[Albion] The OFFICIAL what’s gone wrong with our season thread

[hans kraay fan club]

Hinsh seems to be enjoying watching……..was at Bournemouth

He's easily pleased, then!

 

[Seagull58]

My main concern is not the manager but the recruitment. We’ve lost a lot of expertise and, Pedro apart, our recruitment this season was s***. It feels like we’re spending a lot of time chasing ‘aspirational’ targets and getting turned down (Kudus, KDH, the guy who went to Chelsea). Back in my clubbing days it would have been the equivalent of spending too much time trying to chat up the girls out of your league, and then getting left on your tod trying to find a gem in what’s left at 2am…

Go ugly early. The key to successful clubbing.

 

[London Irish]

I think psychologically it has been hard for the manager and the players to deal with elimination from Europe, and that feeling this season might have been a one-off.

The injuries, the relentlessness of the Premier League, just the fact we have a lot of young and inexperienced players. It has been hard for them to deal with all of that.

I think especially it has been hard on our leaders Dunk and Gross who not only have played every possible minute but also dealt with international call-ups at a relatively late stage in their careers.

De Zerbi needs to decide what he wants to do, and quickly. Either he gets with the plan, or he moves on and we bring in another manager at the end of the season and give them time. Crucial to this is identifying priorities in our recruitment. Both Tony and De Zerbi will have been frustrated to have missed out of Kudus and Dewsbury-Hall and those kind of signings at that much harder to nail down when you've finished 12th or 13th, as opposed to 6th.

On that score this is a window not to gamble on kids or spunk huge money and wages but it is a window where we need to be smart. A player I like a lot who could provide height, help tighten up the defence, shoot from distance, carry the ball, pick a pass or put in a cross, has Prem and international experience and still only 26 is Sander Berge.

Personally, I do not think that De Zerbi is ready for an elite job, I don't think he has the emotional intelligence yet. But I could see him thriving in 2024/25 without the distraction of Europe that will test Villa, Spurs, Newcastle, Man Utd and possibly a Klopp-less Liverpool, especially if the bulk of the injuries clear up and the likes of Mitoma, March, Enciso and Ferguson return to form.

Perhaps one of the undeappreciated things is not simply the injuries, but when players recover from injuries - there's been a rash of them that haven't recovered anywhere near their previous levels. Might that be the story of Veltman's decline. Enciso, Estupian - not yet the same players. Adingra yes for a short while then looked shot. It's really the story of Fati too, poor guy just might never recover the brilliance of his youth.

 

[Jim in the West]

We all know that the club will have spent an awful lot of time (already) analysing this season - and will spend more time over the coming weeks. That analysis will be forensic and wide-ranging….and won’t just be about little ol’ BHAFC. It’ll take in the rest of the EPL and much of the rest of the world - with a huge amount of focus on the financial context. TB and PBOBE will have a very clear idea of the next steps….both in terms of this summer, and the longer term. I would love to be privy to that analysis!! But, as we were saying a few weeks ago, the best news recently is that Barber is around for the next six years. That comforts me a lot, and I’m sure the decisions the club take will (mostly) be the right ones.

 

[Pavilionaire]

We all know that the club will have spent an awful lot of time (already) analysing this season - and will spend more time over the coming weeks. That analysis will be forensic and wide-ranging….and won’t just be about little ol’ BHAFC. It’ll take in the rest of the EPL and much of the rest of the world - with a huge amount of focus on the financial context. TB and PBOBE will have a very clear idea of the next steps….both in terms of this summer, and the longer term. I would love to be privy to that analysis!! But, as we were saying a few weeks ago, the best news recently is that Barber is around for the next six years. That comforts me a lot, and I’m sure the decisions the club take will (mostly) be the right ones.

The bottom line is we are trying to buck the trend of gaining long-term sustained success without paying the sorts of megabucks that have brought bigger clubs than us to the brink of financial ruin, but once again the table doesn't lie with clubs who are paying the most money for players enjoying the most success.

No club has managed to do what we have done successfully over the last 5 years without eventually splashing the cash. We tried to be cute with Dahoud, Milner and Fati and it didn't work. The problem remains that if you need proven Premier League durable quality to hold on to a European place then you have to pay for it.

 

[Seagull58]

Injuries, injuries and injuries. That's is the core of the problem. Central midfield is the only area of weakness if injuries hadn't decimated the squad. Lacking cover in certain positions isn't really an issue until you have injuries.
I'm confident about next season

 

[Bold Seagull]

I think psychologically it has been hard for the manager and the players to deal with elimination from Europe, and that feeling this season might have been a one-off.

The injuries, the relentlessness of the Premier League, just the fact we have a lot of young and inexperienced players. It has been hard for them to deal with all of that.

I think especially it has been hard on our leaders Dunk and Gross who not only have played every possible minute but also dealt with international call-ups at a relatively late stage in their careers.

De Zerbi needs to decide what he wants to do, and quickly. Either he gets with the plan, or he moves on and we bring in another manager at the end of the season and give them time. Crucial to this is identifying priorities in our recruitment. Both Tony and De Zerbi will have been frustrated to have missed out of Kudus and Dewsbury-Hall and those kind of signings at that much harder to nail down when you've finished 12th or 13th, as opposed to 6th.

On that score this is a window not to gamble on kids or spunk huge money and wages but it is a window where we need to be smart. A player I like a lot who could provide height, help tighten up the defence, shoot from distance, carry the ball, pick a pass or put in a cross, has Prem and international experience and still only 26 is Sander Berge.

Personally, I do not think that De Zerbi is ready for an elite job, I don't think he has the emotional intelligence yet. But I could see him thriving in 2024/25 without the distraction of Europe that will test Villa, Spurs, Newcastle, Man Utd and possibly a Klopp-less Liverpool, especially if the bulk of the injuries clear up and the likes of Mitoma, March, Enciso and Ferguson return to form.

Had a similar discussion with a colleague. It wasn't just being in Europe, it was the highs of winning the group, that glorious evening beating Marseilles. Not only have there been physical challenges, but emotional too. Playing away at Ajax, Athens and Marseilles, but needing those same levels away at Luton (no disrespect intended). Even accomplished European teams struggle with these post European night fixtures, and we've kind of had a post European competition struggle to boot.

 

[Pavilionaire]

Injuries, injuries and injuries. That's is the core of the problem. Central midfield is the only area of weakness if injuries hadn't decimated the squad. Lacking cover in certain positions isn't really an issue until you have injuries.
I'm confident about next season

This is the issue. We've lost Mac and Caicedo and brought in Dahoud and Milner on the cheap. That looked good in theory but has spectacularly gone wrong.

 

[Springal]

This is the issue. We've lost Mac and Caicedo and brought in Dahoud and Milner on the cheap. That looked good in theory but has spectacularly gone wrong.

Dahoud wasn’t ’on the cheap’ - his contract had expired. But still on big wages from what I heard

 

[Pavilionaire]

Dahoud wasn’t ’on the cheap’ - his contract had expired. But still on big wages from what I heard

When you bring in a player you factor in transfer fees, amortization thereof. A player on just £30K a week signed for £15mill on a 3 year deal will cost twice as much per annum than a £55K a week player on a free transfer like Dahoud. In Prem terms it's cheap.