WeAreBrighton.com 2018-19 Season Review: May

There were two key moments in May that had far reaching consequences for Brighton’s future as a Premier League club, but neither of them took place on the pitch involving the Albion.

The first of those came on Saturday May 4th, some 191 miles away from Brighton at the imaginatively named Cardiff City Stadium.

It was here that Crystal Palace of all teams ensured that the Seagulls have a third consecutive season of top flight football to look forward to by relegating Neil Warnock’s Bluebirds via a 3-2 victory.

While survival may have been the name of the game at the start of the season, there were serious questions to be asked about how the Albion had gone from being 12 points clear of the drop zone in December to relying on Palace beating Cardiff in order to survive five months later.

And that is ultimately what led to the second key moment. Tony Bloom asked those questions and concluded that such an alarming run of form of two league wins in 18 games meant that Chris Hughton was no longer the man to take the Albion forward. As a result, Hughton was promptly sacked less than 24 hours after the last ball of the season was kicked.

The rest of the football world was aghast at Bloom’s ruthless decision but for those of us who’d sat through an increasingly dire set of negative performances, it was a move that sadly had to be made.

The dogged perseverance with 4-3-3 in the face of overwhelming evidence that it wasn’t working, the lack of intent to win games away from home and the apparent loss of the dressing room all made Hughton’s position untenable. It was a sad way for four-and-a-half largely glorious years to come to an end.

Ironically, there were signs in the penultimate game of the season at Arsenal that maybe Hughton was capable of learning from his mistakes and turning things around.

For the first time in 12 matches away against the big six, the Albion actually went on the attack and tried to get something from the game rather than sitting back and attempting to bore out a draw.

The outcome was a first point on the road against such vaunted opposition and a performance that was bloody brilliant to watch.

What it showed was that this squad of Albion players could be trusted to try and win games away from home. Unfortunately, it came too late for Hughton as Bloom had already decided his fate by that point in time.

Arsenal were the better side in the first half, but thanks to the excellence of Maty Ryan and another stupendous show of blocking from Lewis Dunk and Shane Duffy, they only had one goal to show for it going into the interval. And it was a controversial one at that.

Nacho Monreal took a theatrical tumble under minimal contact from Alireza Jahanbakhsh but it was enough to fool referee Anthony Taylor who pointed to the spot.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang took a faultless penalty to beat Ryan, but we could at least console ourselves with the fact that conceding the penalty gave Jahanbakhsh his first assist in the Premier League, even if it was for the other team.

Jahanbakhsh was so poor in that first half that we actually saw a rare half time substitution from Hughton as Anthony Knockaert replaced the Albion’s record signing.

With Knockaert flying down one wing and an unplayable Solly March causing torment down the other, Brighton were much the better side in the second half and it came as no surprise when an equaliser arrived on the hour mark.

March was felled in the area under a brainless challenge from Granit Xhaka and Glenn Murray’s resulting spot kick was every bit as good as Aubameyang, giving him his 200th career goal in the process.

The Albion could have won the game after that were it not for some wasteful finishing and inspired goalkeeping. Bernd Leno saved down low from Knockaert and then produced a stunning reaction save from a shot from March which looked to all the world to be going in. Gross managed to skew the rebound out of play with an open goal at his mercy.

Substitute Florin Andone then wasted two dangerous counter attacks, preferring to stick his head down and run forward with the ball when early passes could have put March in one-on-one on both occasions.

A win away against one of the big boys had never been closer. Sadly, when it does inevitably happen it won’t be Hughton at the helm as he would only have one more match in charge of the club following that brave showing at the Emirates.

He wasn’t the only one who would be waving goodbye after the visit of Manchester City to the Amex either. Unlike Hughton’s departure, we knew in advance that the clash with Pep Guardiola’s title chasers would be Bruno’s final game after he announced his retirement 48 hours beforehand.

Bruno of course got a send off befitting of one of the Albion’s greatest ever captains. As he was substituted in the 84th minute, every Brighton played hugged him as he made his way off the pitch and he was clapped by every one of City’s players, as well as Pep Guardiola. Both sets of supporters gave him a standing ovation as “Ole, ole ole ole, Bruno, Bruno” rang out around the Amex.

If that didn’t put a tear in your eye, then what was to come during the lap of appreciation after the final whistle would have.

Bruno could barely speak as he tried to hold back the tears, ending an emotional speech with the line “Once a Seagull, always a Seagull”. A phrase that will now enter Brighton folklore from a player deserving the legendary status bestowed upon him.

On the pitch, a City win would secure them back-to-back Premier League titles and confirm their place as one of the greatest domestic sides in English football history.

For the first 20 minutes, the Albion were more than a match for their illustrious opponents. City didn’t manage a shot on target during that time and on 27 minutes, the unthinkable happened as Brighton took the lead.

Murray was the scorer, netting his 15th goal of the campaign which took him past his previous year’s total of 14. For all those who persist in writing him off, the veteran continues to get better with age, just like a fine wine. It was an excellent goal as well, Murray rising to get the deftest of heads to a precision Pascal Gross near-post corner.

Brighton led for all of 83 seconds. Going behind stirred City into life and virtually straight from kick off they equalised through Sergio Aguero.

From there, Aymeric Laporte arrived unmarked to head home from a corner to make it 2-1 just before half time and two world class goals in the second half from Riyad Mahrez and Ilkay Gundogan gave City a 4-1 win and confirmed their place as Premier League champions.

Many Albion supporters stayed behind after the Seagulls’ lap of appreciation to watch City lift the title, giving each of the Citizens’ players a clap as they were presented to collect their medals. Sometimes, you have to appreciate the greatness that you are watching.

Without Hughton and Bruno, we wouldn’t have the opportunity to watch on as history is made in front of our eyes. They did more than anyone else to ensure that the Albion became and remained a Premier League club.

That’s why the end of the 2018-19 season feels like the end of an era at the Amex. Bruno was approaching the age where he couldn’t go on forever while Hughton had probably reached the end of the line. We certainly couldn’t start next season in the same way we’d played in the second half of the previous one and expect to survive.

Which is why 2018-19 will be a campaign that is looked back on strangely in years to come. From dreaming of the top 10 to relying on Palace to keep us up. It was the ultimate season of two halves which showed the Albion at their very worst towards the end and at their very best at the start.

Now the challenge falls to Graham Potter to get the players back to their best. Can he do it? We won’t know for sure until a year’s time, when the decision to sack Hughton will either appear to be a gamble that worked or a terrible move that sets us back years.

One things for certain – it’s never dull being an Albion fan.