by DOYLERSAROYALER »
21 Mar 2013 16:03
Good article
Gus Poyet to Reading – Should he stay or should
According to Socrates (the Greek philosopher, not the Brazilian football icon) the only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.
He probably didn’t have the managerial future of Gus Poyet in mind when he said it, but if he had – he couldn’t have summed the situation up any better.
According to the bookmakers, the much-loved Brighton manager is about to up sticks and head for Reading. And he will probably take his partner in crime Mauricio Taricco with him.
His odds tumbled overnight yesterday – with Seagulls fans waking up to the news that their beloved boss might be about to do the unthinkable and leave The Amex hotseat with his charges in the midst of a promotion dog fight.
Since then speculation has been king. Some say they are sure he won’t go, others claim he has already made his mind up. The truth is, nobody knows. Yet.
Even those with strong links inside the Albion bunker are in the dark. People who might leak transfer targets or pictures of the next home kit will not have the same access to the inner workings of Poyet’s career plan.
The Albion themselves have offered up nothing less than a wall of silence. The same can be said for the Reading end. A stream of no comments has been dished out to journalists left, right and centre as hacks queue up round the block for a space-filling scoop during the relative calm of the international break.
However, fans could be forgiven for thinking the club’s no comment stance sounds a little like a suspect who knows he is bang to rights and is waiting for his lawyer to arrive.
More likely though is that the club’s PR machine is as much in the dark as anyone.
Journalists from the Press Association claimed yesterday that Poyet had already spoken to Reading and is currently mulling over his decision. Sam Wallace, writing in today’s Independent, hints it is almost a done deal.
Then again, it wasn’t too long ago we were being told the country’s biggest and best were being tempted to Qatar for a money-spinning dream league. And we all know how that story turned out.
Wallace though is usually credible. The fact he is leaning towards a managerial move is worth listening to – even if, according to some Brighton fans who read his story online this morning, he managed to get a few things wrong in his piece when providing context for the move. He does though appear to have a penchant for linking Poyet to other jobs and, if you read his article, there does not appear to be much ‘in-the-knowness’ in it which could not have been gathered from old Poyet press conferences and comments about wage restrictions.
He could, just like most supporters, be sandwiching the few facts in the middle of a couple of slices of old information and speculation.
The main reason Brighton fans seem to be rallying against believing the rumours is that they cannot understand why Poyet would swap Project Seagulls Promotion for Operation Reading Relegation. The simple answer – as it so often is in football – is cash. And lots of it.
Poyet has made not secret of voicing his frustration at what he has always argued is a lower half of the table wage budget afforded to him at The Amex. Last week, speaking in The Argus, he went further and seemed to lay the blame for the much-maligned free transfer departure of Glenn Murray at the feet of the board who, he claims, did not allow enough flexibility between transfer war chest and wages.
Reading may well get relegated. They may well find themselves playing Brighton next season. And no doubt they will be doing so in front of substantially fewer fans than pack The Amex each week. But, and here is the key point, they will be backed by a Financial Fair Play busting Premier League parachute payment – said to be worth somewhere in the tens of millions.
And, perhaps importantly, Reading’s board also seems willing to work outside the existing wage structure for the right player. Pavel Pogrebnyak may be being linked with a move back to Russia after a poor season with The Royals, but the owner’s willingness to pay the hitman a wage which dwarves that of the rest of the squad might appeal to Poyet – particularly in the wake of the Murray debacle.
His own wages will also increase. Of that there can be no doubt. And a relegation after taking over at this stage of the season would have little or no negative impact on his reputation or future job chances. If he could keep them up his stock would go through the roof. If they go down, his standing will not be damaged and he will be in charge of a squad, club and budget well placed to challenge for an immediate return.
Brighton – currently riding the crest of wave in their second season in their new home – are at a cross roads. For the second season they are round and about the play off mix. Last year they fell away after being as high as fourth entering the business end of the season. A similar drop away this time round – and with a number of first team players out of contract in the summer – could leave Poyet with a bigger rebuilding and reshaping job than he would find himself needing to oversee at a relegated Reading. And with less cash at his disposal.
The more you look at it, the more attractive an option it looks.
Poyet, whatever some may say, is unlikely to make the jump straight from Championship also-rans to Premier League big job. Reading would be a step up. A small one, but still a step up.
Brighton may have the potential to be bigger but at the moment Reading offer the infrastructure, squad and finances that the Albion are aspiring towards. He could wait another two or three season at Brighton or make the move now.
Albion fans should not fret. The club has never represented a more attractive option to potential suitors and the list of interested managers would be healthy enough for Tony Bloom to recruit a high calibre replacement. Whisper it around The Amex, but it may even work out better for the club in the long run.
The one genuine concern would be whether or not Poyet would return to The Amex for some of his players. Liam Bridcutt would be an obvious target but out of contract stars like David Lopez would, you would imagine, be easy to entice away. Loan starts Wayne Bridge and Matthew Upson could also find higher wages at Reading that they are likely to be offered at The Amex in the summer.
Swansea, so often the benchmark against which Brighton fans like to judge the club’s progression, have proved that losing an iconic manager need not mean the end of the world. Far from stalling post Brendan Rodgers, the Welsh outfit are thriving. Poyet leaving would not suddenly send the Seagulls tumbling down the leagues.
The very fact that the Albion have, if we believe the numerous reports, given Poyet permission to meet with Reading, suggests Bloom realises that, while his manager has no doubt been integral to the footballing revolution taking shape on the south coast, he is by no means the only factor.
And, if Poyet has spoken to the Berkshire club, it would indicate that it would not take the dangled carrot of a Chelsea or a Spurs to tempt him away from Sussex.
Nobody, apart from presumably Poyet himself, can be sure what will happen over the next few days. He may not even know himself yet.
But what Brighton fans can count on is the stability the club has under the stewardship of Bloom et al.
Managers come and go. The grass almost always looks greener. But for once the Seagulls are well placed to prove the age-old adage that no man is bigger than the club.
And for that, we have one man to thank. And that man is Tony Bloom.