[Albion] Potter out poll 29-12-2020

[Lenny Rider]

Difficult one to Answer.
We are in a poor run but I think that the bloke needs an opportunity to turn it around, He has shown that he can get us playing excellent football.
I would rather lose looking like we may have a chance of competing rather than packing our own 18 yard box and hoping the other team don't score. No one can win every game.
I think NSC has a group of overly aggressive angry individuals who will never be happy (present company excluded, I'm sure) and will be calling the new manager a useless prick after a couple of defeats. So, if you take those votes out of the poll, it would be a much closer vote.

But that's the problem R, I've tried, as have many others, to give him the benefit of the doubt and numerous chances, but like many others on here, I've been down this road before, and everything points to the fact that he's just not up to the job. Covid has actually been a positive for him, because with 30,000 fans in the ground, the situation wouldn't have played out very well after each final whistle at the Amex, apart from the one EPL game we won at home in 2020!

 

[Nobby]

Your correct we should ignore every teams current form and position based on its squads value, well maybe go and look how much we have spent net spend on average per season we should be 6th or 7th.

[emoji1787][emoji1787][emoji1787]

 

[Harry Wilson's tackle]

Anyone voting in are deluded.

'is'. It's 'is'.

I'd rather be deluded than a prick

 

[Normandy seagull]

But that's the problem R, I've tried, as have many others, to give him the benefit of the doubt and numerous chances, but like many others on here, I've been down this road before, and everything points to the fact that he's just not up to the job. Covid has actually been a positive for him, because with 30,000 fans in the ground, the situation wouldn't have played out very well after each final whistle at the Amex, apart from the one EPL game we won at home in 2020!

Good point about the lack of crowd- the stick I gave Hinshelwood behind the dugout at Withdean towards the end of his reign is not printable

 

[Goberpiles]

Turn it around? The guy can’t even make subs anyone with eyes could see Arsenal were knocking on the door they ripped us apart for the first 10 mins of the second half, the goal could not have been any more clear unless someone in a time machine come back and told him on the touch line they were about to score! He didn’t make the sub or make a change and we lost because of it.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Marshy]

time to remove myself from NSC again, embarrassing some of you lot.

I will stick to the Coronavirus Good News thread. Its a damn site more cheery and positive than you lot

 

[Berty23]

I have slept on it. I am still potter out. I hate it when I turn on a manager but four strikers being fit/good enough for the bench but not picking any was just daft.

 

[Lenny Rider]

Good point about the lack of crowd- the stick I gave Hinshelwood behind the dugout at Withdean towards the end of his reign is not printable

With utmost respect I don't class Hinsh as a proper Albion manager, he got the job by default after Wilfred Schaffer blew Knight out at Heathrow Airport, the Grand Hotel was booked for a 6pm press conference, and Dick didn't have a manager, if he'd phoned me that afternoon instead of Martin and offered me the job I'd have taken it!

Now I've seen your location, next time I'm scattering ashes on one of the D Day beaches, we will have to have a drink

 

[Solid at the back]

'is'. It's 'is'.

I'd rather be deluded than a prick

How does it feel to be both?

 

[Hamilton]

With every one of these polls I have voted on the evidence placed before me, and sadly it's an OUT.

Last night was hilarious. To be playing the side one place above (no matter who it is) and rest all your recognised strikers is at best naive and at worst plain stupid. My only hope is that GP is sending a message to the Board that says, 'look, it doesn't matter who I play or how I play them, without a capable striker we are not going anywhere.'

That said, GP has been there long enough to influence the signings and has been unable to find the players he needs or make the players that have come in work together. Instead, our recruitment seems to end in players being loaned back to their clubs or out to other European outfits while our core product is withering on the vine.

Long before the summer window opened we were all saying that we needed a striker. The Board took a risk. They held out and banked on a Danny Welbeck solution working with the paltry offering that we already had. Maupay was not the answer last term and is not the answer this term. Andone appears to be homeless and unwanted and Connolly is just not up to it. So, the Board took a risk and it did not pay off. We have no Murray left to fall back on and every club now knows we are desperate for a striker and the price will be hiked up accordingly.

Potter has played his part in this, but he is not alone.

