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[Albion] Top Ten team - The Albion







Doonhamer7

Well-known member
Jun 17, 2016
1,448
It is going to get harder and harder - top6 then Leicester, Everton and Wolves makes 9. Add the ‘bigger’ clubs by history, size, location and reputation = easier to attract players: Aston Villa, Newcastle, Leeds, West Ham. That leaves 7 of which you could add half a dozen more from Championship on fairly similar level (Norwich, Watford of the world).
 


happypig

Staring at the rude boys
May 23, 2009
8,154
Eastbourne
We will have a good chance of being in the top half of the PL when Liverpool, Spuds, Chelsea and the Manchesters bugger off to a European super league.
 


Taybha

Whalewhine
Oct 8, 2008
27,628
Uwantsumorwat
The difference in real terms between finishing 17th and 10th in the EPL is around 14 million quid , probably enough to run the Academy for the season so though a nice wedge of money it's peanuts to what each club receives through TV deals and sponsors.

So the trick is simply staying in the EPL for starters, which we've done for now 4 consecutive seasons .

This fixation with being a top ten club is fairytale stuff for now , a bit like playing at Withdean and wishing for Falmer .

It may well happen but I'd still rather us be concerned with retaining our EPL status for now , be that with Potter in charge or whomever Bloom sees fit to do that very job .
 


LamieRobertson

Not awoke
Feb 3, 2008
48,284
SHOREHAM BY SEA
No I don’t think it is possible as we do not have the finances to fund a squad of the quality that could sustain a spell in the top 10. There are examples of average squads where things click and propel clubs like us up there for a season and that could be within our reach if we stay around long enough to do it.

I think a far more realistic aim is to be a side who are comfortably mid table
and have the odd tilt in the cups or a run that takes you inside the top ten.

Isn’t tenth about mid table :shrug:
 




Seasidesage

New member
May 19, 2009
4,467
Brighton, United Kingdom
Possible yes, so is middle of league one mind!

To do it we are going to need time, patience and some luck. Lyon, Leverkusen, Atalanta have all shown what is possible if you buy well and sell better while developing your own stars too. Key will be staying true to the principle while being pragmatic enough to address the problems that come along the way like a lack of strikers...
 


mreprice

Active member
Sep 12, 2010
690
Sydney, Australia
It is going to get harder and harder - top6 then Leicester, Everton and Wolves makes 9. Add the ‘bigger’ clubs by history, size, location and reputation = easier to attract players: Aston Villa, Newcastle, Leeds, West Ham. That leaves 7 of which you could add half a dozen more from Championship on fairly similar level (Norwich, Watford of the world).
This. Are we ever going to be a consistently bigger club than the 9 mentioned? Hard to see. And there are a lot of good clubs fighting for that tenth spot. Most of whom have had a relegation scare in the past few years.

It is getting harder every year.

Sent from my Mi 9T Pro using Tapatalk
 


Harry Wilson's tackle

Harry Wilson's Tackle
NSC Patron
Oct 8, 2003
55,718
Faversham
I don't know. Nobody knows.

There is an evident correlation between success and spend. But the relationship is not a perfect straight line whereby if you spend another £50 million you go up another place. Tony is obviously trying to shift the relationship between spend and success to the left (for those of you who understand graphs).

Also, if I understand this, Tony certainly does and will know roughly how much success he can anticipate per spend. The trouble with this is that although mad spending will get you top six, the relationship between spend and league position becomes much more varied towards the lower end of the curve.

Therefore, lower down the curve, it can be a bit hit and miss. Look at Sheffield United. Look at Saints. Look at Palace. Look at...Watford and Norwich.

There is no magic answer to maximising achievement per spend. For sustained achievement (top ten) I suspect will will need to hugely increase our spend - perhaps doubling it. Whether Tony is willing or able to do this is moot.

I'm happy with the project at the moment and I don't see change any time soon. There is no point bringing in a different type of manager unless we try a different type of plan. People mock the Newcastle owner but he splashed out on a really decent striker (Wilson) who looked top class in the draw against Liverpool last night. I doubt that we could attract a striker of Wilson's calibre at the moment because we are clearly not a club that smells like (and spends like) Newcastle.

If people don't like this I suspect the only solution is to get on Tony's back, like a proportion of Newcastles entitled tossers get on Ashley's back, and agitate to 'sack the board', i.e., make life so unpleasant for Tony that he sells up to a rich foreign owner. Not for me! But there are people on NSC who would support such action.
 




Harry Wilson's tackle

Harry Wilson's Tackle
NSC Patron
Oct 8, 2003
55,718
Faversham
Not while this clowns in charge


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

It's 'these clowns are' or 'this clown is', or neither.

My money is on neither.
 


Guinness Boy

Tofu eating wokerati
Helpful Moderator
NSC Patron
Jul 23, 2003
37,205
Up and Coming Sunny Portslade
Forget what you feel about GP for a moment, he’ll either stay or go but longterm do you really believe that the Albion will establish themselves as a team that spend a few years in the top 10 of the PL?

Could be next year, could be in 10 years but can you see it happening? Yes, you’d probably like it but that’s not the question.

I can’t unless we are taken over by an Oligarch or a Middle Eastern state/Chinese/Asian/US investor and I THINK I will hate it when/If TB calls it a day.

Not being Top 10 doesn’t really bother me either :shrug:

Can you imagine commentators just talking about Albion and dismissing the team we are playing, in fact the reverse of what happens at the moment.

