Nope. As you can clearly tell from the replay, the VAR coin landed on tails. This means offside. If it was Sunday of course tails means onside.
They've got a horrible run-in to navigate but I would love it if they grab European football off one of the so-called 'big' clubs who have all been crap this season (us, Liverpool or United). They play United next but at home, should be a fascinating game. Their three away games are Arsenal, Newcastle and Villa and they still have to play City. They'll beat Everton and Soton comfortably (both at home), but those other fixtures will cause them trouble. Really the only summer signing we need is Brighton's entire scouting network.
It's actually staggering how smartly they are operated. In the course of 4 transfer windows, they lost White (£50m), Burn (£15m), Cucurella (£50m), Bissouma (£25m) and Trossard (£20m). Imagine us losing Romero, Davies, Bentancur and Son in that period of time. Then try - just try, I know it's almost impossible! - to imagine us replacing them seamlessly with: Veltman (£1m), Estupinan (£14m), Caceido (£3m) and Mitoma (£1.5m), who for an eighth of that total somehow upgrade the team. It's madness. We'd probably take the £160m and spend it all on Paul Pogba.
As of right now it’s the best scouting network in the game. Enciso is also looking like a player and Evan Ferguson looks like he could be one of Europe’s next top strikers. It’s ridiculous. The whole club though, top to bottom, is just fantastic and I only see them going in one direction at the moment. Very exciting time to be a Brighton fan.
I've never been the type to have a 'second team' as I think it's a load of tosh, but they've quite unexpectedly become that for me. I have cousins down there and visit when I can, plus have met Tony Bloom a number of times and he's a genuinely nice bloke with a fantastic sense of humour. His wife Linda does a huge amount for various charities and I think the 'feelgood factor' at the club stems right from the top. Ah yes, Evan Ferguson, the young lad who cost 1% of what we paid for Richarlison Banter FC
One side of my family hail from Brighton (Grandad was an engineer for the Grey Green Coach company), so I've always had a soft spot for them. Their management of the club from top to bottom is very impressive and the ability to find talent - and then nurturing it - is second to none. Ferguson in particular could be a real star: playing senior game since he was 14 and scoring at PL & Int levels by 18. At 6'2" he's also a handful and has the potential to develop like Harry Kane over the next few years. We snap up (less) young talent and send them off on loan, when the likes of Spence (22) and Udogie (20) would probably be an improvement on the current incumbents. Tough run in they may have, but none of those opponents will be relishing playing them and I can see them picking up 13-15 points over those 7 games.
I see Brighton are this season's Leicester/West Ham. It's much more likely to be a lucky series of signings than any sort of scouting edge. Bet they are in the relegation zone within a few seasons.
I think it's a scouting edge. The owner runs an analytics company for sports betting. It's a variation on moneyball, which appears to be working well for them and Brentford.
Brighton are the antithesis of us. They intend to punch well above their weight and are using everything at their disposal to do so. It is extremely frustrating that Paratici's had to leave the club. He had the contacts and experience of recruiting the right kind of players to build a young, dynamic team...if teamed with a coach like Nagelsmann or Slot. We've just reacted to events like having to sack coaches...either slowly, poorly or both and left transfers until the very end of the window. All that **** needs to change and we need plans to get the most of our situation. Others are reaping the benefits of really hard work and good practice. It's long overdue that we do the same.
If it's a technology edge then everyone else will be using it within a year. Brighton and Brentford will end up being bottom half PL sides at best because they don't have enough financial strength to be better than that in the long run.
Interesting take on a club that has been under stable ownership for 14 years, with a financial growth situation that moved them into the black a couple of seasons ago and shown the same stable progression on the pitch. The Chairman came on board as a fan and with a family history with the club. He had a plan for measured development starting with the new stadium. £400m personal investment later. they finished 9th last year and could make a European place this year. You might be right - and if Tony Bloom ever pulls out then there will be one helluva challenge - but for me there is a lot more behind their current elevation than just a technological scouting edge. Their biggest challenge for me will always be increasing their attending fan base, which is limited by population density and location*. However, if the onfield progression continues and they start to develop an international following then the off-field revenues will rise exponentially, which will compensate. * Locally, when Southampton drop and fail to get back next year then they will be able to tap into part of that demographic.
I can certainly imagine elements of our fanbase losing their collective **** about us selling a player for £40m+ and not spending equal that amount on their replacement For example, if we sold Bergwijn and replaced him with Mitoma, how many on here would be up in arms at signing a J-League player instead of someone from the Premier League, La Liga, Bundesliga, Serie A, Ligue 1, Eredivisie or Primeira Liga?
It’s not just the recruitment which has improved Brighton. The coaching has been very good too. It has improved the standard of all the players. Those who have been there a while - Dunk, March etc are better players now. All seem very comfortable on the ball.
Brighton have had one good year in player trading in their entire history. For the previous five years they had the lowest profit of any club in the PL. Over that period Spurs were in the top 8 with more than 10 times as much profit as Brighton. It's ridiculous to draw conclusions on a single result.
