[Albion] Potter IN or OUT - 10 January poll

[Jim in the West]

So getting down to the cold hard facts all you have is Potter might work out..one day and until that happens Brighton supporters should shut up and enjoy the one home win a year because Tony Bloom says so

So which alternative to Potter will DEFINITELY work? I'm not sure the "Potter Out" campaign has a credible, available alternative? If so, let's hear it!

 

[vagabond]

So which alternative to Potter will DEFINITELY work? I'm not sure the "Potter Out" campaign has a credible, available alternative? If so, let's hear it!

The just relegated Eddie Howe [emoji38]

 

[RossyG]

And STILL no “shake it all about” option.

 

[Hamilton]

The formations and the team selections are the issue.

I genuinely believe if Potter gave a few of the “out of sorts” players a run in the team then we would start to see a change in fortune and levels of performance.

Tross is a perfect example, been in and out of the side in a variety of positions which must have a huge effect on your performance. Also the players are looking more and more like strangers with each passing match. No one can form any kind of understanding with their team mates when they only have 60mins to do it before one of them gets subbed.

Potter needs to believe in himself and he needs to get that across to the players because they look lost at the moment. Players like Trossard, Mac Allister, Maupay, Connolly, Alzate need to feel that the manager has their back and have confidence in the players around them.

Potter CAN be the man to sort this, but he needs to believe in himself and show the players he believes in them and stop acting like a 13 year old on football manager who keeps losing games so changes every option available.

I agree with nearly all of this.

Where I'm most concerned is with Potter's ideology. I think he's trying to apply the Eddie Jones mentality of creating a squad of starters and finishers. This works in rugby but I'm not sure it can be lifted and shifted to football (which is the point you make.) My concern is that Potter will not shift his approach.

I really hope he gets it right and that in a year's time I'm back in stadia and shouting his name. Right now, I can't see it, which is why I have to vote out. I want to vote in - so want to, after all he did feel fresh and exciting - but just can't. Now we just feel oddly predictable given all the changes he makes.

 

[blockhseagull]

I am genuinely surprised by the vitriol that Graham Potter is subjected to.

Trying to rationalise the level of criticism, which I feel is over the top, I wonder if the current situation we all find ourselves in, the pandemic and multiple lockdowns, is making people less forgiving? Quicker to call for the managers head?

I agree and something I’ve been guilty of at times while watching the games.

For me I think it’s just the regression because we have been great in some games and we seem to have lost our confidence which is frustrating. When thinking rationally I’m much more accepting that we are going to have ups and downs, it’s just when we are bad .. we really are bad.

 

[Johnny RoastBeef]

I think it’s more simple than that. Some people are just unpleasant.

During Hughton’s end times I was Hughton out. But reluctantly so, as he was a good man who was working his hardest for the club.

There are some Potter out fans like that. But the ones that are so gleefully hateful are hard to understand.

You may be right, or maybe the frustration and emotion that fans would normally vent by jeering and chanting against the opponent players and fans in the stadium, currently has nowhere to be focused and is being misdirected back upon Potter?

 

[Jim in the West]

The just relegated Eddie Howe [emoji38]

Ha Ha. And if we think that Potter looks a bit confused at the mo, just think back to Smug Eddie for most of last season - he just didn't have a clue. And that was despite (as others have remarked) having Josh King and Callum Wilson upfront.

 

[albionalex]

Good to see the majority still have their wits about them.

It's fair enough to have your own opinion of Potter in. But your arrogance, smugness and disdain for those that are Potter out is pathetic.

 

[Mo Gosfield]

A point at Leeds and three against Fulham will certainly help.

I would suggest that four points from these two games are absolutely essential, considering we are playing ( and almost certainly, losing to...) Man City, Tottenham and Liverpool, in our next five games. Even four points from these games will see a worsening of our position......
Now....P17 Pts 14
Then...P22 Pts 18.......leaving 16 games to save the season. February will decide our fate. After Liverpool its...Burnley, Villa, Palace and WBA. Beyond that we have to play...Leics, Man U, Everton, Chelsea, Man C and Arsenal. Of the remaining six games, we play Wolves, WHU, Saints, Newcastle, Leeds and Sheff Utd.
I am already playing with my worry beads.

 

[Jolly Red Giant]

You have to give Potter credit for being consistent - in getting a draw (even if it is against a L2 team).

 

[Bra]

I would describe many of the vocal, frothing-at-the-mouth Potter outers as arrogant, smug (when things aren't going well) and disdainful, for those who have faith in the club and in Potter, as pathetic.

