Derren Howard is joined by Frankie Elliott and Ian Hart as they discuss Moises Caicedo's blockbuster move to Chelsea
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00:00 Okay, good afternoon and thanks for joining us today. Today we're joined by Brighton Hove
00:06 Albion sports writer Frankie Elliott and Sussex World columnist Ian Hart and we're going
00:12 to go through the Moises Caicedo transfer to Chelsea, which was finally confirmed yesterday
00:18 after quite a long summer of negotiations. Frankie, we'll come to you first. Albion said
00:26 they didn't think anybody would hit their valuation, but it turns out two teams did
00:32 in the end, but Chelsea got the deal over the line.
00:35 Yes they did. It finally ends a saga that's been rumbling on for about, I'd say about
00:41 two months now. And yeah, I think a British record transfer fee, it was going to have
00:48 to take that for him to be sold. It seemed the record would have to be broken. I didn't
00:54 think it would be broken because I felt Chelsea weren't willing to pay that much. But then
01:01 I think that the fact that, you know, you've got to thank Liverpool for why Brighton have
01:06 received this sum and why Chelsea finally got the man, because it took that bid on late
01:11 Friday afternoon of around £140 million, as we believe, to really kick Chelsea into
01:17 gear because I think what Liverpool realise and Chelsea finally realise is how valuable
01:23 or how vital a player Kayseri will be to their team. We saw it, funny enough, we saw it on
01:28 Sunday that obviously Chelsea and Liverpool faced off against each other. And it was very
01:31 clear a player like Kayseri was needed in both teams. So after all the sort of negotiations
01:39 and squabbling and not agreeing on a fee, I think what's finally happened is a quality
01:44 player has moved to a big six club. And after all the talk about how he's behaved or what
01:50 he's wanted and all this negotiation that's been going on, we've got to remember that
01:54 Chelsea have signed a brilliant player. They've signed a really brilliant player and one of
01:57 the most exciting midfielders, I think, in European football. So it's a great move for
02:01 him. It's a great move for Chelsea. And actually it's turned out to be a brilliant move for
02:04 Brighton because they've received so much, a heck of a lot of money for just this one
02:09 player.
02:10 Yeah. Yeah. Would you agree with that, Ian? Would you say Liverpool's input into this
02:15 was key into getting this deal over the line?
02:19 I think Liverpool have been used as a patsy. I think it's been... It was bizarre. I was
02:26 in the press box for the Luton game and then in the press lounge and we were talking with...
02:32 Some of us old uns have never seen anything like this in our lives. I've been supporting
02:38 the Luton in 50 years and we've seen players come, players go, quality players go. But
02:45 they've always acted with a little bit of dignity and a little bit of integrity. I firmly
02:52 believe that Cusado's agents got Liverpool into the mix just to get Chelsea going. They
02:58 had no intention of ever going to Liverpool, but it was a necessary part of the whole drama
03:07 played out. I don't know how widely it was reported. You two guys have got your finger
03:13 more on the pulse than an oldun like me. Didn't Cusado say at some point that he'd agreed
03:21 to join Chelsea in May?
03:24 Yeah, he did. Yeah. Yeah. That was one of the quotes.
03:28 Call me old fashioned here, lads. Call me old fashioned here. But when you sign a contract,
03:36 it's talking to another club and you're under contract to another club. Is that not breach
03:40 of contract? Is that not a behaviour that's required by your contract? I don't doubt that
03:50 Cusado is one of the greatest players that's ever played for our football club. I'm not
03:56 sure he's as good as Mark Lawrenson. Only time will tell. Profit margin wise, I think
04:02 it's the biggest ever yet, because I keep going on about profit margin. It's 2,445%
04:12 profit, which is a world record in itself. You know, four and a half million, two and
04:17 a half years ago to 115 million. Nice work if you can get it. Take a bow, Tony Bloom.
