The Leeds United Miserablist, the 2012-13 comparable club.
Michael has decided to let comparables show how well or otherwise Leeds United are doing, he chooses Brighton!
One week on from letting you the readership do the worrying I seem to have found myself with plenty of time to reflect. Occasionally I let Leeds United penetrate in but only to redirect me away from what in general could be considered an organisational basket case to other more stable clubs. It is with those mental wanderings in mind that I base today’s Miserablism.
Despite a lack of takeover, despite a lingering feeling we are undercooked squad wise; despite a manager with a club win % of 27.7 we seem to have a pool of optimism lingering around. Rather than just dismiss it I have decided to test it. Whether I am right about the impossibility of promotion under the Bates regime or wrong about how the lack of quality makes any Warnock squad inadequate from day one, in order for any debate to be rational we need to find a comparable we can judge ourselves by.
The number of possible club that could do the job obviously start at 23, however we can dismiss any that have parachute payments, any that don’t have any hint of striving (even if just in their heads) for the PL and any with existing foreign ownership. Once you filter through that you only one club stands out, Brighton.
In lots of ways the similarities abound, their record after 4 games is 2-1-1 like ours. They too have sold a young winger (Noone to Cardiff) and spent less in transfer fees than accrued in sales. They are considered outsiders in the promotion race and they are averaging around 23-24k crowds (after stadium expansion). In other respects they are entirely different, they play passing football, they have a young up and coming manager, they have a brand new stadium and their support is grateful for the championship ride rather than being a seething pit of frustration waiting for the PL. They also have decent PR and customer relations, an ownership structure that is open and an attitude to fans that contrasts with that found in LS11. They don’t have a decent history of achievement nor a national following. However you look at it Brighton have all the criteria, both positive and negative, by which we can judge progress.
So basically to clarify, regardless of whether both make it to the top 6 or not, Brighton are the baseline, if we can’t, on the pitch, overall them or off the pitch learn from them then clearly something is wrong. Both clubs, for the purposes of this comparable, start roughly from the same point, it is highly unlikely they will finish on the same points. Put simply, if we are above them in league terms then Warnock, regardless of his contract situation or promotion push, can be judged to be doing well, if we are below them (and particularly well below them) then failure is a reasonable accusation. In order we keep this comparable fair it must be done at least monthly so for the duration of the season each first Wednesday Miserablist of the month will include the latest “compare and contrast”.
Now I don’t want to undermine the legitimacy of choosing Brighton by over-praising their present set-up but it is true that if I was to choose which championship outfit with PL potential I would like us to replicate in a post Bates environment it would most definitely be the boys from the Amex in Falmer. It is not all a bed of roses down there, they still have serious planning problems with the locals of the South Downs (the lights being turned off on the A27 during games is but one example of this idiocy), the transfer budget is variable, the chairman and 75% owner is best known for his poker career and half the squad are awaiting trial on a serious charge but those things aside (and spending a little more than Tony Bloom does on players) they do look like a worthwhile template to follow to me.
Take Poyet for example, yes we know him of old from the Wise era, but his ball passing sides couldn’t be more different than Leeds United 2006-08. The average age of the squad he has put together is somewhat younger than say Warnock’s choices (and no he hasn’t had more money per say). He also has a sizable development squad (which includes Jake Forster-Caskey who when he gets back from being on loan to Oxford United will be sensational in this division and will be playing for England in 2016) which provides a steady stream of young talent. His European scouting operation allows for bringing over talented Spanish and Latin American experience and he also has an eye for a bargain.
Let us also look at the clubs finances. Whilst we are not 100% sure how much money they make, Brighton set a 15k crowd as its break-even level for last season and as it smashed it we can assume they aren’t losing money. Bloom and the rest of the board refuse to put the club at risk with excessive spending and the new stadium is paid for on the back of Bloom’s investment. Over the close season they added another 5000 seats into an already impressive new build. As modern stadiums go the Amex is one of my favourites.
The other thing about the Amex is the “customer” experience. The internal walls are actually worth looking at, with memorabilia on them. The toilet facilities are world class, the catering not only decent (local pies with meat content you would die for, pricy but worth it) but supplemented by the real ale (Harvey’s and Dark Star in the home end, a local brew from whatever area the club is from in the away end) sold separately making it easy to get served, an adult approach to fans. And they don’t just do this kind of thing in the home end; the away end gets the same consideration! I can’t fault them on it.
The sight-lines from the seats are also impressive although in terms of atmosphere it can remind me of Arsenal with the only decent song being chanted is about which stand they are in! If Leeds United had a 99.9% filled up (and Brighton have 18k season tickets these days, more than we do) ground watching a ball –passing team with potential the atmosphere would rock, at the Amex it is still building. But apart from that I find it difficult to fault the place. That all adds to the sense Brighton is a worthy comparable to us this season, should this takeover ever accrue we can but aspire to the standards set in Sussex by the sea.
So there we are, 42 games left to see how we go, to test the optimism, to be a parameter of the narrow line between relative success and failure. I’m looking forward to doing the compare and contrast and if it turns out we finish the season better than them, well I have nowhere to hide. Brighton the comparable it is.
Tags: Leeds United
About Michael Green
Michael is a getting old Yorkshireman who lives in South West London with his wife and children; he occasionally works in lobbying and likes real ale, single malt and saying it like it is”. Not exactly the most informative of personal profiles but it’s all you need and it’s all you’re going to get
Michael has decided to let comparables show how well or otherwise Leeds United are doing, he chooses Brighton!
