Alireza Jahanbakhsh @ Feyenoord Rotterdam 2022/23

[Preezy]

lol. It is that type of man management that ensured potter didnt last more than a few months at a big club. Word spreads about your treatment of players and in the case of alireza, not being up front with him was a mistake and something the rest of the brighton players even remarked at. Trying psychological tactics to "break" players you deem surplus to requirements is bizarre and out of the ordinary, especially when things like the guy's family are involved. The club gave alireza a 5 year contract, not chris hughton personally, just because they changed their coach after a year doesn't mean that the next coach has carte blanche to discard any player he doesn't immediately rate. Esp not a manager of Potter's CV.

And brighton ended up finally taking a big leap once potter left, no surprises there either. De zerbi had his best guys taken again, still spent basically no money, and with the same lack of a true goal getter turned the team into a highly entertaining, offensive menace pushing for CL football, something potter never came close to achieving.

I added to my post as you were quoting me, so you missed the last bit which I’ve added below:

For a guy that implies that he cares about his behavior and football, he showed the opposite. He didn’t have enough self-respect to leave that club and value his football. He also behaved unprofessionally when he had a big fight with Potter during training in front of the squad where he yelled that Potter might be racist towards him. It’s the lowest thing you can say.
Unfortunately Alireza seems lost. He seems to view himself as mentally strong and is influenced by his teammates telling him that they admire his patience with Potter, but he appears very sensitive and fragile.



Now, Potter is not a big club coach. His winrate has never been high. Appointing him was a rookie mistake by Chelseas new owner, something Abramovich would’ve never done.

I don’t condone Potter’s behavior, but they were legal. Potter has the legal right to exclude Alireza and tell him that he will play next week, just to exclude him. Because he can just say that he changed his mind even if in actuality it was on purpose to provoke him which I believe it was of course. But it’s for reasons like this that Potter won’t come out and speak of his treatment of Alireza, because he can just keep it to himself and go the legal route until Alireza leaves from being fed up, which took him way too long to make that decision.

Alireza isn’t the first case of such treatment. There has been multiple cases of this. Perhaps you don’t see it often because players don’t typically stay when told to leave. But when they do, then it turns out like Icardi in Inter and Hazard in Real Madrid. It’s not bizarre to me at all.


How can you say that Potter, as the head coach, doesn’t have the right to sell his player (Alireza) just because of his CV?
His CV is irrelevant to his job position.
As head coach, he decides who plays and who doesn’t.
A previous coach signing Alireza on a five year contract is also irrelevant. Potter still has the authority to sell Alireza the same day he becomes head coach. However, Alireza chose to stay and that’s his own fault for the reasons I’ve mentioned in my previous post.

[Prowess]

It was obvious that Potter didn’t want him, and he was informed to leave the club by the coach. Alireza chose to stay despite being told that his services aren’t needed.
I assume he stayed for the salary which is understandable, but he has no one else to blame but himself for staying since he cares about playing time. Instead he stayed for three years and has the audacity to complain about it. And Alireza most likely believed that he could work hard to prove his worth which makes him irrational. You can’t build or force a relationship with your boss when you aren’t wanted, even if you are of value.
There is no proof that Potter was being racist. He probably just preferred other players, and as we saw what he did to Chelsea, he likes to take advantage of his transfer budget and spend as much as he can to bring in his own chosen players.
When you’re told to leave but choose to stay, then expect your boss to make your life miserable in every legal way possible until you get fed up and leave. This is what happened to Alireza, since the coach promised him to start upcoming games, but then excluded him from the squad to provoke him. Alireza said that to this day, he doesn’t know why he was treated like this. He is either completely lost or he’s lying. Obviously Potter isn’t allowed to specifically state that he is forcing you out the club. It’s ignorant to only hear Alireza’s side of the story and sympathize with him when he could be full of bs while showcasing his mannerism.
For a guy that implies that he cares about his behavior and football, he showed the opposite. He didn’t have enough self-respect to leave that club and value his football. He also behaved unprofessionally when he had a big fight with Potter during training in front of the squad where he yelled that Potter might be racist towards him. It’s the lowest thing you can say.
Unfortunately Alireza seems lost. He seems to view himself as mentally strong and is influenced by his teammates telling him that they admire his patience with Potter, but he appears very sensitive and fragile.