04:24 Take a bow. But it does leave me with a bad taste in my mouth that we are moving in water
04:32 as unfamiliar by us Brighton fans that people behave like this. Maybe I am naive. Maybe
04:39 I am old fashioned. Liverpool was never an option, but you have to bring them in to the
04:49 mix to actually push the buttons. Has it changed your thinking just purely because of the vast
04:57 sums of money that's involved these days? I think it's madness. I think it's absolute
05:04 madness. I don't want to sound like Michael Foot, but we've got all these food banks in
05:15 Brighton Hove and then we've got players moving for this kind of money. I know it's the world
05:22 over. I do wonder, and I put in the column that you kindly put online, Deryn, on Sussex
05:32 World, two things. For Chelsea's sake, he doesn't turn out to be a Steve Daley, which
05:39 younger people will have to Google, who was the record, British record in 1979 when he
05:45 went from Wolves to Manchester City. And he ended up going out and playing in the North
05:51 American Soccer League within two years. And I hope when the Saudis come calling in 12,
05:57 18 months time, Moses and his agents don't get their heads turned yet again. It is what
06:04 it is. Brighton have come out of it well. I know when we were talking a couple of weeks
06:11 ago, I did want it done. I felt it was a distraction going into the Luton game. At least we now
06:20 clear the decks and we go to Molineux on Saturday in the knowledge that VAR hate Wolves more
06:27 than they hate Brighton. So, we can look forward to building on that Luton victory. Look, the
06:37 Luton game was superb, but I do think that it was not preying on RDJ's mind, but I think
06:46 it was a distraction. And I think now it's out of the way we can get on. I'm sure Tony's
06:52 going to let him spend some of this money. Who he spends it on, that's the exciting part
06:58 because clubs will know that we are a keen buyer now. I know that sometimes pushes the
07:07 price up, but there's a number of people that we look at. But it is exciting times. The
07:15 King is dead, long live the King. Brighton players will be... Let's just say we don't
07:22 have this with Matoma in 12 months' time, but we just have to move on. But as a Brighton
07:29 fan, not just as a football writer, but as a Brighton fan, part of this has left a nasty
07:35 taste in the mouth, especially in light of the players' awards two weeks ago, where he
07:42 won the double award. We didn't quite have the Gwyneth Paltrow's at the Oscars with the
07:50 weeping, but we had this lovely heartfelt speech, which was all basically BS because
07:58 he'd agreed to join Chelsea in May.
08:00 It looks as though the deal had been agreed for a while. And I think in a way it does
08:06 suit Brighton though, doesn't it? There has been talk and Kaisera did say a few things
08:11 apparently at the awards, but overall it is a deal that suits Brighton. But just looking
08:17 at the contract, Frankie, it seems as though it's an eight-year deal for him. And also
08:21 Brighton have negotiated a clause in the contract that there is a sell-on fee, so that if in
08:26 a few years' time he does go to Real Madrid, which he's stated previously is his dream
08:30 move, or as Ian mentioned, Saudi Arabia, it seems quite a shrewd move from Brighton to
08:36 add that clause or to add that into the contract, into the deal.
08:40 Yeah, I think they've, as always in most transfer negotiations in the last couple of years,
08:46 Brighton have come out as the winners. And they've always been, and funnily enough, they're
08:50 always the selling club, but every time it seems that they seem to get out with the better
08:54 deal. If you look at the fact that this time last year when Brighton were kicking off their
09:00 Premier League season with McAllister and Kaisera in their midfield before the World
09:04 Cup, before this Europa League qualification and FA Cup semi-final, if you would have said
09:10 that they would have got nearly £150 million initially and they could still go higher,
09:16 for those two players, everyone would have taken that in a heartbeat. And I feel even
09:23 within that deal, so the £100 million is great for Kaisera, but then on top of that,
09:26 as you say, if he is sold further down the road, then Brighton still benefit again. It
09:34 really is a wonderful deal because as we know how Brighton prepare and plan for things,
09:41 they knew that Kaisera was going to leave from about January onwards. They've prepared
09:46 for this, they've got a plan in place. We imagine they will sign probably one player
09:50 before the end of the window as a midfielder. They've already got a number of midfielders
09:54 in place already. Pascal Gross and Mo Dehood started the game on Saturday against Luton.
