[Albion] Hughton: Judge us after the transfer window

[Smythe]

Not really been following other clubs transfers, but has any championship club really been making a lot of expensive quality signings?? Maybe Derby and Middlesbrough but I cant think of any more. Im pretty sure CH knows what we need to be stronger this season and that we will have at least 2 or 3 more quality additions by end of this month.

 

[LamieRobertson]

am I being a little optimistic here, my thoughts are that CH has his eye on several premeirship players who will not be named in any 25 hopefully a CH and a winger and obviously cannot be named until it is certain they will not be wanted.
our transfer activity has been very good up to now, so maybe he is right judge him/us when the window shuts


did I really write that ......ah well always half full

Without hope you might as well give up ....so why not be a little optimistic

 

[chaileyjem]

I'd rather see something that was more specific and set a consistent expectation. All rather odd when we trot out "One club One ambition" when I'm not sure if anyone really knows it (short term)

How about this from Bloom ? Seems fairly specific, consistent and realistic. Its in the club accounts published in January.
http://www.seagulls.co.uk/documents/doc150115-15012015133454229-2206891.pdf


"My investment in the club starts - and ends - with being a fan. I am proud to be able to contribute to the community in which i was raised and in which my family still lives. As a supporter my ambition remains to see Albion return to play at the highest level. Rest assured, we do intend to realise this ambition.
Big ambitions are rarely realised overnight. In recent times we’ve become used to year on year success. Expectations are high. An appetite for significant progress is understandable but its not easy. Sport is by its nature, competitive, unpredictable and at times frustrating. However well prepared we may be, success isn’t always delivered in a straight upward line.
…For all our teams to be playing at the highest level remains our ambition. To achieve this we have invested heavily in infrastructure and organisation to give us the best possible chance of success and to create the right environment. However we must accept that there is no guarantee of success. Its important that we work hard in all areas of the club to maximise our playing budget . If we are successful off the club that can only help us on it, and we know what matters most to our supporters. "

 

[wellquickwoody]

Do you blow all your dough before Christmas, or save a few quid and pick up some bargains in the January sales?

Any of my friends n family who fail to get the correct date for giving presents and then come up with half price tat that nobody else wanted in the new year get short shrift from me!

 

[spanish flair]

Not really been following other clubs transfers, but has any championship club really been making a lot of expensive quality signings?? Maybe Derby and Middlesbrough but I cant think of any more. Im pretty sure CH knows what we need to be stronger this season and that we will have at least 2 or 3 more quality additions by end of this month.

You see this is the bit I don't understand, thats 5 league matches 15 points played before you have the team you want together.
Those players could be the difference between points that had you got them making a play off spot or saving the club from relegation. We have had since last January to be talking to players who would be out of contract and available, Have we not learned anything from Ward and Clayton and the players we ended up with last summer.

 

[One Love]

I would be much happier if I saw an end to the terrible decisions made at management level that we've seen in the Amex era.

Off the top of my head, the Murray debacle then compounded with CMS, how the Poyet sacking was handled, Sami Hyypia etc etc etc . There are many more though not as big. All are not looking in retrospect but were seen as disasters at the time by the majority of fans.

It really has made me lose faith in how the club is being run and I just want them to stop .

 

[nwgull]

Not really been following other clubs transfers, but has any championship club really been making a lot of expensive quality signings?? Maybe Derby and Middlesbrough but I cant think of any more. Im pretty sure CH knows what we need to be stronger this season and that we will have at least 2 or 3 more quality additions by end of this month.

Someone posted a useful link a few days ago with a summary of all activity to date. Derby, Midds and QPR are going for it big time, and Sheffield Wednesday to a lesser extent. Apart from those 4 however, our transfer activity so far has looked reasonably consistent with the rest of the league, and probably a better quality.

Blackburn and Forrest are forced into having to sell their best players, and one of Bolton's two first team signings include Steven Jobbie.

 

[LamieRobertson]

Vicente hardly counts, as he barely played for us that season. I don't see how you can say that Greer was a really quality player then, or that you can say he's got much worse. Many fans thought Barnes was rubbish then, so to suggest he was real quality is also a bit weird. Bridge and Upson were on loan, we could get some decent loans this season too, so hardly a fair comparison. And finally, we need half of this season to judge whether some of our current team are quality or not.

