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***Official*** English Football Season 2020-21

Lillian Thomson

Hall of Fame Member
It's quite funny how Chris Houghton got them promoted and kept them up for two season but the second was a struggle so he was sacked. This wally was given a six year contract because he plays prettier football yet they've been near the bottom throughout. To only be four points above the relegation zone is quite an achievement given how terrible the bottom three have been.
 

grecian

Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
It's quite funny how Chris Houghton got them promoted and kept them up for two season but the second was a struggle so he was sacked. This wally was given a six year contract because he plays prettier football yet they've been near the bottom throughout. To only be four points above the relegation zone is quite an achievement given how terrible the bottom three have been.
You are Brighton, you aren't going to win the League, playing prettier football maybe the only thing that makes you wanna watch, being hideously mundane not really a selling point.
 

Niall

International Coach
Yes Brighton did not sack Houghton because they had aspirations of top 6 ,they fired him because the football was horrific and in his final season they finished the season so poorly they barely survived despite the level of the teams at the bottom been so low.

If Hougton was in charge they would probably be in the same position or worst. Brighton have a ceiling which is 14th or 15th and when the season is over that is where they will probably finish.

Job done.
 
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flibbertyjibber

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And that keeps the financially viable so the owners are happy.

At least this Championship journeyman player turned manager plays better football than the likes of Pulis and Allardyce.
 

Lillian Thomson

Hall of Fame Member
So if Boris's latest cunning plan goes according to we could have fans back in stadia by May 17th. That's a week after the EFL season ends and two days after the Cup Final. Maybe a bit of hope for the Play Offs. Not sure what will happen with foreign travel all around Europe for the Euro's if fans are allowed to attend matches.
 

Red_Ink_Squid

Cricketer Of The Year
Yeah I think the league table doesn't do justice to how well Brighton have played this season. They're not one of those sides which are labelled as a 'good footballing side' because they pass it around the middle of the park prettily but don't actually create anything; they are genuinely incisive going forward and create lots of chances but their finishing has been poor all season. I'd be happy with Potter if I were a Brighton fan.
 

Uppercut

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Silentstriker used to have a theory that the value of cricket captaincy was completely unobservable, and the only way you could judge a captain was by his win/loss/draw record. It was a stupid theory, so he was universally shouted down, and later abandoned the theory himself after watching Ponting's disastrous captaincy in India in 2008.

I bring this up because it always surprises me how many people believe it w.r.t. football managers. Results aside, it's sometimes pretty clear whether a first team coach is a strength or a weakness. Brighton are very good positionally in attack and defence and regularly dominate games despite having pretty much zero 'established' PL-level players, but they miss a lot of chances. You'd need to be pretty dense to see that pattern and conclude that the manager is the problem.
 

JOJOXI

International Vice-Captain
Whilst I think Potter is doing a good job - Potter is doing as well as you can expect of him really whilst playing nice football which is great, I do think the key issue is a philosophy in football. I am much more sympathetic to results-driven managers and football than most. Many would hate managers playing a certain style of football even if they were getting the results.

Personally, I think managers should be judged on results, with context of course. If Hughton had been sacked having just finished firmly in midtable and Brighton were in this position now, I wouldn't say I think Potter should be sacked but think he would understandably be under pressure if he was to lose his next few games (losing v Newcastle and WBA in the process). It isn't like Potter hasn't been backed in the transfer market, a net spend of £60mil last season. One of those signings Maupay too at £20mil who Potter would presumably have had a say over even if it wasn't him who recommended him. But as it is, he's doing a bit better than Hughton in the PL playing better football and whilst I didn't agree with the sacking of Hughton its paying off so far. I also think being near the top or bottom changes things, not a huge difference between finishing 9th and 13th but there is with 16th and 18th or 3rd and 5th and I'm not sure 'but we play good football' cuts it if you go down/look like going down and the prior manager has had the club comfortably in midtable with a similar group of players. That's not a slight at Potter as that isn't the case here with Brighton struggling the season Hughton was sacked but just my personal view on results-based approach.


