[Albion] Saudi regime buying Dan Ashworth: the undelying cause for our collapse in form?

[attila]

GPott has a huge amount on his mind. Most notably, how can be reconcile, long term, playing controlled, possession football (like Guardiola) without the talent and resources available to a Manchester City. When Ashworth, charged with the long term vision of delivering resources to Potter to enable him to compete on a relative shoestring, was offered PIF resources - he jumped. The inevitability of that sporting conundrum laid bare has rocked the Albion’s boat.

Utterly 100% correct.
Potter realises that his dream of constructing a team which could make European competition a reality is going to be permanently hamstrung by the fact that plutocrats will constantly cherrypick the best bits, leaving 15th or so our spot for ever.

 

[Justice]

People keep saying we are this well run club, I agree until it comes down to the first team which is the show piece the money maker, nothing else works without it being successful.

It’s been neglected allowed to get stale lacking the entertainment to please 30k spectators every other game.

If the Spurs attendance didn’t give those at the top a kick up the backside it really should have.
A PL fixture against a big London club under the lights and people can’t be arsed to go that’s really not a good look. The weather, transport all insignificant if we had a capable team that played exciting attacking football fans would be buzzing and make the effort to go.

 

[Silverhatch]

People keep saying we are this well run club, I agree until it comes down to the first team which is the show piece the money maker, nothing else works without it being successful.

It’s been neglected allowed to get stale lacking the entertainment to please 30k spectators every other game.

If the Spurs attendance didn’t give those at the top a kick up the backside it really should have.
A PL fixture against a big London club under the lights and people can’t be arsed to go that’s really not a good look. The weather, transport all insignificant if we had a capable team that played exciting attacking football fans would be buzzing and make the effort to go.

We are a brilliantly run club, BUT, as per the quote(s) above - the problem is ‘competing’ against other well run clubs with models and objectives that are outside the norms of established business practice(s).

 

[Terry Butcher Tribute Act]

Yes Ashworth has derailed things but there is a case for us collapsing like this in pretty much every season for the last 6 years now, with us eventually picking up after a lull. Seems to be a common theme especially with Potter and takes a while to get out of the rut.

Hopefully this international break is what the doctor ordered.

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[Danny Wilson Said]

We are a brilliantly run club, BUT, as per the quote(s) above - the problem is ‘competing’ against other well run clubs with models and objectives that are outside the norms of established business practice(s).

If anything happened to Tony Bloom (God forbid), I fear we'd soon find out how "brilliantly run" we really are. Our business model appears to be unsustainable without loans from TB, despite the £100m TV money coming in every year.

 

[Originunknown]

He played well at Tottenham in the Cup but maybe he was trying to impress the recruitment people at the big important London club.

Yes his last reasonable game which was soon after returning from a good tournament at AFCon. Obviously still capable but does seem to be unsettled.

 

[Harry Wilson's tackle]

People keep saying we are this well run club, I agree until it comes down to the first team which is the show piece the money maker, nothing else works without it being successful.

It’s been neglected allowed to get stale lacking the entertainment to please 30k spectators every other game.

If the Spurs attendance didn’t give those at the top a kick up the backside it really should have.
A PL fixture against a big London club under the lights and people can’t be arsed to go that’s really not a good look. The weather, transport all insignificant if we had a capable team that played exciting attacking football fans would be buzzing and make the effort to go.

You're forgetting about Covid. I was on my way, but turned back because I felt ill (even though I had tested negative an hour earlier - we have Covid at home). I agree it isn't fun at the moment but the empty seats is not a great indicator of a malaise. We alwyas have empty seats, and did so even when we were winning. It's what we're like.

The repeated losses isn't what we want but I don't think its because the first team has been neglected.

Someone called me rude this morning so I'm trying to be polite. Is it working?

 

[Stato]

Utterly 100% correct.
Potter realises that his dream of constructing a team which could make European competition a reality is going to be permanently hamstrung by the fact that plutocrats will constantly cherrypick the best bits, leaving 15th or so our spot for ever.

