Brighton were homeless in the 4th tier in '97-99. They nearly got relegated, too. They shared Priestfields with Gillingham, which is about 75 miles and an hour and a half away. The idea of them beating Man Utd 4-0 in a league game would've been ludicrous.
He sounds very emotional and understandably so. His missus had a very high risk, complicated pregnancy. The relief of that being successful must be immense. I'm glad that everyone's ok and that we didn't make it more stressful for them.
Bizarre interview. Why talk about ambitions like CL and cups when he decided to give up on all for now.
Most of the players signed under Sugar were either Wimbledon players (Perry, Thatcher, Sullivan, Leonhardsen - and nearly Hartson), running down their careers (Nicola Berti, Klinsmann's second stint), or cast-offs from higher up the food chain (John Scales, Ruel Fox - and it has to be said Ginola and Ferdinand fell into this category too, as they were surplus to requirements at Newcastle at the time), or players we probably forgot until I mention them right now (Andy Sinton) Obviously there were a few standouts, Klinsmann and Rebrov most notably (even if Rebrov was horribly handled by various managers), and late on he did bring in David Pleat to scour the lower leagues for untapped talent that found us Simon Davies...and reminds me we should have persisted with Matthew Etherington a little longer, given he became an established PL player It does have to be said the first couple of windows under Enic did follow this pattern, with us bringing in Gus Poyet and bringing back Teddy Sheringham, though even then there seemed a better plan than signing players from teams below us so we could stay ahead of them
£70m being touted, for a player with one season at a mid-table Serie A team under his belt. Everyone knows we are desperate.
Yes I was living there at the time I remember when they moved to Withdean in Brighton following the Gillingham stadium share. At Withdean you could see them playing from the road as you drove by. Then they finally won their huge battle with the council to build their current stadium which opened in 2011 and then a few years later there they are in the top flight and playing in Europe, an amazing story. Crystal Palace have come a long way too. I grew up 3 miles from Palace and their players used to come to my school and take us for football. That was their 3rd & 4th Division days pre Bert Head who took them to the First Division for the first time in their history in 1969. Two Southern fairy tales.
No, £70m for a player with a 50% sell-on clause That is not desperation. Como would be utter morons to accept a bid of, say, £40m given half of it would immediately head to Francoville
Chuck the £70m at Villa for Rogers. Probably the next best player we could get after the Eze disappointment. Quality baller and in front of a duo out of Bentancur/ Palhinha/ Sarr, makes a brilliant midfield trio. I’d also love us to go back in for Semenyo, never happening after his contract extension but I’d much rather throw £70m at him than Savinho. Semenyo and Kudus on the flanks would be sexy, champagne football.
Remember that Kane fellow? 13 min hat-trick tonight against RB Leipzig, we should spend a few bob and get him to play the 10 role , one of the best passers of the ball that this club has had in the last 20 years