Corrected for you...on the resident pendant basis

 

[nwgull]

I would be much happier if I saw an end to the terrible decisions made at management level that we've seen in the Amex era.

Off the top of my head, the Murray debacle then compounded with CMS, how the Poyet sacking was handled, Sami Hyypia etc etc etc . There are many more though not as big. All are not looking in retrospect but were seen as disasters at the time by the majority of fans.

It really has made me lose faith in how the club is being run and I just want them to stop .

The Murray/CMS transfer mistake and Poyet sacking debacle were all down to one man: Gus Poyet.

 

[LamieRobertson]

Someone posted a useful link a few days ago with a summary of all activity to date. Derby, Midds and QPR are going for it big time, and Sheffield Wednesday to a lesser extent. Apart from those 4 however, our transfer activity so far has looked reasonably consistent with the rest of the league, and probably a better quality.

Blackburn and Forrest are forced into having to sell their best players, and one of Bolton's two first team signings include Steven Jobbie.

Note our first 2 home games

 

[Mr Bridger]

am I being a little optimistic here, my thoughts are that CH has his eye on several premeirship players who will not be named in any 25 hopefully a CH and a winger and obviously cannot be named until it is certain they will not be wanted.
our transfer activity has been very good up to now, so maybe he is right judge him/us when the window shuts.




did I really write that ......ah well always half full

F0oking ell, Glasfryn half full for a change!

Keep taking the happy pills, it's suits you

 

[Vegas Seagull]

Meanwhile our most valuable player is helping minnows Bury avoid defeat against higher division Blackburn.
Ludicrous time, wasted effort and money spent erroneously on a position where there is no problem

 

[Guinness Boy]

I've been defending the club on a few threads and saying that we do need to be patient and that I expect us to get in quality rather than quantity this time round. This doesn't change my view but it does need commentary.

Firstly CH doesn't say "judge us". That's Naylor's headline, deliberately chosen so it is the same as this time last year's quote. He actually says "“I think probably a good gauge for any club is always at the end of the transfer window." Meaning you can only really compare relative strengths at the end of the window. This is obviously true, it's like saying lemons are yellow or Gok Wan isn't going to be dating a lady any time soon.

Secondly the time the fans should really judge the business isn't the end of the window but a couple of months after that. A lot of people were happy at the end of the window last season and it was only later it became apparent we'd signed a load of duds (though I don't think anyone rated COG at any point).

Thirdly that quote "what we certainly want to be doing is challenging, in or close to that top six". That is exactly the realism a lot of people have been calling for and now people are saying they don't want to hear it (probably two different sets of people to be fair). There's no spin in that quote and it's toned down considerably on Bloom's statements this time last year. It is also pretty much exactly where I see us.

 

[Soulman]

am I being a little optimistic here, my thoughts are that CH has his eye on several premeirship players who will not be named in any 25 hopefully a CH and a winger and obviously cannot be named until it is certain they will not be wanted.
our transfer activity has been very good up to now, so maybe he is right judge him/us when the window shuts.






did I really write that ......ah well always half full

Crikey, i agree with you.

 

[glasfryn]

F0oking ell, Glasfryn half full for a change!

Keep taking the happy pills, it's suits you

I am always half full, you have to be just that as an Albion supporter.
hang on I'v got to go there are men with white coats on banging at the door

 

[The Fifth Column]

I took this advice last season and adjudged us to be shite. If this is the way we are going again then I can't see any need to change that judgement. Another season of tepid goal-less strikers and bottom of table struggle awaits.

 

[Mr Bridger]

I am always half full, you have to be just that as an labour supporter.
hang on I'v got to go there are men with white coats on banging at the door

Put you right on that one.

 

[Triggaaar]

Corrected for you...on the resident pendant basis

If that's your application, congratulations, you're in.

 

[LamieRobertson]

If that's your application, congratulations, you're in.

Sorry i just couldn't resist.

 

[GT49er]

'Judge us after the transfer window' would indeed have been an unfortunate statement to make, but as far as I can see from reading the article in the Argus, Hughton didn't say it at all. That was just the headline made up by the Argus.

I know we're not world beaters; we're not even going to run away with the Championship either, but I'm looking forward to this season. The only downside to that is that I was quite looking forward to last season until I went to the Birmingham match............