I don't think that this is a revelation for him following Ashworth's departure. Potter's press interactions have always shown him to be completely realistic about Brighton's place in the food chain. He has always understood the magnitude of the task when in competition with clubs with the budgets of actual countries behind them.

In recent pre-match press conferences he has been asked repeatedly about the 'collapse in form' and has rightly pointed out that the recent results have not all necessarily been because of bad performances. His analysis rings true to me. i.e. Man United - okay until Ronaldo took advantage of a mistake. Dunk's sending off minutes later made it hard work. The players fought well, but the task was too big. Burnley - bad performance, perhaps a bit tired following the United effort, also complacency against a capable team who very much needed a win, Villa - better performance, but done on the break, just like in the away game, Newcastle - Once again, hurt badly by opponent taking the few chances they were given very well. Liverpool (& as their performance against West Ham suggested, also Tottenham) - Decent enough performance, but bad time to play a very good side.

There is not a particular drop off in performances. The final ball hasn't been there and the players lack a bit of confidence, but that has happened in other games this season and in other runs of matches during Potter's time. Bissouma's form has been questioned, but he is regularly being asked to sit deeper because we've often been playing with two instead of three centre backs. He has also been missing Lallana alongside him who has previously shared the defensive work and allowed him the freedom to impose himself further forward. Webster is a big miss because he gives us more of a threat through the middle, but also because he is the best we have in the left side CB position. His absence has forced Dunk out there and, with Cucu going forward so much, Dunk sometimes lacks the pace needed to cover the winger. He is also missed from the centre where he is generally dominant. Sanchez has made mistakes, but he has done this off and on all season. He's a young keeper who is still learning.

Potter's mantra when asked about the results has been 'It's a lot of things'. He's right. Its natural for us, as humans to look for recent changes, signs and patterns which would give us a simple explanation, but whenever pundits try to give a bite size explanation of why football teams struggle for results, I always think back to the title of Ben Goldacre's book on science journalism - 'I Think You'll Find It's A Bit More Complicated Than That.'

 

[Terry Butcher Tribute Act]

I don't think that this is a revelation for him following Ashworth's departure. Potter's press interactions have always shown him to be completely realistic about Brighton's place in the food chain. He has always understood the magnitude of the task when in competition with clubs with the budgets of actual countries behind them.

In recent pre-match press conferences he has been asked repeatedly about the 'collapse in form' and has rightly pointed out that the recent results have not all necessarily been because of bad performances. His analysis rings true to me. i.e. Man United - okay until Ronaldo took advantage of a mistake. Dunk's sending off minutes later made it hard work. The players fought well, but the task was too big. Burnley - bad performance, perhaps a bit tired following the United effort, also complacency against a capable team who very much needed a win, Villa - better performance, but done on the break, just like in the away game, Newcastle - Once again, hurt badly by opponent taking the few chances they were given very well. Liverpool (& as their performance against West Ham suggested, also Tottenham) - Decent enough performance, but bad time to play a very good side.

There is not a particular drop off in performances. The final ball hasn't been there and the players lack a bit of confidence, but that has happened in other games this season and in other runs of matches during Potter's time. Bissouma's form has been questioned, but he is regularly being asked to sit deeper because we've often been playing with two instead of three centre backs. He has also been missing Lallana alongside him who has previously shared the defensive work and allowed him the freedom to impose himself further forward. Webster is a big miss because he gives us more of a threat through the middle, but also because he is the best we have in the left side CB position. His absence has forced Dunk out there and, with Cucu going forward so much, Dunk sometimes lacks the pace needed to cover the winger. He is also missed from the centre where he is generally dominant. Sanchez has made mistakes, but he has done this off and on all season. He's a young keeper who is still learning.

Potter's mantra when asked about the results has been 'It's a lot of things'. He's right. Its natural for us, as humans to look for recent changes, signs and patterns which would give us a simple explanation, but whenever pundits try to give a bite size explanation of why football teams struggle for results, I always think back to the title of Ben Goldacre's book on science journalism - 'I Think You'll Find It's A Bit More Complicated Than That.'

