[Albion] RDZ post match interview?

[BadFish]

I thought that was a great interview. He’s looking at himself and he’s asking everyone to look at themselves.

I feel I could have done more and I apologise for that.

 

[BadFish]

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.

In terms of our recruitment, the board have done far more right than they have wrong over the last few years.

I for one and not going to start complaing in because in the last couple of windows they have failed to work miracles.

Succession planning has gone very well if you ask me. My guess is that the move that wasn't planned for was being offered silly money for Caicedo. Beleba will most likely come good, just not quite yet.

What we are seeing over the last few years from our club has been nothing short of incredible in terms of recruitment, playing style and club set up. As fans I beleive we need to hold our nerve when we have blips or our form drops. We are in safe hands.

 

[nickjhs]

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.

True enough TB certainly is no fool and most definitely has the club's interest at centre.

 

[WhingForPresident]

In terms of our recruitment, the board have done far more right than they have wrong over the last few years.

I for one and not going to start complaing in because in the last couple of windows they have failed to work miracles.

Succession planning has gone very well if you ask me. My guess is that the move that wasn't planned for was being offered silly money for Caicedo. Beleba will most likely come good, just not quite yet.

What we are seeing over the last few years from our club has been nothing short of incredible in terms of recruitment, playing style and club set up. As fans I beleive we need to hold our nerve when we have blips or our form drops. We are in safe hands.

Agree with your conclusion entirely, it's just bloody frustrating to feel so close yet so far.

If we can steady the ship and finish top half from here, we should still be in a decent place to recruit in the summer. I really hope the paper talk that we're going to be 'more ambitious' and not under pressure to sell star players comes to fruition. If we can do that, get a bit more fortune with injuries and keep hold of RDZ for another full season, we should be well away from danger and hopefully pushing for top 6 again.

 

[BadFish]

Agree with your conclusion entirely, it's just bloody frustrating to feel so close yet so far.

If we can steady the ship and finish top half from here, we should still be in a decent place to recruit in the summer. I really hope the paper talk that we're going to be 'more ambitious' and not under pressure to sell star players comes to fruition. If we can do that, get a bit more fortune with injuries and keep hold of RDZ for another full season, we should be well away from danger and hopefully pushing for top 6 again.

I am actually really looking forward to next season as I think it will be a good one. Our injuries can't be worse than this year... Can they?

I think our model means we are always going to be regrouping after player sales.

I also think that our losses are often huge means it's easy to catastrophophise.

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

This is what he says in the Telegraph article:

“There is a lesson to learn from this game for the president because in the future maybe we will be able to improve the team. And for myself, because I could have handled the period between January and March much better.”

Brighton fan given hero’s reception for making Roma clash hours after being stabbed

Brighton were thrashed in Rome after Europa League round of 16 first leg was overshadowed by knife attack on travelling fans on eve of match

www.telegraph.co.uk

 

[Uh_huh_him]

This is what he says in the Telegraph article:

“There is a lesson to learn from this game for the president because in the future maybe we will be able to improve the team. And for myself, because I could have handled the period between January and March much better.”

Brighton fan given hero’s reception for making Roma clash hours after being stabbed

Brighton were thrashed in Rome after Europa League round of 16 first leg was overshadowed by knife attack on travelling fans on eve of match

www.telegraph.co.uk

Remarkably honest.

Maybe he isn't Poyet mkII after all

 

[Garry Nelson's Left Foot]

On a related note I've just watched De Rossi's post match interview. His English is excellent. Why/how did that happen? He spent his whole career at Roma didn't he? How has he got such good English?

Edit: ignore this post. Just spotted there is already a thread on it. And it's the thread currently directly below this one!

 

[fork me]

He said 'owner, to coach, to players'. He also pretty much said he wasn't saying he wasn't backed and understood the situation.

I didn't get that from what he said, I think the point that he was trying to make was that this is a step up from everything the club has ever done before and it's a learning experience for everyone. It is difficult to properly express yourself in a second language (working in a foreign country and teaching students who are mostly in this position I really understand this), and I think Roberto is struggling with that sometimes in interviews.
The interviewer even asked for clarification on that very point and he was adamant that he is NOT frustrated with the club or owner and loves the club.

 

[oldboyroy]

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.

I'm guessing he meant we were 20% from full potential meaning we were at 80%?

 

[sussex_guy2k2]

An entirely sensible interview, to be honest.

 

[Paulie Gualtieri]

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.

He means playing at 80% (“20% off”)

 

[Zeberdi]

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.

That is not what RDZ says at all.

He often talks about player/team performance in terms of percentage of proven potential. What he is saying here is that we were 20% down from our best - ie we played at only 80% of our full potential last night. RDZ is as much a critic as anyone about our matches - he’s not an idiot and very honest where we need to improve. He is basically saying, that last night also showed that if we want to progress further at this level in European competition then we need more experience and a deeper squad. TB and PBOBE have great dreams for the Club, they always have but perhaps RDZ is bringing them down to earth by pointing out these daylight realities. We should be grateful that we have a manager so keen for us to progress as RDZ appears to be.

