The Changing of the Seasons…
With the new season a matter of days away now, it is interesting to take stock of our squad and prospects, and the good news is here! We’ve already made our best signing in years. I don’t care who else comes in, the top signing has already been made. Read on, and I’ll tell you who it is and why.
So at the end of last season (14/15) we lost 8 players from the squad. Whilst this would normally be seen as disaster, having just escaped relegation I don’t think many Brighton fans were mourning the departure of the likes of Toko, Leon Best and That Whatsisname. I’ve forgotten him already.
We’ve recruited a number of terrific prospects to the development squad, and a couple of decent senior signings too; namely, the Finnish international keeper Maenpaa (who looks a monster presence between the sticks from the little we’ve seen so far); Gaeton Bong and Rosenoir, two wing-backs who again appear to be excellent quality; and <drum-roll> Tomor Hemed – a STRIKER! A striker who scored in his third minute of play and twice in pre-season so far. Then on the fringes of the first 11, there is a 19-year-old ‘wonder kid’ from Real Madrid, Jack Harper, a fine prospect for a future number 10 behind Hemed, and a 6’4” 20-year-old ‘Finnish Ibrahimovich’ in Vahid Hambo, another unproven but promising striker we can cross our fingers for as a bright future prospect.
Whilst this is all very good, and we’re promised at least three more to come, my evaluation this far is certainly not as bright as the majority view I hear. Our problem is up front. WE CAN’T SCORE ANY GOALS. Seeing O’Grady and Colunga against Lewes Town only served to show that they weren’t even as good as some of the Lewes players, are of no use to Brighton’s new season whatsoever and don’t deserve the money they earn any more than Obika or That Whatsisname did. Our problems are not at goalkeeper or wing-back, so Maenpaa, Bong and Rosenior, whilst wonderful, are not going to fix the main problem. Unfortunately, neither are Hambro or Harper in the short term, who are not only unproven at this level and not ready (indeed, both are currently injured, let alone old enough!). Hemed is therefore the signing we have made in the position of greatest need. If your glass is half-full, you’ll say ‘our problem is striking, and now we have Hemed. Nobody knew who Ulloa was when he came in to save us.’ If your glass is half-empty, you’ll say ‘our problem is striking, and now we have Hemed. At 28 and costing just a million quid, how good can he really be?’
Well, the jury is out, and my fingers are crossed.
But Hemed is not our best signing. So who is?
Answer? Chris Hughton. Hughton and his new recruitment team in the backroom. Hughton gets it. He knows what Bloom is trying to do and he knows how to get a team out of the championship. He has the nous to recruit wisely to that long-term vision and he knows that tika-taka won’t deliver in this league. The signings made with the Ulloa/Buckley/Barnes/Bridcutt money were awful, but now we can clearly see Hughton and his team are building the dream in the academy, the good vibes are returning with that fine work finally going in as it should be in the background. Sure, it would have been better to have got it right a year ago, but there are two things here: Firstly, recruiting the right players in the Championship is REALLY HARD! Any player who is good enough gets offered more money from richer/higher teams, particularly strikers. Secondly, we should feel reassured that the executive are not panicking. They still want to play that long game and buy fine prospects who will get us there in the end, even if it means taking a step back to take two forwards. Young players are cheap. Foreign players are cheap. But if you get it right, they pay for themselves and a great deal more. And Hughton is the key. The senior players that are coming in are rock solid, hard-working professionals. They know Hughton and what he stands for They tend to be great at their specialist positions and he is building a team – a machine – that you can see will be wonderful when it’s finished. Hughton has been there and done it before, and I love the long-term direction we are now taking. The problem is, the machine won’t be ready by the time Nottingham Forest arrive on Friday week, and I suspect that we as fans might have to endure a little more short term pain before the long term gain starts to show through. So my evaluation is that the short term could still have some more grimness for us to suffer. But the long term – that looks rosy.
So the question is, how long is the short term? My head thinks it’s going to take another signing or two before we can score enough goals (and last season was effectively all over by October…). As I write these words we just drew yet another blank, this time against Aberdeen. But my heart feels a new beginning, with much better foundations, a much better vibe about the place, much more competition for places, ZERO loan signings, and a manager bringing the stability that is essential to progress. Have no doubt, we are going to be very, very hard to beat. Kayal and Stephens are looking like the best midfield pairing in the league. And if Hemed, Harper and Hambo are able to give us that cutting edge we so desperately need, you just never know…
@StoryMeBad
