Cobwebcat
Well-Known Member
It depends on what you regard as successful. All data will highlight the real top of the tree, let’s say Haaland, but there is no way that Brighton can afford them so they are looking for players at a lower level but are better than other clubs think. They are then in Brighton/Brenford’s shop window for other richer clubs to buy.I think your reference to identifying "hidden gems" raises some interesting questions. Brighton haven't actually won anything and they haven't finished in the top four or qualified for Europe so it's right to ask whether the "model" can actually identify A list players, and if so how many. And no team does appear to be able to operate at all successfully in this way over a long term. What appears to draw attention to BHA is that a number of clubs appear to have failed more spectacularly with a policy of paying big fees for "established" players and this too seems to be risky as a "model" (we know who the failures are, don't we!)
It’s very difficult for Brighton and Brentford to win the PL as you still ultimately need lots of money to compete as we know! Even Villa spent a lot.
United are the opposite in the last 15 years. All the cash no idea. It wouldn’t astonish me if Brighton finished above United this year.
I think it’s possible for say Brighton to finish top four one day (though very difficult given monetary constraints) but their target at the moment is to finish top 10 every year. That is success for them right now.
A club the size of Brentford are doing astoundingly well just to stay in the PL more than a season and they’ve done it all by being different to the vast majority of yo-yo clubs, in fact all of them.