Relegation was inevitable at some point

[stoneybloke]

The inevitable has eventually caught up with Albion. For too long the sum total of their ambitions was just to survive in the Premiership, and treating a top half finish as a bonus. With the league now biased in favour of the same 6 or 7 clubs as possible winners, the rest of them have a smaller playing field to operate in. Albion's complacency and resulting mediocrity has now been well and truly found out. The lack of aspiration always leads to lack of success. The overall management of the club must take responsibility for mess things are in now. The long distance links with the owner will never work properly and it must be questioned if he actually understands or knows how to deal with what he has taken on. We take my grandson to every home game, and his boredom and restlessness has become more and more noticeable. The last match I really enjoyed was the defeat of Arsenal last year. It's all been downhill since then.

[boingy]

Here's where it went wrong. January 2017 transfer window we needed QUALITY STRIKERS. We got crocks. Last season 8th place was ours for the taking instead we took our foot off the Gas and allowed Everton to waltz on by. The players didnt want it. They dont want it now. What we slowly built has been firmly demolished by a complete lack of ambition from the club and a reluctance to spend big money on goalscorers. Thats all we needed. It sucks and makes us all embarrassed.

[Yarmbaggie]

As I have said many a time for me the most important aspect of clubs in the modern game is their recruitment department, and the money men. All clubs change players at an alarming rate year on year and some years you get it right (or get lucky) and others you don’t (or get unlucky).

For me it all started to go wrong in the Summer of 2016. Surely as many of us were saying at the time, the priority was a quality forward to score goals as it looked inevitable that Saido wanted away and he needed to be replaced. I think the Summer window is when the thought out and planned deals should be struck and the Winter window for small adjustments.

In the Summer 2016 window we sold Chester, Lambert and Gamboa (main deals) for a reported €12m and bought in Chadli, Phillips and Nyom for a reported €26.5m. Total net outlay €14.5m plus no doubt big increases in the wage and agents bills. For a club with our income not an insignificant sum. However, as Boingy highlights above nothing to address the goal scoring aspect, unless they though Chadli was going to be a 15 goal a season front man!!

Come the January 2017 window and Saido goes for a reported just under €14m and we bring in Livermore for €11.5m. So in essence I can see why Boingy says we got it wrong in the January 2017 window. However for me if the recruitment team, including DoF were planning correctly we should have sorted a new forward in the summer. To not do so in the January 2017 is totally inexplicable and what we’re they doing for the 6 month period between the two windows that they hadn’t identified a goal scoring forward during that time. They spent most of the Saido money on Livermore and surely over the two windows we should have done a lot better.

Whatever they did do over these two windows plus the main 2017 summer window also caused us problems with Financial Fair play and that is why I think the Owner was absolutely right to get rid of the people supposedly running the club and overseeing the big decisions. They were totally incompetent in my view and I believe their actions more than any by Pulis or Pardew have brought us to where we are now.

[baggieal]

As I have said many a time for me the most important aspect of clubs in the modern game is their recruitment department, and the money men. All clubs change players at an alarming rate year on year and some years you get it right (or get lucky) and others you don’t (or get unlucky).

For me it all started to go wrong in the Summer of 2016. Surely as many of us were saying at the time, the priority was a quality forward to score goals as it looked inevitable that Saido wanted away and he needed to be replaced. I think the Summer window is when the thought out and planned deals should be struck and the Winter window for small adjustments.

In the Summer 2016 window we sold Chester, Lambert and Gamboa (main deals) for a reported €12m and bought in Chadli, Phillips and Nyom for a reported €26.5m. Total net outlay €14.5m plus no doubt big increases in the wage and agents bills. For a club with our income not an insignificant sum. However, as Boingy highlights above nothing to address the goal scoring aspect, unless they though Chadli was going to be a 15 goal a season front man!!

Come the January 2017 window and Saido goes for a reported just under €14m and we bring in Livermore for €11.5m. So in essence I can see why Boingy says we got it wrong in the January 2017 window. However for me if the recruitment team, including DoF were planning correctly we should have sorted a new forward in the summer. To not do so in the January 2017 is totally inexplicable and what we’re they doing for the 6 month period between the two windows that they hadn’t identified a goal scoring forward during that time. They spent most of the Saido money on Livermore and surely over the two windows we should have done a lot better.

Whatever they did do over these two windows plus the main 2017 summer window also caused us problems with Financial Fair play and that is why I think the Owner was absolutely right to get rid of the people supposedly running the club and overseeing the big decisions. They were totally incompetent in my view and I believe their actions more than any by Pulis or Pardew have brought us to where we are now.

Totally agree with you Yarm. On paper, I don't think Brighton or Huddersfield though are any better than us, but they have ambitious managers with direction, who command respect, and discipline together with squads that are hungry and will do everything for the shirt! So whilst, I do blame the Board, I still blame Pardew as he's a useless clown and always was! You can't tell me Megson as an example would not have achieved more points in those 15 games and at least instilled passion and fight!

The club is a complete mess and no doubt Blood who is offering his ticket on Saturday for £20 will actually have to give somebody £20 to take it! So many supporters have switched off as the club is disgracefully run!

[mickd1961]

I also think you need to look at the failure to cash in on a moron,a pile of s h I t and the cab driver.

The Berahino saga was nothing more than a p I s s I n g contest between him and JP in which JP was determined to show what a big powerful leader he was.

He “won” and cost us £14m.....thanks JP!

If Berahino,Rondon and Evans had been sold when the market was hot for them you’d have been talking about a cash pile of £85m plus from which to invest in players to add youth and speed to the squad.

The recruitment dept are a joke.....how can you turn down £35m for Rondon ( who gets a goal every 5 games on average and less if you take out cup goals! )because you can’t easily replace him!

He has 4 league goals this season I believe FFS.

You could’ve played G Mac or Dawson at centre forward this season and probably have got more goals from that purely based on their ability to head the ball and their nuisance value.

Some lump like Morrison at Millwall would be no less effective than Rondon and there are plenty of others in the Champ who get goals and are worth a punt ahead of Rondon.

Instead of £85m plus we are going to be lucky to nett a total of £30m for those three players.

A club like ours doesn’t need a recruitment dept.....it needs Dan Ashworth because that guy was worth the wages of at least five of the present idiots in that dept.

I could cry at the ineptitude behind the scenes.

[Yarmbaggie]

I was going to mention the Rondon missed opportunity but to be honest I still don’t believe it.

Who would be prepared to pay £35m or anywhere near that for him, even before the start of this season. However, if the money was on the table then it is even more evidence of how the men behind the club are totally incompetent and are the main reason we are in our present predicament.