I strongly disagree. ARJ is the definition of professionalism when it comes to footballers. In a previous interview, he stated that when he asked to leave the club, they would string him along, saying "No, you're in our plans." So, he would believe them, and stay with the club.

It is 100% unacceptable for a coach to tell a player "you're starting" then completely leave him out of the squad. And to do this twice. It doesn't matter what the coach's intention is or not.

I think the only mistake ARJ made was being so naive when he joined Brighton. Especially the EPL, is a cutthroat business and they will treat players as disposable as they come. Hence why, they would discourage him for leaving, citing "you're in our plans," aka: "you're a good emergency back up player if shit hits the fan, and players drop like flies." They kept him on as a contingency plan, with complete disregard of wrecking his career.

I agree though, he should've left earlier, as there was a clear contradiction between their words and actions.

On a side note: heyf he wasn't able to go to Napoli. What a great club that would've been!

[Preezy]

I strongly disagree. ARJ is the definition of professionalism when it comes to footballers. In a previous interview, he stated that when he asked to leave the club, they would string him along, saying "No, you're in our plans." So, he would believe them, and stay with the club.

It is 100% unacceptable for a coach to tell a player "you're starting" then completely leave him out of the squad. And to do this twice. It doesn't matter what the coach's intention is or not.

I think the only mistake ARJ made was being so naive when he joined Brighton. Especially the EPL, is a cutthroat business and they will treat players as disposable as they come. Hence why, they would discourage him for leaving, citing "you're in our plans," aka: "you're a good emergency back up player if shit hits the fan, and players drop like flies." They kept him on as a contingency plan, with complete disregard of wrecking his career.

I agree though, he should've left earlier, as there was a clear contradiction between their words and actions.

On a side note: heyf he wasn't able to go to Napoli. What a great club that would've been!

Yes, as you stated, it is 100% unacceptable for a coach to promise playing time, but leaving you out the squad instead.

But you’re only blaming the coach for this.
I mentioned that Alireza has no self-respect and since you believe that it’s unacceptable for a coach to give such treatment, then one shouldn’t tolerate it. The coach is legally allowed to treat you that way which we both believe is unacceptable. However, If you don’t accept it then you leave. You don’t play victim and stay while pointing fingers and taking no responsibility. Alireza resorted to his mannerism to defend his actions which is delirious.

If you’re in an abusive relationship with your boss and you choose to stay in that environment, then you’re tolerating that behavior. The only other possibility is being fragile and easily manipulated. Alireza spoke as if he was manipulated, but he stayed even after realizing that he’s being abused. Therefore, he is not only tolerating it and having a lack of self-respect, but at the same time being fragile and delirious in regards to his comments regarding racism during their fight.

[koorosh]

Don't buy this malarkey!

Alireza arrived in Brighton being the most expensive player in the club's history and played for one year under Hughton. The club and manager and the fans all wanted him to succeed. He could not establish himself. Same with playing under Potter

But he just was not EPL material. He is not going to admit that but only showed sparks very occasionally.

He can say many things about how he was so upset not playing etc but he stayed in Brighton because the pay was great. I'd do the same.

If he wanted to go, the club would more than happy to offload his salary. He wanted to stay and collect his pay.



Sent from my Pixel 7 using Tapatalk

[Prowess]

Yes, as you stated, it is 100% unacceptable for a coach to promise playing time, but leaving you out the squad instead.

But you’re only blaming the coach for this.
I mentioned that Alireza has no self-respect and since you believe that it’s unacceptable for a coach to give such treatment, then one shouldn’t tolerate it. The coach is legally allowed to treat you that way which we both believe is unacceptable. However, If you don’t accept it then you leave. You don’t play victim and stay while pointing fingers and taking no responsibility. Alireza resorted to his mannerism to defend his actions which is delirious.

If you’re in an abusive relationship with your boss and you choose to stay in that environment, then you’re tolerating that behavior. The only other possibility is being fragile and easily manipulated. Alireza spoke as if he was manipulated, but he stayed even after realizing that he’s being abused. Therefore, he is not only tolerating it and having a lack of self-respect, but at the same time being fragile and delirious in regards to his comments regarding racism during their fight.

