Ian Hart on Brighton’s Uefa Conference League qualification
Well that didn’t pan out exactly how we expected.
In fact in the 24 hours or so since the dust has settled from Sunday afternoon, I’ve been thinking has there ever been a bigger Albion anti-climax?
Going back to August 1979 and the Division One opener against Arsenal, yes it was exciting, but to a degree we knew what we were... apparent relegation fodder, so the 4-0 home defeat in front of a packed Goldstone Ground wasn’t that much of a surprise.
The Palace play-off defeat in 2013? Possibly, but for many, the events of Sunday will live long in the memory for both the right and the wrong reasons.
And it all started so well as the club celebrated 125 years of the Albion with an amazing evening at the Amex last Tuesday. Confidence was high.
We all knew what the permutations were regarding Europe were. Pre-match I spoke to one of the player liaison team in the 1901 East Lounge, they said the players were all in good place, knowing exactly what they had to do.
On the flip, a number of my Manchester United supporting friends had stated they felt with third place and Champions League assured, whilst not quite ‘on the beach’ it should be almost plain sailing for the Albion.
And then the ref blew his whistle…
Second best to everything, at times in the first half I wondered if I was watching a team at the other end of the table rather than challenging for Europe.
Deservedly two-down at the break, by the time VAR decreed United’s third was okay, what did we have left?
Brighton fans on the phones
Well basically all migrating to our phones and watching the other games panning out in the last 30 minutes.
Brighton could still be playing now and not scored. But in the end it all came down to Liverpool ‘holding on’ against Brentford in the 10 minutes added time.
They did and Albion’s return to Europe was rubber stamped. Cue huge celebrations at the Amex from a squad despite being humbled/embarrassed by the final visitors.
That said I don’t begrudge them. It’s a 38 game season, and going all Charles Dickens, it truly has been the best and the worst of times.
Champions League was fantasy
I will forever stick by my stance that Champions League was always in the realms of fantasy, as it turned out the permutations didn’t even work for Bournemouth.
But the European Conference is still a credible competition, just ask Roma, Chelsea, West Ham and Palace. But a legitimate attempt at winning it, along with a credible EPL campaign, will require a busy summer of player recruitment.
Van Hecke, Verbruggen and Baleba to go?
Partly replacing the departing players. Jan Paul Van Hecke has already reportedly stated he will be leaving. I doubt we will see Bart Verbruggen between the sticks for the Albion again, and the post match body language of Carlos Baleba told us everything we needed to know.
My Champions League opinion was based on the fact that the current squad was neither big enough or strong enough. To lose arguably three of the strongest players during the summer recruitment process, highlights the magnitude of the task for Fabian Hurzeler.
Replacing those three, and with the extra bodies we will need when we play our first Conference game on Thursday 20 August, before the League starts, for us, three days later. I would imagine we could see up to six or seven new players arriving at the Amex. Almost certainly Premier League/Europe ready rather than the prospects we’ve previously nurtured and developed and then made serious money on.
Sunday’s gone, we got over the line. Limped or sprinted, it doesn’t matter, but a long time Albion fan sat behind me stated at times against United Brighton looked like relegation fodder. Something that wouldn’t have gone unnoticed in the directors box opposite us.
Before that we’ve got the summer, the World Cup and that squad from Thomas Tuchel! But that’s for another column.
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