[Albion] Is our recruitment overrated?

[tigertim68]

Just to put a different spin on this, primarily because people's expectations are that they want everything "yesterday" these days and a £200m spend has to produce immediate results.

Chelsea spent nigh on a billion and for that first season they were a basket case, but it's all coming together now and they may even improve further next season - ours is an "Investment" as was Chelsea's - check out the definition of Investment ;-)

They employed a decent manager, makes all the difference

 

[GT49er]

I'm not so sure.

Yes I was excited last summer with all the new arrivals, but only Rutter has looked fairly consistent.

Minteh cost a fortune and reminds me of Lua Lua (occasional brilliance then goes missing), O'Reilly looks out of his depth (so far), Wieffer is barely getting a look in, Gruda probably could do with a loan, Gomez is probably wondering why he joined, Barco hasn't worked out, Yalcouye, Cozier-Duberry, and Osman have all been shipped out on loan, and Kadioglu has been injured virtually all season.

At the moment it's fair to say recent recruitment has been poor, but obviously many will need time. It's just sad to see so little positive impact from so FEW of our new signings so far. Maybe it is a case of Quantity over Quality in the last year regarding recruitment.

£200M spent last summer, and that's six new players to be shoe horned in (eight now that Gomez and Cashin have arrived - plus three out on loan coming back in the summer, Cozier-Duberry, Yalcouye and Osman) - and yet only one (Rutter) has made any sort of impact, plus I suppose you could say Minteh is OK to use turn-and-turn about with Adingra. The rest? Not deemed good enough even to start in midfield when Baleba and Ayari are out injured.
Quantity indeed!

I wonder at the wisdom of buying so many players at once. It would have been difficult for any manager to work out what the best XI would be, let alone one unused to the level of talent in his hands, and having to cope with so many injuries.

Exactly! Feels more like breaking up the band than making progress.

For sure, none of the signings has really sparked. Rutter is probably the best but the others have much to do to prove the investment. This was a humiliating day - arguably the second worst in the club's history - but Forest have shown that you can shrug off a disaster and come back strongly. Brighton can too.

This group of strangers? Sorry, I meant this Brighton team.

 

[Oh_aye]

No. Or I should say only to people who've convinced themselves there is a foolproof algorithm somewhere.

The bigger issue is people thinking amounts spent should automatically equate to success.

Our recruitment speculates to accumulate. To make a profit, so we can continue at the top level. It doesn't operate to help people manage their emotional projections onto it.

It's worked and is working.

The issue is its working better than the football at the moment. The danger being the stockpiling of high grade players with massive potential has outstripped our ability to manage coherent pathways for them all, or hire a manager with the experience of managing loads of competing egos that as part of our courtship and engagement have been told that their future lies in bigger and better things so believe they should all be playing or have been brought here under false pretences.

 

[Gabbiano]

It's time to buy some more experienced players in their late 20s, who can keep their heads under pressure and actually guide the youngsters. Particularly in midfield. And spend some money on getting the right people in.

Dunk's form has fallen through the floor, Veltman and Welbeck in and out the team. Milner and March are never fit. So we're left with a bunch of kids, directed by another inexperienced bloke in the dugout.

The recruitment strategy seems to be allergic to spending any money on players over 24 because of "resale value". Won't get any money from the resellable assets if they keep playing like they were born yesterday.

Now watch us buy 5 more teenage wingers.

 

[A1X]

I would argue we are good at identifying individual talents, and the record very much suggests that, but we’re not very good at building a squad.

When you look at the players we’ve bought over the last few years, as individual players they are clearly talented and will doubtless succeed by and large in the club’s ambition of developing and selling on. But we have a situation where the squad is imbalanced for that reason, we’ve hoovered up wingers and number 10s for fun, but we’ve failed to recruit / bring through a genuine number 9 and anyone in defence (other than JPvH, who’s been more of a long term prospect, and Pervis). The players who have come through in those positions are either sick notes or busts. It’s worrying that with Igor and Pervis being injured we’re suddenly at bare bones and falling apart at the back.

 

[southstandandy]

It's time to buy some more experienced players in their late 20s, who can keep their heads under pressure and actually guide the youngsters. Particularly in midfield. And spend some money on getting the right people in.

Dunk's form has fallen through the floor, Veltman and Welbeck in and out the team. Milner and March are never fit. So we're left with a bunch of kids, directed by another inexperienced bloke in the dugout.

The recruitment strategy seems to be allergic to spending any money on players over 24 because of "resale value". Won't get any money from the resellable assets if they keep playing like they were born yesterday.

Now watch us buy 5 more teenage wingers.

Or a lad from Korea?

 

[Dibdab]

Its working for the balance sheet but I fear that what the team actually needs to improve right now in the Premier League has been completely deprioritised. If it hasn't then you really have to ask what we are doing.

 

[portlock seagull]

At the moment it's fair to say recent recruitment has been poor, but obviously many will need time.

This is a major bone of contention for me, and has been for a long time. Not singling you out specifically because hundreds others said similarly, just using your words to illustrate.

We as fans are always talking about needing more time, development and so forth. We’re a patient lot on the whole. Perhaps too forgiving. Because shouldn’t our signings be making an impact immediately? No excuses?

In the ‘old days’ I used to get really excited about new signings and then going straight into the matchday squad. These days I’m resigned to them either a) not appearing for many more months b) going out on loan c) ‘needing more time’ d) making hokey-cokey appearances, if that.

Are all other clubs the same? We appear to have vast numbers of periphery players ‘needing more time’ - but this is the PL. Time doesn’t exist. It’s all about the now and present.

Ps today is a freak result, and Forest are a wonderful team this season. Far better than we were 22/23.