10:01 They've got a manager in place who is very happy, he said on his press conference on
10:06 Friday that he's already moved past Kaisera, he's already looked past it. So they've already
10:09 planned and prepared for Kaisera to leave and it looks like they've done it pretty effectively
10:14 in terms of the playing style and ability of the team is still very, very high. But
10:18 then on top of that, they've got a brilliant deal in regards to the financial rewards of
10:23 selling Kaisera. So they have managed this whole thing brilliantly as they always do,
10:30 as we'd expect. But this is their most high profile sale of all time. And yet again, Brian
10:34 have come out for me as the real winners.
10:37 Yeah. Business wise, it's a great decision, isn't it? But you can't deny it's a huge step
10:41 back in terms of team building and the quality of the player in the middle of the Brighton
10:46 midfield, isn't it?
10:48 It is. It is. But like I said, the key thing is it's not a shock to them. Like I said,
10:54 I think it's been frustrating maybe for Kaisera and certainly for Chelsea how long this deal
10:58 has taken to get over the line. But I think, as I said, on top of the fact they've probably
11:03 been preparing since January, it's given them this whole summer to prepare for him leaving
11:08 as well, both on the training pitch and in regards to recruitment. I feel that this Carlos
11:13 Bailber that they are linked with from Lille, I reckon that deal is going to be pretty much
11:18 completed by the end of this week. I think that I think from their standpoint that will
11:22 do. They will see their midfield department as sufficient and they will feel that they
11:26 can compete still at the highest level with the midfielders they've got. But at the same
11:30 time, the brass tacks of it is that, you know, that none of them are Kaisera and Kaisera was
11:35 a fantastic player. He was pivotal to where Brighton got to, to where they did last season.
11:43 But he is only one player. That's how Brighton will see it. They will have sold players.
11:46 They have sold players in the past when we felt that that would be the end of this brilliant
11:51 Brighton side. So I feel that they will see that in the same way with Kaisera. So it feels
11:58 like a step back. I would have seen it as a step back if he was sold in, say, June or
12:02 possibly early July. But the fact it's coming in the middle of August, I think that Brighton
12:07 feel they're ready to move on from him.
12:10 Is he going to fit into that Chelsea midfield nicely, would you say, Ian? Is he a player
12:14 that's going to do well at Chelsea?
12:19 I don't support Chelsea. I've got mates who do. As Frankie said, it's great that the money's
12:27 come through.
12:28 A few Chelsea fans think the fee's far too high, don't they?
12:35 Yeah, well, because they've had Kukerena, haven't they? So they've been here before.
12:42 But I remind you, Frankie, that it was red back in Jan because he wanted to go to Arsenal.
12:50 He loved Arsenal, according to Instagram, back in January. The only thing that concerns
12:55 me is a lot of young, talented players in the Brighton squad will have seen Moses behave
13:03 like this or Moses' agents behave like this. And I hope they don't think that's the norm.
13:09 I don't think that's how we behave. Because he hasn't really... We've got the money. Chelsea
13:18 have got a great player and he probably will go on to be the greatest player Ecuador have
13:25 ever produced.
13:26 By the way, he's conducted himself right back for the Instagram post before the Liverpool
13:33 game. And now the revelation that he'd agreed to join in May, bringing Liverpool in. And
13:41 as we've said, he hasn't really covered himself in glory. The upshot is, and the end product
13:49 is Albin have got this excellent fee. I just hope other young players, talented players
13:55 at the club with agents who probably aren't as scrupulous as they should be, will look
14:03 and think, well, this is how we get out. But it's the water. John Bain, Attila, the stockbroker,
14:13 spoke about his Albin goldfish, but he didn't like the water it was swimming in. We've got
14:18 to get used to it. These are the waters that we swim in now. And we just have to move on.
14:26 This guy at Lille really excites me. What's happening with the Kudos thing, Frankie? Do
14:32 we know?