Difference is that many who want Potter's head seem to be revelling in our poor form. Almost celebrating it. Finding any excuse to criticise Potter, regardless of how desperate and ridiculous that excuse may be.

Can't WAIT until we find form again so they all pipe down... until the next spell of poor form of course, which is inevitable at this level.

But thats the thing. You see 1 win at home in just over a year, 2 wins this season and 5 in the whole of last year as a run of poor form which will change. I and many others see it as more than that, a pattern that shows no sign of changing. We will have to agree to disagree and hope you are right. If I am we are in the championship

 

[Billy the Fish]

People are entitled to an opinion of course they are and its possible they are right. What I've let to see from anybody Potter out is a coherent reason why and more importantly a tangible alternative? What exactly is Potter doing wrong with this group of players? Who would you appoint who would do better? The laughable poll that offered alternatives suggests Swansman should get it or trailing in 3rd place Eddie Howe, a manager who managed to get relegated last season with a much bigger budget and a better strikeforce!

I have no problem with a rational discussion no one can be entirely happy with where we are right now but ranting like a demented 5 year old about Potter is shit or we're headed to League One just makes you come across as a knob. The other suggestion at the time that did make me laugh was Pochettino, now if in some other mad parallel universe he was available and willing to come to Brighton then I'd be Potter out too because that would be as close to a guarantee as you can get that things would improve. Without a viable and better alternative the argument to replace Potter is flawed and a poll after each match is going to just produce similar results each time.

There are many of coherent arguments on all of these threads, they're not difficult to find in between the hyperbole.

In a nutshell, IMHO:
Every game follows the same pattern of play, teams have worked out how to beat us and GP can't find a way to stop this. Lower teams concede possession knowing we can't beat a low block and will be wasteful with chances. The top 6 just have to wait for us to make mistakes. Conceding from set pieces needs no explanation. Our play since the Man Utd game had been slow and ponderous. Without Lampety we play at a walking pace.
This all just seems to be fobbed off as bad luck.

Man management is awful IMHO. Ali J had two brilliant games last season then he was dropped and never seen again. Ben White shifted around different positions and is losing form. Trossard shifted around and losing form. Maupay dropped with no official explanation, hasn't looked the same since. Gross looked great alongside Biss against Liverpool and Villa then GP changed it - he played White instead and we had an awful performance against Burnley. All the chopping and changing is stopping our players from finding any form. Only 3 or 4 players seem to get a run of games in the same position.

We only ever play well for half a game. Either 1st half is good and their manager makes tactical changes or GP gets it wrong first half and had to change. He can't seem to combine the two.
Game management is terrible, GP was determined to pass out from the back against quick pressing sides for far too long although he seems to have stopped this now. Consistently failing to protect a lead is unforgivable and I see it as a direct result of our other deficiencies.

I've said on many threads I would try and get Slaven Bilic, hers got a pedigree the GP can only dream of and a pretty good track record in England. Only [MENTION=10202]Not Andy Naylor[/MENTION] has ever acknowledged my suggestion, correctly pointing out that Bilic was known for, especially at WHU, not working his teams hard enough. I'm convinced he'd do a better job than GP and is available.
My other suggestion is João Pedro Sousa, which is a bit leftfield. He's got a good knowledge of English football and is doing well at a tiny club in Portugal.
I'm sure there are others, GP is not the only manager in the world. The new manager poll you reference was an obvious piss take by the OP and therefore not taken seriously.

 

[Justice]

So which alternative to Potter will DEFINITELY work? I'm not sure the "Potter Out" campaign has a credible, available alternative? If so, let's hear it!

That is such a stupid response so what are you saying keep an excuse for a manager because you can’t think of anyone else in world football I doubt many Saints fans had heard of their current manager before he joined, we supporters simply don’t have the resources to put together a short list that would fit the club’s criteria. Garcia one could argue is a better coach than Potter ever has been getting that squad to the play offs.

 

[zefarelly]

Surely Potter must have been given some targets, like keep us in a league to hang on to the cash cow?

GP can't be the only coach on the planet who can play tippy tappy My little unicorn football. I really don't know if I'd sack him or not any more. The one fact , and it is a cold hard fact, is that our results and returns are not good enough. 40 is the magic number per season, we're worse than last season and currently less than a point per game . . . . which is exactly his average, overall, but not this season. So despite having a better squad we're going backwards.