What he alone is responsible for is an inconsistent line-up; the inability to coach players to score goals; a lack of one touch passing in and around the box; a lack of runs or training players to look for movement; a lack of pace. It is all too easy for teams to set up against us. We look like Brazil in the middle of the park and Bexhill in the box.

 

[Normandy seagull]

With utmost respect I don't class Hinsh as a proper Albion manager, he got the job by default after Wilfred Schaffer blew Knight out at Heathrow Airport, the Grand Hotel was booked for a 6pm press conference, and Dick didn't have a manager, if he'd phoned me that afternoon instead of Martin and offered me the job I'd have taken it!

Now I've seen your location, next time I'm scattering ashes on one of the D Day beaches, we will have to have a drink

True- he was put in an impossible position. I’d always make time to have a drink and talk all things Albion Ian. I’m usually at Lion Sur Mer on most weekends in the spring/Summer period. Those were golden days listening to you and the phone in on BBC SCR. A time when the club was like a family and everyone knew everyone else. The PL and Amex has been a dream but those days were damn good

 

[Harry Wilson's tackle]

What a depressing thread. Dozens of people who rarely post calling for the manager's sacking. Most of the posts properly punctuated and grammatically reasonable. Many of them not abusive to Potter, just exasperated.

I recall that when Potter was appointed there was an acceptance that the culture of the club had to change, even if it meant a period back in the Championship. I was prepared to accept this in preference to the perpetual U shaped formation, the 'down the side and round the back, up and down the side and round the back' dance favoured by Hughton.

It seems that the general view now is that if we do get relegated it will kill the club, attendances (post Covid) will drop to half what they were when we were in the Championship previously (14-16 thousand), all the decent players will leave (Lampty and Bissouma), and we will start on that long slide down the leagues, eventually having to sell the stadium for development.

Consequently, following this new narrative, we have to stay up at any costs. Maybe I'm in a small minority but where does this narrative come from? I even read on this thread, when alternatives to Potter were mooted, how underrated Big Sam is. This was posted after WBA's home game against The Leeds. Extraordinary.

I understand the frustration, but large parts of the new narrative are unlikely to have any traction with the owner. First of all I'd be surprised if his view is that we must stay up at all costs. Second, I doubt that he thinks the quality of football is worse than under Hughton and on a par with the Hyppia miasma. And it is what the owner thinks that counts so a large number of posters on this thread may have to face disappointment. I fear they won't do so with good grace, however, which is sad.

If I'm wrong I'd expect to see Potter replaced in the next few days so we can make proper use of the transfer window.

We shall see. I am not remotely interested in persuading anyone to change their mind because if staying up is indeed the be all and end all, Potter probably should be sacked now. The minority of noisy 'Potter is a prick' merchants will doubtless carry on until Potter is sacked. But be careful what you wish for. I don't really buy the idea that a manager may walk or be pushed because 'the fans made the situation untenable', but perhaps I'm wrong about that as well. I'm the meantime I'm still 'in'.

Happy New Year, Albion supporters everywhere

 

[Harry Wilson's tackle]

How does it feel to be both?

Look, you want the manager sacked, fine. I don't (particularly). That doesn't make me deluded. If you are on a campaign to recruit a lynch mob, insulting anyone who refuses to join your gang is not the best strategy. Anyone who thinks it is, is a prick in my book.

 

[Lenny Rider]

With every one of these polls I have voted on the evidence placed before me, and sadly it's an OUT.

Last night was hilarious. To be playing the side one place above (no matter who it is) and rest all your recognised strikers is at best naive and at worst plain stupid. My only hope is that GP is sending a message to the Board that says, 'look, it doesn't matter who I play or how I play them, without a capable striker we are not going anywhere.'

That said, GP has been there long enough to influence the signings and has been unable to find the players he needs or make the players that have come in work together. Instead, our recruitment seems to end in players being loaned back to their clubs or out to other European outfits while our core product is withering on the vine.

Long before the summer window opened we were all saying that we needed a striker. The Board took a risk. They held out and banked on a Danny Welbeck solution working with the paltry offering that we already had. Maupay was not the answer last term and is not the answer this term. Andone appears to be homeless and unwanted and Connolly is just not up to it. So, the Board took a risk and it did not pay off. We have no Murray left to fall back on and every club now knows we are desperate for a striker and the price will be hiked up accordingly.

