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Beware the Sludge II

This is the second part to a piece I wrote last October. Not a part 2 in its more linear sense, but a continuation of ideas and an extension of the themes that I touched on the first piece.

Belief- the feeling that something exists or is true

Purpose- an abiding intention to achieve a significant goal

identity- a combination of traits that define who you are

I think the overarching message that I tried to convey in the first piece — Beware the Sludge — was the importance of giving sufficient and necessary conscious thought, in having a club that has a clear purpose in everything that it tries to achieve. Without this, you are lost, drifting aimlessly in the sludge.

I cited the examples of Newcastle — the potentially great disruptors to the heavyweights, Gerrard flailing and struggling for purpose at Villa, and Bielsa leaving Leeds and the metaphysical effect that had, as examples of the different effects that the sludge can have.

In this piece, I want to retain the ideas I laid forward previously but attach them to a more pertinent thinking point of, the bigger picture and the journey that this encompasses. Viewing these ideas through the lens of the emergence of a seemingly top 8 in the league, the rarity of Brighton and Brentford and the unique position they now hold, as well as various victims who have fallen foul to the sludge.

Having process and purpose in place allows longtermism to not be viewed as an arbitrary thought point, but rather an abstract destination you are constantly working towards. It is not necessarily a tangible location or pyshical achievement, but more a permeating aura that is everlasting, a reference point that allows you to always keep moving forward but never quite grasping.

Doing this we avoid the sludge and its all-encompassing wrath.

“Ange brings a positive mentality and a fast, attacking style of play” Daniel Levy

Is that all we have left? The trophies are never going to come, seemingly. That dream has died. The competition was too competitive, the growth required too substantial, and the teams too good.

We need something different. Not different as we have always embodied an attacking and expansive tactical ideology, but something more pertinent to the idea of actual success.

For teams like Tottenham, serial underachievers for a club of their size, but a mainstay in the battle for European places, the motivations have changed. Perhaps not literally, but subconsciously there has been a growing acceptance and reluctant realisation that to avoid stagnation, the club has to create the idea of intangible progress through the product that it displays on the pitch.

Intangible progress, on the surface a horrible description for what a club — aiming to win trophies — is trying to achieve. Progression for the sake of progression, but that is the space that we have created. Clubs competing at the top not afforded the luxury of bottomless pits, now have to prioritise creating a sense of vibrancy and catharsis for the fans, enjoyment over anything else. Pawns can never be kings. The greatest honours are reserved for those with the greatest pockets — the rest of us are here to sit back, watch and try to enjoy this passing of time.

It might be too late and the gap too big for this new path to breeding physical success, but better to enjoy the ride than be stuck in the mundaneness of dogmatic football. That can only be a good thing, right?

Tottenham is not alone in this — unique, but cautiously reclused — place they now find themselves in. Others, also, try to find their place in this new, distorted environment. Before the Saudi Arabian accquisition of Newcastle, the top 6 had been set in stone since the global emergence of Man City 15 years ago. Each club was content knowing its place in the procedural pecking order. All proclaiming and boasting about how they had created the best, most exciting, and most competitive league in the world. Yh right …

When Newcastle was acquired by a Middle Eastern State it tried to be prevented at all costs by Liverpool, United, Arsenal, and Spurs in particular. They had seen first with Chelsea, and then more aggressively with Man City the effects that having, a sovereign state backing a club could have. Arsenal and Spurs have fallen most foul of the competitive imbalance and distortion of the competition. The North London clubs have struggled with their overall sense of purpose and direction of travel in recent years.

For Arsenal, they succumbed to the sludge in the years post-Wenger. Wenger was the embodiment of the club. Although growingly becoming under-appreciated for the role he did in his later years, he had a transformative effect on the English game during his tenure. Wenger was able to maintain a constant level of stability and progression when the product on the pitch and support from around started to wain. Without a figurehead, a lynchpin to attach to like with Ferguson at United, the sludge becomes ever easier to succumb to. How do you replicate the feeling? The affection? How do you go again and find a new path after losing such a presence? Both Ferguson and Wenger represented almost prophetic figures, the void they leave behind cannot be replaced, and a new direction must be undertaken.