14:33 Well, last week, Brian reportedly agreed a fee with Ajax for Kudos, but he hasn't been
14:44 able to agree personal terms for whatever reason. They gave him a 48-hour window to
14:49 agree personal terms with Brian. That 48-hour window passed without any personal terms being
14:54 agreed. So it looks like that deal is pretty much dead in the water. And West Ham now look
14:59 more like the likely club for Kudos to join. He seems to be more keen on a move to the
15:03 Hammers. Personal talks are apparently going a lot better. But a fee is yet to be agreed
15:08 in that deal. West Ham haven't actually made contact with Ajax because they're waiting
15:12 for Lucas Paqueta to join Manchester City for around £98 million. So if that deal goes
15:18 through, Kudos will then go to West Ham.
15:22 So yeah, that doesn't seem to be... I would imagine that would have been the player they
15:25 would have brought in for Caicedo if that was in an ideal world. But obviously that
15:29 hasn't worked. So Bale is the man they're bringing in. But just going back to what you
15:34 said, Darren, Chelsea and Caicedo is the perfect match because Chelsea are desperate for a
15:41 number six, as they say nowadays, or a central defensive midfielder. Caicedo is one of the
15:46 best at that. Like I said last year, he probably was the best in the league in that position.
15:50 It allows them to play Enzo Fernandes further forward. It allows Conor Gallagher to play
15:54 a bit further forward. Obviously, they were the two that played in that role on Sunday
15:58 and did well, but didn't have that sort of protection and that defensive nous and that
16:05 ability to break up counterattacks, which is what Caicedo does so effortlessly and is
16:09 also a brilliant player on the ball on top of that as well. So all of those qualities
16:13 that we saw for Brighton last year, he is what Chelsea needed desperately in that midfield.
16:17 I think they've needed it ever since Kante became very injury prone. And I feel like
16:22 Caicedo can fill those shoes effortlessly, to be honest with you. So it's a great move
16:27 for him and I'm sure it's what Liverpool need as well. And I feel they'll be kicking themselves
16:31 that they haven't been able to bring in a player of Caicedo's quality.
16:35 I think they will. I think they will. But every transfer is different, isn't it? And
16:39 everyone is complex in different ways. And this one, if you compare and contrast the
16:44 Alexis McAllister transfer, which seemed McAllister conducted himself perfectly, got his move
16:49 in the right way. The agents behind Caicedo and how this was done, it was chalk and cheese,
16:54 wasn't it?
16:56 It was. It was. I mean, I think you've also got to look at every deal is different. Every
17:01 player is different. McAllister is a lot older than Caicedo. By two or three years, he also
17:08 had been at the World Cup and been surrounded by a lot of excellent pros. Obviously, Messi
17:14 being one of the greatest players of all time, but people like Otamendi and Galdinho Maria,
17:18 these are experienced professionals that have played in European football for a long time.
17:22 If I'm being honest, I'm sure he asked them for advice while he was out there about how
17:25 we were, what his next move should be. And I'm sure they gave him some very sound advice
17:29 on on how to behave and what to do. And that's why we saw McAllister act in the way he did.
17:34 Caicedo being, you know, moving across at such a young age to to the UK from Ecuador,
17:40 playing obviously in the Ecuadorian league before he came to Brighton. Only 20, 21 years
17:45 of age when all these rumblings came about of him, you know, moving to Arsenal or Chelsea
17:51 in January, just signed to a new one of the biggest agents in South America and also with
17:57 a lot more potential than McAllister. I think the McAllister thing you've got to remember
18:00 was quite a surprise to a number of people. His his rise into being a player that could
18:04 play for Liverpool. I think before the World Cup, a number of people would have said that
18:09 Liverpool wouldn't be interested, truth be told. So that was that came out of the Blue
18:13 Rose. Caicedo, I think, has always been seen as the next big thing to come out of South
18:17 America. And so that attracts a lot more of the sort of stories we have seen, which is
18:24 agents chasing a big move, chasing big money because obviously they can make a lot of money
18:28 out of deals like this and speaking a lot more openly in the press about Caicedo wanting
18:33 to leave. So that's why we see the differentials. But in the day, if you look at Caicedo's performance
18:38 on the pitch, he's never given... that's never faltered. I think as much as all the noise
18:45 that surrounds this move and whether Caicedo wanted to move and what he said and what his
18:50 agent said, all of that stuff never affected him on the pitch. And so although both deals
18:55 ended in different ways, I think you've got to remember that both McAllister and Caicedo
18:58 gave everything for Brian from the first kick of the ball in August last year right up until
19:04 the start of the ball, end of May of this year.
