And when we did the whole club did from top to bottom. The academy play that way all the way through to the first team. Recruitment is currently geared up to try and find players that fit into how potter wants to play. I’m not saying if we were looking for a new manager I would rule Jones out specifically but you would need to consider we have little players that would suit the way he plays. It would be a massive overhaul in my opinion in players.
Also defences are much bigger faster stronger and just better than your average championship defence.
Being top 10
Really isn’t that easy. To do it consistently is even harder. 6 of those places are generally taken by the traditional 6. You get a club or 2 like West Ham and Leicester who will do it for a few years consistently. You have Villa chucking money at anyone they can, wolves seem to have a monopoly on most decent Portuguese players.
Once a club like ours hits the top 10 a year or 2 then those bigger clubs come in cherry pick it all away anyway and you start again.
Hence I think why we play the same style of football all the way through with the idea of having players who could be just as good given time already taught to play the way the first 11 do.
It is possible that despite wanting to be a top 10 club that we are in fact likely to be a lower end PL side for 99% of the time we are in the PL.
Very good post.
When I was a teenager with undiagnosed 'on the spectrum' disorder, I found it a struggle to understand the point of professional football. Even if you win the league and cup double, you have to start all over again the next season with a clean slate. WTF? So what's the point of it? I never got the 'bragging rights' thing, never able to understand how anyone could imagine their willy had got bigger just because their team had won a football match. So I stood quietly on the terraces and tried (and succeeded) to enjoy the spectacle on its own merits.
Now we are back in the top flight I can only marvel at the high level of quality on offer. For me, it is the best experience of my 53 years attending Albion matches. This has been the best EPL season for the simple reason that relegation is now not a real prospect, and the anxiety is gone.
I'm really looking forward to next season, with the new striker and who knows what else. The rest of this season may be a bit disappointing but, to me, the chatter, agonizing over the great leap forward, the difficulty of breaking into the top ten, and the manager speculation are largely the equivalent of buzzing wasps.
Being a bit peculiar can be a blessed relief as well as a gift, some times