[Albion] Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall **Singed for Chelsea 02/07/2024**

[Sheebo]

People can argue the toss on whether De Zerbi has been supported or not, although I don't think it's as simple as a binary yes/no, but the real point of interest is whether De Zerbi feels he has been backed. Because perception does not always marry up with actuality.

And, my gut feel is that De Zerbi will feel he's not been given the tools he needs, and that new contract will remain unsigned for the foreseeable.

I do too…

This purely your opinion or…….

 

[Meade's Ball]

People can argue the toss on whether De Zerbi has been supported or not, although I don't think it's as simple as a binary yes/no, but the real point of interest is whether De Zerbi feels he has been backed. Because perception does not always marry up with actuality.

And, my gut feel is that De Zerbi will feel he's not been given the tools he needs, and that new contract will remain unsigned for the foreseeable.

I doubt he lurks online though, like us general guessers and fretters, unaware directly of the wheeling and dealing attempted. He should ideally have a clear picture and decide whether to hold that against us, or fire up the troops he has for an almighty season closure.

 

[Bozza]

I do too…

This purely your opinion or…….

Yep, just gut feel.

But I've long thought that the relationship with De Zerbi has the potential to all go a bit Poyet sooner rather than later.

 

[peterward]

The underlying problem is that we miss Caicedo. We miss him terribly. When he played for us, he was our enforcer. World class.

IMO he is irreplaceable.

But he's gone. And we need to plan for the future.

Baleba may eventually be as good as Biss? That's not yet. That leaves a Caicedo physicality shaped hole.

We are not going to pay market rates for that ready made success in January.

Either an undervalued bargain, or develop the potential success of the future.

 

[Sheebo]

Yep, just gut feel.

But I've long thought that the relationship with De Zerbi has the potential to all go a bit Poyet sooner rather than later.

Hope we’re wrong but can’t help but feel the same. He’s not looked as happy at all recently - prob since Forest game. Even the goal celebrations aren’t as consistently mental….

 

[London Irish]

Lose to Palace and drop to 12th and I think these ritualistic exhortations to Bloom as an Albion version of a Catholic crossing himself are going to reverberate far less. I think questions around the effectiveness of our transfer policy deserve specific responses rather than airy generalisations

 

[DarrenFreemansPerm]

Plus the £40m transfer fee.

As we’ve already covered, the club were happy to pay the fee, the deal was being reported by many as being agreed with Ajax, the stumbling block being Kudus wanting a release clause.

 

[The Wizard]

If one of or both of Gross/Gilmour gets injured we are in serious trouble that’s for sure, I love everything about this club and the people who run it but not getting adequate cover in central midfield is astonishing, that alongside the fact they were willing to let Moder go on loan I just find staggering.

 

[junior]

I'm more concerned about RDZ than any actual knock on effect performance wise not getting first team ready bodies in.
He does seem like he is a losing a bit of patience and he is super volatile.

He is not bigger than the club.

 

[DarrenFreemansPerm]

Lose to Palace and drop to 12th and I think these ritualistic exhortations to Bloom as an Albion version of a Catholic crossing himself are going to reverberate far less. I think questions around the effectiveness of our transfer policy deserve specific responses rather than airy generalisations

In my humble opinion, the only part of recruitment that the club have got wrong is not having a proper replacement for Caicedo. In reality they were probably, possibly naively, caught napping by Caicedo’s departure. Baleba is raw as hell and was never going to fill the void, an actual experienced DM was and still is a massive need for us, we’ve had a glaring hole in midfield all season.
You can’t be mad at the club for suffering multiple injuries in the same position, eg March, Mitoma, Adingra, Enciso and Fati all at once, that’s just rank bad luck.

 

[DarrenFreemansPerm]

He is not bigger than the club.

Indeed, but let’s not downplay his role in where we are.

 

[The Wizard]

He is not bigger than the club.