Potter has played his part in this, but he is not alone.

What he alone is responsible for is an inconsistent line-up; the inability to coach players to score goals; a lack of one touch passing in and around the box; a lack of runs or training players to look for movement; a lack of pace. It is all too easy for teams to set up against us. We look like Brazil in the middle of the park and Bexhill in the box.

Hamilton old boy, 'hilarious' indicates it was an amusing experience, I have to tell you it certainly wasn't over in sleepy old West Sussex.

On the three occasions I directed abuse to Mr Potter via my TV set Mrs H kindly pointed out that it was only a game and he wouldn't be able to hear me anyway.

 

[Brian Fantana]

With every one of these polls I have voted on the evidence placed before me, and sadly it's an OUT.

Last night was hilarious. To be playing the side one place above (no matter who it is) and rest all your recognised strikers is at best naive and at worst plain stupid. My only hope is that GP is sending a message to the Board that says, 'look, it doesn't matter who I play or how I play them, without a capable striker we are not going anywhere.'

That said, GP has been there long enough to influence the signings and has been unable to find the players he needs or make the players that have come in work together. Instead, our recruitment seems to end in players being loaned back to their clubs or out to other European outfits while our core product is withering on the vine.

Long before the summer window opened we were all saying that we needed a striker. The Board took a risk. They held out and banked on a Danny Welbeck solution working with the paltry offering that we already had. Maupay was not the answer last term and is not the answer this term. Andone appears to be homeless and unwanted and Connolly is just not up to it. So, the Board took a risk and it did not pay off. We have no Murray left to fall back on and every club now knows we are desperate for a striker and the price will be hiked up accordingly.

Potter has played his part in this, but he is not alone.

What he alone is responsible for is an inconsistent line-up; the inability to coach players to score goals; a lack of one touch passing in and around the box; a lack of runs or training players to look for movement; a lack of pace. It is all too easy for teams to set up against us. We look like Brazil in the middle of the park and Bexhill in the box.

This sums up exactly how I feel, but articulated a lot better than I could!

 

[Hamilton]

Hamilton old boy, 'hilarious' indicates it was an amusing experience, I have to tell you it certainly wasn't over in sleepy old West Sussex.

On the three occasions I directed abuse to Mr Potter via my TV set Mrs H kindly pointed out that it was only a game and he wouldn't be able to hear me anyway.

Fair point. In your case, replace 'hilarious' with 'ludicrous'.

 

[Hampster Gull]

Do you honestly think this man keeping his job is for the good of the club?

This is NSC, this is footballing opinion, so please any of the 118, the floor is yours, I, and countless others on here, think you are all deluded but you rightly have the right to reply...…..

Very gracious of you to give others the “floor”, and a “right to reply”

Last night was painful for many reasons but I voted In for various reasons, none of them in themselves conclusive, all could be prodded and probed but in the round enough for me.

- These are fine margins, we are very close to getting results, the indexes show this, this should show through in games at some point
- Changing managers is extremely disruptive, you do it if you're confident results will materially improve. I am not confident it will if the club want to continue with this style of football, which i believe they do (we cant swing between the last year of Hughton and this every 18months)
- The results are not all the coaches, he works with the players given, we need to look at recruitment as well. We have a January transfer window open very shortly with two key areas needing recruitment, lets see what we get, it could transform results
- There is likely to be a covid break where our young manager can regroup
- TB is vested in this, he is both smart and i believe ruthless, there wont be sentiment in his decision making. If he is backing the manager then so am i, albeit with healthy skepticism and with challenge (i will leave that to other posts)

 

[WilburySeagull]

What a depressing thread. Dozens of people who rarely post calling for the manager's sacking. Most of the posts properly punctuated and grammatically reasonable. Many of them not abusive to Potter, just exasperated.

I recall that when Potter was appointed there was an acceptance that the culture of the club had to change, even if it meant a period back in the Championship. I was prepared to accept this in preference to the perpetual U shaped formation, the 'down the side and round the back, up and down the side and round the back' dance favoured by Hughton.