19:07 Yeah. Do you think he'll be, McAllister will be remembered more fondly, Ian, just purely
19:11 because of the way both exits were achieved?
19:16 Yeah, almost certainly. And we talk about Caicedo giving his all for Brighton. Yeah,
19:25 in the main he did. He did obviously have to have some time off when we played Liverpool
19:32 to win the FA Cup after the Instagram post. Obviously, what fans don't realise is that
19:39 Brighton don't get all the 115 million. I see it's reported that his former club, Independente
19:46 de Valais, they received $29 million after his transfer fee to Chelsea. And that's more
19:55 than their stadium costs to build. And they're going to build a training centre, which they're
19:59 going to name after him. So, you know, it all drops down the sort of pyramid. Yeah,
20:08 look, they'll both be remembered with a degree of affection. They'll both be remembered for
20:17 taking part in, to date, the best season the Albion have had. Hopefully this season will
20:24 be better. But at the end of the day, you know, we're all different ages. Some of us
20:33 have been around the block a few times, Albion-wise. You can't paper over the cracks. There are
20:41 things that have gone on here in the last week or so that we've never seen at the Albion
20:45 before. Sadly, I think we're going to see them again. And we've just got to get on with
20:51 it. But it is disappointing. But as I said, the king is dead, long live the king. And
20:57 all the time, this recruitment production line keeps moving. We're fine. I mean, Adingo,
21:07 what a great player he's going to be, came on on Saturday. I thought Pedro, apart from
21:16 his early miss, where it would have been easier to have scored, I thought Pedro looked absolutely
21:22 different class. And that was probably only him in second gear. I'm so excited and excited
21:30 at the prospect of seeing him and Ferguson playing up front together. Far more positives
21:38 than negatives. All power to Tony Bloom, but he is a poker player and that's his job. And
21:47 he's played this, he's played Chelsea well and truly. And so we've got what we wanted.
21:55 But I'm sorry, call me old fashioned, but there are certain aspects that do leave a
22:01 nasty taste in them.
22:02 A nasty taste, yeah.
22:03 Just looking at that business, that's about, it's almost about 250 million profit Brighton
22:15 have made on their last 10 players. It's amazing how Brighton are doing this, aren't they?
22:22 We've seen it in the past where other clubs have had this approach to the transfer market,
22:28 the likes of Southampton and Leicester. But Brighton have taken it to the next level,
22:33 haven't they? It's really impressive how they're dealing with the club. And when you look at
22:38 where can Brighton go from here, you look at the likes of Newcastle, Arsenal and Tottenham,
22:43 Man City, all huge backing, Chelsea, huge backing. Brighton have to work in this manner,
22:50 don't they, to compete at that level?
22:54 They do. They do. And I think one of the key things, as you said, about the model that
22:59 Brighton use is that they keep on coming back stronger. From when they got promoted to the
23:05 Premier League under Chris Hute and every season they've got better. But with every
23:09 season, a bigger player has left the club for a bigger sum of money. And you feel, especially
23:15 when someone like Graham, the whole coaching staff and head coach, Graham Potter and his
23:20 staff left in October time last year, you really felt, well, this must be the one that
23:27 finally knocks them over. And yet again, they finished even better than they did under Graham
23:31 Potter and Roberto De Zerbi. So it feels like it can go on forever. And obviously, there
23:39 is a slight glass ceiling to it by the fact they're competing against clubs such as Chelsea,
23:43 who have spent close to a billion pounds almost now in the last year and a half. And Arsenal
23:49 spent over £100 million on a player this summer. We know about the backing of City
23:53 and United. And I would also argue that Liverpool are in there as well because they were going
23:58 to break the record until Chelsea came and swooped this deal at the last moment. So all
24:02 these clubs are being backed with hundreds of millions of pounds to spend. And Brighton
24:08 obviously don't have that. And so there is a slight feeling that this won't last forever.
