Vic does spot talent no doubting that, but his arms are a bit short to get down into his pockets. If only Radz had given him a few quid more we could be flying high. Gakpo wanted Man Utd but money talk PSV acted fast when they got a better offer from the scousers….. oh and another Vic spot was Jonaton David who is about to be bought by another Prem team, bet it’s not us as it’ll be another bunch of cash
Not just cash, last season and this one, we’re fighting at the wrong end of the table, attracting the right players is a whole lot harder. I’m not fighting Bielsas corner, I know he was his own worse enemy but players wanted to be coached by him, he phone called a few of our targets and spoke with them direct, he was an attraction, they were impressed by him.
When we look at players we’re linked with… it’s hundreds of players. If you went to Southampton or wolves or whoever, it’s often the same names. The idea that Vic is a genius because we were linked with some top prospects who have gone on to bigger and better things? It’s just doing his job. There are practically no ‘secrets’ in modern football. The only thing that matters are how well the players you actually get over the line do. In that respect we have some great successes, some so so, and some JKAs. It’s not an easy job, you have to have 100s of ‘projects’ on the go, knowing that you’re pitching your club to the players against a bunch of other clubs every time, whilst having to react to knock on effects of other situations, agree deals with clubs and players and manage budgets depending on progress with other moves. It’s a juggling act. 2 years ago we were prepared to take a punt on a very young gvardiol, which would have looked very smart retrospectively - we then signed Diego llorente. It will be interesting to watch the future fortunes of gakpo, CDK and others… and compare with aaronson, Adams and sinisterra. There have been signs vics 1st team hit rate has improved, maybe helped without the ‘shackles’ of MBs structure criteria - though risty’s point is valid that bielsa’s draw may have helped getting some deals over the line. Orta has also done well picking u21 talent that have come through… let’s hope he pulls some rabbits out of the hat in January.
Apologies for my tardy response, Jan appears to have succumbed to a “bad” dose of bird flu so a bottle of Glenmorange and my Christmas jigsaw have overtaken proceedings Anyway, good points. I never proclaimed Vic to be the new messiah and am aware that a certain level of player will get offered to all clubs at that level (no secrets as you say) but, for all of Brightons’ brilliance in signing Bissouma, Cucarella and Estupinan ( we were probably offered all three), Vic has to take the plaudits for Meslier, Raph and Adams (who Brighton were probably also offered). My post was just a bit in defence of the club because it seems whatever they do, there are some who seem to take glee in just taking the piss out of the club (my club) and all they try to do, no more, no less. Spoke to (not so) big Vic once and, to be honest, he came across as a bit of a prick but….. we are on the same side MOT Ps slightly jealous nod to Brentford, they probably get offered the next step down and make a bloody good job of it Pps before Emu bursts a blood vessel, if only (little) Vic had said yes to Cucarella instead of Firpo (for the same money with similar pedigree) the case for the defence would be sooooo much easier
fair points bud… Brighton have done very well taking chances on players and Brentford have consistently managed to take rough diamonds and harness them into a successful team. Appreciate you were redressing the balance on vic who definitely polarises - I’ve mellowed to him a bit over time and sit in the middle ground.
I hear you. I think the board deserve great credit for taking the club from where we were to where we are. When you look at the $ value of our typical purchases it’s also clear that we are bottom feeders by premier league standard and need to sell to fund purchases - so mid table would be punching above our weight without further investment. The statement radz makes about investment probably sums that up. Not much point in whinging that someone doesn’t have enough money. The caveat to that is we don’t know whether his deal with the 49ers has been hindering a willingness to invest in the team by both parties. Hopefully both of them realise they need to splash a little in January to secure that investment.
And who knows what either set of owners see when they look at the league table. Maybe they see us with two games in hand, win them and we’re mid table, that’s the view of many. Of course a short bad run leaves us in same position as last season. If the owners believe the former then maybe no need to invest anything further
True. When you look at the league table it’s still at the stage where 2 wins takes you from bottom 3 to top half. If we pulled off a shock win tonight we’re midtable, game in hand and have a relatively friendly looking set of fixtures coming up in the new year. Get pumped by city and Newcastle and we’re likely in the bottom 3 going into the new year and a club in crisis.
I’ve decided to be extremely positive in 2023 so will get my negatives out of the way now No points from MC or Newcastle