It seems that the general view now is that if we do get relegated it will kill the club, attendances (post Covid) will drop to half what they were when we were in the Championship previously (14-16 thousand), all the decent players will leave (Lampty and Bissouma), and we will start on that long slide down the leagues, eventually having to sell the stadium for development.

Consequently, following this new narrative, we have to stay up at any costs. Maybe I'm in a small minority but where does this narrative come from? I even read on this thread, when alternatives to Potter were mooted, how underrated Big Sam is. This was posted after WBA's home game against The Leeds. Extraordinary.

I understand the frustration, but large parts of the new narrative are unlikely to have any traction with the owner. First of all I'd be surprised if his view is that we must stay up at all costs. Second, I doubt that he thinks the quality of football is worse than under Hughton and on a par with the Hyppia miasma. And it is what the owner thinks that counts so a large number of posters on this thread may have to face disappointment. I fear they won't do so with good grace, however, which is sad.

If I'm wrong I'd expect to see Potter replaced in the next few days so we can make proper use of the transfer window.

We shall see. I am not remotely interested in persuading anyone to change their mind because if staying up is indeed the be all and end all, Potter probably should be sacked now. The minority of noisy 'Potter is a prick' merchants will doubtless carry on until Potter is sacked. But be careful what you wish for. I don't really buy the idea that a manager may walk or be pushed because 'the fans made the situation untenable', but perhaps I'm wrong about that as well. I'm the meantime I'm still 'in'.

Happy New Year, Albion supporters everywhere

Absolutely this.

Its interesting that the op put the poll with out above in. I got so used to the other way that I accidentally voted out when I meant in.

Of course we are in a difficult position but I guess you either sign up for the long term or go pale at the thought of relegation. If the latter then ok GP may not be your man but then who is? Do you really want Pulis type football?

Of course getting back to the PL isnt easy and might not happen but for tthose saying if we go done we would lose "all our good players" who exactly? I guess Bissouma and Lamptey but then if we got reasonable money we could stengthen where we needed to.

Realism is needed. TB has limited resources we wont be signing a proven PL strker anytime soon.

Anyway happy new year all and UTA.

 

[Eric Youngs Contact Lens]

So just before 9am the morning after the night before we've got 118 NSCers voting for Potter to keep his job.

Even allowing for the obvious trolls, that's well over 100 genuine Albion fans feeling this way, if I was feeling flippant I'd get all biblical, "Forgive them Lord for they know not what they do"

But still, seriously?

Do you honestly think this man keeping his job is for the good of the club?

NSC is an ecletic mix, we debate, we argue, sometimes we even fall out, but at the end of it all we've have one common denominator, we all love the Albion, be it if we've been supporting 5 days, 5 months or 50 years.

I know I went into print and on line the other week and stated a senior club figure emphatically stated that Potter would keep his job even if we were relegated, but that was then, we've reached the tipping point, the last few games have proved he is not fit for purpose and it fast becoming the worst manager I've seen at the club since 1973, (he's running Hypia and Case very close now), surely even Tony Bloom is big enough and astute enough to admit his mistakes?

This is NSC, this is footballing opinion, so please any of the 118, the floor is yours, I, and countless others on here, think you are all deluded but you rightly have the right to reply...…..

