[Albion] Evan Ferguson **Loaned to West Ham 03/02/2025**

[Milano]

Does it? Why did we reject the Mitoma bid then?

Because Mitoma rejected it. I'd bet anything you like if he'd shown interest he would be gone already. £70m would be too much to turn down and I actually wouldn't have blamed the club at all.
This is different though. From the outside looking in this looks needless, risky and is on the manager IMO. West Ham and Potter must be pissing themselves.
I just don't see an upside for us. He's not fit enough or ready to play for us, but he is for West Ham? Make that make sense.

 

[Justice]

Whoever is making these decisions have lost their way.
The summer signings weren’t a serious upgrade on what we already had. Record signings should be straight in the team with kids wanting names on their shirt.
Mediocre at best, MO can’t get a game, Rutter is doing ok although often benched and the others aren’t exactly tearing up trees and pick up strange injuries which started with just a precaution.

 

[J2 DOG]

Don’t like this loan. He may want to stay there and be persuaded too! He is a young, natural goalscorer and big club asset. There is a bigger danger now of him going for good. Surprised, especially after GP and the Chelsea exodus.GP would love to get him permanently.
We could have give him game time here. Our strikers are not exactly prolific atm.

 

[WhingForPresident]

Erm...

 

[Mellotron]

Sorry Undav.

He'll get over it.

 

[southstandandy]

My take on this - Yes, it's a good move if he gets game time and recaptures his form and goal scoring boots.

BUT - I'd prefer FH to have given him the rest of the season to play for US and hopefully regain his form.

Makes you wonder whether FH doesn't see a future for him here?

 

[Justice]

Don’t like this loan. He may want to stay there and be persuaded too! He is a young, natural goalscorer and big club asset. There is a bigger danger now of him going for good. Surprised, especially after GP and the Chelsea exodus.GP would love to get him permanently.
We could have give him game time here. Our strikers are not exactly prolific atm.

Don’t like this loan. He may want to stay there and be persuaded too! He is a young, natural goalscorer and big club asset. There is a bigger danger now of him going for good. Surprised, especially after GP and the Chelsea exodus.GP would love to get him permanently.
We could have give him game time here. Our strikers are not exactly prolific atm.

You mean our one injury prone striker isn’t prolific.

 

[peterward]

I'd sooner we sent Hurzeler to West Ham for the rest of the season.

 

[pb21]

He's not fit enough or ready to play for us, but he is for West Ham? Make that make sense.

Hmm, good point.

 

[Beanstalk]

In what way do you think he needs a miracle?

I don't think he needs a miracle, he just needs to be getting consistently good performances from a group of players capable of achieving good performances.

I'm very pro FH. I think Saturday aside, he's done a good job so far in the context of a transitional season. At the same time, I don't think we're currently good enough to qualify for Europe. I don't think we have transitioned to the style he wants to play perfectly yet, and I don't think, across the pitch, we've got enough depth. That's also fine.

I think a lot of people, from what I've seen on here, social media and Whatsapp, have made their mind up entirely about Hurzeler and won't settle for some good performances and good results for the rest of the season if Europe isn't delivered - they feel that the club traded a manager who delivered that for a newer model, and anything less now would be a failure. I personally disagree with that, but think from this position, to qualify for Europe and turn this side around to make them look like a side who can compete better than RDZ's side did in Europe, is a long stretch and will require a pretty big swing in the next few months.

 

[The Fits]

View attachment 196100

Erm...

That’s the kind of attention to detail you love to see at a team fabled for its focus on young players.
So many we literally don’t know what they look like.

 

[The Fits]

I'm very pro FH. I think Saturday aside, he's done a good job so far in the context of a transitional season. At the same time, I don't think we're currently good enough to qualify for Europe. I don't think we have transitioned to the style he wants to play perfectly yet, and I don't think, across the pitch, we've got enough depth. That's also fine.

I think a lot of people, from what I've seen on here, social media and Whatsapp, have made their mind up entirely about Hurzeler and won't settle for some good performances and good results for the rest of the season if Europe isn't delivered - they feel that the club traded a manager who delivered that for a newer model, and anything less now would be a failure. I personally disagree with that, but think from this position, to qualify for Europe and turn this side around to make them look like a side who can compete better than RDZ's side did in Europe, is a long stretch and will require a pretty big swing in the next few months.

If we produce three performances from now until the end of the season where-

The players play with intensity for at least 60 minutes.
The players seem to have a clue what they are doing for at least 60 minutes.
There is no need to make changes at half time.
Overall we produce a decent entire 90 minutes

I’d happily see us finish 16th.

I couldn’t care less about Europe. I just want to see that Fab has a plan and he can get his players to execute it CONSISTENTLY.

 

[peterward]

Whoever is making these decisions have lost their way.
The summer signings weren’t a serious upgrade on what we already had. Record signings should be straight in the team with kids wanting names on their shirt.
Mediocre at best, MO can’t get a game, Rutter is doing ok although often benched and the others aren’t exactly tearing up trees and pick up strange injuries which started with just a precaution.

We've actually seen first hand, when Welbeck was most recently injured.... Joao Pedro isnt a natural number 9.

Nor is Georginio

So we have 1 first team proper number 9, who, as great as he is, is very injury prone..... and we let the only other natural number 9 in the club (who should be our future beyond Welbeck) go to a mid table rival.

If Danny does get injured again, the folly of this decision will be self evident

 

[Bry Nylon]

I’m looking forward to see Evan play. He’s too big a talent to be left sweeping out the bogs at Lancing.

 

[Beanstalk]

If we produce three performances from now until the end of the season where-

The players play with intensity for at least 60 minutes.
The players seem to have a clue what they are doing for at least 60 minutes.
There is no need to make changes at half time.
Overall we produce a decent entire 90 minutes

I’d happily see us finish 16th.

