A record-breaking season – so what next for the Albion?
It will be a long while before the dust settles and the elation subsides from Brighton & Hove Albion’s impressive end to the 2021-22 season.
A memorable and comprehensive drubbing of Manchester United. A comeback win over West Ham to secure a place in the top 10 of the best football league in the world for the first time, with an associated £10 million bonus for finishing ninth and not 14th.
A record haul of points. Wins in the London fortresses of Arsenal and Spurs adding to points on the road taken from Liverpool and Chelsea.
Seven goals in two home games from defence and midfield players like Pascal Gross, Moises Caicedo, Marc Cucurella and Joel Veltman as well as our established forwards.
Not to mention the first time I have ever won a sporting bet (£3.20 bags of Starburst all round with the winnings!)
Of course there will be the “yes, but…” comments on the poor home record, the long winless run, the draws that could have been wins and the lack of clinical finishing up front which littered the season.
But much of that has been put to bed by a fine run-in that left our mid-table challengers in the dust. Aston Villa, Newcastle, Wolves and Crystal Palace, almost all of whom have greater resources than us but finished below a #TeamLikeBrighton.
Having cracked the top 10, the immediate goal next season will be to repeat the feat. Tony Bloom and Paul Barber have said their aim is to establish the Albion in that top half of the table, even with a budget far more modest than the Big Six or new contenders like Saudi-bankrolled Newcastle.
Bloom and Barber have been clear there will be blips, and we may not have seen the last of 15th/16th/17th place finishes on occasion.
The narrow escapes of Leeds United and Everton this season following finishes miles higher up the table in 2020-21 is a lesson against complacency.
But the pundits label of Brighton being “perennial relegation battlers” must surely now be consigned to history.
For me, that label was put on notice in the last home game of last season when the Albion beat Manchester City 3-2.
For all the excuses around a City team that had already secured the title, were on the beach and down to 10 men, we still overturned a two-goal lead to beat arguably the best side in the world.
City were more than capable of winning that night even being a player short and whilst phoning in their normal quality.
They left the Amex with nothing not because they chose to, but because Brighton showed that we are good enough to take anyone on. That night proved we could compete for the top 10, and that is exactly what we did this season.
There will of course be the transfer window agony over which players go. Yves Bissouma, Leandro Trossard, Robert Sanchez and Marc Cucurella have already been placed in the sights of Big Six teams or money-no-object Newcastle.
It is likely one or more will depart, albeit for huge fees. We survived Ben White and Dan Burn moving on, and we will flourish regardless of who stays and goes this summer.
More prize money, bigger transfer receipts and larger sponsorship income from this season’s success will help our shrewd recruitment department find replacements.
Whilst higher wages and European football may be a temptation for some Brighton players to move on, equally the excitement and promise of an Albion team on the up with one of the best managers in British football will be a good reason to stay.
The loss of Graham Potter of course would be a blow of far greater magnitude, but for now I think he will want to build on his success and see just how far he can take us.
It seems Gross and Danny Welbeck, veterans who have made such a valuable contribution this season and who still have so much to offer, will extend their contracts.
The promise of younger newcomers Enock Mwepu and Caicedo is almost too exciting to contemplate. As much as Bissouma is probably the most talented player to pull on the stripes so far, Caicedo could become world class in seasons to come. So too Cucurella, deservedly voted Player of the Season by both fans and teammates.
As some players move on to even bigger things, Brighton are now a team many players will aspire to sign for.
They will see a bright future for both themselves and the Albion as a club, with potential to reach new heights a real draw as much as seeing the club as a stepping-stone to greater things.
And whatever surprises the transfer window holds in store in the next 10 weeks, we already have the guaranteed arrivals of Deniz Undav and Kaoru Mitoma from Union St Gilloise to look forward to.
Both have been flying for Tony Bloom’s other team, who last week qualified for the Champions League for the first time thanks in no small part to the contributions of their two players loaned from Brighton.
Undav’s free-scoring habits, if repeated in the Premier League, could be the key to even greater progress in 2022-23.
He joins a squad with experience, skill, confidence and youth in abundance. Led of course by Potter, who has a rare tactical nous in turning games around, as he did at half time against West Ham.
It has been our best ever season, not just because of position, points, prize money or bragging rights over Palace, but because we have made it. We are now an established Premier League club, with so much potential for more.
Thank you Tony Bloom, Graham Potter, the players and all those staff at the club who have made this a season to remember. I cannot wait for August.
Warren Morgan @WarrenBHAFC