With cricket captains I don't agree with the theory but I think there are a few key differences with no comparable league system where you play each team twice a year and home advantage such a big deal results will always be skewed unfairly. Also with the national team its harder to plan for key players retiring, especially if that includes the previous captain and with longer captaincy spells in cricket then modern-day football you don't get as many chances for like-for-like comparisons between captains as the squads they are captaining will be significantly different and you can't buy a replacement whereas you can in football, a replacement that will be either recommended or given approval by the manager on most ocassions.
 

Uppercut

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Honestly I think Brighton play kinda crappy football. Solid defensive structure coupled with a slow build-up. It's very Van Gaalish, and a bit like the current City side.

They're just pretty obviously a good side on a run of bad luck and poor finishing. It happens, sometimes the 10th best team in the league is in 16th after 25 games. Whereas under Hughton they were total ****, very lucky to stay up.
 

JOJOXI

International Vice-Captain
Honestly I think Brighton play kinda crappy football. Solid defensive structure coupled with a slow build-up. It's very Van Gaalish, and a bit like the current City side.

They're just pretty obviously a good side on a run of bad luck and poor finishing. It happens, sometimes the 10th best team in the league is in 16th after 25 games. Whereas under Hughton they were total ****, very lucky to stay up.
I guess when I say nice is that they 'try to play football the right way' . Interesting you mention Man City - many say how good a team they are to watch but there are other sides I prefer watching in all honesty. Personally I'd prefer watching a side that counter attacks at pace then a side that dominates through ball posession but I am not your typical fan either :laugh:

An extended run of bad form - 8 wins in 43, 44pts from 43 games, I'm not sure on the bad luck either - finishing chances is a skill just like creating chances and having the characteristics to defend well. Happy to be corrected but I can't think off the top of my head of recent instances when they have had something massively go against them like Southampton in recent times.

I agree they look better under Potter and I am not advocating for him being sacked but just that I think results are very important in judging a manager but that comparison needs to be in context. Had Brighton not looked good but been hugely effective in their final season under Hughton and finished 11th then I think the upcoming games would be big for Potter - they've managed a similar group of players and if one manager getting them 11th was deemed unacceptable then it makes sense to me the next manager would be judged if they were in a relegation battle.
 

Uppercut

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I'm not sure on the bad luck either - finishing chances is a skill just like creating chances and having the characteristics to defend well.
Maybe luck isn't the right word. Finishing is a skill, but it also mean reverts *extremely* strongly. So the performance of teams that miss lots of chances almost always improves over time, and the performance of teams that don't make many chances almost always gets worse over time, even if they're taking a lot of their chances.

Also it's not just that they're finishing poorly. Their opponents are finishing ridiculously well. When you keep Benteke to one shot you're usually pretty safe!
 

JOJOXI

International Vice-Captain
Maybe luck isn't the right word. Finishing is a skill, but it also mean reverts *extremely* strongly. So the performance of teams that miss lots of chances almost always improves over time, and the performance of teams that don't make many chances almost always gets worse over time, even if they're taking a lot of their chances.

Also it's not just that they're finishing poorly. Their opponents are finishing ridiculously well. When you keep Benteke to one shot you're usually pretty safe!
They've never been the most clinical of teams with their chances even before this season in PL - every season they've underperformed their xG - worst side that stayed up last season in terms of underperforming xG and worst side overall this year. I do question at which point with these group of players does it become an issue that they look like a good side but don't get the results of a good side. It's easier to understand if it was just 7/8 games but for a side to be like this for an extended period of time makes it harder to understand. Although I guess the argument against that would be Liverpool who outperformed their xG massively last year, only minimally underperforming it this year and we see the difference it is making to their fortunes this year.
 

Uppercut

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Yeah I don't buy that it's all bad luck. If that were the case they'd be a top four team. But the gap this season is far too big to be plausibly explained by poor finishing ability alone, so they're not the 16th best team either.
 

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