Wayne Bridge. Remember him? The former England international left back Brighton signed on loan from Manchester City for the 2012-13 season, who many people assumed was just coming to Sussex to put his feet up and enjoy the weather in the twilight years of his career.
How wrong can you be? Bridge enjoyed a sensational campaign for the Albion, with many Seagulls supporters hailing him as the best left back the club had ever had up that point.
Bridge ended up playing 42 times across all competitions, scoring three goals. His Albion career highlights included a brilliant 30 yard goal in a 5-1 home win over Barnsley and pocketing Wilfried Zaha when Crystal Palace were hammered 3-0 in the famous St Patrick’s Day Massacre.
Albion fans could also swoon over Frankie Bridge, who became a regular at the Amex. She was even spotted in the away end at Selhurst Park, braving a trip back to the 1800s for the Championship playoff semi final first leg against Palace.
Brighton fans were subsequently pretty disappointed when the club were unable to keep Bridge on a full time basis at the end of his season-long loan.
He instead opted to join Reading, later revealing that he would have picked the Albion had Gus Poyet not been sacked that summer.
Bridge was a big fan of He Who Must Not Be Named. He told That Peter Crouch Podcast in September: “”It was do I stay at Brighton or do I go Reading, those are my options.
“Because Gus was leaving Brighton I was really unsure of staying, because I really liked him as a manager.
“What I liked about Gus is he could be harsh sometimes, but if he was being harsh then people deserved it.
“He was very open with the players. There’s one thing that stands out. I remember a meeting he went, ‘Look, I know what being a footballer is all about.’”
“‘One of you might be chasing a girl, it ends up being a night before training, you’ve gone out you’ve had a wild one, you’ve had loads of sex… just call me, you can have the day off. Just don’t do it all the time.’”
Poyet is not the only Brighton head coach who Bridge is a fan of. Speaking to BetVictor, Bridge heaped praise on Roberto De Zerbi and tipped the Albion to qualify for Europe again under the charismatic Italian.
“In terms of what they can achieve under De Zerbi this season, Brighton can definitely finish in the Europa League qualification spots in the Premier League again, it’s definitely doable for them,” Bridge said.
“It won’t be easy, of course, as there’s so many strong teams in the division, but with the way they are playing, it’s 100 percent doable for them under De Zerbi.”
Bridge also felt the Albion could be dark horses in this season’s Europa League, adding: “Brighton have a chance of winning the Europa League this season as well, but it’s going to be difficult as there’s some really good teams in the knockout stages of the competition. They’ve done brilliantly to reach the knockouts but there’s still a long way to go.”
All this success of course comes with a caveat. Most Brighton supporters accept that it will not be long until one of the biggest clubs in the world makes a serious play for the services of De Zerbi – a view Bridge shares.
“It won’t surprise me at all if bigger clubs are looking at Roberto De Zerbi right now and if he’s on their shortlists for a new manager.”
“That’s definitely something Brighton are going to have to watch out for as they continue to do well under De Zerbi, as he’s doing such a great job.”
“He’s come in and done a fantastic job for Brighton. You can’t fault anything he’s done at the club. I love watching Brighton play under him.”
“There’s an atmosphere around the club that’s been great, it’s just a great feeling around Brighton at the moment and around the way the club is playing football, which De Zerbi has played a key part in.”
