Tony Bloom is totally deluded!

[BensGrandad]

IMHO everything was geared to Gus getting us promoted that year and failed as a result we are going to stutter and struggle through a couple of seasons to rebuild and recover from this failure.

 

[jimbob5]

I trust TB in his actions, however I don't really believe very much of what he says in the press or at these 'junkets' that they do. What actually goes on behind the scenes and what we're drip fed are fundamentally different.
If at a point this season he thinks we're genuinely in a relegation fight, he will pull the plug on Sami and to hell with the costs. Our current position is not great, but it is salvageable with the current regime and the addition of a couple of players(Jan)

half the league will probably be in a relegation fight for most of the season.

 

[Westdene Wonder]

Lets be thankful for what Mr Bloom has spent on this club and appreciate that running costs have resulted in little cash is now available for new players,so lets take the pressure off the Chairman and manager by accepting we will not be a Premiership side but can be a decent Championship club which if we play entertaining attacking football will still give us around 20,000 attendances and ensure a healthy financial situation.

 

[aolstudios]

Sure, arguably third tier - but this was meant to be our golden age now?

Yes the test is whether Bloom spends the extra money the FFP allows. All signs are that he doesn't want to. And yes cue the self-righteous brigade who say we have no right to expect him too - except for the fact that the club decided to sell a vision of Premiership football to fill the stadium.

It's that difference between promise/reality that means the perienniel old-style boardroom critics like Harty are getting more of a hearing now.

Lets be thankful for what Mr Bloom has spent on this club and appreciate that running costs have resulted in little cash is now available for new players,so lets take the pressure off the Chairman and manager by accepting we will not be a Premiership side but can be a decent Championship club which if we play entertaining attacking football will still give us around 20,000 attendances and ensure a healthy financial situation.

That'd be fine if not for 'Premier League ready', 'One Club, One Ambition' & Premier League prices...

 

[Icy Gull]

Lets be thankful for what Mr Bloom has spent on this club and appreciate that running costs have resulted in little cash is now available for new players,so lets take the pressure off the Chairman and manager by accepting we will not be a Premiership side but can be a decent Championship club which if we play entertaining attacking football will still give us around 20,000 attendances and ensure a healthy financial situation.

Totally agree, it is 100% TB's decision how and where he spends his money. However that does not mean we have to hang on to every word he utters and accept it as gospel. If he thinks we have a squad to challenge for promotion that's fine, I happen to believe it is a squad that stands a reasonable chance of getting relegated with zero chance of getting promoted. Does that make me an entitled ungrateful fan who needs to study our history? I don't actually mind being where we are, it's a little disappointing but to be expected as we are not competing financially with most of the division. Nobody will convince me that we should be anywhere near the playoffs with the current squad.

I don't believe we will achieve 20k attendances in the future unless we are in and around the playoffs, and playing decent football, btw and we have been told on a number of occasions that it is nigh on impossible to be in a healthy financial position in the Championship without parachute payment, even with 30k crowds, so it's not going to happen on 20k or less.

 

[Rugrat]

I don't believe we will achieve 20k attendances in the future unless we are in and around the playoffs, and playing decent football, btw and we have been told on a number of occasions that it is nigh on impossible to be in a healthy financial position in the Championship without parachute payment, even with 30k crowds, so it's not going to happen on 20k or less.

Totally agree with that. Kind of makes me think TB is a little between a rock and a hard place. I guess he's done the numbers more than once though and it'll be interesting to see which way he goes .. chuck more money at it, or cut back the 'PLR overhead' (which I assume is substantial)?

 

[Justice]

No in the context of this thread it is very relevant. Take Ulloa out of last season's team and replace him with Baldock. Then ask yourself if that team would have made top 6, regardless of who the manager was. It is not about other clubs it is about the FACT that our squad is getting steadily weaker transfer window on transfer window since the summer of 2013 yet our chairman reckons we can compete at this level. So in the context of this thread TB is either taking the fans for fools or is indeed deluded. I don't think it's the latter.......

Baldock has scored an average of 15 goals every season he has played championship football, its up to the manager to get the best out of him.

 

[Joey Jo Jo Jr. Shabadoo]

Baldock has scored an average of 15 goals every season he has played championship football, its up to the manager to get the best out of him.

No he hasn't, he's only ever scored more than 15 goals in a season once and that was last year in League 1 with Bristol City. He scored 10 in 23 starts and 11 sub appearances for Bristol City when they were relegated from The Championship the season before. His only other stint in the Championship saw him score 5 in 10 (with 13 appearances from the bench) for West Ham when they got promoted via the playoffs in 2011/12 season. I agree we are not getting the best out of Baldock, but I don't think he will ever be 20 goals a season player at this level.

 

[jamie the seagull]

I will accept whatever position we are in if I am entertained on match day.
Until FFP penalties kick in and with parachute payments we can only compete as best we can.
But when I found out our wage costs were the highest they have ever been I then resented paying the PL prices we do for League 1 players.
I would have accepted the current position if we were playing more of our youngsters (like Ince last year and Dunk this year).
They out performed the experienced players and I would prefer them to a team full of loanees.

 

[LamieRobertson]

I admire and am jealous of your optimism. Check out our form. Think again.

oh i am well aware of form..who is not ...its just too early to say ''almost certain''.

 

[Gritt23]

Gus had a top 2 squad, in no small part due to his persuasiveness. He finished 4th, i.e. he very nearly made top 2. Oscar didn't have a top 6 squad, but finished 6th, and Sami's squad is even worse. Not sure how this supports your point?