Nobody has said he is but he’s up there with the best coaches in the world and certainly one of the best we’ve had, much as you would with a player we need to be doing all we can to keep him happy, having our team pillaged for its best midfielders (200m or not) and not adequately reinforcing that position is quite bizzare it must be said.

We were weak in CM before the window opened, now we are even weaker we are bare bones and that’s with no injuries in the position, which is luckily the one position we’ve not had many injuries in this season.

 

[Weststander]

Hope we’re wrong but can’t help but feel the same. He’s not looked as happy at all recently - prob since Forest game. Even the goal celebrations aren’t as consistently mental….

During games too, he’s now passive, whereas he used to live out games demonstrably. Against Wolves it was O’Neil creating all the drama.

 

[studio150]

If one of or both of Gross/Gilmour gets injured we are in serious trouble that’s for sure, I love everything about this club and the people who run it but not getting adequate cover in central midfield is astonishing, that alongside the fact they were willing to let Moder go on loan I just find staggering.

 

[studio150]

If one of or both of Gross/Gilmour gets injured we are in serious trouble that’s for sure, I love everything about this club and the people who run it but not getting adequate cover in central midfield is astonishing, that alongside the fact they were willing to let Moder go on loan I just find staggering.

But in the past we have gone with effectively one striker for most of the season, and one left back last season.

 

[A mex eyecan]

During games too, he’s now passive, whereas he used to live out games demonstrably. Against Wolves it was O’Neil creating all the drama.

that maybe that he has been told to chill a bit rather than keep getting booked or sent off?

 

[DarrenFreemansPerm]

During games too, he’s now passive, whereas he used to live out games demonstrably. Against Wolves it was O’Neil creating all the drama.

In fairness to RDZ, we’ve not really been playing the high-octane free flowing football that he wants, losing all of our wingers has completely nullified us, I’d expect his passion to return along with the goals once we get some attackers fit.

 

[Weststander]

As we’ve already covered, the club were happy to pay the fee, the deal was being reported by many as being agreed with Ajax, the stumbling block being Kudus wanting a release clause.

I referring to the total cash flow of a signing, Kudus v Lallana.

It’s also easy to forget that Lallana was significantly younger in footballing terms when he joined, we were nowhere near the brilliance of 2022/23. He was a class act instinctively driving us forward, probing for openings, improving those around him.

 

[drew]

In my humble opinion, the only part of recruitment that the club have got wrong is not having a proper replacement for Caicedo. In reality they were probably, possibly naively, caught napping by Caicedo’s departure. Baleba is raw as hell and was never going to fill the void, an actual experienced DM was and still is a massive need for us, we’ve had a glaring hole in midfield all season.
You can’t be mad at the club for suffering multiple injuries in the same position, eg March, Mitoma, Adingra, Enciso and Fati all at once, that’s just rank bad luck.

Surely the club knew he would be leaving, especially with shenanigans last winter window. I suspect it was always in the plan to sell him but maybe it was a year early at most. As for having a proper replacement for Caicedo, you're asking a lot for us to find someone to replace a £115m player just like that!

It's a massive expectation to believe that being in Europe as well as the domestic competitions wouldn't take their toll. I don't know but I suspect the target this year is still top 10 and anything else is an added bonus plus of course for us to go as deep as we can in the Europa league.

Personally, top ten and another couple of rounds in the Europa league would, in my view, be a massive achievement for this club. Whether that would be enough to keep RDZ happy, I don't know. That said, i don't see him flouncing like Poyet did but, unlike Poyet, I think there will be more clubs seeking to employ RDZ.

And just to clarify, I'd say that Poyet's behaviour made his position untenable so whilst he was technically sacked, it was a flounce.

 

[dazzer6666]

During games too, he’s now passive, whereas he used to live out games demonstrably. Against Wolves it was O’Neil creating all the drama.

Fecking hell, if he was ‘passive’ at Luton, I don’t want to see him animated.