Poyet right

[hillbilly]

I wouldn't recommend that, if you want a full 'horse's mouth' answer, complete with nuances.

I would expect Insider to answer the "Why was El Abd given a new contract?" question by saying "Because Gus Poyet decided to give him one". We know that already.

Good point. Cheers. Anyway I will take Father Jack's interpretation as the question was asked.

 

[SI 4 BHA]

You seem to have conveniently forgotten the fact that there is doubt over which division we may be playing in next year.

Would you like to bankrupt the club by offering new juicy contracts now to players that may be in League Two in the future.

Get real. This is a business decision.

Then the contract just needs a simple relegation get out clause, it's not difficult, I'm sure it's fairly standard practice.

 

[Mileoakman]

I wonder if Forsters weekly column will be in the Arsegas this Saturday and whether he's going to say anything about all this. He can hardly not I would think but then again he seems reluctant to mention all things Albion in his writings for the paper most weeks, its normally more about the bigger picture in Football rather than whats happening locally.

 

[Ecosse Exile]

Before this season started, i recall many on here (myself included) thought Forster would be no more than a bit part player this season, he was getting older, had missed a fair amount of last season due to injury and i think most felt that when his contract ran out at the end of this season we would be saying goodbye and thankyou very much.

Forster, in the first half of this season has proved everyone wrong. However he no longer trains everyday so as to make it a little easier for him to get through the season. Surely the sensible thing for the club captain to do was to carry on the way he has so far the season and bang in as many goals as possible, if he had ended up with 25 goals or more, he would have got an extension and set a fantastic example to the rest of the players. Then we would all be saying the same things again i.e. that he will be no more than a bit part player.

However Forster has instead chosen to go to the press and force Poyet into a corner, Poyet has come out of this corner by making an example of a player that should be setting the examples.

As i said above Forster is not made to train everyday, if he had, he may not have even made it through this season, Poyet will have come in and seen this and is maybe wondering if Forster can carry on for another season, we still have some heavy pitches to play on for another month or so, maybe Poyet wanted to see if Forster was even going to make it through this season.

In my opinion (and it is no more than that) the club have been very fair with Forster and he has reacted very poorly, sure we would all rather have him playing than not but you can not have one player trying to force the managers hand.

As for the above comments that El Abd is not first choice in any position, Poyet has made it quite clear that he thinks El Abd is one of the best players at this club and when fit he has been selected for every game, seems like a first choice to me.

 

[Danny-Boy]

Before this season started, i recall many on here (myself included) thought Forster would be no more than a bit part player this season, he was getting older, had missed a fair amount of last season due to injury and i think most felt that when his contract ran out at the end of this season we would be saying goodbye and thankyou very much.

Forster, in the first half of this season has proved everyone wrong. However he no longer trains everyday so as to make it a little easier for him to get through the season. Surely the sensible thing for the club captain to do was to carry on the way he has so far the season and bang in as many goals as possible, if he had ended up with 25 goals or more, he would have got an extension and set a fantastic example to the rest of the players. Then we would all be saying the same things again i.e. that he will be no more than a bit part player.

However Forster has instead chosen to go to the press and force Poyet into a corner, Poyet has come out of this corner by making an example of a player that should be setting the examples.

As i said above Forster is not made to train everyday, if he had, he may not have even made it through this season, Poyet will have come in and seen this and is maybe wondering if Forster can carry on for another season, we still have some heavy pitches to play on for another month or so, maybe Poyet wanted to see if Forster was even going to make it through this season.

In my opinion (and it is no more than that) the club have been very fair with Forster and he has reacted very poorly, sure we would all rather have him playing than not but you can not have one player trying to force the managers hand.

As for the above comments that El Abd is not first choice in any position, Poyet has made it quite clear that he thinks El Abd is one of the best players at this club and when fit he has been selected for every game, seems like a first choice to me.

As not an Albion fanatic, but as someone who has read Forster's column regularly, and posted it word-for-word on a football site on occasion, I think if the detailsabove about his training etc. are accurate - and you would have to be well-connected to know that - then this is fair comment.

But unless Fozzy ghosts his column he is clearly not stupid and not the kind of player to get into a feud with.

 

[paulclark]

El Abd is very different, he is younger, in his prime and I'd imagine his wage is in the middle of the scale meaning if we went down, he is still useful and would not break the bank and if we stayed up, he would be useful for next seasons "promotion push".

Forster is reaching the end of his career, is at the top of the list for wage [we assume] and I'd imagine if we stayed up, maybe Poyet does not see him as a vital 'top earner' for next season and if we go down, then maybe we would not want to be paying him the money he wants / is on.

two contracts could be written one for staying up one for relegation the fact of the matter is forster through the grapevine heard he wasnt wanted next year which gus would not answer to
then an agreement was made by both to be placed on the the transfer list to be loaned out
then when it was made public the club went mad

w,eve had this before with hammond/ savage/ callaghan /and iwelhomo

as for wage structures there is a striker out here who doent score goals who nearly doubles forsters wages

 

[Danny-Boy]

I wonder if Forsters weekly column will be in the Arsegas this Saturday and whether he's going to say anything about all this. He can hardly not I would think but then again he seems reluctant to mention all things Albion in his writings for the paper most weeks, its normally more about the bigger picture in Football rather than whats happening locally.

