[Albion] Have Albion progressed this season?

[Paulie Gualtieri]

This. Careful, Swanny will tell you the primary problem is the midfield. He is wrong.


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Who is your preference that we should realistically sign?


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[Bry Nylon]

Not sure about the whole season but I sense we have made positive progress over the past 4 months. Sure, there have been a couple of blips but so far 2021 has felt very different to 2020.

 

[Guinness Boy]

Can only judge at the end of the season.

There has definitely been areas we've moved forwards but also areas we've regressed.

Ultimately, the final league position will dictate.

More or less this.

We play nice football but we did last season too. Sanchez and White have been brought on brilliantly but Alzate and Connolly have regressed. We've scored some stunning goals and let some silly ones in and missed chance after chance after chance. We've flirted with mid-table and flirted with relegation. I go back to the league table because it isn't opinion. It's measurable. Everything else I've written there is opinion. Yes xG is a measure but the way it's measured is questionable and, until it replaces goal difference, it is pointless.

 

[dazzer6666]

More or less this.

We play nice football but we did last season too. Sanchez and White have been brought on brilliantly but Alzate and Connolly have regressed. We've scored some stunning goals and let some silly ones in and missed chance after chance after chance. We've flirted with mid-table and flirted with relegation. I go back to the league table because it isn't opinion. It's measurable. Everything else I've written there is opinion. Yes xG is a measure but the way it's measured is questionable and, until it replaces goal difference, it is pointless.

So when you’re running an IT project, you’ll kick off, and at various stages you’ll be on or off track (let’s ignore the fact that ANY IT project will ALWAYS be off track )........there will be bits that are ahead, bits that are ok and bits that are behind, and they will change over time. Picking a single factor within the whole project (like using league position at the end of the season), at a single point in time, mid project, to determine whether you’re getting better or worse in relation to your plan wouldn’t give you anything like the whole picture would it ? Question was about the Albion......not simply the points total gained by the first team.

I genuinely don’t think Tony will consider we have not made any progress against his plans/vision for the club.

 

[Guinness Boy]

So when you’re running an IT project, you’ll kick off, and at various stages you’ll be on or off track (let’s ignore the fact that ANY IT project will ALWAYS be off track )........there will be bits that are ahead, bits that are ok and bits that are behind, and they will change over time. Picking a single factor within the whole project (like using league position at the end of the season), at a single point in time, mid project, to determine whether you’re getting better or worse in relation to your plan wouldn’t give you anything like the whole picture would it ? Question was about the Albion......not simply the points total gained by the first team.

I genuinely don’t think Tony will consider we have not made any progress against his plans/vision for the club.

It depends if you're a Prince II PM with milestones and dependencies to tick off every week or if you're working more "Agile".

No, let's stop there before the bellcheese thread comes after me.....

I think you actually could use a "big-ish company" analogy. Over the course of a year you'll do good work, recruit some great people, see others who have been around for a while start to drift or drop off. You may rebrand and there's absolutely no way everyone will agree if the rebrand was a good one or even if rebranding was the right thing to do. You may put out a product that gets five star reviews but doesn't quite hit the sales target. But, at the end of the day, all the shareholders care about is measurable performance - turnover, profit and their dividends and share price.

 

[Trevor]

It's been real ups and downs - and i think we could all name both. I'm feeling positive about next season though. Can't believe the team as a whole (Dunk excepted) will spurn such a high percentage of chances again- if I'm right then I feel the progress will be more measurable

 

[Hugo Rune]

Can only judge at the end of the season.

There has definitely been areas we've moved forwards but also areas we've regressed.

Ultimately, the final league position will dictate.

I struggle to see the areas where we have regressed. Can you please enlighten us?

 

[chaileyjem]

More or less this.

We play nice football but we did last season too. Sanchez and White have been brought on brilliantly but Alzate and Connolly have regressed. We've scored some stunning goals and let some silly ones in and missed chance after chance after chance. We've flirted with mid-table and flirted with relegation. I go back to the league table because it isn't opinion. It's measurable. Everything else I've written there is opinion. Yes xG is a measure but the way it's measured is questionable and, until it replaces goal difference, it is pointless.

So currently we’ve a reasonable chance of finishing 13th or even 12th - perhaps to do that we need to beat Wolves and get something out of the other three. That would be a substantial improvement right ?

On other hand 14th or lower given run in wouldn’t be complete surprise so that’s us treading water or regressing - yep ?

 

[dazzer6666]

So currently we’ve a reasonable chance of finishing 13th or even 12th - perhaps to do that we need to beat Wolves and get something out of the other three. That would be a substantial improvement right ?

