[Albion] This summer’s squad rebuild

[Mancgull]

I have had a feeling for a while that Enciso might go. Based on nothing really. He is a VERY good player but he also comes across as being all about himself. When he returned from injury it looked like he was trying to recreate the City goal from literally everywhere. I do wonder how impressed our senior management would have been with his approach to the Olympics after he'd been at the Copa. As RDZ found out our board don't like these things aired in the media.

Couldn’t agree more. Good player but doesn’t meet the Hurzeler ‘together’ culture. It’s basically ‘all about him’.
Who would take him though?

 

[huzzah]

I think Top 9 is awesome.

nah, it's PL champions or bust, you can see it in the new signings eyes.


.... we are top of the league, we are top of the league *, **


* I'm going to enjoy it until it's not true and then look back on it with a melancholic longing.

** I do realise how moronic I sound, but would one rather be a happy simpleton or a depressed realist?

 

[Joey Jo Jo Jr. Shabadoo]

No.

4 CL, 1 Europa, 1 Conf.
Then 2 cups.

Right?

No its Champions League for 1st - 4th
Europa League for 5th and FA Cup winners
Conference League for League Cup winners.

If the cups are won by a team that qualifies through their league position then that cup winners place is awarded to the next team in the league table that hasn’t qualified through their league position.

 

[BrianSwan]

Brighton went from the potential next Southampton, Leicester City or Swansea City to trying to become the next Spurs.

 

[Triggaaar]

No its Champions League for 1st - 4th
Europa League for 5th and FA Cup winners
Conference League for League Cup winners.

Ok thanks

 

[golddene]

I hope we take both cups seriously

Think we’ll find we will take every game seriously regardless of which competition we are competing in !

 

[Triggaaar]

Also, when you compare his spider chart to Minteh (shown on this video - about 12 minutes in ), he is behind on every metric (all be it Minteh wasn't operating in the Prem).

That 'albeit' is massive though.

 

[Triggaaar]

We wanted Minteh before the Geordies. They got in first. The PSR ‘opportunity’ cost us £20m. Agents have cottoned on to the Brighton premium. It’s going to cost us more to get the gems now.

Use Minteh as an example. We wanted him in the first place and he ended up here, but it might have been better for his development just to join us in the first place. Future players could be better joining us, with a plan, rather than a hit and hope approach.

 

[Triggaaar]

Agree with a lot of this. In theory, we could play Enciso, Pedro or Rutter (and not forgetting Buonotte is on loan) at 10, yet our options in other areas are limited. CM is very light. Injuries to Dunk / Van Hecke could cost us. We are a Welbeck injury from not having a number 9 given Ferguson is injured albeit back soon.

I'm sure everyone knows what they are doing but I do scratch my head and wonder how this will all work in practice. Surely, the exit door will whirl at some point?

Maybe it's just a case that some of our targets have become available and others haven't.

It's probably good to sub pacey ball carriers during a game, whereas we don't need to with central defenders. Taking off Minteh/Adingra and bringing on a fresh replacement is hard for the opposition. Doing that all over the pitch could be really hard. But yes, we could do with backup in more defensive rolls.

 

[GT49er]

No its Champions League for 1st - 4th
Europa League for 5th and FA Cup winners
Conference League for League Cup winners.

If the cups are won by a team that qualifies through their league position then that cup winners place is awarded to the next team in the league table that hasn’t qualified through their league position.

Plus there's a few extra places - like an extra Europa place for West Ham last season for winning the Conference, and I think the CL winner gets to defend it, regardless of their league position? Got a feeling Liverpool might have benefitted from that a few years ago.

Of course, they seem to be changing the bloody rules every other season, so who knows?

 

[Change at Barnham]

No its Champions League for 1st - 4th
Europa League for 5th and FA Cup winners
Conference League for League Cup winners.

If the cups are won by a team that qualifies through their league position then that cup winners place is awarded to the next team in the league table that hasn’t qualified through their league position.

And maybe before the end of the season Man City finally receive their overdue points deduction moving the remaining 19 teams up a place.
(we can always dream)

 

[Papa Lazarou]

And maybe before the end of the season Man City finally receive their overdue points deduction moving the remaining 19 teams up a place.
(we can always dream)

That may well be one of the (lesser) drivers for our push this season.

 

[Joey Jo Jo Jr. Shabadoo]

Plus there's a few extra places - like an extra Europa place for West Ham last season for winning the Conference, and I think the CL winner gets to defend it, regardless of their league position? Got a feeling Liverpool might have benefitted from that a few years ago.

Of course, they seem to be changing the bloody rules every other season, so who knows?

Yes there are extra places on the odd occasion if a side wins a European competition and doesn't qualify through their domestic league finshing position.

Liverpool did benefit from winning the Champions League (the comeback penalties win over AC Milan) and finishing outside of the top 4, as at the time there wasn't a guaranteed place for the winners to enter the next season. Liverpool were given special dispensation to enter but had to do so from the first qualifying round.

UEFA have since changed the rules so that the Champions League winner and the Europa League winners are guaranteed group stage spots in the following Champions League even if they don't qualify through their domestic league positions. The same applies to the Conference League winners entering the Europa League, which is why West Ham were in last season Europa League (giving the Premier League 3 Europa League spots last season instead of the normal 2).

Now there further anomalies that can be thrown up if one of winners of the Champions League or Europa League finishes 5th in their domestic league and that league is one of those that gets the extra two UEFA Co-efficient spots in the Champions League meaning a country could potentially have 6 clubs in the Champions League one season.

 

[Harry Wilson's tackle]

Brighton went from the potential next Southampton, Leicester City or Swansea City to trying to become the next Spurs.

As long as (checks last night's result) we don't go all Spursy.

 

[Gully Forever]

Has this been posted yet, If so please delete.

 

[Gabbiano]

Brighton went from the potential next Southampton, Leicester City or Swansea City to trying to become the next Spurs.

I've thought for a while the most apt comparison is with clubs like Villarreal, Leverkusen and Atalanta.

Provincial, well run clubs that consistently punch above their weight and get into European competition.

There is no other English club in that mould, maybe Leicester were until it all went pop.

 

[Bald Head]

Love it.

 

[Flounce]

nah, it's PL champions or bust, you can see it in the new signings eyes.


.... we are top of the league, we are top of the league *, **


* I'm going to enjoy it until it's not true and then look back on it with a melancholic longing.

** I do realise how moronic I sound, but would one rather be a happy simpleton or a depressed realist?

I will be disappointed as things stand with anything lower than 6th

I’ll accept it of course but of you have to aim high this early in the season

 

[severnside gull]

last season - particularly having sold Cucurella/Caicedo/MacAllister the media (and us) talked about how he sustainability of our “buy cheap to sell dear” model, citing the likes of Southampton who had followed the same path and slowly (or not so slowly) declined. There was an expectation that we had peaked and would slide down the leagues as others before us. In pre-season we were many pundits favourites to be in the mix for relegation.
I have no issue with McKenna rejecting us. He read that room

I will be disappointed as things stand with anything lower than 6th

I’ll accept it of course but of you have to aim high this early in the season

last week many pundits were calling us as relegation contenders. One win and we are talking top 6

 

[oldboyroy]

We certainly seem to be going for it this year, I wonder where it’ll take us……?

Title challenge!