[Albion] Hughton's future (and past)

[Bob'n'weave]

Any talk about CH's future is as a direct result of some poor recruitment decisions that are not mainly down to CH. Hopefully Dan! Dan! will be able to tighten up that aspect. Starting with stopping trying to unearth a gem from the crappy Eredivisie. How often does the club needs to get it's fingers burnt on that one before the penny drops?

Nothing lasts forever, but CH is a good manager, a decent man and a credit to the club. He's a class act and one that will be VERY hard to follow.

This with Big Ben on it.

 

[Seasidesage]

I'd say we have the strongest squad we have had in my time supporting the club, 50 ish years. We have had a wobble of late and there are clearly some areas that will need addressing in the summer, across the first team rather than squad but IMO there are 6/7 worse teams than us in this league and most of our players are still on the upgrade and good ages. It's a work in progress and the work to date has been decent. We are trying to recruit smarter than the other PL teams and this is not easy or foolproof, the recruitment staff have been excellent and to be further strengthened by Dan Ashworth who has a great reputation for spotting young talent can only be a good thing.

Manager is a solid experienced professional who has done a decent job. There may come a time where they look for a younger coach but we are in a consolidation phase and I cannot see anyone out there better placed to run the club right now. I think we are in an excellent position currently and I wouldn't swap our squad and management team for many outside the top six. If we can sustain PL football I would think the purse strings will be loosened sometime in the next 2/3 seasons and then we may see an improvement in league finish and quality of football. Invariably in football you get what you pay for and we are maximizing our results versus our budget.

 

[Weststander]

We’re one of the 6 worst teams, the table doesn’t lie.

But not CH’s fault. TB will hopefully invest in 2, 3 or 4 first team players of quality this summer.

 

[Weststander]

The only way that Chris Hughton will ever leave the club, will be if he resigns, Tony Bloom will never sack him.

IMO you’re right.

 

[TSB]

Not worth the time of day to comment on, imo.

 

[Deleted member 2719]

Enhanced your post as I know you're a lady of high moral standards who wouldn't normally swear!

But yes. Interestingly when Hughton was sacked at Norwich they, like us, were in their 2nd PL season with him and also like us they were five points above the relegation zone as well. (Spoiler alert: sacking him didn't save them).

They did replace him with a unproven manager Neil Adams.

 

[Turkey]

I really like how we've built the squad in the past two seasons.

The first season is always tricky, to add the quality you need whilst complementing those who got you there and not breaking up the team spirit. This season has seen us build up the strength in depth.

I think we're in a position now where rather than spreading our budget out over multiple positions we could potentially go for a couple of big, expensive signings next summer. Obviously if they can add quality for less they will, no point spending for the sake of it, but I don't think we need to bring in as many as we have in our first 3 Prem windows.

 

[Weststander]

I really like how we've built the squad in the past two seasons.

The first season is always tricky, to add the quality you need whilst complementing those who got you there and not breaking up the team spirit. This season has seen us build up the strength in depth.

I think we're in a position now where rather than spreading our budget out over multiple positions we could potentially go for a couple of big, expensive signings next summer. Obviously if they can add quality for less they will, no point spending for the sake of it, but I don't think we need to bring in as many as we have in our first 3 Prem windows.

A centre forward, a creative ACM with pace and a full back will do nicely.

 

[Cowfold Seagull]

In my opinion, for the time being at least, just remaining in the Premier League, is success enough in itself. The are certain people in here who seem to think we should be challenging fo a European spot by now, and they really do need to take a reality check.

This is only our second season at this level, and we should be taking baby steps, not gtraert strides. Chris Hughton is the ideal mamanager to help us to do that.

 

[Rogero]

Just look at the big picture and it is amazing as we are onwards and upwards although the slope is getting steeper. We are exactly in the correct position according to what we spend with the bonus of a good cup run. Maybe two more wins in the cup and we are in Europe.

 

[Exile]

Just look at the big picture and it is amazing as we are onwards and upwards although the slope is getting steeper. We are exactly in the correct position according to what we spend with the bonus of a good cup run. Maybe two more wins in the cup and we are in Europe.

Agree with this.

(Apart from the last line - only THREE more wins in the cup will earn a European place).

 

[finbar]

Whether we've brought well or not is a hard thing to judge - I don't think any of the players being talked are manifestly not up to premier league standard, so then it comes down to how you view the price we've paid.

