Quote Originally Posted by Bluebirdman Of Alcathays View Post
Yeah but don't you think it's more acute these days? John Barnes was 6 years at Watford, Bryan Robson the same at West Brom before they were sold. Teams used to have time to build - Ipswich, QPR, Everton, now anyone half decent is snapped up from the youth team. Kante was a year at Leicester, won the league and promptly transferred to the team who finished 10th.

Do you think Brighton will be able to kick on and push for the top 4 next year? I hope I'm wrong but it's unlikely.
It may be more acute these days, but does that make a lot of difference to the natural order of the English pyramid?

I also believe it's unlikely that Brighton will reach the top four next season, but the fact is they've just had their best-ever season. Until recently, Albion had had just one prior spell in the top flight. Their finishes were as follows:

1979/80 - 16th
1980/81 - 19th
1981/82 - 13th
1982/83 - 22nd (relegated)

Their finishes since promotion to the Premier League in 2016/17 have been:

2017/18 - 15th
2018/19 - 17th
2019/20 - 15th
2020/21 - 16th
2021/22 - 9th
2022/23 - 6th

History would suggest Brighton are currently punching well above their weight. Considering they had never previously finished as highly as they have in the last two seasons, I'd say it's highly unlikely that they will continue to attain such high rankings.