Can you imagine someone posting on the Leicester board after their first season back, when they just about dragged themselves to 14th from the bottom with Ulloa top scoring, "can we win the league next season?". Would have been dismissed as a fruitcake, totally unrealistic, entitled, mad and going against Vichay's long term plans ("he's rich but he's not that rich"). And yet with a new coach PLUS clever recruitment they did it.

I actually mostly agree with [MENTION=4934]One Teddy Maybank[/MENTION] here. We are two or three quality players away from climbing up the charts. But those players do need the right coach and this is where it is a game of opinions. You, Swanny and, currently and crucially, Tony Bloom, think Potter is the right coach. I'm far from convinced.
 


Icy Gull

Back on the rollercoaster
Jul 5, 2003
72,015
Key will be staying true to the principle while being pragmatic enough to address the problems that come along the way like a lack of strikers...

Ah that old and mouldy chestnut :lolol:
 






Icy Gull

Back on the rollercoaster
Jul 5, 2003
72,015
Can you imagine someone posting on the Leicester board after their first season back, when they just about dragged themselves to 14th from the bottom with Ulloa top scoring, "can we win the league next season?". Would have been dismissed as a fruitcake, totally unrealistic, entitled, mad and going against Vichay's long term plans ("he's rich but he's not that rich"). And yet with a new coach PLUS clever recruitment they did it.

I actually mostly agree with [MENTION=4934]One Teddy Maybank[/MENTION] here. We are two or three quality players away from climbing up the charts. But those players do need the right coach and this is where it is a game of opinions. You, Swanny and, currently and crucially, Tony Bloom, think Potter is the right coach. I'm far from convinced.

The perfect storm of Mahrez, Vardy and Casper plus a manager who managed to get himself sacked shortly afterwards. Once in a lifetime...or two event, sadly
 


Guinness Boy

Tofu eating wokerati
Helpful Moderator
NSC Patron
Jul 23, 2003
37,205
Up and Coming Sunny Portslade
The perfect storm of Mahrez, Vardy and Casper plus a manager who managed to get himself sacked shortly afterwards. Once in a lifetime...or two event, sadly

And I'll add that all the big clubs were shit that season as well.

But that's WINNING the league. We're talking about regularly coming somewhere up to nine places below that. It's perfectly achievable in the short to medium term with two or three quality players and tactics that they can execute in a winning fashion. We are not THAT far off. You and I just see the possibilities and the man in the driving seat differently,
 






deslynhamsmoustache1

Well-known member
Apr 25, 2010
894
RAF Tangmere
Burnley :shrug:
Southampton never go particularly wild in the transfer market.

In response to the original question, I’ve said numerous times, when we’re humming our football is great to watch and that’s down to Potter, and given the right tools i.e a striker and a recognised left back, I think somewhere around 10th is achievable, even this season if we act quickly. However, if the club are going to stand pat I don’t think GP knows how to deploy a different style which would be more geared for a survival battle.
In brief, back him or sack him. If we give him an actual striker and left back I think we’ll fly, but as things stand we’re stuck in a dirty big rut.

This with bells on. Top 10 more than possible, with a few quality acquisitions. If we get the academy right then an occasional monthly brush with 6-8 is more than Possible. Burnley had Europa but not the squad to maintain it, Southampton produced players like Henry Ford produced model T's. must be 20 odd top draw pro's over the years at least. Produce 2, sell 1. Re invest in the weak parts of the team.:rave:
 


vagabond

Well-known member
May 17, 2019
9,804
Brighton
Top 10?

Of course it’s possible!

Burnley have come 7th, Saints have done it fairly often, even Bournemouth if I’m not wrong. Just need to have a good season and let things fall Into place.

I really don’t think we’re that far off, maybe a striker and goal scoring midfielder. It’s important we don’t hound a manger out every time we have a bad run of form though.
 


Questions

Habitual User
Oct 18, 2006
25,462
Worthing
This fixation with being a top ten club is fairytale stuff for now , a bit like playing at Withdean and wishing for Falmer .

It may well happen but I'd still rather us be concerned with retaining our EPL status for now , be that with Potter in charge or whomever Bloom sees fit to do that very job .

This is true.
 




brighton_tom

Well-known member
Jul 23, 2008
5,506
Being a top ten side, as in finishing inside the top 10 every season is a big ask seeing as though about 15 of the current Prem sides will all have the same aspirations and most of those are better equipped to do so. But being a side that finishes somewhere between 8th and 13th each season, and never really in danger of relegation is certainly achievable on Tony Bloom money. I'd rather that than sell our soul to a new billionaire owner for the sake of another few places up the table.
 


neilbard

Hedging up
Oct 8, 2013
6,280
Forget what you feel about GP for a moment, he’ll either stay or go but longterm do you really believe that the Albion will establish themselves as a team that spend a few years in the top 10 of the PL?

Could be next year, could be in 10 years but can you see it happening? Yes, you’d probably like it but that’s not the question.

I can’t unless we are taken over by an Oligarch or a Middle Eastern state/Chinese/Asian/US investor and I THINK I will hate it when/If TB calls it a day.

Not being Top 10 doesn’t really bother me either :shrug:

Can you imagine commentators just talking about Albion and dismissing the team we are playing, in fact the reverse of what happens at the moment.

If Tony says it will happen then I'm a believer. :thumbsup:
 


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