[Albion] In hindsight - do we not owe Chelsea and Todd Boehly a debt of gratitude?

[Badger Boy]

It's funny how many people thought that but for some reason didn't say it at the time. Well, they say that's what they were thinking, and I'm sure they're all decent types who always tell the truth, the whole and nothing but, etc.




Still strange though .....................................

In fact, I took a lot of criticism for believing we would improve if and when he left. We made an excellent start to the season so obviously comments about him leaving were less prominent, but I'm comfortable my stance has always been clear and consistent.

 

[SeagullsoverLondon]

I've always been a lurker and occasional poster on here, but after supporting the stripes for 50+ years, I now feel the need to post!

Had Chelsea and Todd not come in for GP, would we have been happy grinding out a home draw with the mighty Liverpool, playing lovely tippy tappy football (predominantly sideways at the back) with a lack of confidence in the final third and rueing the endless opportunities missed (sound familiar for a team currently struggling?) - I possibly think we would at the beginning of Aug 22.

Now we appear to have an upgrade in the RDZ, scoring goals and ripping decent teams apart and Todd paid us £20m for the privilege. Admittedly we'd already trousered £60m from him for Mr Cucurella (who is hardly tearing up trees at the Bridge, plus (yes plus!) allowing us to take the immense Levi Colwill on loan. If they let us keep him, I'd be astounded, but this is Chelsea we are talking about.

If the football business was regulated from a financial perspective, in hindsight, the authorities might have a compelling case in the above case for fraud!

The icing on the cake will obviously for Todd to pay us multi millions to take Leo off our hands to keep their bench ward (sorry Leo, but this is a cutthroat business and you may have scored your first own goal)

We should all be rightfully proud of what TB and his whole team are currently achieving - everything evolves and maybe Brighton (and some others) are changing the blueprint of running a very successful football club. Just lately it's striking to me that the sum of the parts can be better than a bunch of individuals.

Just stealing something from the LFC forum - a poster eloquently pointed out that LFC have stood still wallowing in their success, with no succession planning or effective recruitment - something that Brighton excel at and that's a major reason why they are struggling. We know that we never stand still, it's part of the overall strategy. At the back end of last season the big 6 were all over Biss, but most of us knew after a couple of games that Moises was way better than Biss at that stage of his career. The job the club did replacing Mr Cucurella with Pervis was inspired, not only from a financial perspective. And the succession planning still looks very exciting.......

Had things not happened the way they did in September, I'm not sure we would be rejoicing like we are now. I bloody love this club!

The short answer to the question posted is: No
There are posters on here who will remind you that GP left with us in 4th, having just scored 5 at home against Leicester. We will never know the results , nor how the team and the quality of the football would have evolved if Chelsea had not have tempted Potter away.
However, as other posters have said, let's move on from Potter obsessiveness and enjoy what we have now, because the management and the squad could be very different this time next year for all we know.

 

[Pavilionaire]

No, we do not owe Chelsea a debt of gratitude. F*ck Chelsea. We should thanking Tony and the board for their foresight in tracking RDZ in case Potter left us.

Within the year if RDZ continues to do well the top Italian clubs will come calling, he may be on his way and we'll have to do it all over again. Yet you can be rest assured Tony right now will be tracking two or three managers we've never heard of with RDZ's exit in mind.

 

[GT49er]

In fact, I took a lot of criticism for believing we would improve if and when he left. We made an excellent start to the season so obviously comments about him leaving were less prominent, but I'm comfortable my stance has always been clear and consistent.

I'll take your word for it........



The rest of the would-be history re-writers though ......................................

 

[jackanada]

Well if we're going to the source of our good fortune then it's a round of applause for Vladimir Putin invading Ukraine. That gets abramovitch out (or at least very hidden) and Boehly in which gets potter out. It also puts RDZ out of a job so he can be brought in.

 

[ferring seagull]

Sorry but I'm a bit out of the loop currently .

Does all of this mean we may not hear again from Swansman ?

 

[Frankworthington]

Sorry but I'm a bit out of the loop currently .

Does all of this mean we may not hear again from Swansman ?

Hopefully

 

[GT49er]

Well if we're going to the source of our good fortune then it's a round of applause for Vladimir Putin invading Ukraine. That gets abramovitch out (or at least very hidden) and Boehly in which gets potter out. It also puts RDZ out of a job so he can be brought in.

