Moving on up with high-flying Seagulls
Once Brighton had made their interest known, it was a very easy decision for me to come here on a season-long loan from Bolton as, for a number of years, they have been playing a style of football that is both enjoyable to watch and to be a part of. I sat on the bench last season for Bolton when we faced a Brighton side then under the leadership of Gus Poyet and I was nearly hoping that I wasn’t going to come on, as Brighton dominated the match with some sublime football and the lion’s share of possession.
The owner Tony Bloom, who took over the club in 2009, has transformed it from playing in League One at the old Withdean Stadium in front of a maximum crowd of 9,000 to the ultra-modern Amex Stadium in which we get regular gates of 27,000 fans. Make no mistake about it, this is a club that is on the up and it’s doing it in the right, sustainable way by not giving into the temptation to live beyond its means.
I am currently doing my Uefa Coaching Licence with the FAI and as part of this course, I have had to get as many hours coaching in as possible. The club have been very helpful to me in this regard and I have coached in the academy most weeks, mainly with our U14 team. Consequently, I have seen at first-hand the hard work that goes on behind the scenes and the dedication the club has to developing players for the future via a style of play that is now running throughout the academy and all the way up to the first team.
With a state-of-the-art training ground nearly complete, a lot of hard work is being done to try and achieve a Category One status academy as part of the Premier League’s Elite Performance Plan. To achieve this status, the club must pass a very strict audit, which will include meeting the best standards in football and coaching philosophy, facilities and personnel, and player development. If, and hopefully when, the club achieves this prestigious goal, it will be a huge help in the club’s recruitment of young footballers.
As a 14-year-old lad, I had a chance to sign for numerous clubs in England, some of them in the Premier League, but I opted for Wolverhampton Wanderers because, firstly, they made me feel the most wanted and, secondly, I felt I had a realistic chance of getting into their first team. That always has to be a big consideration for up-and- coming players.
Now, all these years later, I’m relishing being involved in a promotion push at Brighton. At times in the past, we were lacking that precious ability to pick up points when we haven’t been at our best, but in recent weeks we have done just that and also been clinical in front of goal. Our defensive record is the best in the division and that’s been a team effort to deny opponents chances or soft goals.
It’s always been the belief here that once when we started being ruthless in front of goal — and began sharing the goals around, too — then we had the potential to gatecrash the play off party.
We have a nice blend in our squad of experience, youth and foreign flair that has been utilised and rotated well by our manager, Oscar Garcia, throughout what has been a physically and mentally demanding campaign.
It’s the manager’s first year in English football after leaving Maccabi Tel Aviv last summer and, having previously been at the renowned Barcelona academy, I’m sure the Championship has been a real eye-opener for him.
He is a very mild-mannered man who always remains calm, even in the face of adversity. He might have inherited a very good squad that had been used to playing the style of football that he himself preaches but there is no doubt that he has also put his own stamp on things here.
I have to take this opportunity to say that one of our best players this season has been Stephen Ward, a model of consistency at left-back.
Last season Brighton had Wayne Bridge on loan from Manchester City and by all accounts he was superb for them, but not too many fans have missed him as Wardy has more than filled the huge void left by his departure.
With 11 matches to go in the season, we are quietly confident of pushing on and getting involved in the scrap for promotion. These are the games you really want to be involved in as the pressure starts to mount and the increasingly higher stakes sort out the men from the boys.
We have trained hard since last July to be in contention for promotion so it’s important now that we stay focused and enjoy these matches as they come thick and fast.
If we start putting too much pressure on ourselves, then performances and inevitably results will decline. But I think we’ve come far enough already not to let that happen now.