Finding what that new direction should be, or pertinently when it should be enacted, is a delicate balancing act. Arsenal drifted for nearly 5 years before Mikel Arteta started to steer the ship in the direction that resembled Arsenal fans’ image of how the club should be operating, and the level it should be competing at.

Tottenham will hope they can replicate the atmosphere, culture, and sense of purpose that has been created at their North London neighbours. They too have veered in various directions since the departure of Pochettino — who was the fulcrum of the club — favouring a more sociopathic approach. Everything is about the trophies, not about the emotions generated through watching the product on the pitch.

The appointment of Postecgolu represents a new start, an oppurtunity to reignite the positive feelings around the club. The sludge is unrelenting, it must be avoided at all costs. It is not about the money, the transfers, or even the trophies — everything comes back to the emotion and feelings of watching your team. The duration of the journey is what is most beautiful, and what should be cherished most dearly. Because this is what creates the permeating aura of moving forward by not being transfixed on tangible assets — that avoids you from slipping into the depths of the sludge.

It harks back to the line of thinking that we sort in the piece — What have we become and in the first part of Beware the sludge — the desperation of short-termism. The notion that everything has to happen immediately, there is no patience or time for anything that resembles linear growth. This ideology exposes the lack of understanding that we have for the sludge and its unforgiving characteristics. To escape falling into its depths does not require extravagant spending and motivation to change in an instant, but a long-term plan of preparedness that does not leave you susceptible when things may start to go array.

For the top “8” there has to be control and resistance to not through the processes out of the window, in return for adoration from a baying fanbase. The vision and journey should remain everlasting amongst the tumultuous and vociferous nature of the league — only then can you avoid the sludge and make real, sustainable progress.

“Every club may now be rich, but it has distorted the rest. Not in its literal sense but in a more intangible way. An aura clouding over the rest, blinding us to our true intentions as they are bayed on to give more and more. They lose all sense of reality, of their very existence. They give everything to escape the everlasting sludge they have thus been consumed by.”

“The Chelsea episode is the encapsulation of everything that we — the super club, aristocrats, who believe they have a god given right to gate keep the sport — have become. We are arrogant and entitled. It is sad reflecting, because it could have been stopped. It did not have to come to this. We wanted more, we craved more when we could see that the fire was already stoked, that the all-encompassing beast that this league was, had become unrelenting. We should have taken a step back, away from the cesspit of football Twitter or the bile-riddled transfer gossip, viewing things from the point of view of the humanist — not wanting the next thing or the next, but evolving and growing naturally, seeing things from the bigger picture.”

Brighton and Brentford have achieved so much over the last few seasons, but the accolades and praise that have come their way have perhaps not been substantial enough when we take a step back and place what they have done in the wider context of their competitors. We spoke previously in Beware the Sludge, about the power of thinking from Matthew Benham and Tony Bloom, who both retain an unwavering desire to stay true to the processes that they have put in place. The vision has been respected, trusted and is now reaping the rewards of the seeds they sowed at the start of this journey. Brighton are set to take part in European football for the first time in their history, whilst Brentford are competing in the top half of the league only a couple of seasons after being promoted for the first time in a generation.

What makes the position of the pair perhaps even more unique is the reluctance or lack of awareness from their contemporaries in the league to follow suit in the same direction. Yes, we have seen the rise of Villa in the last six months by following a holistic line of thinking under Emery, but other examples in similar vain are few and far between. The rest seem to give the perception that they too like to think in the long term, that they too will not be perturbed by short-term events, but yet still many slip into the sludge.

Like the question of why don’t others follow suit, the question of whether is this sustainable despite the tribulations of the league also retains pertinence. When we take out a piece of the puzzle, does the whole puzzle fall apart? Well, certainly with Brighton and De Zerbi we have seen that the processes in place are not only solely reserved for the manager, but are designed to absorb and accommodate departures of key personnel. It shows that the vision cannot simply be just empty words or pledges that shift at the first moment of disruption.

