[Albion] RDZ post match interview?

[nickjhs]

Good that he knocked back the question about lack of support from above.

Did he though, I think he answered it previously with "If we want to compete at this level from the owner, to the coach to the player we have to progress to reach one level higher" Ever since the night we made it to Europe he has consistently and constantly pushed Tony for more player investment. He has been proven correct we cannot keep selling our top players and replacing them with new young prospects if we want to retain the level that the more experianced players got us to. I am not bitching that we are most likely out of this cup, I am frigging proud of what our club is achieving, what I am hearing from RDZ is that if TB wants us to be a consistent top ten PL club he has to be realistic about what it will take.

 

[Hugo Rune]

Good honest interview.

He wasn’t falling for that ‘you haven’t been supported in the transfer market’ shit. Good.

 

[banjo]

Roma will make the final. Good side.

 

[Bridcutt]

He said he loves the club and players which is good to hear but he needs to change something

 

[um bongo molongo]

Interesting he mentioned pace and power again. He’s done that a lot. And he’s right that we’re missing that post Moises.

 

[sagaman]

RDZ has sounded quite exhausted in recent interviews.
Fair enough. Has done great job but injuries and insufficient depth and experience has taken a toll.

Let’s hope we can finish the season well
UTA!

 

[Milano]

Roma will make the final. Good side.

I’m not sure that I agree. I don’t think they’d be top 4 EPL. We’ve played and beaten better teams than that in the last 18 months. We could have drawn that 4-4 and we had so many crucial players out. We should have at least scored 2 tonight.

 

[Sarisbury Seagull]

He said he loves the club and players which is good to hear but he needs to change something

He needs to sign that contract then to show he really does love the club, give the players a little boost that he is staying and he can then knuckle down to sort this mini crisis out. We look a very poor team right now.

 

[WhingForPresident]

If we 'played at 20%', that's your f***ing fault mate.

Roll over against a bog standard Fulham, meekly go out in the cup, take 3 points from Everton, Sheff U and Burnley at home, lose 4-0 at Luton. We are constantly at f***ing 20%, you get bloody paid to get the players prepared and into the right frame of mind. Is it that the players aren't good enough, or that we don't prepare well enough? Sure seems like the latter to me.

 

[trueblue]

Did he though, I think he answered it previously with "If we want to compete at this level from the owner, to the coach to the player we have to progress to reach one level higher" Ever since the night we made it to Europe he has consistently and constantly pushed Tony for more player investment. He has been proven correct we cannot keep selling our top players and replacing them with new young prospects if we want to retain the level that the more experianced players got us to. I am not bitching that we are most likely out of this cup, I am frigging proud of what our club is achieving, what I am hearing from RDZ is that if TB wants us to be a consistent top ten PL club he has to be realistic about what it will take.

As if Tony Bloom doesn’t know those things already. I think that if the target is consistent top ten, that still seems very much achievable with our current model. De Zerbi wants higher which is great but we’re not a club that’s going to break the bank to chase a dream or be held to ransom over transfer fees and wages. With Albion’s history, understandably so. Given the competition, there’s no guarantee that approach would achieve much more anyway. It’s been the road to ruin for most. Bloom is ambitious too and he’s put his money where his mouth is, but he’s always played the long game & it’d be surprising if that changed much. Regardless, it’s better if those conversations are kept in the boardroom in my opinion - entertaining as they are.

 

[trueblue]

Roma will make the final. Good side.

Playing much better than their side that made it last season.

 

[dazzer6666]

If we 'played at 20%', that's your f***ing fault mate.

Roll over against a bog standard Fulham, meekly go out in the cup, take 3 points from Everton, Sheff U and Burnley at home, lose 4-0 at Luton. We are constantly at f***ing 20%, you get bloody paid to get the players prepared and into the right frame of mind. Is it that the players aren't good enough, or that we don't prepare well enough? Sure seems like the latter to me.

20% off, not 20% of…….due to injuries

Nothing wrong with that interview imo. Honest, straightforward and didn’t hint at any material differences in the camp.

 

[AZ Gull]

As if Tony Bloom doesn’t know those things already. I think that if the target is consistent top ten, that still seems very much achievable with our current model. De Zerbi wants higher which is great but we’re not a club that’s going to break the bank to chase a dream or be held to ransom over transfer fees and wages. With Albion’s history, understandably so. Given the competition, there’s no guarantee that approach would achieve much more anyway. It’s been the road to ruin for most. Bloom is ambitious too and he’s put his money where his mouth is, but he’s always played the long game & it’d be surprising if that changed much. Regardless, it’s better if those conversations are kept in the boardroom in my opinion - entertaining as they are.

That is the only relevant point, for me, here - RDZ consistently directly or indirectly publicly calling out "the club" over what he perceives as a lack of support in the transfer market is unprofessional. Would it be okay for Paul Barber, in his next programme notes, to criticise RDZ's tactics or team selection? Of course not. Would it be okay for a player, in a post-match interview, to blame a team-mate for missing a chance or making a defensive error? Of course not.

I have no idea how Tony Bloom views these RDZ comments but I certainly wouldn't be very happy about them if I was in his position.

 

[Zeus]

Just sounds like loads of excuses without taking any responsibility to me. Like I’ve said he is the manager, we have been defending horrifically, and he isn’t fixing it. At least set up to be hard to beat in the first leg of a Europa league 2 leg tie.

 

[dazzer6666]

Just sounds like loads of excuses without taking any responsibility to me. Like I’ve said he is the manager, we have been defending horrifically, and he isn’t fixing it. At least set up to be hard to beat in the first leg of a Europa league 2 leg tie.

