FourFourTwo sat down with Brighton chief executive Paul Barber to get the inside track on the Seagulls' remarkable rise
(Image credit: Getty Images)
Could Brighton continue their incredible rise and eventually be crowned Premier League champions one day? Maybe...
The Seagulls' chief executive, Paul Barber, insists that the club can keep on elevating the standards which they've achieved through being one of the best-run outfits at the top level.
In his view, the sky is the limit for Brighton – who have made a fine start to the new season, winning three of their opening four games and going into the international break as the Premier League's top scorers with 12 goals already.
Brighton are into their seventh straight Premier League campaign (Image credit: Getty Images)
"There are no guarantees in top-level sport and success isn’t achieved in a straight line," says Barber. "There will be bumps in the road and you have to build resilience. There are times when, despite the best planning in the world and best progression of your talent on and off the field, things don’t work.
"We have a culture at this club where we’re transparent, we communicate, and we don’t hide when it goes wrong. We try to be as visible in the bad times as we are in the good times – hopefully, that brings stability back faster and breeds confidence, so we can get over that bump and achieve progression in a slightly different way to how we’d initially imagined or planned. It’s about not deviating from your plan when you hit a bump, because it will happen. If you deviate every time you hit a bump, you will deviate a lot. That breeds instability, reduces confidence and impacts on morale, and then you get people wanting to leave.
"If you get everything right, there shouldn’t be a ceiling. I’m not saying we’re going to be challenging for a Premier League title or winning a European [trophy], but if we keep pushing, keep improving, keep finding new ways to compete and keep being as smart as we can, then anything is possible for us.”
What's your CRAZIEST prediction for this season?
Brighton return to action after the international break with a trip to Manchester United on Saturday 16 September – before an historic occasion five days later when they host AEK Athens in the Europa League, in what will be their first ever European match.
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Roberto De Zerbi's Seagulls beat Newcastle 3-1 at home last time out, courtesy of an Evan Ferguson hat-trick.
Tom Hancock started freelancing for FourFourTwo in April 2019 and has also written for the Premier League and Opta Analyst, among others. He supports Wycombe Wanderers and has a soft spot for Wealdstone. A self-confessed statto, he has been known to watch football with a spreadsheet (or several) open...