One week on from letting you the readership do the worrying I seem to have found myself with plenty of time to reflect. Occasionally I let Leeds United penetrate in but only to redirect me away from what in general could be considered an organisational basket case to other more stable clubs. It is with those mental wanderings in mind that I base today’s Miserablism.
Despite a lack of takeover, despite a lingering feeling we are undercooked squad wise; despite a manager with a club win % of 27.7 we seem to have a pool of optimism lingering around. Rather than just dismiss it I have decided to test it. Whether I am right about the impossibility of promotion under the Bates regime or wrong about how the lack of quality makes any Warnock squad inadequate from day one, in order for any debate to be rational we need to find a comparable we can judge ourselves by.
The number of possible club that could do the job obviously start at 23, however we can dismiss any that have parachute payments, any that don’t have any hint of striving (even if just in their heads) for the PL and any with existing foreign ownership. Once you filter through that you only one club stands out, Brighton.
In lots of ways the similarities abound, their record after 4 games is 2-1-1 like ours. They too have sold a young winger (Noone to Cardiff) and spent less in transfer fees than accrued in sales. They are considered outsiders in the promotion race and they are averaging around 23-24k crowds (after stadium expansion). In other respects they are entirely different, they play passing football, they have a young up and coming manager, they have a brand new stadium and their support is grateful for the championship ride rather than being a seething pit of frustration waiting for the PL. They also have decent PR and customer relations, an ownership structure that is open and an attitude to fans that contrasts with that found in LS11. They don’t have a decent history of achievement nor a national following. However you look at it Brighton have all the criteria, both positive and negative, by which we can judge progress.
So basically to clarify, regardless of whether both make it to the top 6 or not, Brighton are the baseline, if we can’t, on the pitch, overall them or off the pitch learn from them then clearly something is wrong. Both clubs, for the purposes of this comparable, start roughly from the same point, it is highly unlikely they will finish on the same points. Put simply, if we are above them in league terms then Warnock, regardless of his contract situation or promotion push, can be judged to be doing well, if we are below them (and particularly well below them) then failure is a reasonable accusation. In order we keep this comparable fair it must be done at least monthly so for the duration of the season each first Wednesday Miserablist of the month will include the latest “compare and contrast”.
Now I don’t want to undermine the legitimacy of choosing Brighton by over-praising their present set-up but it is true that if I was to choose which championship outfit with PL potential I would like us to replicate in a post Bates environment it would most definitely be the boys from the Amex in Falmer. It is not all a bed of roses down there, they still have serious planning problems with the locals of the South Downs (the lights being turned off on the A27 during games is but one example of this idiocy), the transfer budget is variable, the chairman and 75% owner is best known for his poker career and half the squad are awaiting trial on a serious charge but those things aside (and spending a little more than Tony Bloom does on players) they do look like a worthwhile template to follow to me.
Take Poyet for example, yes we know him of old from the Wise era, but his ball passing sides couldn’t be more different than Leeds United 2006-08. The average age of the squad he has put together is somewhat younger than say Warnock’s choices (and no he hasn’t had more money per say). He also has a sizable development squad (which includes Jake Forster-Caskey who when he gets back from being on loan to Oxford United will be sensational in this division and will be playing for England in 2016) which provides a steady stream of young talent. His European scouting operation allows for bringing over talented Spanish and Latin American experience and he also has an eye for a bargain.
Let us also look at the clubs finances. Whilst we are not 100% sure how much money they make, Brighton set a 15k crowd as its break-even level for last season and as it smashed it we can assume they aren’t losing money. Bloom and the rest of the board refuse to put the club at risk with excessive spending and the new stadium is paid for on the back of Bloom’s investment. Over the close season they added another 5000 seats into an already impressive new build. As modern stadiums go the Amex is one of my favourites.
The other thing about the Amex is the “customer” experience. The internal walls are actually worth looking at, with memorabilia on them. The toilet facilities are world class, the catering not only decent (local pies with meat content you would die for, pricy but worth it) but supplemented by the real ale (Harvey’s and Dark Star in the home end, a local brew from whatever area the club is from in the away end) sold separately making it easy to get served, an adult approach to fans. And they don’t just do this kind of thing in the home end; the away end gets the same consideration! I can’t fault them on it.
The sight-lines from the seats are also impressive although in terms of atmosphere it can remind me of Arsenal with the only decent song being chanted is about which stand they are in! If Leeds United had a 99.9% filled up (and Brighton have 18k season tickets these days, more than we do) ground watching a ball –passing team with potential the atmosphere would rock, at the Amex it is still building. But apart from that I find it difficult to fault the place. That all adds to the sense Brighton is a worthy comparable to us this season, should this takeover ever accrue we can but aspire to the standards set in Sussex by the sea.
So there we are, 42 games left to see how we go, to test the optimism, to be a parameter of the narrow line between relative success and failure. I’m looking forward to doing the compare and contrast and if it turns out we finish the season better than them, well I have nowhere to hide. Brighton the comparable it is.
Tags: Leeds United
About Michael Green
Michael is a getting old Yorkshireman who lives in South West London with his wife and children; he occasionally works in lobbying and likes real ale, single malt and saying it like it is”. Not exactly the most informative of personal profiles but it’s all you need and it’s all you’re going to get
