What would it take for you to be on Hyypia's side?

[Spadge]

The argument is not about whether these players are better than what we had before, I think we can all agree that many of them are not. However, most are certainly good enough to get this team to a comfortable mid table position.

Sami has overseen 14 player signings and has said he is happy with the way our transfers work. If he has then failed to secure the type of player he wants, then he is culpable as much as Burke.

Did he come in to the club and think we need a midfield enforcer? Well it appears not as he chooses not to play one.

Did he ask for a big centre forward to hold the ball up? Again no, as given the chance he signed Bent, a classic last shoulder striker. After signing Baldock who is the same and already having CMS who is also the same.

Did he ask for attacking full backs? Yes, clearly and he has been provided with that. Bennett has a good pedigree at this level, as do Bruno and Calderon.

New Goalkeeper? Ok, Stockdale has been poor, but he has Premier League experience.

I could go on, but to me it appears that Sami does not know what he wants or more pertinently, needs, to create a winning side. He has signed off on these players, if Burke came to you and said we are going to sign Baldock 5'7" and Colunga 5'8" would you say no thanks to one? I think we all would, Sami either chose not to, or is not a strong enough character to say no to Burke, whichever of these is true, marks Sami out to be a poor football manager, imo.

Firstly i would depend on what the offering is

i.e.

Holla on a free
Clayton £1.5 million


O Grady £500k
Vossen £2.5 mil
Assombalonga £5.5 Million


This unfortunately is where the club has fallen down in signing players for less and being tight fisted and not prepared to invest the money we recouped from selling Ulloa, Buckley and co.


To me i see the instructions for the season as pretty straight forward, Build a team with a limited budget so that next season we can cherry pick decent players from clubs with embargo's.

I said that originally at the start of the season (Feel free to look back on past post), I still have that opinion however it has backfired on the board big time, they probably expected us to be sat mid-table thinking some quality additions in January would fire us over the line! That's now further from reality than ever!

 

[Spadge]

B.W.

It is just a matter of opinion, no-one's view is 'worthless'!

This squad is a bottom 3 squad imho, shorn of all quality, I can't see where the goals will come from looking ahead, and once Bent's loan is up...?

Has Hypia been brought in as a 'Fall Guy' to cover the Board's ass is the question (his record was awful in Germany)?

Totally agree!

We are bottom 3 because at present that's where we belong! Quiet simple!

However the quality of the team has a major bearing on this.

People keep going on about the loan players and having premier league experience, jeez if they were that competent they would be playing for there parent club in the premier league!!

 

[Thunder Bolt]

If it is, then the club is in a DIRE situation?

To me it looks like they embarked on a major cost cutting exercise, but seriously overdone it at the expense of the team.

Read the last line of this article.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/30004150

 

[Cars]

After reading the argus yesterday, it changed my opinion on him.

I started questioning if maybe it really were the squad. How many individual performances got us points last season? Whether it be a TK save or an Ulloa goal?

I'm back in the Sami camp, I want to see if he gets the backing in January, and who he signs then judge him again based on that.

Man Utd got off to a bad start as did Liverpool under Rodgers. Maybe give him a bit longer.

Maybe that's why bloom is keeping him, because he knows he hasn't given him the support he needs?

 

[Regency Gull]

If I can see the obvious problems the team has from the stands then surely our highly experienced and well paid, full time coaches should also be able to see them, and address them within half a season. if it is the players fault for not doing what the manager asks then they should be in the youth team for a month until they start doing as they are told.

Either way Sami has chosen not to adapt or adjust his tactics to the players he has or the circumstances he is in.

This means he is missing what is surely a key skill for a manager - particularly a successful manger.

Half a season is long enough to have established this - and for that reason he has to go.

 

[Gazz15]

Read the last line of this article.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/30004150

I still stand by the opinion, that this is a bottom quartile Championship Squad, anyone seeing differently is imo deluding themselves.

Who in the Albion squad currently is a top Championship or Premiership material - none of them imho?

 

[Surf's Up]

Six wins on the spin would do it. Football fans are fickle. In fact I'm not even sure that's the right word as it has a very negative meaning and you can't blame anyone for wanting Hyypia out after three wins in 21. But results are everything.

At the vast majority of clubs he would already be gone and we wouldn't be in this situation. But now the board have taken this bizarre decision he at least gets the chance to work a miracle. We'd certainly have the mother of all lickers backlash v the bedwetters in January if he did. But I think we all know that is very unlikely to happen.

Reflects my sentiments exactly.

 

[SAC]

If I heard that the club were looking at Paolo di Canio assisted by Ched Evans then I think I'd prefer to stick.

 

[Lincoln Imp]

Maybe the plan is..

Sami to stay...
Burke to go...
Team management to be reorganised...
Steve Coppell/Paul Jewell figure to arrive...
player discipline and morale to be made a higher priority...
significant window money to turn up

And if all goes well the Board to avoid the awful embarrassment of losing a third manager in strange circumstances in not much more than 18 months.

