for a year on loan. Get his confidence back (if he's lost it) and consequently be worth more to us afterwards - either in terms of the fee or as a player. Not sure the door is closed on him at the Albion yet though. It's a very competitive midfield. The drawback maybe is that, from very limited viewing, he seems to be a good passer of the ball but not particularly dynamic. Maybe not a great fit for our style.

 

[ac gull]

well he will have a choice of goodness knows how many we have on loan to see if any of them fit the bill in pre season

Lallana is a big miss

We need another couple in the Lallana / Welbeck category a bit older to me

 

[tigertim68]

well he will have a choice of goodness knows how many we have on loan to see if any of them fit the bill in pre season

Lallana is a big miss

We need another couple in the Lallana / Welbeck category a bit older to me

Another 2 injury prone players you mean

 

[Machiavelli]

All of the above.

TB won't go an unprecedented spending spree partly to keep a manager, when that manager could walk out 6 months or a year later.

Players will still be bought according to the tried n tested plan, able to fit in with any future coach's tactics and methods.

Leaving $$$$ basket-case clubs to carry on the chaos of shipping hordes of players in and out with each fad.

While with you on the overall thrust here, it depends on what you mean by unprecedented. I suspect we will spend big this summer, certainly more than we have done in any other window, which might make it unprecedented.
This isn't just based on RdZ's demands or impatience -- for he is impatient -- but because:
1, we've accrued huge amounts over the past year, so the piggy bank is looking good
2, TB has kept on spending. I doubt he 'wants to get his money back' as is often said (with a sale of the club being an exception -- but don't see that happening for years/decades)
3, our squad is short, and we're feeling it at the moment. Look at that chart @dazzer6666 posted a few pages back: we've used the fewest numbers of players; we have the fewest in our squad. We felt it on Sunday: I said when the teams were announced that if we didn't win in 90 minutes, we'd lose; the hope is the forthcoming fixture congestion doesn't derail us
That said, we're not going to be wasting silly money on players or wages. We'll get new young talent in, but think that'll be supplemented by 2-4 established players probably in their early 20s (depending on Caicedo and Mac)

Edit: helped by you, there's a 4, which you've indicated a few posts back: we'll be accruing silly sums for players we've paid peanuts for this summer

 

[dazzer6666]

While with you on the overall thrust here, it depends on what you mean by unprecedented. I suspect we will spend big this summer, certainly more than we have done in any other window, which might make it unprecedented.
This isn't just based on RdZ's demands or impatience -- for he is impatient -- but because:
1, we've accrued huge amounts over the past year, so the piggy bank is looking good
2, TB has kept on spending. I doubt he 'wants to get his money back' as is often said (with a sale of the club being an exception -- but don't see that happening for years/decades)
3, our squad is short, and we're feeling it at the moment. Look at that chart @dazzer6666 posted a few pages back: we've used the fewest numbers of players; we have the fewest in our squad. We felt it on Sunday: I said when the teams were announced that if we didn't win in 90 minutes, we'd lose; the hope is the forthcoming fixture congestion doesn't derail us
That said, we're not going to be wasting silly money on players or wages. We'll get new young talent in, but think that'll be supplemented by 2-4 established players probably in their early 20s (depending on Caicedo and Mac)

Edit: helped by you, there's a 4, which you've indicated a few posts back: we'll be accruing silly sums for players we've paid peanuts for this summer

Yep. My sense - and often repeated by PB/TB - is that 'sustainable' means balancing income and expenditure and doesn't take into account any need to repay Tony (at least at this stage). Being incredibly fortunate to have an owner that a) doesn't want repaying and b) doesn't demand interest on his investment unlike some (yes you, Glazers) means now we're can start to reap the rewards of extraordinarily clever recruitment and management of the club both on and off the field. The club made a profit last year, and will declare another jump in income next season, so the ability to invest in the squad further - almost certainly a mix of increased wages to retain the best players, and going into the transfer market in a clever way - is clearly there without compromising that sustainability objective. Selling a top player periodically for a massive profit is necessary to maintain that sustainability and balance the books, so we shouldn't get upset when it happens - it's critical to being able to make those further investments which, as is increasingly the case, we get right most of the time. At the extreme example, for every Caicedo we sell we can get 25 new ones..........................

 

[Joey Jo Jo Jr. Shabadoo]

Another 2 injury prone players you mean

Since Welbeck came back from his operation to repair his hamstring he's missed 6 of 51 league games for us. He went off injured on Sunday with what looks like an impact injury, you get those if you are injury prone or not. Lallana hasn't had the best record here but his value on and off the pitch is clear to see. RDZ was very keen to get him signed up to a new contract. Rather like when we had Vicente, if they were always fit and able to play they wouldn't be playing for us.

A couple of more experienced players with the knowledge those two bring to the squad would be very very valuable, especially for our younger players. You've only got to look the way Welbeck is with the likes of Lamptey and Enciso to see what a father figure he is. That type of player will be even more important if we reach European competition.

 

[dazzer6666]

Since Welbeck came back from his operation to repair his hamstring he's missed 6 of 51 league games for us. He went off injured on Sunday with what looks like an impact injury, you get those if you are injury prone or not. Lallana hasn't had the best record here but his value on and off the pitch is clear to see. RDZ was very keen to get him signed up to a new contract. Rather like when we had Vicente, if they were always fit and able to play they wouldn't be playing for us.

