gripper stebson
Well-known member
- Jul 27, 2004
- 6,690
Is Poyet telling the truth about the roof at Brighton?
No man is bigger than the club, yet some people seem to have forgotten about that when they’re considering the Gus Poyet situation at Brighton.
If we set aside the fact that he was manager of the football club when human excrement was spread all around the away dressing room when Crystal Palace visited for the play-off semi final, let’s just consider what was said in Poyet’s final few months in charge of Brighton.
On May 14 before he was suspended from the club, and after he had failed to reach the play-off final, he said: 'I have always said that all the time we keep improving I am going to be at this football club and the day we hit the roof, I'm not.'
Poyet’s squad included experienced internationals signed from Manchester United, Manchester City and Valencia, and their record signing was acquired from a rival Championship club - and Brighton increased his wages by seven-and-a-half times.
Quite what the roof is I’m not sure but it put into perspective Poyet’s uncomfortable coveting of the Leeds United manager’s job before Leeds met Brighton at the end of April. Poyet had previously been assistant to Dennis Wise at Elland Road and said: 'The relationship without being in charge was so powerful with the fans that I am sure I will have the opportunity to go.'
Quite what Brighton fans made of that is unclear, but Poyet needs to be aware there is most definitely a 'roof' at Leeds; they failed to sign a League One player earlier this summer because the transfer fee was too high. This despite the player being in the last year of his contract.
And consider what former Spain winger Vicente said about Poyet, who brought him to Brighton two years ago. Vicente called the former Chelsea star 'egocentric' and 'selfish.' He also said Poyet 'makes fun of his players. I’ve seen things here that I have never seen in my career. If you miss with a shot in training, he makes fun. For me, that is unacceptable in football.'
Vicente also said that Poyet didn’t bother to check how his injury rehabilitation was progressing, and that he went back on a promise to allow the player to leave after his first year because his four-year-old daughter couldn’t settle in England. Vicente’s verdict was damning: 'He is the worst person I’ve come across in football.'
Was Vicente bitter after two frustrating injury hit years? Or was there substance in the word of an experienced player who had appeared hundreds of times for Valencia and at a major tournament for Spain?
I have been to the Amex, and spoken to Brighton fans, I work with several. They all admire and appreciate what Poyet did for the club. But they are all slightly embarrassed by how it has all ended.
I don’t think the club are solely to blame, and any chairman wanting to give Poyet a job needs to be prepared to accept he will enquire about the 'roof.' They also need to brace themselves for the fallout from Poyet unconditionally defending anything Luis Suarez might get up to.
But Brighton have been in the top flight before, Poyet wasn’t rewriting history on the south coast. The stadium has elevated the club to new levels more than anything Poyet did.
He did very well but on a budget equally if not more limited, Southampton and Norwich under Nigel Adkins and Paul Lambert did even better when their starting point was a struggling League One side.
Poyet’s good, but not that good, not yet.
No man is bigger than the club, yet some people seem to have forgotten about that when they’re considering the Gus Poyet situation at Brighton.
If we set aside the fact that he was manager of the football club when human excrement was spread all around the away dressing room when Crystal Palace visited for the play-off semi final, let’s just consider what was said in Poyet’s final few months in charge of Brighton.
On May 14 before he was suspended from the club, and after he had failed to reach the play-off final, he said: 'I have always said that all the time we keep improving I am going to be at this football club and the day we hit the roof, I'm not.'
Poyet’s squad included experienced internationals signed from Manchester United, Manchester City and Valencia, and their record signing was acquired from a rival Championship club - and Brighton increased his wages by seven-and-a-half times.
Quite what the roof is I’m not sure but it put into perspective Poyet’s uncomfortable coveting of the Leeds United manager’s job before Leeds met Brighton at the end of April. Poyet had previously been assistant to Dennis Wise at Elland Road and said: 'The relationship without being in charge was so powerful with the fans that I am sure I will have the opportunity to go.'
Quite what Brighton fans made of that is unclear, but Poyet needs to be aware there is most definitely a 'roof' at Leeds; they failed to sign a League One player earlier this summer because the transfer fee was too high. This despite the player being in the last year of his contract.
And consider what former Spain winger Vicente said about Poyet, who brought him to Brighton two years ago. Vicente called the former Chelsea star 'egocentric' and 'selfish.' He also said Poyet 'makes fun of his players. I’ve seen things here that I have never seen in my career. If you miss with a shot in training, he makes fun. For me, that is unacceptable in football.'
Vicente also said that Poyet didn’t bother to check how his injury rehabilitation was progressing, and that he went back on a promise to allow the player to leave after his first year because his four-year-old daughter couldn’t settle in England. Vicente’s verdict was damning: 'He is the worst person I’ve come across in football.'
Was Vicente bitter after two frustrating injury hit years? Or was there substance in the word of an experienced player who had appeared hundreds of times for Valencia and at a major tournament for Spain?
I have been to the Amex, and spoken to Brighton fans, I work with several. They all admire and appreciate what Poyet did for the club. But they are all slightly embarrassed by how it has all ended.
I don’t think the club are solely to blame, and any chairman wanting to give Poyet a job needs to be prepared to accept he will enquire about the 'roof.' They also need to brace themselves for the fallout from Poyet unconditionally defending anything Luis Suarez might get up to.
But Brighton have been in the top flight before, Poyet wasn’t rewriting history on the south coast. The stadium has elevated the club to new levels more than anything Poyet did.
He did very well but on a budget equally if not more limited, Southampton and Norwich under Nigel Adkins and Paul Lambert did even better when their starting point was a struggling League One side.
Poyet’s good, but not that good, not yet.