On other hand 14th or lower given run in wouldn’t be complete surprise so that’s us treading water or regressing - yep ?

Apparently....so the whole question of progression or regression depends entirely on 4 matches at the end of a somewhat bizarre season against teams who may or may not have much to play for...........including us.

...no, it doesn’t.

 

[Arkwright]

Our style of play is a huge positive, the strength of the squad is also a positive. Our home wins ratio hopefully can only get better and in general we are a hard nut to crack on the road.
I'm sure like many the concern is the missed scoring opportunities and hence our inability to convert draws into wins.
The summer window is going to be interesting with ins and outs.

 

[Weststander]

Our style of play is a huge positive, the strength of the squad is also a positive. Our home wins ratio hopefully can only get better and in general we are a hard nut to crack on the road.
I'm sure like many the concern is the missed scoring opportunities and hence our inability to convert draws into wins.
The summer window is going to be interesting with ins and outs.

Have there been more EPL away wins than home wins in general over the last 12 months?

I would imagine that packed stadia will see that reversed, hopefully including us.

 

[Guinness Boy]

So currently we’ve a reasonable chance of finishing 13th or even 12th - perhaps to do that we need to beat Wolves and get something out of the other three. That would be a substantial improvement right ?

On other hand 14th or lower given run in wouldn’t be complete surprise so that’s us treading water or regressing - yep ?

Sort of.

14th or better represents a measurable improvement as does any points haul over 41. But we ain't there yet. It's why maliciously bouncing threads or offering olive branches before anything is done and dusted is pointless. If we beat 41 points or finish above 15th I'll be the first to hold my hands up and say we've really succeeded and succeeded by an indisputable measure. But we could still finish 17th on 37 (we've not exactly got "easy" games left but then we've done better against the not so easy opponents). Let's just see.

 

[chaileyjem]

Sort of.

14th or better represents a measurable improvement as does any points haul over 41. But we ain't there yet. It's why maliciously bouncing threads or offering olive branches before anything is done and dusted is pointless. If we beat 41 points or finish above 15th I'll be the first to hold my hands up and say we've really succeeded and succeeded by an indisputable measure. But we could still finish 17th on 37 (we've not exactly got "easy" games left but then we've done better against the not so easy opponents). Let's just see.

Ha! Gotcha. Credit for showing your hand...!

PS : Albion have never lost 4 games in a row in the EPL under Potter - but did it once under Hughton at tail end of 18/19 - the run of form that presumably got him sacked.

 

[dazzer6666]

Sort of.

14th or better represents a measurable improvement as does any points haul over 41. But we ain't there yet. It's why maliciously bouncing threads or offering olive branches before anything is done and dusted is pointless. If we beat 41 points or finish above 15th I'll be the first to hold my hands up and say we've really succeeded and succeeded by an indisputable measure. But we could still finish 17th on 37 (we've not exactly got "easy" games left but then we've done better against the not so easy opponents). Let's just see.

So if we do finish on 37 points and in 17th, we’ll have regressed as a club ? I don’t think we have.

 

[Guinness Boy]

Ha! Gotcha. Credit for showing your hand...!

PS : Albion have never lost 4 games in a row in the EPL under Potter - but did it once under Hughton at tail end of 18/19 - the run of form that presumably got him sacked.

In this regard I'm not exactly the expert poker player. I want to see all that "progress" translate into three points on the pitch because, otherwise, we'll end up being the best run club in League 2.

I jest and exaggerate of course but that's why league tables and points matter.

 

[Guinness Boy]

So if we do finish on 37 points and in 17th, we’ll have regressed as a club ? I don’t think we have.

We'll have not progressed.

 

[dazzer6666]

We'll have not progressed.

...only if you have a single measure of performance assessment. To use your big company analogy, that’s pretty unlikely to be the case for any organisation.

 

[Weststander]

...only if you have a single measure of performance assessment. To use your big company analogy, that’s pretty unlikely to be the case for any organisation.

Putting to one side the usual NSC schism on Potter’s reign, outsiders seem to really, really like us in recent months.

The press, pundits and randomly, Luka Milijovevic.

 

[trueblue]

Definitely. We’ve become one of the most entertaining teams in the Premier League with a clear and seemingly sustainable plan that others envy.

 

[Icy Gull]

Putting to one side the usual NSC schism on Potter’s reign, outsiders seem to really, really like us in recent months.

The press, pundits and randomly, Luka Milijovevic.

Shame that some of fans still resist praising him...even if the fare on the pitch is a MASSIVE improvement to all but the blinkered or those in denial