24:12 Of course, there isn't. But I always think the most important part about this is the
24:16 fact that they've got one of the best managers in Europe right now. Roberto De Zerbi has
24:21 created a side that can compete against the very, very best. And I think he feels that
24:26 even he can do that without people like Kayseri. Obviously, it'd be a lot more difficult, but
24:31 he still feels that there is a chance that Brighton can compete with the very best with
24:35 this squad working under him. And I think as long as they have people like him, as they
24:39 did with Graham Potter, I think as long as the coaching is there, Brighton can still
24:43 very much compete in the top 10 of the Premier League despite selling all these players.
24:46 I think once you don't get that same level of manager running the ship, obviously that's
24:53 when it can slightly fall apart. But because of that, I feel that it doesn't matter who
24:57 they sell. They're so good at their recruitment. They're so good at the coaching side of it.
25:02 That means that they're ready for anything, basically.
25:04 De Zerbi has, hasn't he? He's brought an identity to this team. Any player that comes in, they
25:13 know the style of play that they're going to have to adopt under this manager. It's
25:19 really impressive what De Zerbi has done, hasn't it, since he's arrived?
25:22 Well, it's basically off the stratosphere because he's turned good players into great
25:30 players. He's put his arm around Soli March and turned him into a different player from
25:35 what we saw under Graham Potter. Just going back on what you said there, Dan, we do have
25:41 to be careful. We do have to keep moving forward. The two clubs that you mentioned, Leicester
25:46 and Southampton, where are they now?
25:49 That's the danger, isn't it?
25:52 Very aware of that. I think probably, and again, it's my Brighton over here, I've been
25:58 biased showing through. I think the difference between Southampton and Leicester and Brighton
26:04 is we have a Brighton fan at the top of the tree. We have someone with a Brighton pedigree
26:13 who's already left us with a legacy even before he's even thought about going. I think all
26:21 the time we've got that, I think it's great and I think we will have that. This recruitment
26:27 thing, obviously the recruitment people will change, but if the ethics of what they do
26:33 in their recruitment stay the same, it'll be fine. RDZ, and I probably know him before
26:42 when I was on with you all, is the greatest manager we've had so far, ever. I don't think
26:49 anybody gets near him. As you know, Deryn being my editor, I wasn't a Potter fan. Potter,
26:57 as our being manager, Brighton don't get anywhere near Europe last season. I think RDZ has gone
27:04 to the next level. What we've got to do is we've got to keep them happy here. It's not
27:12 just about finances, it's about lifestyle, but ultimately you can see them at the top
27:17 of Serie A at some point, one of the big Italian charts. Let's enjoy it while we can. The good
27:25 thing about the recruitment is, as we found out when Potter left us, Brighton are almost
27:32 like chess masters. They're two, three moves ahead. They know what they're in. I'm sure
27:37 they've got a short list for the next prime manager anyway. They know that if RDZ came
27:44 into the Lansing training, I'm going to be the next manager of Italy, Mancini's gone.
27:51 Brighton would know who they would go for, and they would get someone in within 36, 48,
27:57 72 hours, as they did when Graham Potter left. It's just great, great times. We just move
28:07 on to the Wolves. Really exciting, really exciting times.
28:11 A good three points in the opening day, even though all this Cossedo distraction, Frankie.
