[Albion] Supporters attitude towards players leaving…

[Neville's Breakfast]

Hard to complain about anything Albion imo. Halcyon days, they may or may not continue but TB is doing something right. Unbelievable where we are, especially given the players we’ve sold and a money grubbing manager fecking off with the first team staff.

I hate us losing these players but the succession planning has been exceptional ……so far

Is that Potter Out now then Icy ?

 

[Justice]

My brother in law is a Leicester fan and he claims Leicester aren't buying because of the Financial Fair Play rules. However, the big boys seem to not give a toss about that, especially Chelsea.

It's laughable that Chelsea etc want to follow the Brighton model, then chuck £70m at an established player over and over again. It's funny when you hear fans of the big 6, they only see football transfers in terms of signing someone who they've heard of on a big stage.
I love the fact I've never heard of anyone we sign and then they turn out to be great. It feels like top teams just wait for us to test drive a player and then pay us a premium for doing so. In the last week alone March, Sanchez, Mitoma and Ferguson have been added to the list of definites to be snapped up this window. I always looked down on the Premier League for its financial shite and when we got there I was so pleased we made it. Now it's lala land as we dance beautifully ever upwards and seemingly without playing their game - either on the pitch or off.

Chelsea don’t have any debt the Russian cleared it all.

 

[Icy Gull]

Is that Potter Out now then Icy ?

Fair to say he disappointed me and I am delighted he grabbed the cash when he did, in that wonderful thing called hindsight

 

[Motogull]

The only worry is that the more successful we are, the shorter the time we will be able to hang on to our best players; when we have someone really good, I'd rather thet were in the stripes for more than one season!

Put it this way - given the choice, would you rsther just miss out on Europe but go into next season with Caicedo, Mac, Mitoma and Ferguson, all with this season under their belt - or start our first European campaign (and next season's PL) without Caicedo, Mac, Mitoma and Ferguson?

Yup.

TB will have to revisit his business plan if we continue to make progress up the league. I guess the next but one step is to be in a position whereby we pay big money for the gems others have unearthed. The next step, balancing now and that is tricky.

 

[pocketseagull]

We’re trying to grow our revenue and fan base in a way that allows us to sustainably manage to offer higher wages

Has there been much of an increase of our wages in relation to other clubs in our time in the PL? I don't have the fugures but feel like we've pretty consistently been bottom six.

Not saying that's a bad thing btw, just unsure if it's our aim to compete on wages.

 

[southstandandy]

Chelsea actually posted a profit before covid, and sell quite a lot of players so there has never been a question about FFP with them.

Compared to Brighton who have never turned anywhere near a profit in the PL which of course is not sustainable. Will be different next accounts

It will be interesting though in future seasons how they get on with FFP as I agree they are playing the 'game' by spreading the cost of purchases over a few years to get around this, but it does mean that they have effectively already spent large sums that will need to be declared over the next few seasons. Will that reduce their ability to spend so much next summer, or the summer after that? They will have already spent large sums in the '3 year FFP window' effectively in advance.

It's a bit like taking out 'hire purchase' to get that item for your home you just can't wait for or save for.

I await with interest what happens in the future, as I can't help think that sooner or later someone like Chelsea will come a cropper by pushing their luck just a bit too far.

 

[PILTDOWN MAN]

It does appear some on here are intent on finding any snippet of shit written on twitter to post negative stuff about our players leaving. They do seem to like trying to put a damper on our current superb team and league position.

Players will be sold when TB agrees and only then. He will have a far better understanding of our progression than most, if not all, of us.

There will come a point when we are truly in a position to compete for trophies and if we continue to lose our best players every window, fans will become pissed off. After all we follow action on the pitch not what's in the bank. There's a balance to be met. Some will say it's getting to that point now where wages etc are out of kilter with ambition. To counter that there's lots of teams rocking about the bottom of the league with very ordinary players on huge wages, take Everton for instance.

What happened to Mac A prior to the WC is probably the best we can hope for with players who have shown their worth. I'm not aware but can a player get a signing on fee if they sign a new contract? If so perhaps a new contract for Caicedo where he gets a £5m signing on fee and an increase in wages for a commitment of another season. He will still only be 22 and we would increase his worth.

 

[Questions]

I lost my shite, at work last week.
2 colleagues spent the day moaning about the possibility of us being screwed over at the end of shift.
What they would do (nothing) what they would say (nothing) how they would react (do nothing).

I finally erupted in an effing and jeffing tirade along the lines of:-

'FFS can't you at least wait and see if we get screwed over before deciding how you're going to react to it' (do nothing).

Suffice to say we weren't screwed over and actually finished work early.

#Twats.

And that is why you’re getting rich with your motivational speaking Stat.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

Yeah I meant to make that point. I understand players will move but it’s the speed they are now being linked and signed to “bigger” clubs. Give me 2 seasons of mitoma and they can have him, not just 1 season.

Paul Barber stated on Albion Roar that the club do not always let players go at the first interest. Whilst they do will not stand in the way of a player wanting to progress their career the deal has to be right for all involved and that includes i presume timing, replacements and value. He stated the club have held players to their contracts, but we just don’t always hear about it.

