1

West Bromwich Albion FC / Re: Tom Fellows

« on: August 28, 2024, 02:07:28 PM »

When we sold Maresca / Koumas / Davies etc, we had a half decent and competent recruitment team and scouting network - thats the major difference and big concern for me

I think though that if we get an offer of £20m + add ons the club will sell

2

West Bromwich Albion FC / Re: Ian Pearce

« on: August 30, 2023, 04:53:45 PM »

Had a budget for the last 3 years and still been hopeless

3

West Bromwich Albion FC / Re: From bottom to promotion

« on: March 05, 2023, 02:06:50 PM »

£18m on Grant, £18m on Grady, £7m on Dike - we’ve spent more on players than anyone in the division - problem is we have spent shockingly badly

Until the structure of the club changes - DOF, proper scouting structure etc we will continue to struggle - when Gourlay came in this was stated as his main objective - still waiting for him to implement this - we seemed to have learned nothing

4

Albion Matchday Forum / Re: After Match Debate

« on: December 22, 2022, 08:52:37 AM »

2nd best throughout - over run in midfield - Rogic and Swift were great Saturday but poor last night

Okay was excellent again and really hitting form, Palmer improves every game and looks a very, very good Gk

Phillips brings nothing - Carlos doesn’t look like he rates Grady

Townsend has been poor for as long as I can remember - gives the ball away more than anyone I’ve seen in an Albion shirt

If, and it’s a big if, we have funds in January I would have on my wish list two new full backs, centre half and a centre forward

Very good start by Carlos but this game brings a little bit of perspective into where we are as a squad - I.e a million miles away from being able to compete / stay up should we somehow manage to get promoted

5

General Football & Sports / Re: Steve Bruce - Manager

« on: August 31, 2022, 07:20:57 AM »

Avid reader of this forum and very occasional poster - my thoughts on this would be as follows :

I wasn’t a supporter of the initial appointment of Bruce - the CEO coming out with “he’s the only candidate we spoke to” was poor - however he was a very low risk appointment at the time - where the board got it wrong was extending his contract at the end of the season. His football has always been dour, safety first and he has always been very reluctant to bring through his younger players - all he is doing now is reverting to his norm and doing what he has always done

Some posters are giving him credit for the 3 signings he has made ? Yokuslu was a Big Sam find who knew the club and, due to the apparent lack of any other offers, wanted to come back. Swift and Wallace were 2 of the stand out performers in the Division last season who were both available on frees - I would imagine every club in the Division was interested - hardly scouted and found these players ? If the past is anything to go by we merely offers them more money than anyone else ?

His one big plus which he should be given massive credit for is the reemergence of Grady, who has been our best player by a mile this season. Bruce still hasn’t “found’ us a centre forward and we are still needing 2 full backs

Has he done a good job since February - no - would anyone else have done any better - possibly, possibly not

The squad is poor, lacks depth and investment - this Bruce cannot be held fully responsible - the board, the CEO must take the majority of the blame here -the  notion that the squad should be challenging for the top 6 is laughable - which of our players would get into a team in the Prem ? None. Which of our players drew interest from elsewhere over the summer ? None. The prospect of us going up is frightening - we would literally be hammered week in week out

Would I sack Bruce now ? No, there is no point - it would be another costly pay-off for him and his cohorts with no obvious candidate who could (or would be willing to ) take over. Club needs a reset and 2-3 year plan

Need to identify a younger, hungry coach who can develop the youngsters and isn’t afraid to give them an extended run - Bilic did this when he first came - improved the older players and brought through unheard of youngsters - scouting network needs ripping up and starting from scratch and as fans we need to accept that thoughts of promotion and  completing in the Premiership are a million miles away at the moment

The ownership will not change in the immediate future and there is very little as fans we can do about this -we need to be realistic and accept where we are and what we have

Worrying times - the future looks bleak

6

West Bromwich Albion FC / Re: New Manager 2022 Feb

« on: February 02, 2022, 06:22:33 PM »

If Steve Bruce is the answer then we are asking the wrong question - simple as that - his negative style of football was shocking - do we never learn !

Another journeyman manager looking for a big pay day

I’d be looking at Karl Robinson - done well everywhere he’s been, plays good football, ambitious and with something to prove

7

West Bromwich Albion FC / Re: Summer Transfer Window 2021

« on: September 01, 2021, 09:47:17 AM »

Molumby is the type of player you are referring to and our manager is putting his trust in some of our younger players, if you looking for an instant fix there isn't one.

Quick fix ? Where have I said that ?

Looking for a long term plan / structure / build - not short term loans and stop gap signings like Hugill and Reach

8

West Bromwich Albion FC / Re: Summer Transfer Window 2021

« on: September 01, 2021, 08:52:24 AM »

Struggling to understand how anyone can think this has been a good window or be satisfied with  the deals done ?

Have we learnt nothing from the last 5 years ? Mowatt looks a decent signing (but more than likely came due to his relationship with VAL) - Reach and Hugill are short term stop gaps - Clarke may or may not be a success but is still only a loan

Should the unthinkable happen and we actually get promoted we have Johnstone, Furlong, possibly Bartley, Mowatt and at a push Robinson who are actually competent in the Prem - 5 players !

We would need to sign at a very minimum 10 Prem quality players - conservative value of £10m each equates to £100m - we have never, and never will spend that sort of money

Until we improve our scouting network, invest in younger players we will always be stuck in this cycle - loans and stop gaps do nothing for our long term future

Really poor window again