28:18 It doesn't seem to be affecting them on the pitch, does it, at the moment? I know there's
28:23 going to be bigger tests to come. Luton aren't going to be as intense as some of these top
28:28 games where they may miss the likes of Cossedo and McAllister, but it's still the best squad
28:36 Albion have ever had in their history, isn't it? There's so much to look forward to for
28:39 the Brighton fans this season, even after Cossedo's gone.
28:42 Absolutely. As I said, you've got to look at the recruitment from this summer as well.
28:48 They brought in five players, I think, at the moment. It looks like it's going to be
28:53 six, and all of them are ready to compete in the first team. We saw James Milner start
28:59 on Saturday. We know about his qualities, and he showed them, I felt, in that Luton
29:04 game. Mo Dahoud, let's not forget, he was wanted by Pep Guardiola less than five, six
29:10 years ago when he first became Manchester City manager. There's clearly a quality player
29:17 in there. Obviously, it's not quite happened for McDormand, but he was slotted in effortlessly
29:23 into that midfield role that McAllister played last year. He looked very comfortable playing
29:27 in the Premier League and obviously has the technical skill to compete in this league.
29:32 So that's another great addition. Gael Pedro, how exciting is he? Another one. Obviously,
29:37 he was the record fee that Brian have spent, but you can see why. He gives them a new edge
29:44 in attack with his speed and athleticism and obviously that quality there as well. So those
29:49 are just the first three. We've still got Igor Julio to come into the side as well.
29:52 That's, I think, a great addition to the back line. Obviously, Bart Verbruggen will
29:56 be competing with Jason Steele for the number one spot. But it felt that with those five
30:01 signings you forget about Kaysena McAllister leaving because still on top of that, Matoma,
30:07 Solly March, Danny Welbeck, Evan Ferguson, one of the most exciting young strikers in
30:11 Europe. You almost forget about McAllister being a Brighton player because of all those
30:18 quality players that are still there and all those additions that have been brought in.
30:21 So I think they've really played a part.
30:24 Billy Gilmore as well. He didn't start, did he, against Luton? I thought he was going
30:29 to be one of the first names on the team sheet this year. Were you surprised not to see him
30:34 start against Luton?
30:35 Well, yeah, because RDJ had said what a great player he was. But I think he's sort of slowly,
30:42 slowly catching up. I think we're going to see a lot from Billy Gilmore this year and,
30:49 you know, exciting times. Like you say, I actually think for Luton's sake, we probably
30:57 played him at the right time. If we take Luton on in November, December time and play like
31:05 we played, we could have seven or eight, nine. Sadly, I think it's going to be a long, hard
31:11 winter for Luton. I don't think they'll do a derby count and get 11 points, but I think
31:18 it's going to be tough. And again, it shows that gap between the Championship and the
31:24 Premier League. And again, all power to his elbow, Chris Luton guided us through, you
31:32 know, a really important stage when we came up, you know, and then moved us on. We wouldn't
31:39 be where we are now without Chris, basically, you know, full stop. So, yeah, the Ardees,
31:47 the Casado thing, was it hanging over us? It wasn't. I don't know. Everyone was talking
31:51 about it. But I think 4-1 flat at Luton. It should have been 4-0 anyway, because it was
31:59 never a penalty. But again, VAR lets the Albion down, but let Wolves down last night. So,
32:08 but look, it's exciting times. And when you've been to the likes of Rochdale and Exeter City,
32:18 I can assure you, I'd much rather be where I am now.
32:21 Much rather be, yeah, that's it.
32:23 As fun as it was in League, or Division Four, Division Three, even Division Two and the
32:29 Championship, we're at the top table now. You talk about those bigger clubs, I don't
32:35 think sadly we'll ever be able to compete with them weekly wage wise or transfer fee
32:42 wise. But I would say that the foundation, the firm foundations that we're building with
32:48 our recruitment, Brighton will be a top 10 club for many years to come, if things carry
32:56 on as the way they are.
32:58 Yeah, I agree.
32:59 And the one good thing, you know, the one good thing that Tony Bloom has said on record,
33:06 we are going to win a trophy soon. He's promised us. He said that at the Cup Final reunion
33:11 dinner, we are going to win a trophy soon.