When Graham Potter departed to Chelsea, taking his whole coaching team and various people from the recruitment team, many would’ve expected a drop-off relative to where Brighton was competing at the time. Potter had built Brighton from a side that typified the stereotypical, English, direct, aging team to a side that was young, vibrant, and played progressive football. What happened was not a return to those original ideals, but a progression on the template that had been built, under the guidance of De Zerbi and his unique methodology. The events typified the idea that to avoid the sludge, the manager cannot be equidistant to all ideas. To constantly progress forward, everything must be built holistically around the club, the circumstances in the dugout or personnel on the pitch play no part in the overall strategy of the club.

Brentford, under the helm of Thomas Frank since 2018, has not experienced the same levels of disturbance to their squad and management that Brighton have — in certain regard, they are fortunate that Brighton holds such gravitas. This allows Brentford as a club to operate under the radar and away from the limelight, there is no expectation or baying from the fanbase for instant progression. Brighton and Brentford have created a unique position for themselves that allows them to solely focus on executing the plans they put in place.

Is the upward trajectory that the two are on going to be constantly present? The answer is no. Both clubs would be naive to predict that would be the case, but you suspect both are adequately prepared for the inevitable dropoff when it does come. The competitive nature of the league means that unless you are run with such precision and efficiency — Man City — then you are going to have periods when you need to take stock, reset and move forward once more. What Brighton and Brentford have created, however, is a perception then when instability comes, and it will come at some point, it can operate in an isolated vacuum. The problems and reassessment that will be needed will be placed separate from the overall strategy of the club — it is sacrilege and must be protected at all costs.

Part of the reason that Brighton and Brentford have maintained supreme focus on the mission is down to the relative lack of size in both Brighton and Brentford, which has allowed it to stay true to its principles and ideas. Both have come from the lower leagues, historic but without the success to go with it, remoulded in the image of their analytical owners. There has been no precedent to follow, no expectations to live up to, it is a clean slate so to speak. For others striving to break into the upper echelons of the division, they are in — some ways — hamstrung by their reputational-laden past, the expectations and belief of their fans that they should reclaim their rightful position in the pecking order. That difference in understanding of your place within the context has allowed Brighton and Brentford to avoid the sludge *thus far*.

That leaves the rest

The rest

Wanderers in the barren landscape. Searching and scavenging for something to cling onto — something, anything they exclaim. Hope, belief, purpose, vision, clarity, goal, ANYTHING. Just gives us something to latch on and pour into.

This is the problem that a lot of the league has succumbed to. It is not that they don’t have the strategy in place, but as we mentioned earlier — they are brittle in the face of adversity, wilting and favouring short-term solutions at all costs. From there, it is often a negative spiral into the sludge.

Patrick Vieira, a relatively young coach still developing in the managerial sphere was sacked after a period of bad results. The Crystal Palace hierarchy cited the threat of relegation as the reason why a change needed to be made, but come on! Palace were only a few points above the relegation zone, and so were the other 8 or 9 teams around them. The league was severely distorted with the bottom half all taking points of each other. There was a threat of relegation, it was certainly a viable proposition, yet there were other candidates far more likely to succumb to the drop.

Palace could feel the presence of the sludge on their shoulder. It wants you to make hasty decisions and to slip into the kaleidoscope of short-termism, to resist you must show unwavering belief in the long-term vision. Going back to Roy Hodgson represents the sludge. The definition of stability and certainty, but not that of progression.

You could argue that my lamenting of the decision is misguided. I wholeheartedly understand the perspective that for Palace being in the premier league — now over a decade — is a prestigious accolade. These are the best of the times, since suffering administrations and relegations all in the last 25 years. I fully understand this. Who am I to lambast or put down a fanbase for not unequivocally buying into the fancy, little buzzwords — who just want to watch their team up and down the country play the best that the fabled pyramid has to offer? Perhaps — in this scenario — we can view sludge not as this eroding entity, but as a metaphorical comfort blanket of clarity. We do not go up nor do we go down, we simply stay put and enjoy the ride.

