[Albion] Garcia's reasons for leaving (from today's Argus, per Andy Naylor)

[Tooting Gull]

Or he had little interest in the intricacies of transfer deals, and wanted a title that reflected the role he wanted to undertake.

One or the other, I suppose...

Have to say, that 'he's not interested' view has the smell of some club spin put about to deflect any blame coming the way of senior management...

 

[Bozza]

which doesn't necessarily mean no choice in what players he wants to work with

Absolutely.

 

[Bozza]

I guess if you were a head coach with some detachment from the transfer process, what you would do is present a list of realistic targets to the club in a timely manner to permit the maximum chance of acquisition taking place.

I'm sure this is exactly what Oscar did, as Andy Naylor intimates.

 

[Machiavelli]

There are two sides to every story.

The side presented in The Argus today suggests that Oscar's hands were tied, he had no hand in transfer dealings and the Albion lost Grabban because of Burke/Bloom.

I've heard another side: Oscar had little interest in transfer dealings as he only wanted to coach, his reluctance to get involved was an issue and the Albion lost Grabban due to Oscar's reticence.

The truth, I suspect, lies somewhere between the two.

Hmmm. I was going to place a post congratulating Naylor for providing some valuable insight -- especially as he doesn't get too many opportunities to do so, and he cops a fair bit of flak on here for the paucity of his analysis. I still think I want to make that claim.
Of the two, Naylor's angle seems more convincing as Oscar appears to want to present the reason for his departure as related to the squad, transfer dealings and the Jan transfer window in particular. If this is the case, your source might be trying to present a particularly pro-club line.
So, unless persuaded otherwise, I'll accept that the truth lies somewhere between the two, but that somewhere is heavily loaded to Oscar's view.

 

[Kalimantan Gull]

I don't disagree with you. We're not paupers in this division, neither are we at the top of the pile.

What confuses me is why so many are moaning about the season we've just had, the playoffs is a realistic target, we made that target. Anything else is a lottery/bonus.

Cardiff lost in the playoffs for four years running before being promoted didn't they?

Oscar's apparently been moaning.

I don't think we'd be moaning if we had a manager telling us how much he was looking forward to the new season with some new faces, how he had been on a long learning curve but his methods were starting to work and next year was going to be great. [ha! can you imagine Oscar even having the charisma to say that!] But despite the 6th place, thanks entirely to a wonderful defence which I don't think Oscar can take much credit for, it feels like we're going backwards, with our star players either worse than before or seemingly on their way out a manager quitting, more infighting and intrigue about the club's management.

However it feels that we've come full circle form the Poyet sacking and the karma from that event might have evened itself out. I feeling more positive about next season than I did about the start of last one

 

[beorhthelm]

seems to me the root of the problem is not strictly the budget (though a major factor), but the management structure and how decisions are made. i cannot for the life of me understand how, with Barnes gone, we would have funds for Grabban, nor that we were outbid by Bournmouth. the article indicates it was the length of time to respond that lead to the deal collapsing. i looked up his Linked in, and Burke seems to simply be involve on too many fronts and i dont thing based on his CV he's necessarily suitable to deal with the details of transfers (scouting and discussion maybe, no the full process).

Burke out.

 

[LamieRobertson]

I guess if you were a head coach with some detachment from the transfer process, what you would do is present a list of realistic targets to the club in a timely manner to permit the maximum chance of acquisition taking place.

I'm sure this is exactly what Oscar did, as Andy Naylor intimates.

Then we have Burke who amongst other things has the responsibility to go out there and get those ...possibly vetting the list and adding his own names?

 

[MarioOrlandi]

Well Burke must be doing something right, we've finished in a play off position two years running.

I think its players and managers who need to get real about money. The fact that we can't get anywhere near breaking even given our support and consumption is a pretty damning indictment of where second tier football is right now. Something has to change.

Er try Agents. I picked a fare from Stanmer House last Xmas, one of the party was a football agent who claimed to have a brilliant young goalkeeper on his books, but Brighton would not take him because they were unwilling to pay a £50K signing on fee. Sounds about right, remember those leeches take a large £% of any deal, and if TB doesn't want to pay that money then fine by me.

 

[Kalimantan Gull]

Does Burke speak Spanish? God knows how the two of them were ever able to work together.

 

[Bozza]

Does Burke speak Spanish? God knows how the two of them were ever able to work together.

It takes two to tango. Poyet and Burke danced together quite well. Maybe Oscar has two left feet.

 

[East Preston Gull]

What's laughable about a £22 million wage bill?

If we want to compete at a serious level, we need at least 18 top level players and some make weight. Our budget has limited us to 8/9 good level players and a load of rescue home donkeys. Steady play and a bit of luck has got us into the playoffs this season. If the idea is to make top ten each season and see where we go then we are in a good place. Ideas of premiership football with these budgets is a dream. Either way I am still in but the board need to back a big name manager with cash if they want the golden fleece.