When he started his column many stories etc. were about Albion, talking the club up and generally morale-boosting. But recently they've become more about the game in general.

 

[backson]

Whatever all of our views are, Poyet's made the decision, and Poyet is the one who has to live and die by that decision.

 

[Acker79]

This is a messy situation. I don't think there's a clear right and wrong, and it seems any attempt to justify either party sounds flawed.

Forster's unprofessionalism has been well covered. There really is no excuse for his airing of private issues, and a stand off with the club. Any attempt to make it sound like he was right is just laughable.

This thread is full of people trying to justify given El Abd a contract and then tell another nine players "we're not offering contracts at the moment". Either by suggesting Forsters contribution doesn't count, but el abd's potential does. The other players are being treated equally - regardless of age, but el abd needs signing up because of his age. etc. As with forster, any attempt to try to justify this as right is laughable.


There is no 'right' in this situation. There is only "what is". And "what is" is that Poyet and the club decided after december to not offer any more contracts until the end of the season. That's it. No right, no wrong. Just is.

Hopefully everyone learns from this, Forster, Poyet, the Club, the players whose contracts expire next summer.

We now get to sit back and watch how that learning curve goes:

Will Poyet/the club learn to make exceptions for key players? (i.e. will this event cost us in the league due to lack of goals?)
Will forster learn to trust in his ability and the club to come through with a deal at the end of the season?
Will Forster learn to respect the (or any) club's decisions to wait on contracts?

 

[crodonilson]

Lets make no bones about it Poyet is 100% right, and any player who does not respect his decision should be shipped out of this great football club.

Forster has been a loyal servant for us over the past few years but he's only a small cog in the system and he needs us more than we need him, if he wants to throw his toys out of the pram then let him do so.

 

[BensGrandad]

There's another forum coming up. Why doesn't someone just turn up and ask Poyet why he's given a new contract to El Abd?

.

I would expect the answer to be that every club has 1 utility player and GP has decided that El Abd fits the bill at a price that we can afford as opposed to being 1 of 6 strikers of which at least 2 are out of contract at the end of the season.

 

[The Large One]

I would expect the answer to be that every club has 1 utility player and GP has decided that El Abd fits the bill at a price that we can afford as opposed to being 1 of 6 strikers of which at least 2 are out of contract at the end of the season.

I don't think that's the point.

To many, it's not 'why did the club offer El-Abd a contract extension?' - it's more 'why did the club offer El-Abd a contract extension NOW?'

 

[Giraffe]

... and that is interesting because Forster has been strangely quite. Is it a case of defending the indefensible ....

I just think the club would have made it quite clear that he shouldn't be talking to the press. I guess from that point of view he has learned his lesson.

 

[BensGrandad]

If GP has made his decision in December why not. He was/is probably undecided on Forster for next season.

For what it is worth I would have offered Forster a provisional 2 year contract renewable every 6 months dependant upon appearrances, perfomance injury etc. Whether or not he would have accepted it I dont know

 

[Giraffe]

I don't think that's the point.

To many, it's not 'why did the club offer El-Abd a contract extension?' - it's more 'why did the club offer El-Abd a contract extension NOW?'

Exactly, given their stance on their top scorer!

So looking forward how can this be resolved, if at all?

I guess the only way it will be is if Forster apologises and says he wants to play for us for the rest of the season? Whilst I think the club were wrong to not offer him a contract I accept that they can not back down now. However is there something they can do to make Forster feel a bit happier about the situation so he can play again?

 

[Fourteenth Eye]

Forster is 13/2 to score the winner tomorrow

 

[8ace]

Forster is 13/2 to score the winner tomorrow

Will that bet be a NR if he's not in the squad?

 

[DIFFBROOK]

To be honest I cant see what Poyet has done wrong. He has always said that this is not his squad, so he is probably still determining who are in his longer term plans.

However, 1 player who is in his plans either as a 1st teamer or squad player is El Abd. Thats why he was offered a contract.

The other players whose contracts run out have been told to wait until the summer. If nothing else this told them that the manager was still considering whether they were worth a contract in Poyets squad. So they have a choice, knuckle down and prove to Poyet that they should also be in his future plans or as is their right start making preparations to join other clubs for next season. Probably a few (Hart? are already doing this on the quiet)

Only 1 player thought that he was above all of this. Forster, whether he thinks he should be in the same boat as El Abd (i.e has convinced the manager now) is irrellevant, thats Poyets choice.

Forster knew full well what he was doing, trying to back an inexperienced manager into a corner. Well Poyet has shown that he can make tough decisons, which is sometimes what being a manager is all about.

If Forster is ever a manager, then it will be interesting to see how he handles things. Perhaps not such a good idea that he coaches here.

 

[bhaexpress]

Interesting, a lot of people felt that what led to Slade's failure was that he was too soft. Poyet seemed a very nice guy but clearly he knows when a line has to be drawn. You can't really complain about that (all though some will).

 

[Caveman]

Yes that's fair comment, although I would be offering our number one goalkeeper and top goalscorer new contracts regardless of length of service. Hart has not contributed at all this season so can't see he would have any reason to grumble.

You are then in danger of upsetting the apple cart. The El-Abd contract has already been flagged 1000s of times and that is now clear it was discussed before hand.

I admire Poyet's stand on this, I think we have a top class manager who will (I am positive) bring the good times back to this great club.