Patience needed if Evan Ferguson is to become a Brighton star
Evan Ferguson is the name on Brighton & Hove Albion fans’ lips at the moment. The 17-year-old has been earning rave reviews in the Seagulls’ development squad this season before going onto have an exciting cameo from the bench in the FA Cup win at West Brom.
Ferguson was introduced in the 76th minute at the Hawthorns with Brighton trailing 1-0 to the Baggies. Within five minutes of his introduction, he had his first senior assist when guiding the ball into the path of Jakub Moder for the Albion equaliser.
The teenager then came agonisingly close to opening his senior account on two occasions. Ferguson did well to beat David Button to a cross but his effort lifted just over the bar.
He then did have the ball in the back of the net in extra time, only to see the linesman correctly flag him for offside. Based on what we saw in West Brom 1-2 Brighton, Ferguson will surely not be denied that first goal for long.
For Andrew Croft’s Under 23s, Ferguson has notched nine goals in 15 appearances across Premier League 2 and the Papa John’s Trophy so far.
At an average of one goal every 113 minutes, you can see why some Brighton fans want to see him thrust into the first team picture immediately – especially when the Albion are so light in striker numbers.
Ferguson though needs to be treated carefully, as the story of another teenage striker from the Republic of Ireland who scored goals for fun in PL2 is a reminder of.
So good in fact was Aaron Connolly at Under 23 level that he was named PL2 Player of the Season 2018-19. Connolly scored 16 times in 18 matches, good numbers even before you consider that he spent the second half of the season on an injury-hit loan spell at Luton Town.
Imagine what more he might have achieved in PL2 at the age of 18 had he not joined the Hatters’ League One title push?
Those feats intensified the calls of Albion fans for Connolly to be thrust into the senior side, both during the 2018-19 campaign and at the start of the 2019-20 season.
New Albion boss Graham Potter soon agreed. Potter handed Connolly his first Brighton start in the Carabao Cup second round tie at Bristol Rovers in the opening month of the 2019-20 campaign.
Connolly duly scored against the Gas in a 2-0 win. Better was to come on his full Premier League debut. Connolly burst onto the scene with an electric brace as Spurs were hammered 3-0 at the Amex just five months after they had been contesting the Champions League final.
He only added one more goal to his tally following the Spurs game but the potential was there for all to see – even if he had been overly burdened by starting most games at the age of 19 because Potter’s only other striking options were Neal Maupay and Glenn Murray, the latter of whom barely played as the manager did not rate him.
Brighton awarded Connolly a new four year contract worth a reported £23,000 a week come the summer of 2020. Since signing that deal, he has at best stagnated. At worst, he has regressed.
Connolly clearly felt he had made it, as would quite a few young men taking home £1 million a year. His attitude has become appalling and he has been involved in more stories in the gossip pages – breaking lockdown to bonk a woman, driving offences, his relationship with a Love Island star – than he has scored goals over the past two years.
That has culminated in him joining Middlesbrough on loan for the second half of the 2021-22 season. Connolly needs to sort his attitude out and score some goals on Teesside at what feels like a crucial crossroad in his career.
Some Brighton fans balk at the comparison between Evan Ferguson and Aaron Connolly. They say that Connolly’s struggles come solely from his attitude, his lifestyle and the fact that the Brighton nightlife economy would collapse by 3498 percent without him out partying.
Ferguson has displayed none of those characteristics. By all accounts he is determined and willing to put in the work to reach the top, so the two players are seemingly nothing alike.
Connolly though is not the first striker to come through the Brighton academy of whom massive things were expected.
Others also failed to live up to the hype, not because they had their own permanent private booth in Shoosh! but because they were thrust into the first team picture and expected to score goals before they were ready.
Jake Robinson became the Albion’s youngest ever player when making his debut at Middlesbrough under Steve Coppell in the League Cup of 2003. When he scored in a Paint Pot win over Forest Green Rovers a month later, he became the club’s youngest ever scorer.
At a time when a teenage Wayne Rooney had just burst onto the scene at Everton, Robinson was seen as a League One equivalent.
To be fair to Robinson, he is probably the most successful homegrown striker that the Albion have produced, finishing as top scorer with 12 goals in the 2006-07 season.
148 games represented a decent Albion career for Robinson, returning 22 goals. He never really hit the heights he was expected to though, summed up by the fact that he was playing non-league football by the age of 26.
Then there was Joe Gatting. Son of Albion legend Steve and nephew of England cricketing royalty Mike, he was viewed as the next big thing when grabbing goals galore for Brighton reserves and Dean Wilkins’ record-breaking youth team of 2005-06.
With Leon Knight agitating for a move and the only other striking options available to Mark McGhee being Federico Turienzo and Mark McCammon, Gatting was thrown into a Championship relegation battle.
He was 18-years-old and being relied upon to score the goals to keep a poor Albion side in the second tier.
Gatting failed to net in the Championship that season. With each passing game, he seemed to become more bereft of confidence.
Strikers are confidence players; shatter their belief by asking too much of them from an early age and it can be hugely detrimental to their careers.
After five senior goals from 52 appearances, Gatting asked to be released by the Albion so he could turn his hand to cricket whilst turning out in the County League with Whitehawk.
These three players serve as a reminder that goals galore at youth and development level is no guarantee of first team success. Expectations of what Evan Ferguson can achieve should be tempered with that in mind – by both Brighton fans and the club.
Gatting and Connolly were both overburdened and thrown into the first team as regulars at far too young an age. A paucity of other striking options at the time combined by the hype created by their scoring form further down the food chain meant they were overpromoted.
For Gatting, it destroyed his confidence and he never recovered. Connolly meanwhile has suffered from a double whammy; he squanders the sort of simple chances which saw him win our WAB Brighton Miss of the Season 2020-21 because his belief has taken blow.
But at the same time, he is a millionaire with the arrogance of a bloke who thinks he has made it as a Premier League footballer. Which explains why he now finds himself at the Riverside Stadium.
Evan Ferguson has all the attributes to go onto become a brilliant player for Brighton. Whilst the Albion academy churns out class defenders like there is no tomorrow, no striker has come through, scored goals and established themselves in the Brighton first team for over 30 years.
Ferguson could break that duck. Although he was only on the pitch for 44 minutes at the Hawthorns, his impact was enough to show what he can bring to the party.
To be a success, Ferguson will need patience. Further FA Cup minutes all the while the Albion remain in the competition mixed carefully with sporadic Premier League appearances, if the opportunity allows.
What Brighton should not do is start playing Evan Ferguson each and every week and expect him to score top flight goals.
A significant loan spell in the lower leagues next season would be even more beneficial to his development. Connolly played only two games for Luton whereas the likes of Ben White, Robert Sanchez and Steve Alzate all grew up through playing significant minutes picking up experience in the Football League.
Ferguson is only 17. His time will come. Be excited about him – but he patient.
