Can you promise that MORE fans will WANT to come to watch us? That at the moment is at best fanciful.

With respect Evan Ferguson was signed from Bohemians.

In terms of Brighton, when one considers their current squad, the only players who have progressed from the academy are Jack Hinshelwood and Lewis Dunk.

Brighton have signed a number of players from abroad for insignificant sums in PL terms :

Mitoma £2.5 Mill, Buonanotte £10 Mill, Adingra £8 Mill, Enciso £11.5 Mill, Moder £6 Mill, Dahoud Free, Mac Allister £7 Mill, Caicedo £4.5 Mill, Bissouma £15 Mill, Cucurella £15 Mill etc etc.

Edited by Willo (21 Jan 2024 11.17am)

I think our present problems are a result of a series of bad decisions made last summer.

* the assumption that Zaha was going to stay . My suggestion of giving him a deadline to make up his mind was not met with widespread enthusiasm on here, but he left at the eleventh hour and the club failed to replace him. It was also known at that time that Olise had an injury likely to keep him out for some time
* the assumption that the squad had sufficient depth of quality. Far from having Top Ten potential, the more pertinent question would be to gauge if it was enough to even achieve our usual mid table spot. Factor in a couple of inevitable injuries….
* the signings of Henderson and Franca. Henderson still makes little sense to me. Could we not have identified a decent back up for Johnstone without eating so much into our limited transfer budget ? Franca looks like one for the future, but not for the now. Forget the hefty transfer fee, if he had come through the Academy would you not be thinking, has potential but raw and not ready yet ?
It all feeds into a lack of coherent and structured approach to player recruitment and fee developing strategy.
* re-appointing Roy. To me that was a Red Flag as to the extent of this seasons ambition. I think this is one of those “ weak decisions “ referred to yesterday at the Emirates. As Roy said, ultimately it’s the manager that carry’s the can for poor results and while I don’t hold him solely responsible for our predicament, he’s appearing increasingly like somebody that wants his future decided for him. Which leaves Parish in a position that I’m sure he didn’t want to be in, trying to find a new manager in mid season.

The club feels like a ship without a captain at the moment. A real lack of inspirational leadership on and off the field.

I think the problems start at the top, at Board level. So the what next should start there too, but more likely it won’t. It’s more likely to be a new manager. But I suspect that once again we will be appointing someone that was not first choice but who is available.

People love a good soap opera!

Also, there is a waiting list for STs but I've no idea how long it is. In any event, Hodgson WON'T be here next season whichever league we are in.