Not his fault - for example - Dunk had a brainfart

 

[Forster's Armband]

Not his fault - for example - Dunk had a brainfart

It's not but the fact that the tactics meant Dunk was isolated one on one with Lukaku is a big issue.

 

[Eeyore]

As if Tony Bloom doesn’t know those things already. I think that if the target is consistent top ten, that still seems very much achievable with our current model. De Zerbi wants higher which is great but we’re not a club that’s going to break the bank to chase a dream or be held to ransom over transfer fees and wages. With Albion’s history, understandably so. Given the competition, there’s no guarantee that approach would achieve much more anyway. It’s been the road to ruin for most. Bloom is ambitious too and he’s put his money where his mouth is, but he’s always played the long game & it’d be surprising if that changed much. Regardless, it’s better if those conversations are kept in the boardroom in my opinion - entertaining as they are.

Quite. There are eight teams that the Albion cannot compete with financially. Further investment will always be dependent on profit in the transfer market. Even then, the club has to be careful. I'm sure we could list plenty of £50m duds that those bigger clubs have signed.

Tony is focused on a sustainable model and the hope that sometimes it will lead to European journeys. This year it has. But this is the peak end. In terms of investment it cannot go further- excepting what the club feel is not risk.

So in many ways we have hit the ceiling. But when we consider how high the ceiling is from the place we came, well, that's some jump.

As I've said, it seems some folk are struggling with economic realities and the fact that it is by closely following the plan we have got to all these firsts.

If the club were to reach the top six again it would be following the same road as before. There are no other options.

 

[WhingForPresident]

Quite. There are eight teams that the Albion cannot compete with financially. Further investment will always be dependent on profit in the transfer market. Even then, the clb has to be careful. I'm sure we could list plenty of £50m duds that those bigger clubs have signed.

Tony is focused on a sustainable model and the hope that sometimes it will lead to European journeys. This year it has. But this is the peak end. In terms of investment it cannot go further- excepting what the club feel is not risk.

So in many ways we have hit the ceiling. But when we consider how high the ceiling is from the place we came, well, that's some jump.

As I've said, it seems some folk are struggling with economic realities and the fact that it is by closely following the plan we have got to all these firsts.

If the club were to reach the top six again it would be following the same road as before. There are no other options.

We lost our record signing at the time in Mwepu (insurance payout? Idk) then sold the core of our team for c£175m and 'replaced' it on the cheap with shit like Dahoud and a young guy the manager has no trust in, in Baleba. No improvements at RB or depth at LB, a fair portion of the wage bill on Lallana and Milner, whose good performances between them this season you could count on one hand, enough to bring in another high potential South American winger on having a Barca prima dona for one season, and our £20m Dutch international keeper is being rotated for a poor man's Pickford, despite the latter having the worst record in the PL in almost every stat having been deemed not good enough for the Championship.

The succession planning hasn't exactly gone well, has it? I think the board and RDZ/his staff are equally to blame. That's not being 'entitled', that's seeing what some of the players we have at our disposal are capable of, yet are failing to achieve. Mitoma, Buonanotte, Joao Pedro, Van Hecke, Enciso etc aren't going to want to stay here if we're moving backwards, and who can blame them? If I were Gross or Dunk I'd be absolutely devastated tonight, knowing that seeing out my career with Albion would likely amount to a career with no silverware and no glory, perhaps even jeopardising one last shot at a major international tournament as well.

I know it's not going to be a popular observation, but our performances have turned to shit (bar Palace) since Klopp announced he was leaving Liverpool and Xavi the same with Barca.

 

[Eeyore]

We lost our record signing at the time in Mwepu (insurance payout? Idk) then sold the core of our team for c£175m and replaced it on the cheap with shit like Dahoud and a guy the manager has no trust in, in Baleba. No improvements at RB or depth at LB, a fair portion of the wage bill on Lallana and Milner, whose good performances between them this season you could count on one hand, enough to bring in another high potential South American winger on having a Barca prima dona for one season, and our £20m Dutch international keeper is being rotated for a poor man's Pickford, despite the latter having the worst record in the PL in almost every stat having been deemed not good enough for the Championship.

The succession planning hasn't exactly gone well, has it? I think the board and RDZ/his staff are equally to blame. That's not being 'entitled', that's seeing what some of the players we have at our disposal are capable of, yet are failing to achieve. Mitoma, Buonanotte, Joao Pedro, Van Hecke, Enciso etc aren't going to want to stay here if we're moving backwards, and who can blame them?

I know it's not going to be a popular observation, but our performances have turned to shit (bar Palace) since Klopp announced he was leaving Liverpool and Xavi the same with Barca. I don't think it's a coincidence.

I'm not suggesting that there haven't been errors in recruitment. That's another subject. It's more that the club cannot just throw money around. I would have thought that they will make another profit at the next set of accounts. But it may not be as much as folk think. Not only that, there are losses that haven't been recouped. Folk can't expect Tony to keep putting his hand in his pocket.

 

[WhingForPresident]

I'm not suggesting that there haven't been errors in recruitment. That's another subject. It's more that the club cannot just throw money around. I would have thought that they will make another profit at the next set of accounts. But it may not be as much as folk think. Not only that, there are losses that haven't been recouped. Folk can't expect Tony to keep putting his hand in his pocket.

I totally appreciate that, TB's interests in the club should never be in doubt, and we are obviously very lucky to have someone with the club's interests at heart in charge. If he wants to recoup at least some of his investment, I don't think any of us would begrudge that.

But with what we have at our disposal right now- superbly talented young players, top class training facilities, an ambitious manager and a core of international players that have won it all, it feels like we should be doing better despite us not having the budget of major European clubs, or even some of the teams we are competing with in the league.