[Albion] RDZ Post Match Brentford

[Zeberdi]

When you mention signings why does everyone automatically think it’s going to be £200m we haven’t replaced the departed midfielders as yet and that includes the unlucky Mwepu. Take our early form run out of the equation and we would be looking over our shoulders on recent form. Two wins in half a season if everyone’s happy with that then cool I guess.

But it’s not just the transfer fee is it? - this is what some folk seem to be forgetting - a player that we buy for even £50 or £60 million is going to already upset our wage structure before he even arrives. We pay the lowest wages in the EPL iir (or near to it) - we can’t start replacing high value players with high value players, or even supplementing injured players with moderately competent replacement players half way through the season as that would drive a cart and horse through our whole development strategy and annual budgets.

This does not have to be a polarised debate - Of course we ‘replaced our midfield’ just not with the level of player experience some fans were expecting (ie that have fully developed yet and as good as Caceido and Mackie) and we had one that unfortunately turned out to be a wet fish slap in the face (which happens whether you spend £10 m or £120m as Chelsea will testify). Baleba will come good (if not very good - he is already looking like Bissouma mark II ) and WBG is getting better and better. Buonanotte is still developing but on a trajectory to be excellent, Hinshelwood is already looking like he has the potential be one of the best FB/midfielders in the EPL if not Europe and Barco is oozing with exciting potential.

No one could have predicted our injury situation - maybe the answer in January would have been to bring back some loanees (not just Cameron?) when our attempts to sign who ever it was that failed but we did sign Ibrahim Osman for £17m and Barco for £10m which is more than most clubs spent in January. Personally, by February, I accepted that this season is a write off on some level because of circumstances beyond our control. I just don’t think overspending in one season to increase our chances of qualifying for Europe for the next is a sustainable development strategy in terms of our football development (Clubs sign young players in advance of where they are expected to be needed 6 months down the road, and depending on who is likely to leave, not in knee-jerk reactions to injuries). It doesn’t it make much financial sense to me either, with all the risk associated with more experienced players (ie not fitting in/coping with the football) and considering those that will be poached in the summer, that we will have to find permanent replacements for. With youngsters you can train and develop them to suite the style of football you require from them physically (and we are hard physically at Brighton) but it takes a few seasons for each new teenage recruit to get there.

Tbh - Yep, no one likes the results we are getting but given our first shot in Europe, our reliance on youngsters and players coming back from injuries, I’m frankly amazed we are still in the top half of the table and even daring to think we could finish high as 7

 

[Justice]

But it’s not just the transfer fee is it? - this is what some folk seem to be forgetting - a player that we buy for even £50 or £60 million is going to already upset our wage structure before he even arrives. We pay the lowest wages in the EPL iir (or near to it) - we can’t start replacing high value players with high value players, or even supplementing injured players with moderately competent replacement players half way through the season as that would drive a cart and horse through our whole development strategy and annual budgets.

This does not have to be a polarised debate - Of course we ‘replaced our midfield’ just not with the level of player experience some fans were expecting (ie that have fully developed yet and as good as Caceido and Mackie) and we had one that unfortunately turned out to be a wet fish slap in the face (which happens whether you spend £10 m or £120m as Chelsea will testify). Baleba will come good (if not very good - he is already looking like Bissouma mark II ) and WBG is getting better and better. Buonanotte is still developing but on a trajectory to be excellent, Hinshelwood is already looking like he has the potential be one of the best FB/midfielders in the EPL if not Europe and Barco is oozing with exciting potential.

No one could have predicted our injury situation - maybe the answer in January would have been to bring back some loanees (not just Cameron?) when our attempts to sign who ever it was that failed but we did sign Ibrahim Osman for £17m and Barco for £10m which is more than most clubs spent in January. Personally, by February, I accepted that this season is a write off on some level because of circumstances beyond our control. I just don’t think overspending in one season to increase our chances of qualifying for Europe for the next is a sustainable development strategy in terms of our football development (Clubs sign young players in advance of where they are expected to be needed 6 months down the road, and depending on who is likely to leave, not in knee-jerk reactions to injuries). It doesn’t it make much financial sense to me either, with all the risk associated with more experienced players (ie not fitting in/coping with the football) and considering those that will be poached in the summer, that we will have to find permanent replacements for. With youngsters you can train and develop them to suite the style of football you require from them physically (and we are hard physically at Brighton) but it takes a few seasons for each new teenage recruit to get there.

Tbh - Yep, no one likes the results we are getting but given our first shot in Europe, our reliance on youngsters and players coming back from injuries, I’m frankly amazed we are still in the top half of the table and even daring to think we could finish high as 7

I would never expect us to buy a £60m player

 

[Zeberdi]

I would never expect us to buy a £60m player

3 x £20-30m players still require wages and will not be up to the level we require for at least several months.

 

[Justice]

3 x £20-30m players still require wages and will not be up to the level we require for at least several months.

What do injuries have to do with the departure of the midfield? We are a club competing in the PL it will need players to do that. KDH would have been a great signing I doubt we will get him now January was the chance he’s been the best player in the championship by a way. Let’s say he was £40m that s not an upfront cost.

 

[GT49er]

3 x £20-30m players still require wages and will not be up to the level we require for at least several months.

3 X £20-£30M players will not make us smash our wage structure; a £60M player won't come to us unless we do. We won't (I hope) so they won't be coming. And if 2 out of the three £20-£30M players turn out to be as good value as Pedro, then we'll have had a very good window.

 

[London Irish]

3 x £20-30m players still require wages and will not be up to the level we require for at least several months.

Pedro? We know KDH would also slotted in quickly

 

[Zeberdi]

What do injuries have to do with the departure of the midfield? We are a club competing in the PL it will need players to do that. KDH would have been a great signing I doubt we will get him now January was the chance he’s been the best player in the championship by a way. Let’s say he was £40m that s not an upfront cost.

3 X £20-£30M players will not make us smash our wage structure; a £60M player won't come to us unless we do. We won't (I hope) so they won't be coming. And if 2 out of the three £20-£30M players turn out to be as good value as Pedro, then we'll have had a very good window.

Whatever, I was specifically referring to the winter window and people’s complaints we didn’t spend in January to cover injuries - and we did spend that last summer - also by buying in the summer, you give players more time to settle in with pre-season training, friendlies etc - it is much harder for a player to slot in half way through the season imo.

Anyway, I have tried to avoid all these threads arguing about RDZ, TB, PB etc etc but against my better judgement stepped in on this - I’ll step out again now I think.

I’m happy to leave the running of the Club to those who know what they are talking about - TB and PB know more than any of us what the Club needs and what it can afford to spend in order to develop. I have absolutely no complaints about the way the Club is run - spending low and selling high is what sustains us and why we are up there with Chelsea, Newcastle, Man United etc despite being a much smaller Club so that’s good enough for me and I am looking forward to next season with excitement whether we are in Europe or not.

EDIT @London Irish - NO - we don’t know that - we hope that based on where that player is at but until a player actually joins the squad and starts playing, you never know for sure if they are going to ‘slot in quickly’ - often they take longer and sometimes not at all.

 

[dazzer6666]

What do injuries have to do with the departure of the midfield? We are a club competing in the PL it will need players to do that. KDH would have been a great signing I doubt we will get him now January was the chance he’s been the best player in the championship by a way. Let’s say he was £40m that s not an upfront cost.

Maybe simply Leicester refused to sell, because of their promotion push

 

[Slum_Wolf]

For anyone who hasn't seen the post-match press conference