Because Gus could see that the following year the financial constraints meant we would not have as strong a squad again. Which you seem to have agreed with.

 

[Withdean11]

Gus had a top 2 squad, in no small part due to his persuasiveness. He finished 4th, i.e. he very nearly made top 2. Oscar didn't have a top 6 squad, but finished 6th, and Sami's squad is even worse. Not sure how this supports your point?

Do you really think we had a top 2 squad? Stronger than Cardiff, Hull and Watford? Bearing in mind we only had Ulloa and Upson since January.

 

[jimbob5]

The thing is right. Straight up. I was having a natter with Becks and Cruzie the other night. I mentioned our plight. Cruzie reckons that the likes of Bloomo and us [that's how he talks off screen] think different to yer average punter. Whereas myself, Cruzo, Becks and Bloomo realise you have to work and think smart 24/7 to get anything out of life, yer average punters like you lot [his words] tend to go into chimp mode when things go slightly wrong. Of course I said something like 'how very dare you!' or 'I could not possibly comment'. Becks just smiled in the philosophical and enigmatic way he does. Cracking blokes btw. I don't like name dropping but this subject made me think of it.

 

[chaileyjem]

Do you really think we had a top 2 squad? Stronger than Cardiff, Hull and Watford? Bearing in mind we only had Ulloa and Upson since January.

If the league for 2012/13 had started on January 1st 2013 we'd have finished above Cardiff, Hull and Watford. In fact above everyone. As we would have won the entire league amassing a rather impressive 41 points from our final 22 matches.

 

[Albion Dan]

Because Gus could see that the following year the financial constraints meant we would not have as strong a squad again. Which you seem to have agreed with.

That is the argument of a poor manager. Palace went up that year with a MUCH cheaper team than ours and Burnley did it again the year after. Derby are much cheaper than our again this season. However we do seem unable to get cheap quality with our current setup.

 

[spanish flair]

Do you really think we had a top 2 squad? Stronger than Cardiff, Hull and Watford? Bearing in mind we only had Ulloa and Upson since January.

Gus had created a great squad and we have cashed in on that and have sold between £16/20 million of talent, either developed or brought to the club by Gus: Ulloa, Dobbie, Buckley, Bridcutt, Barnes, El Abd, Noone, Grant Hall , Steve Cook and Tommy Elphick. You could also add Andrew Crofts and Elliot Bennett, who although signed by Russell Slade they certainly developed their games under Gus and attracted large fees.

We still have 13 players who Gus either developed or brought to the club in our current first team squad.

Looking at what we brought in under Oscar which was 12 signings. Five of those were loan signings and have returned to their clubs and of the other seven only three are still with us and only one of those has played in any games this season (Agustein). Stephens I am sure will bolster this number when fit, but it is anyone's guess if and when Toko will make an appearance.

Chicksen, Agustein, Andrews, Ward, Conway, Lita, Obika, Monakana, Rodriguez, Stephens, Lingard and Toko.

This seasons signings again we have out of the 13 signings, 6 are loans and will return to their clubs and of the other 7, I think only three would have a resale value, Stockdale, Hola and Baldock albeit not at a profit like the Gus players sold on.
I really cannot see how people think the squad has not slowly been weakened

 

[Gritt23]

That is the argument of a poor manager. Palace went up that year with a MUCH cheaper team than ours and Burnley did it again the year after. Derby are much cheaper than our again this season. However we do seem unable to get cheap quality with our current setup.

I wasn't debating management abilities either way, as that gets done to death on here.

My point is merely that when Gus said about "perhaps this is our ceiling", hindsight suggests that he was right, at least for the time being. I don't think anyone can counter-argue that our squad has steadily weakened since that night.

 

[fosters headband]

Because Gus could see that the following year the financial constraints meant we would not have as strong a squad again. Which you seem to have agreed with.

This and the player in's and out's have proved him right

 

[Icy Gull]

Well I'm not sure Paul Barber has ever said a word on the subject and Oscar resigned remember despite being asked to sleep on it and TB found out second hand whilst on the train back from Derby talking to fans. No wonder he was a bit bruised.
As for TB and the 'made it sound like he wasn't very good" , then quote me what he's actually said that implies anything other than Oscar was a great coach cos i've read the interviews, quotes and he doesn't say anything of the sort.

Hmm not sure Oscar saw it that way. From today's Argus.

Oscar's departure from Albion was rooted in frustrations over the recruitment set-up and playing budget constraints.

He found chairman Tony Bloom's criticism of his communication skills in the immediate aftermath particularly unfair and hurtful but resisted the temptation to bite back.

 

[aolstudios]

Sure, arguably third tier - but this was meant to be our golden age now?

Yes the test is whether Bloom spends the extra money the FFP allows. All signs are that he doesn't want to. And yes cue the self-righteous brigade who say we have no right to expect him too - except for the fact that the club decided to sell a vision of Premiership football to fill the stadium.

It's that difference between promise/reality that means the perienniel old-style boardroom critics like Harty are getting more of a hearing now.

Well I'm not sure Paul Barber has ever said a word on the subject and Oscar resigned remember despite being asked to sleep on it and TB found out second hand whilst on the train back from Derby talking to fans. No wonder he was a bit bruised.
As for TB and the 'made it sound like he wasn't very good" , then quote me what he's actually said that implies anything other than Oscar was a great coach cos i've read the interviews, quotes and he doesn't say anything of the sort.

Check the video of Tony's interview earlier in the thread. Doesn't do himself any favours.
Pretty unimpressive & cheap, frankly