Poyet right

[Giraffe]

Handled differently how?

I think the club should have allowed Poyet the budget to offer contracts to Kuipers and Forster, only an additional year for the latter. If that wasn't good enough then fair enough, but frankly we need our top scorer and whilst I admire the stand point, I think it is cutting off our nose to spite our face.

 

[Pantani]

...so why give him a contract..."because he stands in the right position"

That statement is bollocks

Is it though? Defending is about being in the right place to stop attacks. If you look at the stats for the best centre backs they only make three or four tackles a game, the rest of the time they are just making interceptions and clearing crosses. The same applies to Navarro, he is good at blocking off the line of passes to strikers that is why he often looks like he does very little.

 

[Father Jack]

really.

I am 100% convinced people watch totally different matches than the ones I do. It must be this parallell universe I live in

to be honest im in agreement with you but Gus makes a good point, when he described these attributes i thought he was referring to Navarro who i think is now our best midfield player by a country mile.

 

[Couldn't Be Hyypia]

Gus may have told all th eplayers that he will not speak to them about contracts until the end of the season - that's not now in dispute. The question might be "Was that the correct management approach?". Who said all the players need to be treated the same?

Huge fan of Gus - totally behind him - but the queston for me isn't "Was Forster out of line?" but rather "Was treating all nine players in the same way the correct approach?". Patently it was not since our leading scorer is not now available to the squad.

 

[The Large One]

I think the club should have allowed Poyet the budget to offer contracts to Kuipers and Forster, only an additional year for the latter. If that wasn't good enough then fair enough, but frankly we need our top scorer and whilst I admire the stand point, I think it is cutting off our nose to spite our face.

The issue is about WHEN Poyet wants to offer (or not offer) contracts, and the reaction to it.

Eight players appear satisfied with this arrangement, one isn't and has publicly shown his displeasure. To operate such a divisive management strategy as you suggest would threaten even more dissatisfaction through the squad.

"Right, you two can have a contract offer - the rest of you can wait..."

 

[The Large One]

Gus may have told all th eplayers that he will not speak to them about contracts until the end of the season - that's not now in dispute. The question might be "Was that the correct management approach?". Who said all the players need to be treated the same?

Huge fan of Gus - totally behind him - but the queston for me isn't "Was Forster out of line?" but rather "Was treating all nine players in the same way the correct approach?". Patently it was not since our leading scorer is not now available to the squad.

But that's tantamount to the tail wagging the dog.

How else would Gus do it - divide and rule? Instead of eight satisfied players and one stroppy player, you'd be risking one satisfied player and eight stroppy ones.

 

[seagull_special]

Handled differently how?

Its not what you say its how you say it, the club are notorious for messing up player negotiations. Forster has been the star of the team in his three seasons here and we would have been playing in league 2 if we didn't have him. He deserves to be treated with respect and maybe if he had been taken into the managers office and had the situation explained he would have been happier and as discussed above Al Abd has been offered a new contract!

 

[Father Jack]

the fact is if one reacts yet a goalkeeper who's next contract gives him his testimonial doesn't denotes an attitude problem.

 

[drew]

i think you probably should have gone and asked Gus this, however ONE point i will make is that to even sit those out of contract down is more than most league clubs or previous Albion managers would have done and as Gus said Forster IS the only one to have a problem with this, what does that tell you about the guy?

So why the f*** does he single out a player who is not first choice and ignore the club captain and top scorer. It seems there are people that think the sun shines out of Poyet's backside and that he can do no wrong (apart of course from playing Carole!!). The club mad this situation by treating two members of the first team squad differently. Had they not done this and Forster had done what he is alleged to have done then the club would have my full support but they, and Forster, have both acted badly. Until they acknowledge that this was perhaps the case then it won't be resolved and we lose our top scorer.

El Abd may have been given a contract extension so that other clubs cannot get him for nothing at the end of the season , if an enquiry comes in for him then we can let him go for a fee.

Sorry, but exactly how many other clubs have put in offers for El Abd over the last few years!!! You are talking crap. Exactly how much do you think we could sell El Abd for anyway now he is under contract?

 

[The Large One]

Its not what you say its how you say it, the club are notorious for messing up player negotiations. Forster has been the star of the team in his three seasons here and we would have been playing in league 2 if we didn't have him. He deserves to be treated with respect and maybe if he had been taken into the managers office and had the situation explained he would have been happier and as discussed above Al Abd has been offered a new contract!

By the sounds of things, he has been treated with respect. He was told in fair and plain Spanglish - along with eight others - that contract negotiations would start towards the end of the season. Where's the disrespect in that? Has he been lied to? Has he been ignored? No.

Has he earned the right to special treatment? For me, no, he hasn't. But then, I don't think anyone has.

If any other player had reacted in this way, I'd be thinking that they should grow up as well.

 

[Father Jack]

Sorry, but exactly how many other clubs have put in offers for El Abd over the last few years!!! You are talking crap. Exactly how much do you think we could sell El Abd for anyway now he is under contract?

maybe because he has always been under contract?

