In comments which we are sure will go do down well with Brighton fans, former Seagull Mark Lawrenson believes Fabian Hurzeler will not repeat the success brought to the Albion by Roberto De Zerbi.
Lawrenson made the comments in a series of interviews put on by Sports Casting. He admitted the Youngest Permanent Head Coach in Premier League History had made an impressive start to life in England but said he felt it unlikely Hurzeler would scale the same heights De Zerbi managed.
The fiery Italian led the Seagulls to their best ever league finish of sixth and an FA Cup semi final in his first season in charge.
Brighton then topped their Europa League group in their debut European campaign ahead of Marseille, Ajax and AEK Athens.
But the wheels came off the 2023-24 season from February onwards. Injuries hit and De Zerbi was not afraid to criticise the board for what he felt was a lack of backing in the transfer market, leaving a squad stretched way to thin for fighting on four fronts.
As soon as De Zerbi said Tony Bloom and Paul Barber needed to learn lessons from what had happened, his goose was cooked.
Head coach and club agreed to part ways at the end of the campaign. Hurzeler subsequently arrived from St Pauli and has been well backed with nearly £200 million of new signings – exactly the sort of spending spree De Zerbi said Brighton needed to make.
Bloom loosening the purse strings comes from a desire to see the Albion become regular challengers for European football. Lawrenson though thinks that will be difficult.
“Can Fabian Hurzeler eclipse the work Roberto De Zerbi did at Brighton? In my opinion, no,” he told Sports Casting.
“It’s a really good job for him to take on, but it’s tough because you could tell De Zerbi was almost like another player within the squad – he could take himself away and get stuck into the squad when they needed it.”
“So far Hurzeler has done well, but we need to wait and see to find out how much of an impact he’ll eventually have on this club. If Brighton finish in the top half again, that’ll be a really good result for them.”
When De Zerbi left the Amex back in May, Lawrenson called for the return of Graham Potter over the appointment of a young up-and-coming head coach like Hurzeler or the Albion’s initial number one choice, Kieran McKenna.
“I know sometimes it’s easy to say ‘we never want him back’ when a manager goes like he did, but you look at who Brighton have their eyes on at the moment, and Graham Potter seems the best choice, while also knowing the club inside out,” Lawrenson said.
Lawrenson is of course well known for his positivity about the Albion. His record when picking each Premier League result every week for BBC Sport when Brighton were first promoted to the Premier League was astounding.
Through the Albion’s 59 opening fixtures in the top flight across the 2017-18 and 2018-19 seasons, Lawrenson predicted a grand total of six wins.
The actual number Chris Hughton achieved? 16. Lawrenson was particularly down on his former club immediately after they joined the top flight, his predictions in 2017-18 giving Brighton just 25 points.
In contrast, Lawrenson did not predict a single defeat for Liverpool in 2016-17. Or 2017-18. Or the first half of 2018-19. An astonishing 97 game unbeaten run for one of his old teams, compared with guaranteed relegation for the other.
Lawrenson did at least have something nice to say about Evan Ferguson. He hailed Ferguson the future of Irish football and backed the teenager to soon end his goal drought for club and country stretching back to last November.
“I think Evan Ferguson will get back into the Brighton starting XI eventually,” Lawrenson said. “I don’t know what tablets Danny Welbeck has been on, but he’s been brilliant in Ferguson’s absence! I have no doubts he will rediscover his scoring touch again.”
“He’s endured a season with a lot of injuries and has looked a little bit sluggish, but that’s all part of the learning process as a young player.”
“Brighton have Joao Pedro in there as well who’s a brilliant player, so there’s currently no pressure on Evan to lead the line for them just yet, he can focus on his own development.”
“I do think Ferguson is the future of the Ireland team. To be honest, they don’t have that many other outstanding players!”
“I would like to see the side qualify for another major tournament soon – that would be a good accomplishment with the players they have.”
