Cast your mind back to the summer, to when the Brighton & Hove Albion were packing their bags and heading off to the good old US of A for the first ever Premier League Stateside Series.
Pundits on screen and in print were near unanimous in their view that the Albion could not repeat their top six finish and European qualification from the 2022-23 campaign.
The consensus was that although Brighton had lost good players before and carried on winning, selling Moises Caicedo and Alexis Mac Allister would be a step too far.
There were questions over the squad; it was not deep enough or mature enough to cope with the rigours and teats of European football. Two games every week would be too much opined the Monday Night Football panel.
Those Premier League sides who stuttered and fell short last season to finish below the Albion would recover and find their natural place in the top six again. Yes, that was supposed to be you, Chelsea.
And when the Europa League draw was made, Brighton being in the group of death alongside two former Champions League winners would prove too difficult for inexperienced UEFA competition debutants.
Yet here we are. At the end of 17 rounds of Premier League games, the Albion are just two places lower than the equivalent stage last season and one point below where we were heading into game week 18. One fewer win, but one fewer defeat too.
We have a goal difference of +5 compared to +7 12 months ago, although we are now scoring in every game. Had just one of our five defeats been a win, we would be in sixth place, exactly where we were this point last season.
And that is with a resurgent Aston Villa under Unai Emery in the mix for a surprising Champions League place. Villa’s emergence combined with the predicted resurrection of Spurs (has sort of happened) and Chelsea (hilarious) should have made the top eight beyond Brighton.
Outside of the Premier League, last season we were still a few days away from an embarrassing exit from the Carabao Cup on penalties to League One Charlton Athletic.
This year, we head into Christmas having won our Europa League group, humbling French giants Olympique de Marseille and Dutch legends Ajax.
A year ago we had yet to see Facundo Buonanotte pull on an Albion shirt. Will the arrival of Adrian Mazilu next month mirror his impact?
Simon Adingra was still playing out his season on loan to USG in Belgium, as had Kaoru Mitoma the season before. I would go so far as to argue that Adingra has had a comparable impact on our success in recent games to Mitoma last season; just nobody in the media is talking about it as much.
No one would have predicted the loan signing of ‘Heir to Messi’ Ansu Fati from Barcelona. We have seen flashes of the brilliance that earned him that name, but cruelly injury has sidelined him. If he can be fit for the run-in to the end of the season, who knows what he might help deliver.
Speaking of injuries, Brighton challenging for Europe again comes despite a huge number of players being ruled out. Of course, we are not alone in that with some of our top 10 rivals suffering similar treatment room overloads.
Solly March is possibly the worst loss, having been at his best in the first months of the campaign. We will not see him return before the 2024-25 season after ACL surgery.
Fellow knee injury victim Julio Enciso was the other big blow, although hopes are his return is not too far off now following a meniscus problem.
Losing Pervis Estupinan too was a huge blow, particularly given his excellent form and our shortage of left back options. It is unclear when he might return. Danny Welbeck is at least back in training.
On the flip side, so many absences have created opportunities for players like Buonanotte to shine and for new stars to emerge from our development squad.
None more so than the excellent Jack Hinshelwood. And of course the long-awaited return of Jakub Moder is like a new signing in itself.
The January transfer window is traditionally a quiet one for the Albion’s recruitment team. With more European football to come in the second half of the season though, we look like we could do with a couple of reinforcements.
Pulling off the long rumoured, on-and-off again signing of left back Valentin Barco would enhance Brighton’s reputation as the destination of choice for emerging South American superstars like Mac Allister and now Joao Pedro, even though the Europa League top scorer came via Watford.
I have to mention Billy Gilmour, a player improving with every game. His 100 percent pass accuracy in the 1-0 win over Marseille was incredible. Igor Julio too is turning in to an inspired signing.
So we head into Christmas and the New Year with a break from the demands of Europe until March, the potential strengthening of the squad by new signings and returns from injury, plus the enormous confidence boost of our Europa League success.
At the centre of it all is Roberto De Zerbi, now one of the hottest properties in European football coaching if those links with Real Madrid and Napoli from earlier in the campaign have any substance.
De Zerbi is a leader, a draw for the very best in talent – Fati chose Brighton over Spurs because of De Zerbi – and an inspiration for players and fans alike.
Hold on tight, the second half of this season is going to be one hell of a ride.
Warren Morgan @WarrenBHAFC