The situation with peoples views on Andone / Locadia seem based a lot on this, e.g. what we paid for them, and not totally down to the performances. We brought Locadia in the mid season transfer window, when its apparently very hard to get players without paying a substantial markup. We also don't know his wages or signing on fee - so would you view him differently if we'd paid 5 million for him?

And Andone we got for a price set by a relegation clause in his contract, and probably well below market value. We also don't know his wages or signing on fee - if we'd paid £20 million, would people be thinking he was a good signing.

I'm happy enough with every signing we've made, in terms of the price and situation they were signed in. We've probably paid more than we wanted sometimes (JL, AJ, YB), and also got lucky a couple of times (PG, MR, FA), but the cost of bottom half of league squad players is so high compared to even 2 or 3 years ago its the new normal. The squad we've got for the money paid out seems good value overall.

And I think CH is getting a pretty good return out of the squad. We've arguably got 4 of our 7 easiest games of the season remaining, we're quite clear of relegation and even on the bad run, our performances were better overall than last season.

In short - Keep up the good work Chris

 

[Machiavelli]

A centre forward, a creative ACM with pace and a full back will do nicely.

You've abandoned a new DCM since we last communicated on this a few weeks back. Stephens was our MotM on Saturday in my view, but that hasn't shifted my view on the matter.

 

[Weststander]

You've abandoned a new DCM since we last communicated on this a few weeks back. Stephens was our MotM on Saturday in my view, but that hasn't shifted my view on the matter.

I was aware, but I was replying to a poster who said 3 new signings, so I stuck to his agenda.

I’m not averse to more, but only if they’re ready for PL first team. We’ve got more than enough prospects, players happy to bench warm, marginal Championship/PL, etc.

 

[Cowfold Seagull]

I really like how we've built the squad in the past two seasons.

The first season is always tricky, to add the quality you need whilst complementing those who got you there and not breaking up the team spirit. This season has seen us build up the strength in depth.

I think we're in a position now where rather than spreading our budget out over multiple positions we could potentially go for a couple of big, expensive signings next summer. Obviously if they can add quality for less they will, no point spending for the sake of it, but I don't think we need to bring in as many as we have in our first 3 Prem windows.

Hmmm I really can't see the club breaking tha bank and bringing in big expensive new signings as you put it. It will once again be a case of trying to find talent, almost certainly from abroad and priced accordingly. That has been Albion's way for a good few seasons now, and l can't see anything changing.

We all know how much Uncle Tony loves a bargain.

 

[Rogero]

Agree with this.

(Apart from the last line - only THREE more wins in the cup will earn a European place).

Actually,I thought about this and depending who we play in the final and it could be two. If we got to the final and we lost say to Man City we would be in Europe after 2 wins. Is this correct?

 

[Wellesley]

Micky Adams was a prefect fit in his first stint, bearing in mind where we were at the time.

The less said about his second stint the better.

Steve Gritt is another.

 

[Machiavelli]

I was aware, but I was replying to a poster who said 3 new signings, so I stuck to his agenda.

I’m not averse to more, but only if they’re ready for PL first team. We’ve got more than enough prospects, players happy to bench warm, marginal Championship/PL, etc.

Oops. Didn't notice that.
At least this thread has developed a growing consensus that it's quality rather than quantity we'll need in the summer. As we agreed back then, I'd still want the four identified with the aim of being serious contenders for a first team start.

 

[Weststander]

Oops. Didn't notice that.
At least this thread has developed a growing consensus that it's quality rather than quantity we'll need in the summer. As we agreed back then, I'd still want the four identified with the aim of being serious contenders for a first team start.

I think that would give us a decent chance going into away games of playing well and winning, a bit of rarity over the last 19 months as we’ve been finding our PL feet.

 

[Weststander]

Hmmm I really can't see the club breaking tha bank and bringing in big expensive new signings as you put it. It will once again be a case of trying to find talent, almost certainly from abroad and priced accordingly. That has been Albion's way for a good few seasons now, and l can't see anything changing.

We all know how much Uncle Tony loves a bargain.

When we signed Murray, Kayal, Duffy and Knockaert, they were known quality players. who helped raise our standards to get us over the line. By Championship standards at that time, their wages wouldn’t have come cheap.

I don’t think TB will throw silly money about on wages and fees (Everton, Palace, Fulham), but I hope he ups the ante on a few quality signings to make us far more competitive in PL matches home and away.