 

[shaolinpunk]

Who in the Albion squad currently is a top Championship or Premiership material - none of them imho?

Dunk will be in the Prem by the end of the January transfer window

 

[Worried Man Blues]

All he has to do is get the best out of the players then it is someone else's problem, the general consensus seems to be that he gets a lot less, that's the worry.

 

[Peter_Taylor]

Absolutely nothing!!! He had my loyalty when appointed and still has it.

The majority of the starting line up from last season were sold without hesitation and the CLUB has not bought adequate replacements.

You can send a monkey to space but it CANNOT fly the rocket!

I will continue to back Sami 100%.

The crowd reaction to him against Millwall sickened me and was an absolute disgrace, this club has been through some tough times, in fact times that the present situation could not possibly compare to yet the mob are out to get their scapegoat.

Yes he persist's with JFC which has to be questioned but apart from that i cannot have any reason to fault him, he doesn't need to skid along on his knees every time we score, he doesn't need to pump his fists every time Stockdale pulls off a save. He is his own man and i find his calm persona quiet refreshing for a manager.

A manager will not get a team relegated BUT a team will and that team has been constructed before Hyypia has had the chance to add his men to it.

Give the guy a break back the team and enjoy the ride, football is a funny old game with ups and downs and as a club we have had many and this is just another one.

Some sense at last! Well done.

 

[Rookie]

Who in the Albion squad currently is a top Championship or Premiership material - none of them imho?

Stockdale was premier league last season and was Hull no 1 in the season they went up
Bruno, Greer formed part of one of the best defences in the league last season.
Dunk will play premier league football.
Holla was Dutch top flight.
Bennett was premier league
Darren Bent
Colunga was in La liga

 

[BBassic]

Win some games is the top of my list. Followed by:

Not dropping players who have earnt the shirt (Walton)
Dropping players who haven't earnt the shirt (JFC/Gardner)

 

[banjo]

For him to admit he's out of he's depth an then resign.

 

[London Irish]

Despite our terrible position, I think Sami would still have the backing of many of the fans if he'd just done some very simple things.

It seems to me like he's being too bold/pig-headed trying to get his system implemented and that's caused him to lose the fans. Derby was the clearest example. If he'd set up to defend and maybe nick a goal, I think we could all have a bit of sympathy if we'd lost 1 or even 2-0.

Maybe Derby was individually wrong but he has played a defensive midfielder (third centre back) all season and it's looked shite.

For me one of the few good things he's done is try something else.

 

[portslade seagull]

Just play a settled team for a change might help

 

[janee]

10 consecutive wins...

 

[phazza]

Absolutely nothing!!! He had my loyalty when appointed and still has it.

The majority of the starting line up from last season were sold without hesitation and the CLUB has not bought adequate replacements.

You can send a monkey to space but it CANNOT fly the rocket!

I will continue to back Sami 100%.

The crowd reaction to him against Millwall sickened me and was an absolute disgrace, this club has been through some tough times, in fact times that the present situation could not possibly compare to yet the mob are out to get their scapegoat.

Yes he persist's with JFC which has to be questioned but apart from that i cannot have any reason to fault him, he doesn't need to skid along on his knees every time we score, he doesn't need to pump his fists every time Stockdale pulls off a save. He is his own man and i find his calm persona quiet refreshing for a manager.

A manager will not get a team relegated BUT a team will and that team has been constructed before Hyypia has had the chance to add his men to it.

Give the guy a break back the team and enjoy the ride, football is a funny old game with ups and downs and as a club we have had many and this is just another one.

ah, some sense at last!!

 

[tweenster]

We were brilliant at Leeds (alright, not the best side in the Championship but, like most sides, are currently above us in the table), especially in the first half, and yet that side has never played together since. That is undoubtedly Hyypia's decision. I find his inability to read a game and make positive changes (or indeed any changes at all) puzzling and his apparent unwillingness to motivate once the match is underway somewhat baffling. He also seems unable to prepare a side for the team that is about to face us (eg Derby) and even when a player does well (eg Ince at Derby) they don't get to start the next game whilst others seem to be permanent fixtures despite not being at their best (or even close to it). What is even more confusing is the players comments, and particularly Greer's today, that Hyypia is probably a better manager than either Gus or Oscar - where is the evidence because I am certainly not seeing it.

So what would it take? Results and some decent performances. Sensible team choices based on form and the opposition and a bit of fight/pride from the players. I watched the Boro v Derby match last week; Boro were fantastic, chasing everything and with a determination to win every tackle. Hyypia said after the Millwall game that he couldn't fault the effort from our players and then I watched Boro and we were light years away from their level of effort and commitment, so maybe a bit of honesty would help and stop treating the fans as if we are completely stupid and gullible.

You've got me ranting ...