A couple of more experienced players with the knowledge those two bring to the squad would be very very valuable, especially for our younger players. You've only got to look the way Welbeck is with the likes of Lamptey and Enciso to see what a father figure he is. That type of player will be even more important if we reach European competition.

Spot on. The overall value to the squad of those two can't be overstated.

Welbz looked fine as he was walking off on Sunday. Think it was one of those extremely painful but short-lived whacks on a bone. Also think he was being subbed anyway - Undav was already ready.

 

[Sepulveda]

DeZerbi quote I like from yesterday is "I was a fan. I am especially sorry for our fans". That is the sort of empathy you don't find in a university textbook.
He understands the emotional experience of being a fan. The highs, the lows, the joy and frustration. Football is nothing without fans and it is the fans that matter rather than the millionaire players or, god forbid, the poor old manager himself...

And also he isn't a big club fan, he is a Brescia fan (his hometown.) It's a historical club with a fierce rivalry with Atalanta and a very solid and passionate fanbase, and they saw great talents pass among their ranks like Pirlo, Guardiola, Toni and late Baggio; but it is not a "big" club, it's a solid Serie B (Championship) club that sometimes manages to wander into Serie A and their greatest placement was getting 8th place in Serie A in 2001. They're now risking relegation from Serie B to Serie C (League One.) Their kits are also blue and white by the way, lol. So he knows how it is for non-big club supporters.

 

[Muzzman]

Are we taking a single quote, plucked out of context, from a person where English is a foreign language to them... again?

Yay!

 

[Gabbiano]

One of the Scottish newspapers was suggesting he should move to Rangers for a year on loan. Get his confidence back (if he's lost it) and consequently be worth more to us afterwards - either in terms of the fee or as a player. Not sure the door is closed on him at the Albion yet though. It's a very competitive midfield. The drawback maybe is that, from very limited viewing, he seems to be a good passer of the ball but not particularly dynamic. Maybe not a great fit for our style.

I think the issue with Gilmour is that to play in our defensive midfield roles you have to be incredibly press resistant, and wee Billy is quite easy to bully off the ball.

He had this issue at Norwich and his breakthrough was at Chelsea where other teams were (at the time) too scared to commit too much to the press. He’s a neat passer of the ball but a bit too powderpuff

 

[Gabbiano]

It’s clear we need more depth. The last couple of seasons we’ve been pretty lucky with injuries, but now it’s catching up to us.

We will sign first team ready players in the summer, but they won’t be the finished article. They’ll be 22-24 year olds with a point to prove (like Mwepu, Estupiñan and Cucurella were). We’ve been linked to several of these kinds of players in the last couple of months - Nelson, Almeida, Vitinha, Kökçü…

 

[Nobby Cybergoat]

I think the issue with Gilmour is that to play in our defensive midfield roles you have to be incredibly press resistant, and wee Billy is quite easy to bully off the ball.

He had this issue at Norwich and his breakthrough was at Chelsea where other teams were (at the time) too scared to commit too much to the press. He’s a neat passer of the ball but a bit too powderpuff

Agree. I think he'll not quite have the physical strength to make to here. Rangers loan a good shop window move for all parties.

 

[dazzer6666]

Are we taking a single quote, plucked out of context, from a person where English is a foreign language to them... again?

Yay!

yeah....but....he had a funny look on his face and everything. He's definitely off.

 

[BBassic]

Didn't Gilmour come here specifically because he wanted to work with Potter? And then Potter upped sticks and went to the club he'd just left.

I've not been massively impressed with him in his few appearances but there could be a good player in there, perhaps just a bit disillusioned with his lot.

Though, to argue with myself, if he wants to forge a career as a professional footballer stuff like that is something he's going to need to get on with.

 

[Crawley Dingo]

He is right but will it happen? If we finish 4th then yes imo, lower and we lose a lot of talent. This is why the league is more important than the cup.

 

[Nobby Cybergoat]

OK, so the squad is about 4 “ready to play” players short we all know that and surely so do the club. (Sunday gave a good demonstration of who RDZ considers “ready to play”.)

Add to this, we’ll likely lose 3 or 4 in the summer, (not necessarily 3 or 4 big transfer fee players, maybe Veltman, maybe Lamptey etc).

So we will probably need 8 more (ready to play) players for next season.

Now, if there is any tension, (and a very good chance there isn’t) within the club, it’s about where those 8 players are coming from

For example the club may be thinking that at least 6 will be players already on the books. For example, players already in the squad, but not yet quite there for PL starts such as Moran, Ayari and Buenanotte plus players returning from loan, for example Adringa, Alzate, Turns, Rushworth. Fair enough if they do anticipate this, that’s the model that has got them this far.

However will RDZ be as compliant as CH or GP? He may well be anticipating (as most managers would) that out of these 8 players, 6 will be bought in … his own picks. 6 players ready to play at this standard is quite an outlay and even if we do get £80m for a player, we’ll be losing money on transfers again.

4 (existing) and 4 (new) seems to me to be a more probable compromise between the two.

All of the above assumes no European football. In which case we’ll likely need a squad with 10 more “ready to play” players.