That’s why I said he was naive in the situation. He underestimated the politics, and even two-faced nature of the situation he was in. I’m sure he’s matured much more now.

But it was toxic of them to keep saying “No, stay with Brighton, you’re in our plans!” then hardly play him.

Regarding racism, it was more than that. Because he was getting flustered by the incongruence between their words & actions towards him, he asked what is it: do you have a personal problem with me, is it upper management, or is it my iranian passport? So he wasn’t simply making it a race thing. And honestly, hagh dasht.

I followed his Brighton career very closely, and honestly, they did not give him a fair shake. Same thing with Saman now at Brentford.

[Babak_Shirazi]

It was good to see his former inbred coach Harry Potter get sacked.

[Preezy]

That’s why I said he was naive in the situation. He underestimated the politics, and even two-faced nature of the situation he was in. I’m sure he’s matured much more now.

But it was toxic of them to keep saying “No, stay with Brighton, you’re in our plans!” then hardly play him.

Regarding racism, it was more than that. Because he was getting flustered by the incongruence between their words & actions towards him, he asked what is it: do you have a personal problem with me, is it upper management, or is it my iranian passport? So he wasn’t simply making it a race thing. And honestly, hagh dasht.

I followed his Brighton career very closely, and honestly, they did not give him a fair shake. Same thing with Saman now at Brentford.

But we don’t know what Potter did or didn’t say. Alireza said that they would walk past each other without even greeting. Yet, he stayed there. If not for money then what?
At that point, you realize that your future in this club is over but he stayed anyway.
Some of you are defending him and saying that it’s unacceptable that Potter treated him like this, but why? Alireza chose to stay because he tolerated it. No one forced him to stay. He isn’t a victim.
We also can’t take everything Alireza says as facts. He uses his mannerism to appear as the good guy. I’m aware that he didn’t accuse Potter of racism but he questioned if he is being racist. That is such a classless thing to say.

Making yourself look so small and victimizing yourself to the point that you make sure everyone knows that another man can abuse you racially and that another ethnicity is superior to yours.
There was no reason at all for Alireza to even bring up race.

Potter is not a good coach. His player management also seems poor.
He didn’t want Alireza. We don’t know how this was communicated to him.
All we know is that Alireza blames Potter and only Alireza complained to his teammates which gives them one side of the story. His teammates sided with him because that’s all they heard. It doesn’t mean that Alireza is telling us the whole truth.


Yes, Alireza didn’t get a fair chance to prove himself at Brighton but once the coach makes it clear that you aren’t wanted, you need to move.

[PEJ]

This Potter racism thing is way overblown. Saman was one of his favorite players at Ostersund. This is like a marriage that didn’t quite workout and there is resentment. Is it necessarily anyone’s fault, no. But there is going to be hurt feelings an bitterness.

[The]

Entirely possible for Potter to have been a cunt towards Alireza, without Racism being the reason behind the cuntiness

[Nokhodi]

Entirely possible for Potter to have been a cunt towards Alireza, without Racism being the reason behind the cuntiness

I don't think he was racist either, just hell bent on getting him out because he was the previous manager's big signing.
You see this alot in mid level managers. Constantly removing the old guy's people and bringing in his own.
You also ruin the players from the previous group to say "See how bad the previous guy's picks were?".

JB also touched on the passport though in terms of our players getting scouted and transferred. He said he didn't think it was an obstacle at first, but he now knows it is.

[Azmoun_shireh]

Entirely possible for Potter to have been a cunt towards Alireza, without Racism being the reason behind the cuntiness

Agreed, it's a classic power play politics with a new coach.

Ideally he should have had a better adviser/agent to navigate through the politics. That Hashemi guy was just happy to be there with his trophy wife in tow.

[taremiscores]

[AGC]

I added to my post as you were quoting me, so you missed the last bit which I’ve added below:

For a guy that implies that he cares about his behavior and football, he showed the opposite. He didn’t have enough self-respect to leave that club and value his football. He also behaved unprofessionally when he had a big fight with Potter during training in front of the squad where he yelled that Potter might be racist towards him. It’s the lowest thing you can say.
Unfortunately Alireza seems lost. He seems to view himself as mentally strong and is influenced by his teammates telling him that they admire his patience with Potter, but he appears very sensitive and fragile.



