Brighton prepare for Premier League bow against Manchester City… but will they survive?
Chris Hughton broke the club's transfer record to sign Davy Propper - now Seagulls fanzine WeAreBrighton.com tells us what supporters think of their survival chances.
IF I had a pound for every time I've been asked how Brighton will get on in the Premier League, Neymar could've been pulling on the stripes this season.
Trying to work out if Brighton are good enough to stay up is hard. There are so many unknowns, it's like peering into a crystal ball that has been dipped in emulsion.
Of our current squad, only Glenn Murray and Steve Sidwell have regularly appeared in the Premier League. You sense that our stand out performers such as Dale Stephens, Lewis Dunk and of course the French Magician Anthony Knockaert could make the step up.
Chris Hughton and the board have always been shrewd in the transfer market. Nobody really knew about the likes of Uwe Hunemeier or Tomer Hemed before they arrived, turning us from relegation candidates into a top flight team.
That approach has continued despite the ludicrous wealth that comes from being in the top flight. Goalkeeper Maty Ryan has replaced David Stockdale, who fancied living next to Spaghetti Junction for a few more quid thanks to the magic money tree that sprouts wherever Harry Redknapp turns up.
We've smashed our transfer record to sign midfielder Davy Propper from PSV but perhaps most interestingly is the capture of Ingolstadt duo Pascal Gross and Markus Suttner for a combined fee of around £5m.
In a side that ended up being relegated from the Bundesliga, Gross created more chances than anyone else and Suttner scored more direct free kicks than anyone in Europe's top divisions.
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By signing players who have thrived in a struggling top flight team, we seem to be gambling on them repeating the trick on the south coast.
This way of doing business has split the fanbase slightly, largely between the Amex Generation who have been regulars since we've been challenging at the top of the Championship and the old guard who were there through playing at Withdean, Gillingham and the Goldstone.
The newer supporters see Huddersfield spending millions and question why we aren't doing the same; the older supporters remember it was only a decade ago that £75,000 on Nicky Forster seemed big time and nine years before that, there was shock we'd paid £1,000 and a set of kit to Stansted for Gary Hart.
Its austerity versus spending if you like, but everyone broadly agrees that Tony Bloom deserves to recoup some of the near £200m he has invested in the club so far, and whatever way he decides to go he will always have the support and thanks of the fans.
Mr Bloom will probably end up satisfying both sides of the divide, given he has said he expects to spend more money yet - possibly on the one piece of the puzzle that is still missing, a striker. They don't come cheap and forking out £20m may not be out of the question. A real sign we have arrived in the big time.
Whoever else there is to come in, combine them with the players we have and it just might be enough to keep us up, especially if Hughton doesn't compromise too much the attacking principles that got us here in the first place.
A run in including Tottenham, Manchester United and Liverpool looks daunting so we will need to click early, getting enough points on the board by mid-April.
Whatever happens, that buzz that the nation saw around the city when those images of the players crowd surfing on trains and partying with supporters on Brighton's famous West Street in the aftermath of promotion is back again. Saturday night and the visit of Manchester City is just the first of a year-long party.
20 years ago we were homeless, broke and staring the abyss in the face. We defied the odds to stay alive and then some to reach the Premier League. You shouldn't put it past us to defy them again and stay up.
Either way, we're going to enjoy it.
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