If I remember correctly Chelsea didn't rip us to pieces playing big Vals style in fact it drew plaudits throughout the football community So why shouldn't it work for the more gifted players that west brom have in the top flight
I have read all the posts and taken onboard the comments, broke BFC was a it over the top but definitely slowed down the progression and development of the players and the plan. I hoped most would have appreciated the change in the titlr rather than it pissing them off.
I’m pretty confident, as I’m sure most of us are deep down, that the money and prestige of the jobs offered far outweighs us signing them a couple of experienced players and paying them a salary within our budget.
You suggested he created a style for us purely based on the players he discovered on arriving at Oakwell. If I’ve misunderstood that then apologies, as the reality is that is just his style not one he created just for us.
Maybe but statements like them being disappointed that Vals style didn’t allegedly add the desired value on players doesn’t play well . Maybe statements like we tried our best to keep him but other offers were out of our reach instead of complaining about the player values and his buy out clause was met ! That doesn’t sound to me they tried to keep him tbh , It may be that they did but not read anything that says they did only the complaints that our best ever season for years didn’t turn into a auction for our players :
That statement is irrelevant though in terms of this discussion. Clauses are inserted for a reason - 99 times out of a hundred because if met it allows someone to leave because at that stage that’s what they want.
It’s very relevant in terms to this discussion , Statements are an insight in to how he was allowed to leave . Patrick was very vocal in letting us know he wanted to keep people with statements like he tried to make them the highest player but it wasn’t enough etc . It may not suit your argument but it’s relevant all the same .
Nothing to do with suiting my argument (strange choice of words, but par for the course on here). There’s absolutely no way Val is turning down the fortunes and opportunity offered with West Brom. Salary, length of contract, and the chance to finish top two in a three horse race for Premier League glory. There’s no way we could keep him and saying we tried would have felt disingenuous and the PR spin we all complain about.
You started by saying my initial post was not evidence based (which is true )but then offer opinions not evidence based . If the owners had said they did their best to keep him genuinely then it would have been on record regardless of whether some thought it were a PR spin . I very much doubt these owners would bother about whether it looked like a spin or not . They didn’t bother to hold out on the player value statement on what people thought .
I didn’t start anything other than reply to a post on a forum which you’ve just admitted was correct? Definitely not an argument in my eyes. If the club saying those words would have pleased you then great. I don’t think it changes the fact that there was slim to no chance of Val staying - otherwise why wouldn’t he have said something along those lines? Works both ways
I’m not arguing just highlighting that you highlighted my post as hearsay but then offers hearsay yourself , Neither of us knows for definite what happened but to say my post was hearsay which I admit it was then offer your own hearsay as an (argument ) is a tad patronising don’t you think . And as for the statement if it were a statement of genuine intent and they’d done their best then yes it would have pleaded me but your attempting to say I’d be palmed off with a statement that turned out to be not true is wrong . I would have taken it at face value and as anything else that comes from the club if I’d found out it wasn’t a true statement then I’d be furious .
Again though. Why didn’t Val say something about being keen to stay but not feeling like he had the support or the club tried to keep him? Putting forward your view and opinion needs to reflect that as well. You keep referencing hearsay but i know that deep down you know the odds of us keeping him we’re slim to none. But you seem to be suggesting they weren’t. Will leave it at that.
Im basing it on how Swansea and other footballing teams at the end of last season sussed out our way of playing and overcame it easily, a bit like Wilders Sheff utd second season in the prem.
He didn’t say that because we didn’t try and that’s what I’ve said . You’re trying to turn the debate around . It’s been known for coaches etc to turn big moves down if the ambition at their current clubs is there has it not ? I don’t know Vals situation on whether he’d have stayed if wed try to convince him and I don’t think he’d have wanted record transfers , he hasn’t insisted on that at WBA but the fact is we didn’t try according to statements from the club of WBA marched his buy out clause and players values didn’t rise under him . That doesn’t sound to me we tried to keep him and it’s the boards attitude imo that lets clubs poach our coaches .
No, I just said he employed a style that suited the players... I think I did anyway!? If I didn't, thats what I meant
The way it came across was that he came in, assessed the players, and chose a style to suit. But he just played his style and thankfully for us it worked a treat.
You’re missing my point but this is dragging on loads. Repeating what I said at the start, we all know there’s slim to zero chance he was ever staying once WBA called.
And you’re missing my point which is there was slim to zero chance of keeping him when WBA called due to the boards willingness to cash in once their value was met and nowhere in any statement they made convinced me they tried to keep him other than his value was met and the players value didn’t rise under him . Andy Ritchie was refused talks with Wendy and that’s the difference .
I agree, once a club like that throws their hat in the ring it's difficult for clubs like us to hang on to any asset.
The blunts lost their loan goalie Henderson , and I think that had a big impact to their season as Ramsdale was a bit slow to get up to speed.