Now, Potter is not a big club coach. His winrate has never been high. Appointing him was a rookie mistake by Chelseas new owner, something Abramovich would’ve never done.

I don’t condone Potter’s behavior, but they were legal. Potter has the legal right to exclude Alireza and tell him that he will play next week, just to exclude him. Because he can just say that he changed his mind even if in actuality it was on purpose to provoke him which I believe it was of course. But it’s for reasons like this that Potter won’t come out and speak of his treatment of Alireza, because he can just keep it to himself and go the legal route until Alireza leaves from being fed up, which took him way too long to make that decision.

Alireza isn’t the first case of such treatment. There has been multiple cases of this. Perhaps you don’t see it often because players don’t typically stay when told to leave. But when they do, then it turns out like Icardi in Inter and Hazard in Real Madrid. It’s not bizarre to me at all.


How can you say that Potter, as the head coach, doesn’t have the right to sell his player (Alireza) just because of his CV?
His CV is irrelevant to his job position.
As head coach, he decides who plays and who doesn’t.
A previous coach signing Alireza on a five year contract is also irrelevant. Potter still has the authority to sell Alireza the same day he becomes head coach. However, Alireza chose to stay and that’s his own fault for the reasons I’ve mentioned in my previous post.

Its not quite this easy. Appointing and starting players either is shared by coach with the board and or owner or it is treated as solemnly coach decision. It differs around europe and one country where it is shared is in germany which collided with for example klinsmanns philosophy. Today klinsmann has a hard time getting work in his country.

The complete opposite is the General rule in the english model where coach is in charge of all player decisions. there are exceptions to this in England and Brighton is one of them.

This may have made Alirezas decision even more messy where he may have had the trust of the board but at the same time problem with a coach that is used to the english way of doing things.

For ARJ making a decision hardens. Usually in clubs like this there are incentives for players to bide their time until the coach gets sacked. Something that is harder in german clubs where you wont find discrepancies between what coach want and boards view. Add his huge salary and we have a more nuanced picture than simply stating that ARJ is too stubborn.

Things are even more complicated than whats on surface level. Its even more complicated than what people chose to disclose about themselves as in ARJs case. A general rule of thumb is that people most often know what they are doing, know their best interests and have rationales for their decisions.

[nisfejahan]

Entirely possible for Potter to have been a cunt towards Alireza, without Racism being the reason behind the cuntiness

Yes, entirely possible and very probable that Potter is just an incompetent c*nt. His track record proves it. He is a creation of his PR firm. Success in lower divisions of the all-powerful Swedish leagues, and one not-so-horrible season at BHA. That's it. The rest of it was just PR.

Anyone who has ever managed people in any field knows that you have to be honest and upfront. You have to care for their well-being and ambition as much as your own. Even when you want to get rid of someone, you have to make it easy for them to leave instead of making it hard for them to stay.

BHA could have easily worked out a loan where the other club pays a fraction of the salary. They could have sold him and picked up a part of his salary. Not only did Potter and BHA management make a c*untish decision on an ethical level, but it was also a stupid business decision. They ended up paying his full salary and did not get any benefit (except a couple of spectacular goals) out of that salary.

[Prowess]

I think we all have to be extremely naive to think that every coach will have 0% bias based on a player’s nationality.

We do not live in an ideal world. Coaches are still human. Of course, if a player is elite, it will automatically trump any bias, because it will force the coach to play him.

But when players are all similarly average to above average, other than a coach deciding based on their playing style, some coaches will let their bias of nationality dictate their player selection, no matter how subtle.

Unfortunately, Iran today is unique in being one of the most ostracized countries in the world today. Not necessarily a positive connotation.

ARJ is the complete opposite of a victim. He is a professional, with tremendous work ethic. In spite of not getting playing time, he never pouted, but put his head down and worked harder. He even noted how he was able win Potter’s confidence a few times.

The problem was, after awhile, ARJ got fed up with the clear incongruence between Potter’s words & actions towards him, plus unexplained benching during the times he was playing well.

Also, I don’t think it’s fair to let one instance of his verbal spat with Potter for us to label him as “playing victim.” Overall, he was a consummate professional. But I think he was naive, and should’ve left earlier.