attila
1997 Club
I'm certain the club personnel were doing their best to sign the right striker - they want to stay up as much as we do, obviously - and it seems clear the funds were there. A principal target, Dwamena - who I know from contacts at Zurich has been in our sights for a while and is hugely rated by fans there - was secured and it is a personal tragedy for a young footballer (our disappointment insignificant in comparison, some perspective is essential here) that he has a condition which our stringent medical assessment deemed to be sufficiently serious to call the transfer off.
From what I have read it seems to be the case that most of our other targets simply turned us down. Clubs agreed terms: players didn't want to play for Brighton. We can't blame the recruitment team for that. Years of global media obsessing with the Premier League to the virtual exclusion of the other 72 clubs has meant that the 'never heard of them factor' must play a big part in the fortunes of promoted clubs in the transfer market, especially in the particularly refined striker market. Promoted clubs who arrive in the PL with a 'brand name' and 'Premier League history' are at a distinct advantage when selling themselves to Mr Celebrity Big Name Striker.
So, you say, what about Huddersfield, in the same position as us? They did brilliantly because it just so happens that Wagner and his advisors had such detailed knowledge of his own and nearby leagues that he could identify and pick players literally no-one else was interested in, completely under the radar. Their recruitment strategy has thus been brilliant, in a league of its own. It is one I am sure we aspire to and I hope are learning from! Well done to them.
Burnley and other clubs who are not 'glamour names?' The PL is blasted everywhere across the world. After one or two seasons their name is familiar to foreign fans and players alike, and a move there seen as a step up in a way that a move to us newbies isn't. I could go on about how our experience in this transfer window is just one more manifestation of the ludicrous imbalance, celebrity obsession and financial insanity which are the principal features of modern corporate football, but I won't.
Fact is there were a whole bunch of players who didn't want to play for us. We have a bloody good squad of ones who do and who are perfectly capable of competing in this league and keeping us up. Let's get behind them. We're good at being underdogs and have a brilliant track record at it in the last 20 years. Let's show the prima donnas who turned us down what we're made of, folks.
Up the Albion!
From what I have read it seems to be the case that most of our other targets simply turned us down. Clubs agreed terms: players didn't want to play for Brighton. We can't blame the recruitment team for that. Years of global media obsessing with the Premier League to the virtual exclusion of the other 72 clubs has meant that the 'never heard of them factor' must play a big part in the fortunes of promoted clubs in the transfer market, especially in the particularly refined striker market. Promoted clubs who arrive in the PL with a 'brand name' and 'Premier League history' are at a distinct advantage when selling themselves to Mr Celebrity Big Name Striker.
So, you say, what about Huddersfield, in the same position as us? They did brilliantly because it just so happens that Wagner and his advisors had such detailed knowledge of his own and nearby leagues that he could identify and pick players literally no-one else was interested in, completely under the radar. Their recruitment strategy has thus been brilliant, in a league of its own. It is one I am sure we aspire to and I hope are learning from! Well done to them.
Burnley and other clubs who are not 'glamour names?' The PL is blasted everywhere across the world. After one or two seasons their name is familiar to foreign fans and players alike, and a move there seen as a step up in a way that a move to us newbies isn't. I could go on about how our experience in this transfer window is just one more manifestation of the ludicrous imbalance, celebrity obsession and financial insanity which are the principal features of modern corporate football, but I won't.
Fact is there were a whole bunch of players who didn't want to play for us. We have a bloody good squad of ones who do and who are perfectly capable of competing in this league and keeping us up. Let's get behind them. We're good at being underdogs and have a brilliant track record at it in the last 20 years. Let's show the prima donnas who turned us down what we're made of, folks.
Up the Albion!
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