Well, that's no more preposterous than the idiots lining up to say they weren't at all impressed with Potter after we thrashed ManU and Leicester, that they weren't thrilled to be in 4th. plac in the PL, and that the first thought of 99% of us didn't react with 'Oh shit, that's f***ed it' when Potter left.
We were impressed, we were thrilled, and we were pissed off when he left - anyone who claims they weren't is either a liar or a bit elderly and suffering from memory loss.
Yes, we are doing extremely well under RDZ, and no we're not hankering to get Potter back - just trying to call out the ridiculos idea that we were crap under Potter and were all bloody glad when he left. Wobble your heads, some of you - IT WASN'T LIKE THAT!

 

[Super Steve Earle]

Agreed. Done us a huge favour. Them taking Potter was a get out of jail free card, with a £20m bonus.

Potter is limited, and was holding this team back. RDZ is clearly levels above Potter.

Credit to Bloom and Barber. They know their shit. They played an absolute blinder, again. Hope the next one is lined up because I can't see us keeping hold of RDZ anywhere near as long as we kept hold of Potter. We'll do well to keep hold of him for the entirity of next sesson.

He's excellent and handled the Trossard saga fantastically. Trossard acting like a spoiled, stroppy teenager.

With a bit of luck, RDZ is hoping he can stay with us rather than who might come in for him.

 

[Balders]

Some interesting comments, but just to be clear from my perspective, I didn't intend it to become another Potter thread. It was more about the way TB runs the club, after all there has to be a trigger for things to change.

Potter moving on was only one part of this - the money for Cucurella, Levi in return, the introduction of Pervis were also part of what Chelsea have triggered.

 

[Guinness Boy]

GP let the cat out of the bag when he said in one of his now 'becoming too frequent fits of pique' when questioned, that he could have stayed at Brighton for an easy life. So, yes, it was a good thing not to be in the thrall of a manager who was coasting.

Yes, exactly.

Had a boss who supported him all the way and showed great loyalty, an excellent back room team and too many fans prepared to settle for 15/16th. Now pretty much admitted to coasting.

 

[Harry Wilson's tackle]

Re-writing history isn't moving on, you know. But hey, it might give you a bit of cred wiv da yoof, so go for it!

(but probably not by posting links to Free.......)

'Free'? it's Bad Company. But never mind. Music, history . . . every day's a school day on NSC.

 

[Bold Seagull]

Yes, exactly.

Had a boss who supported him all the way and showed great loyalty, an excellent back room team and too many fans prepared to settle for 15/16th. Now pretty much admitted to coasting.

You mean fans that having finished 17th by the skin of our teeth were happy to be patient and see progress in the team from not being involved in a relegation scrap, to pretty much spending an entire season in the top half to challenging top 8? Those fans?

 

[brightn'ove]

No.

They will be back. Whether it’s for another manager, our players or our back room staff. Those parasites will be back.

I desperately hope these ridiculous 8+ year contracts prove to be the end for that horrible little club.

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

Yes, exactly.

Had a boss who supported him all the way and showed great loyalty, an excellent back room team and too many fans prepared to settle for 15/16th. Now pretty much admitted to coasting.

Yup, that 'easy life' comment was a bit of a giveaway

 

[rippleman]

Yup, that 'easy life' comment was a bit of a giveaway

Bit surprised Swanny hasn't been all over this thread to defend Potter's "easy life" comment and the accusations of "coasting". Has he been banned?

ETA (Just looked at the Mod Decisions board to check and it appears nobody has been banned for 6 months which is pretty good going.)

 

[monty uk]

Well if we're going to the source of our good fortune then it's a round of applause for Vladimir Putin invading Ukraine. That gets abramovitch out (or at least very hidden) and Boehly in which gets potter out. It also puts RDZ out of a job so he can be brought in.

And Putin's parents, who felt frisky that night, way back when?

 

[B-right-on]

Bit surprised Swanny hasn't been all over this thread to defend Potter's "easy life" comment and the accusations of "coasting". Has he been banned?

ETA (Just looked at the Mod Decisions board to check and it appears nobody has been banned for 6 months which is pretty good going.)

GB said on another thread over the weekend that Swanny was given a bit of gardening leave. But he's now back.

 

[nsclurker]

Why do you say that?

Big Bob looked more shaky than normal, after the changes of coaching staff, and his distribution went to pot for a few games post World Cup. However, he seems to be recovering his overall form as the team grow in confidence. I still think BR is a big miss, as he even managed to make Matt Ryan decent for a season.

 

[SUIYHP]

No we should never thank Chelsea. That being said, the managerial succession was serendipity at its purest. Had Potter been taken just a bit later, RDZ may have gone back to Italy to manage a Serie A side and Brighton would be in an uncomfortable position of poaching another club’s manager + coaching staff mid-season.