This is the first time for the Club in European competition, it’s been a learning curve for everyone including TB/PB - They have to sit down with RDZ and decide just how far they want to take it so that they are all on the same page (I suspect that hard truth conversation took place some months ago).

Some fans seem to forget that we didn’t build a competitive EPL squad in one season or even two - it took 4 seasons before we reached the top half of the table - that is 8 transfer windows and 3 managers to date. Likewise ‘Roma’ wasn’t built in a day.

 

[Jim in the West]

I think deep down RDZ understands that Tony looks at things on a long term, sustainable basis. Without wanting to hark back to the 90s, any club that has our recent history should be painfully aware of the potential for things to go catastrophically wrong. Naturally, De Zerbi wants everything NOW (as do we, in our own ways)....but luckily we have an owner who can resist the temptation to buy all the sweets in the shop. And we know, that when the time is right, TB will make big calls and get it right (thinking of the !6/17 season when things would have gone seriously wrong from an FFP perspective if we hadn't got promotion).

 

[trueblue]

He didn’t show anything last night that suggests he has some magic formula to succeed in Europe and should guide all the club’s thinking. Naive for a hostile first leg away game in the extreme. It’s been bugging me all night. I genuinely think most managers we have had over the past 15 years could have carved out a more useful result in that scenario. It might have been bloody boring but that wouldn’t matter. Then RDZ for the home leg would’ve been perfect.

Not anti-RDZ overall at all. How could anyone be? But public honesty is really not the best policy in football. There’s a reason the top, top trophy winners kept those discussions in the dressing room and boardroom. Public interviews are used to send a message and the one I keep seeing at the moment is, “I’ve been let down”, which he then retracts. It’s not in any way constructive.

 

[Harry Wilson's tackle]

Perfectly decent interview. Not complaining at all about what we have, squad wise, but has explained to Tony what we need if we are going to go up a level. Loves the club. Sounds to me that the summer signings will determine what happens. Who knew? I'm quite content with that, and excited to see what transpires.

 

[dwayne]

Perfectly decent interview. Not complaining at all about what we have, squad wise, but has explained to Tony what we need if we are going to go up a level. Loves the club. Sounds to me that the summer signings will determine what happens. Who knew? I'm quite content with that, and excited to see what transpires.

Maybe but I honestly don't think we are that far off Rome , even with the team we put out last night. To lose 4-0 and bugger up the whole tie is annoying in the extreme.

 

[Harry Wilson's tackle]

He didn’t show anything last night that suggests he has some magic formula to succeed in Europe and should guide all the club’s thinking. Naive for a hostile first leg away game in the extreme. It’s been bugging me all night. I genuinely think most managers we have had over the past 15 years could have carved out a more useful result in that scenario. It might have been bloody boring but that wouldn’t matter. Then RDZ for the home leg would’ve been perfect.

Not anti-RDZ overall at all. How could anyone be? But public honesty is really not the best policy in football. There’s a reason the top, top trophy winners kept those discussions in the dressing room and boardroom. Public interviews are used to send a message and the one I keep seeing at the moment is, “I’ve been let down”, which he then retracts. It’s not in any way constructive.

Hughton would have got us a draw,

However Houghton wouldn't have got us through the first league stage. Or indeed into the competition in the first place.

That was a perfectly decent interview. No dummy spat. No threats. Pride at what we have achieved. Focus on the Forest game. I'm quite content.

 

[Harry Wilson's tackle]

Maybe but I honestly don't think we are that far off Rome , even with the team we put out last night. To lose 4-0 and bugger up the whole tie is annoying in the extreme.

Yes it is annoying. I'm not sure I have a clue how our approach could have been more effective and acceptable. To me parking the bus would not have been acceptable. With the squad so threadbare.....ah well.... the result was annoying but not symptomatic of a larger malaise (not that you're suggesting that it is) I would suggest. As Richie Rich said on 'Bottom', "if only everything could have been completely different.....".

I'm looking forward to the Forest game

 

[Zeberdi]

Maybe but I honestly don't think we are that far off Rome , even with the team we put out last night. To lose 4-0 and bugger up the whole tie is annoying in the extreme.

We created chances because at times they were vulnerable in defence but ‘chances’ don’t define a team’s overall strength compared to another. Roma also sat deep after going 3 or 4 up - when any team sits back, it always gives a skewed impression that the high pressing team are attacking much better than they actually are.

Roma showed their class in their link up play, speed and physicality - we didn’t play our very best but were beaten anyway by a better and more experienced team.

The fact that RDZ has even taken us to this level is a cause for celebration and pride - it’s not a time for being precious or feeling entitled.