Whilst my wranglings with Palace can be viewed differently considering the perspective it was looked at from, the consensus of Everton, Leeds Leicester is certainly more conclusive. We spoke about the demise of Leeds in the first part of this theorisation — the absence of Bielsa created an existential crisis at the club. They fell into the sludge, slipping and sliding as they searched for what they wanted to be. How do you replace or change direction from a man that has become so prophesied in West Yorkshire? You can’t, the sludge took over and relegation was confirmed 15 months after his contentious departure.

In the end, football represents a feeling. Leeds and Bielsa showed that the feeling outweighs the goal — in the end, everything else is inconsequential

Everton and Leicester, have not experienced the loss of such a revered and central figure, but have both drifted into the league without a plan or a conscious idea of how to move forward. Leicester has experienced a far more severe drop-off, only eight years ago they were unlikely champions of England, and three years ago they lifted the FA Cup. They had grown to represent what the best of the rest could be — smart operators in the transfer market, playing progressive and attractive football with a manager that was vehemently invested in the overall vision.

What has ensued since Leicester’s success at Wembley has been a slow regression back to the mean, as the sludge seemed to take over every aspect of how the club operated. The upward mobilisation halted, Leicester stood still and failed to fully capitalise on situations they were offered — failing to qualify for the Champions League by a handful of points on two separate occasions. The ability to find the next Ndidi, Tielemans, and James Justin seemed to vacate the club. They became stagnated in the market, continuing to adhere to their mantra of selling one big player every summer, but now replacing them with players that didn’t have the right profile or simply weren’t sufficient enough in quality for what Leicester was trying to achieve.

The constant mishaps in the transfer market manifested themselves into the collective consciousness of the magnement and the squad. They perceived themselves to be inferior to others, seemingly knowing the writing was on the wall when the league started back last August. Maddison and a handful of others were the only shining light, as Rodgers started to show the effects of having nothing tangible to latch onto. There was nothing left — no belief, no emotion or actual realisiton that the team could survive from anyone associated. The sludge had set in nearly 18 months ago, over time permeating across every facet of the club leaving relegation an inevitability.

For Everton — an institution in the English game — their consistent struggles in the past decade are a damning indictment on the owners and their ability to have a coherent strategy for how to move the club forward. After Moyes left after over a decade at the club, Everton searched for a replicable figure, someone who held the gravitas to manage such a club but who was able to align with a long-term plan. Yet they have recycled through manager after manager, with money being spent as carelessly as you have ever seen in the modern game. The sludge set in long ago, and will take a long time before the club can start moving forward once more. For the fans they simply want something to invest into — someone who can radiate the same feelings that they have for the club.

Sean Dyche represents someone who would be in the ilk of Everton fan’s idyllic answer as to who can lead the club. He embodies a person that understands the values of the club, but someone prepared to invest time and effort into putting Everton back on track in the long term. As we mentioned before in Beware the sludge, for Leeds fans nothing else mattered apart from the feelings that Bielsa generated when he managed the club — passion, drama, and love. Everton needs to restore these emotions to its fanbase, because no matter the victories or players you buy nothing can compare to the sense of adoration around a club that a manager can create.

The idea of creating grand visions and plans that must be seen as scaling, one may argue is an idealistic way to view football and the context that it presides. At times there is a need for pragmatism, problems will occur and they will need immediate appreciation — I understand this. I am simply trying to convey the importance of creating a sense of intangible progress — a phrase we cited earlier. The idea is that progress is not seen as binary, we win trophies and we progress we lose and we don’t progress, no. Intangible progress creates an aura and perception that the club is moving forward towards an abstract destination, helping to generate positive feelings amongst the fanbase. This is the most important thing, to feel emotionally attached to your team regardless of what is happening on the pitch — because in reality, everything else is inconsequential.

To create this dispels the fury of the sludge. The sludge can come in many different forms, affecting us all in different ways. Avoiding it allows us to move forward, find a purpose and generate feelings of attachment. From there anything is possible.

“the river of sludge will go on and on. It isnt about me”

Jackie Kennedy

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