I guess an obvious case is Biss and Villa.

 

[chickens]

Has there been much of an increase of our wages in relation to other clubs in our time in the PL? I don't have the fugures but feel like we've pretty consistently been bottom six.

Not saying that's a bad thing btw, just unsure if it's our aim to compete on wages.

I suspect we’re still firmly bottom six, I haven’t seen recent figures. The intention is clearly to try and grow our revenue though, we can’t compete with the mid table consistently over time without doing so.

Our recruitment is brilliant, but it only takes one or two deals not working out as expected and suddenly we need to dive into the market for a “readymade” player. We won’t always be able to find what we need, when we need it, for a bargain price.

I don’t mean to be negative, but realistically we’ve been spoiled, and it can’t last forever. (Would be happy to be proven wrong though)

 

[Cheeky Monkey]

As posted before, they’ll come a point when we’ve supplied every bigger club home and abroad with all the players they need, at which point we can relax and hopefully keep a few.

 

[METALMICKY]

Has there been much of an increase of our wages in relation to other clubs in our time in the PL? I don't have the fugures but feel like we've pretty consistently been bottom six.

Not saying that's a bad thing btw, just unsure if it's our aim to compete on wages.

I thought exactly the same.

Ultimately, I think there are far more fundamental questions to be asked? Are the majority of fans happy to see us as a permanent ' stepping stone ' club and will still enjoy the journey? Currently, that answer is probably 'yes' since all the replacements for the big players moved on have been great. However, let's imagine a world where after Potter left it all went pear shaped. Caicedo's form dived, Mitoma and Estupinan turned out to be gash and we found ourselves in a relegation battle.

If the quality of a recruitment stays at the current level we are fine, but what happens when we 'discover' the next Locadia and all because his predecessor moved on for more wages?

We then potentially need to ask a far more controversial question. Would we welcome the injection of cash from another party? Would we put aside our reservations about who they were like Newcastle fans have clearly done? Would we be more receptive if Tony still had a significant degree of control? The reality is that we're never going to have an owner so financially and emotionally invested in our club.

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

Has there been much of an increase of our wages in relation to other clubs in our time in the PL? I don't have the fugures but feel like we've pretty consistently been bottom six.

Not saying that's a bad thing btw, just unsure if it's our aim to compete on wages.

Pretty sure that's never been our aim and probably never will be. Seem to be doing ok without that aim

 

[Greg Bobkin]

After Mitomas goal yesterday my first reaction was “he’ll be gone in the summer”. I hear the same comments on Caicedo, McAllister and even Ferguson !

Is this our future ? To sell top players and hope we bring in great replacements ? We’ve had great replacements recently but we can’t keep that up surely.

I’m very positive about our current state but the loss of key players does worry me.

Yes. Better to have loved and lost than not to have loved at all...

 

[TugWilson]

You just have to trust in the upper echelons at the club to do what’s best. Realistically we simply cannot compete with the big boys and we’re attracting attention.

Agreed , but it would be nice to see us say NO once in a while . Potter came in with a low ball £55m knowing we were asking £75m for Moises , just to get into the lads head , a simple F*** off potter it`s £120m to you and don`t call again would do it . After all Arsenal did it last year and had no problem with being hastled .

 

[The Clamp]

After Mitomas goal yesterday my first reaction was “he’ll be gone in the summer”. I hear the same comments on Caicedo, McAllister and even Ferguson !

Is this our future ? To sell top players and hope we bring in great replacements ? We’ve had great replacements recently but we can’t keep that up surely.

I’m very positive about our current state but the loss of key players does worry me.

The cut and thrust of successful PL life.

To almost everyone outside of Sussex we are a shiny new toy. A rich untapped vein of talent. It’s inevitable our top players will at least be courted by other teams.

It’ll find a balance and settle. If we keep up the standard, soon enough we’ll be poaching players.

It’s the order of things. Nothing to stress over.

 

[Worried Man Blues]

Churn is great, new toys every window

 

[A1X]

Agreed , but it would be nice to see us say NO once in a while . Potter came in with a low ball £55m knowing we were asking £75m for Moises , just to get into the lads head , a simple F*** off potter it`s £120m to you and don`t call again would do it . After all Arsenal did it last year and had no problem with being hastled .

Pretty sure that was exactly what we did with Cucurella to City and White to Leeds

 

[PILTDOWN MAN]

Agreed , but it would be nice to see us say NO once in a while . Potter came in with a low ball £55m knowing we were asking £75m for Moises , just to get into the lads head , a simple F*** off potter it`s £120m to you and don`t call again would do it . After all Arsenal did it last year and had no problem with being hastled .

We have said f*** off though. We haven't stated what we want. In doing so we would then expect incremental increases in bids. As it goes on the days are ticking and we can keep saying no.

 

[METALMICKY]

Churn is great, new toys every window

Until you get a run of toys that turn out shite! It's great at the moment because we're on a recruitment roll