 

[drew]

maybe because he has always been under contract?

So what does that tell? They think he isn't worth anything. If a club wanted him they would put in a low offer, £20/£50k maybe. But none apparently have. Speaks volumes.

 

[Father Jack]

So what does that tell? They think he isn't worth anything. If a club wanted him they would put in a low offer, £20/£50k maybe. But none apparently have. Speaks volumes.

most clubs in our league cant afford a transfer fee, so yes they do wait for contracts to expire, most clubs cant even afford to pay too many players' wages ala Livermore saying teams could not afford 50% of his wage, we haven't had an offer for Forster untill this week, you have to apply the same thesis throughout surely?

 

[Barrel of Fun]

So what does that tell? They think he isn't worth anything. If a club wanted him they would put in a low offer, £20/£50k maybe. But none apparently have. Speaks volumes.

Seemingly no one has ever put in an offer for Kuipers or Forster or Murray or Watson or Carpenter and so on. What does that tell us?

 

[Hotchilidog]

Its not what you say its how you say it, the club are notorious for messing up player negotiations. Forster has been the star of the team in his three seasons here and we would have been playing in league 2 if we didn't have him. He deserves to be treated with respect and maybe if he had been taken into the managers office and had the situation explained he would have been happier and as discussed above Al Abd has been offered a new contract!

I have to say I agree with this point of view, given Forster's contribution to the team over the last couple of seasons I do not think it would have been unreasonable to offer him the prospect of another year's contract. As a senior pro and club captain I think it would have been obvious to the other players why he would get an offer now and not later, I don't see it as divisive at all.

Given that El-Abd has been given a new contract it makes a nonsense of the 'special treatment' argument.

 

[Deportivo Seagull]

Yes and actually I don't really blame Poyet, I don't think given the circumstances he actually had any choice once Forster did that.

Just think the situation could have been avoided by the club if handled differently.

I think it amusing because if someone other than Forster had pulled a stunt like this we'd be burning him on a very large bonfire on Brighton beach. Personally, I don't give a toss how good you are, you don't pull a stunt like this. I might expect something like this from some teenager but not arguably your most senior player. It is quite frankly inexcusable. I like others on here manage teams of people, if one of my team tried a stunt like this, he’d have booked at ticket to the exit lounge unless he came a apologised not only to me but to the other team members.

Before we all forget, TB has stumped up £90M+ and Poyet is his first appointment as club chairman, what does that tell you?

 

[seagull_special]

By the sounds of things, he has been treated with respect. He was told in fair and plain Spanglish - along with eight others - that contract negotiations would start towards the end of the season. Where's the disrespect in that? Has he been lied to? Has he been ignored? No.

Has he earned the right to special treatment? For me, no, he hasn't. But then, I don't think anyone has.

If any other player had reacted in this way, I'd be thinking that they should grow up as well.

Sorry to labour a point - why has Al Abd been offered a new contract, if the club had said no player contracts will be discussed till the end of the season I would agree with you. The other consideration is that Jake Caskey is considered by some to be our hottest property, do you think this will impact on his position?

 

[Father Jack]

Gus implied Forster by talking in the past tense in his interview did not want to be here, surely we need 11 committed players right now?

 

[strings]

The fact is that Poyet's experience of the club is different to ours.

Whilst I am sure Poyet has done his research, Poyet came into the club as a totally fresh face. He probably doesn't care that Forster's goals have kept us in the league the last couple of years. All Poyet is concerned about is the future.

There is no doubt the El Abd has played the best football of his career under Poyet's stewardship, clearly there is something there that Poyet thinks he can develop. The other players, clearly Poyet has decided that he needs more time to look at. Poyet hasn't been watching Kuipers for 10 years like the rest of us, he has been watching him for three-and-a-half months. The fact is that we do not know what these players are like on the training ground and in the dressing room, what Poyet sees day to day may be totally different to the performances we see on Saturdays.

Whilst Poyet has said that no contract negotiations will happen until the end of the season, I would not be surprised if we see contracts sporadically handed out as Poyet gets more and more used to the players and develops his on opinion of what is needed for the future.

I'm not saying that Forster is wrong, and I'm not saying that Poyet is wrong. However, I think Poyet is right to look to the future. It simply does not matter how many goals Forster has scored in the past. What matters, is how many goals the manager thinks he is capable of scoring in the future.

 

[SI 4 BHA]

The clubs stance of not talking to players about contracts until they have run out is flawed in my opinion. If I was on a fixed term contract that was nearing it's end, I would certainly like to have some idea as to whether it was likely to be renewed or not. If my employer was not prepared to give any indication one way or an other, I'm damn sure I'd be putting out feelers to other employers in advance of my contract ending, just in case there wasn't a new contract on offer.

However, Forster and his agent have gone too far by making the whole thing public, when presumably a few behind the scenes chats amongst agents would have alerted other clubs that Forster could be available in the summer. I expect that is what agents of the other out of contract players are doing, so those players can get their heads down and do their best up to the end of the season, but at the same time, their agents are working quietly to find new clubs for their clients if no new contract is offered at Brighton.