 

[Billy the Fish]

So which alternative to Potter will DEFINITELY work? I'm not sure the "Potter Out" campaign has a credible, available alternative? If so, let's hear it!

The just relegated Eddie Howe [emoji38]

What are your thoughts on my suggestions? I've posted them many times now over the last few weeks.
[MENTION=38362]vagabond[/MENTION] you're all over every one of these threads so you must've seen it.

 

[zefarelly]

I would describe many of the vocal, frothing-at-the-mouth Potter outers as arrogant, smug (when things aren't going well) and disdainful, for those who have faith in the club and in Potter, as pathetic.

Difference is that many who want Potter's head seem to be revelling in our poor form. Almost celebrating it. Finding any excuse to criticise Potter, regardless of how desperate and ridiculous that excuse may be.

Can't WAIT until we find form again so they all pipe down... until the next spell of poor form of course, which is inevitable at this level.

Thats a massive sweeping patronising post . well done. I'd struggle to match that when I'm pissed and ranting.

 

[A1X]

That is such a stupid response so what are you saying keep an excuse for a manager because you can’t think of anyone else in world football I doubt many Saints fans had heard of their current manager before he joined, we supporters simply don’t have the resources to put together a short list that would fit the club’s criteria. Garcia one could argue is a better coach than Potter ever has been getting that squad to the play offs.

I would also argue it is the duty of the club to have such a list available and updated at all times should they need to use it, whether that's through our actions, Potter's actions, another club's actions or anything else.

 

[Mo Gosfield]

I would describe many of the vocal, frothing-at-the-mouth Potter outers as arrogant, smug (when things aren't going well) and disdainful, for those who have faith in the club and in Potter, as pathetic.

Difference is that many who want Potter's head seem to be revelling in our poor form. Almost celebrating it. Finding any excuse to criticise Potter, regardless of how desperate and ridiculous that excuse may be.

Can't WAIT until we find form again so they all pipe down... until the next spell of poor form of course, which is inevitable at this level.

Why are they pathetic?
They are only voicing an opinion. We all have different criteria for measuring how well or badly our club is performing. Some speak from a platform of relative inexperience, others have a much longer and different experience. BHA has spent 70% of its existence in the bottom two divisions. If you started supporting in 1946, you will have seen one season out of the bottom two divisions in your first 30 years. If you started at the Amex, nearly 10 years ago, you have seen all your football in the top two divisions. We all have different backgrounds in experience and expectation. If you started in 1965, as I did, nothing is knee jerk. I have seen us lose 2-8 at home and win 9-1 at home. I have seen us lose 12 games on the trot twice. I have seen a number of promotions and relegations. I have seen us in an FAC Final and being a hairs breadth away from falling out of the league entirely. On the brink of bankruptcy to dining at the top table.
Through all of this, I have watched a number of managers play pretty entertaining football and some play pretty boring football. Some have encouraged youth, others relied more on senior pros. Some were superb motivators, some were pretty dull and a lot were somewhere in between. So what all this waffle is leading to is that we are not at the beginning of some dramatic new, innovative project here. Its been seen before and some of us have learnt not to buy in too deeply into a particular footballing philosophy because unless you have high class players and a near genius in charge, its got a limited lifespan. You need a Gustav Sebes with Hungary, a Rinus Michels with Holland or even a Pep, with Barcelona/City.
We haven't got that at Brighton and never will. Doesn't mean we can't aspire to it. Just means that it will require an extremely talented and brave manager, an owner with very deep pockets and a squad of players continually improving in quality. Add to that, a fan base prepared to be fairly patient and you have your dream scenario. Its all about working out the best way to stay in the top flight for as long as possible. Winning 9 or 10 games a season plus some draws and losing half your games. Sounds simple. It isn't. Its tough. You have to take your chances. Fans see opportunities for points not taken and get frustrated. They want to see their team win. Its a natural reaction. The fans don't see it as for Potter or against him. They only want to see their club doing ok and winning a few games. Its a nice feeling. The club is bigger than him. He is only passing through and will ultimately, be judged on his results. Progression is continuing to survive in the PL. Thats all and its no surprise, given the present position, that some fans are concerned.

 

[Billy the Fish]

What are your thoughts on my suggestions? I've posted them many times now over the last few weeks.

[MENTION=38362]vagabond[/MENTION] you're all over every one of these threads so you must've seen it.

Actually we're too late for Bilic, he's gone to line his pockets in China

 

[Home and Away]

I want to see how we do Jan-Mid Feb.... If the results are as poor as they've been... out.