There may not be a huge drop off in performances, but there's certainly been a huge drop off in terms of giving opposition chances and creating those ourselves.

We've gone from one of the meanest sides in the league to shipping 3 goals to Burnley. Our keeper has gone from looking like one oozing class to one destined to make a howler any minute.

We've gone from our xG showing we are playing well to our xG showing we are creating next to nothing.

And as you've alluded to, players have dropped off. Lamptey and Cucurella have gone from world beaters to ineffective.

Bissouma has gone from being the best CDM in the league to one who many are questioning his selection.

There hasn't been a drop off in us keeping the ball for long periods - but that's about the only area I can see that's not declined. I think we're kidding ourselves slightly if we think a run of 6 games where we've created hardly any anything is fine because we've not got thrashed by any of the big boys we've come up against.

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[Stato]

We've gone from our xG showing we are playing well to our xG showing we are creating next to nothing.

Actually although our Xg has dropped off a bit in the last six, it is not too far out of line with what we've done for the season as a whole and would have predicted us to get 4 points from the six games. It is a stark difference compared with the previous seven, where we took thirteen points, didn't lose at all and outperformed our Xg. The drop off in results is obviously bad, but it is also made to look worse in the context of the seven game unbeaten run that preceded it.

 

[dazzer6666]

Haddaway and shite

[tweet]1509198674148081672[/tweet]

 

[Milano]

Whatever the club say publicly someone senior clearly has a big problem with Ashworth’s conduct on this. I’d love to know what his involvement was in the sale of BDB, as DoF he’d have had a vote.

 

[Bold Seagull]

Whatever the club say publicly someone senior clearly has a big problem with Ashworth’s conduct on this. I’d love to know what his involvement was in the sale of BDB, as DoF he’d have had a vote.

Transfers go to a vote?

 

[Milano]

Transfers go to a vote?

Brighton operate a transfer ‘committee’, do you know any other committee that runs outside a voting system? Let alone one that is controlling £millions. Tony will have ultimate approval but it won’t get to him without agreements down the line first. The DoF would have a big part in that.

Ashworth has clearly royally pissed off someone very senior at the club.

 

[Weststander]

Whatever the club say publicly someone senior clearly has a big problem with Ashworth’s conduct on this. I’d love to know what his involvement was in the sale of BDB, as DoF he’d have had a vote.

….. separately, cynical me, believes he would be passing on his knowledge of potential transfer targets. Albeit only verbally, so there’s no trail.

Imho, no way, especially in the cesspit industry of football, will DA not utter a word to NU over these months.

 

[Bold Seagull]

Brighton operate a transfer ‘committee’, do you know any other committee that runs outside a voting system? Let alone one that is controlling £millions. Tony will have ultimate approval but it won’t get to him without agreements down the line first. The DoF would have a big part in that.

Ashworth has clearly royally pissed off someone very senior at the club.

I would have thought the resignation itself was sufficient to piss off a lot of senior people at the club. Why would they contractually release him early for Newcastle's summer transfer window unless suitably compensated?

 

[Swansman]

Haddaway and shite

[tweet]1509198674148081672[/tweet]

Mohaha.

That said, I dont think that really stops him from planning and scouting etc.

 

[Surf's Up]

I would be amazed if Ashworth wasn't working round the back for Newcastle as we speak and I would imagine both Bloom and Barber were and remain completely pissed off that he's taken the oil money.

 

[sydney]

Ashworth has clearly royally pissed off someone very senior at the club.

Tony looks like an anorak but obviously when it comes to business he wunt be druv ....bollarks to Ashworth and unfortunately to Bissouma , even though i love him to bits , and Trossard who is also , apparently open to offers...Brighton and Hove Argos is it...?? Such is life as they say. At least we're not getting bombed or under 20 ft of flood water ....still annoying though.

 

[sydney]

Mohaha.

That said, I dont think that really stops him from planning and scouting etc.

her buttons are under some serious pressure.