 

[ROSM]

I'm not going to be blaming the club or blaming Burke here. Clearly we need to stabilise and grow the infrastructure and get player recruitment settled. We need a manager / head coach who buys into this and will stick with it and offer constructive help to hone it. I'm not saying Oscar or Gus didn't do that (although I have doubts as to how.constructive Gus may have been)
The next person needs to understand clearly what's what and want to be here.

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

I think many underestimate the importance of parachute payments (and remember there are 7/8 clubs in receipt of them in this division).

Last season totals

Bolton revenue £28.5 million, of which £3.8 million was from gate receipts and £19.1 million from broadcasting/parachute payments.
Albion £23.3 million, of which £8.7 million was from gate receipts and £4.8 million was from broadcasting.

If we wanted to match Bolton's income, and fans had to pay for it, it would be an increase of around £240 on the price of a season ticket, and that's to compete with Bolton, who have finished below us in the last two seasons.

The key to being able to compete then, is to secure parachute payments. For that we need to first gain promotion (even if we go straight back down again). And for that we need to attract and retain players to enable us to navigate through the play-offs. Could turn out to be be a blessing in disguise that many of the current squad are going to be out of contract in the Summer, as many of them have had two bites at the play-off cherry now and been found wanting. Tho think we can safely write-off next season as one of rebuilding. There will be the obligatory 'time to gel' which will take us up to the end of the year, then, all things being equal, we should start to build something solid for the following season, given the appointment of a very astute manager who can bring in the right mix of players and also given our fair share of good luck. Will be fascinating to watch.

 

[ROSM]

It takes two to tango. Poyet and Burke danced together quite well. Maybe Oscar has two left feet.

This is worth more than a thumbs up.

Wonder if at any stage in the last 9 months Burke or Bloom have missed Poyet and his 'endearing way's?

Note I doubt Barber has

 

[somerset]

It takes two to tango. Poyet and Burke danced together quite well. Maybe Oscar has two left feet.

I think the language issue is more important than people think, I saw it 1st hand when I was in the players lounge at the Blackpool game. There is clear separation between the Spanish cadre and the rest of the squad, in fact they were at either ends of the lounge. At one point Casper A. was on the way home, as he passed the Spanish lot ( Bruno, Orlandi, Lopez, Ulloa, Calde and one of the coaches), he stopped and said goodbye quite audibly, to a man they barely acknowledged him beyond a cursory nod of the head, he looked a bit miffed. Having said that, they were perfect gents when approached for a chat or photo by us 'guests'.

 

[symyjym]

I can understand why under those circumstances Garcia would be frustrated and not want to continue but there are 2 things we need to consider here

1) the players Oscar identified were both attainable and affordable

2) the delays he talks of seem to be Burke having to sanction the transfers with bloom

Now I would guess the recruitment team are working within an existing budget and would only need blooms intervention if exceeded that or our wage structure. I would assume Grabban did both

The club clearly need to review the recruitment process but I still feel the underlying issue here is FFP and the budget available not being sufficient for the amount of development managers feel our squad needs to get out of this divisioni

The thing is when you buy a quality player they become an asset not a loss if you pick them up at the right price. We could have got Grabban for £1m and if we didn’t get promoted he could have been sold if another club came in for him. I think Cardiff have offered £3m for him so to me it would have been great business, and even better business if a Prem club came in.

FFP is about making money not just saving it. If someone like Garcia wants a player you have to trust him otherwise we end up with players who have no sale value in the market.

 

[Tooting Gull]

It seems to me that article could have been written weeks ago. So my question is...why wasn't it? I don't expect to read it in the club programme, but I do expect to read it in the Argus if they knew.

Are the Argus now so 'in' with the club that they dare not stand up to a sharp call from Barber? Being in a play-off campaign is not a good reason, they are supposed to be independent journalists covering the football club, not an extension of the club's PR machine.

 

[Seasider78]

The thing is when you buy a quality player they become an asset not a loss if you pick them up at the right price. We could have got Grabban for £1m and if we didn’t get promoted he could have been sold if another club came in for him. I think Cardiff have offered £3m for him so to me it would have been great business, and even better business if a Prem club came in.

FFP is about making money not just saving it. If someone like Garcia wants a player you have to trust him otherwise we end up with players who have no sale value in the market.

I agree with you but my general point is under FFP we seem to have introduced a layer of authorisation within the club which if the argus are to be believed caused a delay that put the player off. For all we know bloom would have sanctioned the deal for the sound business reasons you detail but it took so long he lost interest and signed a new deal at Bournemouth.

We obviously need to control our spending in a FFP environment but we need a process and understanding that does not mean us missing out on our targets

 

[dingodan]

"He gave the club a list of potential signings from Spain and abroad when he took the job. None of them were delivered."

If a manager cannot get the players he want's, he won't have the team he want's playing the way he want's.

It's a stupid idea to separate management from recruitment in my opinion.

A manager having a player he does not particularly want, a player being managed by a manager who does not particularly want him. We are playing exactly as you would expect under these kinds of circumstances. It's horrible and it needs to change now.

 

[Brightonfan1983]

Didn't Gus say, re the Murray situation, that he wasn't allowed touch the money put aside for transfers and use it instead for wages? The Argus article says that this is still the case and is what OG found frustrating?