I couldn’t care less about Europe. I just want to see that Fab has a plan and he can get his players to execute it CONSISTENTLY.

Yeah, similar. Obviously, I don't think those at the front with the pitchforks have reasonable demands and are happy with us finishing 16th. There have been plenty of examples on NSC over the last few months of the view I posed, with Saturday's result being their crystalising point.

If we get another 5 wins, and lose 9 in the PL this season, we'll have amassed more points than we did last season albeit in a less stylistic fashion. It would require quite a drop off for us not to achieve that points tally as a minimum. I want to see us do that playing like we have at our best this season, and as you say, doing it far more consistently within each game. Despite that, for many, that won't be enough and unless he delivers something exceptional, an improvement on previous, they'll not back him.

 

[Uh_huh_him]

I'm very pro FH. I think Saturday aside, he's done a good job so far in the context of a transitional season. At the same time, I don't think we're currently good enough to qualify for Europe. I don't think we have transitioned to the style he wants to play perfectly yet, and I don't think, across the pitch, we've got enough depth. That's also fine.

I think a lot of people, from what I've seen on here, social media and Whatsapp, have made their mind up entirely about Hurzeler and won't settle for some good performances and good results for the rest of the season if Europe isn't delivered - they feel that the club traded a manager who delivered that for a newer model, and anything less now would be a failure. I personally disagree with that, but think from this position, to qualify for Europe and turn this side around to make them look like a side who can compete better than RDZ's side did in Europe, is a long stretch and will require a pretty big swing in the next few months.

That isn't me.
I had fully accepted this was a transition season and it would take a while to get the manager's ideas across.
I wasn't fooled by the early good results as I could see we were only really putting together good passages of play for limited periods in each game.
But often those moments were really encouraging.

However increasingly those moments aren't as effective as they were.
The players don't seem to have any idea how to create chances and the play has got slower and less effective.

I want to see some progress and us start to develop an identity to the way we play.
That just isn't happening.

If Huerzeler can turn it around he will get me back on board.
But for right now, he has lost my confidence.

 

[peterward]

I'm very pro FH. I think Saturday aside, he's done a good job so far in the context of a transitional season. At the same time, I don't think we're currently good enough to qualify for Europe. I don't think we have transitioned to the style he wants to play perfectly yet, and I don't think, across the pitch, we've got enough depth. That's also fine.

I think a lot of people, from what I've seen on here, social media and Whatsapp, have made their mind up entirely about Hurzeler and won't settle for some good performances and good results for the rest of the season if Europe isn't delivered - they feel that the club traded a manager who delivered that for a newer model, and anything less now would be a failure. I personally disagree with that, but think from this position, to qualify for Europe and turn this side around to make them look like a side who can compete better than RDZ's side did in Europe, is a long stretch and will require a pretty big swing in the next few months.

I hoped to be pro FH by now, but I'm not.

Everyone needs time to enact their ideas and style, but he's been here over half a season, is chopping and changing without seemingly much of a clue, having abandoned the disatrous high line experiment. We often look devoid of ideas or direction and have regressed.

But all that aside, its not the tactics or formation thats the bigger question mark, its the noises of potential unhappy campers that make me question wether he is the right fit. We had Hughton who played some turgid dross at times, but you couldn't not like the fella and there still seemed real team togetherness and players who loved and gave their all for the gaffer.

Something just doesn't feels off about Hurzeler, though I hope youre right and I'm wrong.

 

[The Fits]

I’ve been very accepting that this season was a transition.
My concern is the general mood, especially young players, and this lack of any clear consistent plan.
I’ve always felt that the only really essential things this season were to stay up and see real, clear evidence of our new identity by Easter.

 

[Uh_huh_him]

If we produce three performances from now until the end of the season where-

The players play with intensity for at least 60 minutes.
The players seem to have a clue what they are doing for at least 60 minutes.
There is no need to make changes at half time.
Overall we produce a decent entire 90 minutes

I’d happily see us finish 16th.

I couldn’t care less about Europe. I just want to see that Fab has a plan and he can get his players to execute it CONSISTENTLY.

THIS

 

[Paulie Gualtieri]

I'm very pro FH. I think Saturday aside, he's done a good job so far in the context of a transitional season. At the same time, I don't think we're currently good enough to qualify for Europe. I don't think we have transitioned to the style he wants to play perfectly yet, and I don't think, across the pitch, we've got enough depth. That's also fine.

I think a lot of people, from what I've seen on here, social media and Whatsapp, have made their mind up entirely about Hurzeler and won't settle for some good performances and good results for the rest of the season if Europe isn't delivered - they feel that the club traded a manager who delivered that for a newer model, and anything less now would be a failure. I personally disagree with that, but think from this position, to qualify for Europe and turn this side around to make them look like a side who can compete better than RDZ's side did in Europe, is a long stretch and will require a pretty big swing in the next few months.

I’ve stated previously that this season with a new manager and £200m *Investment for the future* and not a European remedy should be a consolidation season, top 10 would be nice to maintain some progress.

As much as we are sitting tenth at the minute, personally I don’t understand the managers philosophy or how he would like to play and any kind of plan of how we get there.

Some of the set ups have been baffling, there seems to be little beneficial emotion from him on the side lines other than a self dicipline and the amount of half time subs shows the set up was wrong from the outset.

Now, he’s a young manager and we’ve got a history of giving managers time, so Im not out at this point but I am really struggling to see him Improving us without a clear plan and taking us forward. It seems to me like a current waste of time and I haven’t even touched on the clear dressing room / discipline issues.

Something isn’t right, there needs to be some kind of intervention to kick start / clear the air and a clear and coherent plan that everyone buys into, otherwise we need to make a change as we are not progressing.