"Deluded" Fan here. I tend to support the incumbent Albion manager through thick and thin, borne out of a strong desire to to see him succeed - I was sad to see CH go and at the time concerned at the appointment of a manager for whom the PL was a new experience. I was bowled over by GP impact on the side and a record points tally to boot last season. I also believe that any individual, regardless of their wages, perform better in a positive/supportive environment rather than a critical/aggressive one. Supportive doesn't mean without criticism, it means creating an environment whereby individuals can look honestly at mistakes and try to improve on them. I think this is the rhetoric that I hear from GP, I buy into that.
I also buy into the fact that as a Club, to thrive (Relatively) in the PL will need a production line of talent that we can sell and reinvest, creating revenues to buy the odd top class player, punctuated with youth and players who can do a job. Our squad right now is "strong" in that we have a level that is not compromised that much by changes. What we don't have yet is the quality that accelerates us beyond that - Lallana and Welbeck are the hopes, but they are affordable only because they come with risks. (I am surprised that so many people believe that Welbeck was ever realistcally going to play within 48 hours of the previous game with his injury record). We cannot start to buy that talent until we sell. I would love us to stay in the PL this season but I don't believe that staying up at all costs this season delivers any better hope of thriving in the PL than the strategy we have which of course incudes the threat of relegation.
If we were playing games and never looked like winning or creating chances I would be more worried. The narrative from just about all the neutral pundits is one that we play well, compete well but are undone by missing chances and individual errors giving goals away. Last night a good example (BDB too tight to Saka) , West Ham a good example. We score in nearly every game, we miss good chances, we concede in nearly every game. I don't believe that is just a symptom of the coaching - it happens all the time. John Stones, Harry Maguire, Tyrone Mings (FFS) Gomes are apparently the best this country has to offer, but all of them have mistakes in them. We don't have the firepower at the moment because none of our front players are "on fire". El Ghazi at Villa is on a streak at the moment. Wolves struggling without Jiminez. Bamford is on a hot streak, Arsenal have struggled without Aubamyang scoring. I think that we will start to score.. Maupay can do it - he's shown that. Welbeck can do it.. Trossard can do it.
Teams like Leicester and Southampton give me hope - but right now they have a Vardy and Ings. If we don't find that scoring streak, we can change the style.. but the critics will be out once again to suggest we are setting up "not to lose". People will argue but does it have to be one or the other? Reality is it probably does with our situation. I think we will do that on occasions in the games to come, but a change in manager would probably mean the end/delay in the longer-term plan. Benitez is one who keeps coming up.. He spent much of is latter years complaining about lack of spending and his team was pretty dull to watch - he forgot to remember the backing he got in the championship! Eddie Howe - success for few years but ultimately relegated. There may be other coaches abroad who can come and do a similar job, but I am not convinced there is one who can do a much better job in the context of the longer term plan. In the meantime, I think GP deserves my support to enable him to do the job he is being asked to do.
So deluded I may be, but it is not without any substance. By supporting GP I am not pretending all is right/rosy, I am not pretending I wasnt frustrated as hell at the last two results given the way that both games were going. But I can still see some positives that suggest there is more to come. My belief wasn't shaken by last night's match, performance. Despite the "odd/disasterous/ambitious" selection, we still could/should have taken something from the team who played Chelsea off the park and had an extra days recovery time. A team that has struggled to score goals whilst it tried to become more sound at the back, a team whose manager is under threat, because with the squad at this disposal, should be performing much better than they had been.
So there it is.. deluded/ignorant/daft/licker I fit the narrative for most of those, but its a perspective that I hold and am happy to offer up for your dissection!

 

[Harry Wilson's tackle]

Out from fence.

The problem as I see it is that Potter is so obsessed with theory, he seems to be forgetting that in order to win matches you need to score goals. Its all very well putting together pretty passing patterns and player instruction on chalkboards but unfortunately, it takes no account of what the opposition are doing and we just don't seem able to respond to that.

His formation last night was awful, the defending for the goal abysmal and the fact we didn't bring a striker on until after Arsenal scored drove me nuts. Arteta had a top quality striker on the bench and used him. Potter just sat on his arse watching us play pattercake football until it was too late.

We need a manager who can tough it out and get into the players, one with a much harder edge. If you look at the teams around us and their managers, Dyche, Wilder, Parker (not sure about Allardyce but he is a more progressive manager than some give him credit for) I'd rather have any of them than Potter at the moment.

I guess you missed yesterday's result:

WBA 0, The Leeds 5

If not, I'd love to know why you'd give Big Sam the benefit of the doubt and not Potter. I suppose you will say that despite the neanderthal football and the odd crushing defeat he has a track record of keeping sides in the top flight, by hook or by crook.

I suppose you have a point.

As for the other three, only Dyche has a better record in the top flight than Potter. Parker already has a relegation on his CV, and Dyche has gone from miracle worker to record-breaking low points achiever.

I'd be interested to see if you feel the same way later today.

I'd not be surprised to see Potter sacked this week but I'd like to think the owner has someone a bit classier than your gang of four lined up to replace him.