33:14 So fingers crossed for this season. But I agree. I think the way Brighton run their
33:19 club is the only way they can do it and still compete. There's no way you're going to compete
33:23 financially with those top clubs. And they are doing the best that they can with the
33:31 resources and by having great organisation, great succession planning, all the way through
33:36 from top to bottom. I think it's the only way you can be in this sort of top 10 of the
33:41 Premier League, I think, at the moment.
33:44 But just a quick one looking ahead to Wolves. So, Corsedo's gone. But how do you see that
33:49 going at Wolves, Frankie, just before we go?
33:52 Yeah, I mean, you would expect it to be a tougher test than what they faced against
33:56 Luton. I feel that Wolves played obviously very, very well on Monday night against Manchester
34:03 United and Mayfell, including myself, that they at least deserved a point and probably
34:07 actually the victory from their performance. But it was the age-old problem with Wolves
34:11 is they couldn't score and they don't have many clinical finishers in their team. So
34:17 I feel that this is going to be a problem throughout the season for Wolves. I feel coming
34:23 up against a very, very good Brighton side will not help that. So as much as I feel Brighton
34:29 will be more tested because there are some very good players in that Wolves side, especially
34:33 in that midfield area, they were much the better team on the ball last night than the
34:38 United team that was assembled for a lot more money. But I still feel Brighton will come
34:44 up probably as 2-0 victors.
34:46 Ian, would you agree with that? Three points.
34:49 Yeah, Frankie, full on, son. I've gone 2-0 in my Super 6. So, yeah, I think it'll be,
34:59 you know, the momentum will gather momentum from the Luton game. As you say, he who we
35:05 will never refer to again, he's gone. The money's in the bank. We can move on and just
35:14 go from there. And, you know, it is exciting times. And we're going down, we're sort of
35:21 counting down to the 1st of September in Monaco when those balls go in that velvet bag or
35:29 whatever they do. And we find out it's the day that the transfer window closes.
35:37 The transfer window closes that day as well.
35:39 Yeah, yeah. But, you know, I think we'll have all our transfer business done by then. But
35:46 as a long time Brighton fan, that day is etched in my mind, etched in all of our minds, because
35:52 we find out it is so exciting who we get in that Europa League, who we take on on the
35:58 21st of September 2023. And the stuff of dreams. I mean, if you go back in the Albion history
36:10 as to who they took on on the 21st of September, you'll have the likes of, you know, no distrust
36:16 respect to them, the likes of Exeter, Torquay, Plymouth Argyle, even Bristol Rovers, Frankie.
36:25 But you'll look and then we could be playing AS Roma at the AMEX stadium on that Thursday
36:33 night. Exciting stuff. Exciting.
36:36 There's so much to look forward to and catch up with all the rest of the transfer window
36:44 talk. And as we look ahead to the Premier League and the Europa League campaign for
36:48 the coming season, that's Sussexworld.com. Thanks for joining us Ian.
36:53 Can I just ask you two for some advice before I go?
36:59 We'll do our best.
37:05 The club very kindly gave me this when I've supported them for 50 years, but I've got
37:10 a signature on here. Moses Casado, 25. How do I get rid of it? Tippex? Because it's something
37:20 I never want to refer to him again. So I don't really want him on my wall, do I?
37:25 Well, you could sell that for. Yeah, it's his signatures. You know, over 100 million.
37:30 No, no, no. That's going on my grandson's bedroom wall.
37:35 Once he's had the nursery redecorated. So good stuff.
37:41 Is that all the signatures from the players from last season?
37:46 The Manchester City game, which was the FA Cup semi-final, as was on the 23rd of April,
37:52 that should have been my 50th anniversary of supporting the club. So then I went for
37:59 that game. The club presented me at the Man City game with that shirt.
38:06 But no, look, good times. Because that's the other thing is that whilst it's all going
38:11 superb, it's all going swimmingly. The club is still our football club and they never
38:17 forget where we've come from. And all the time we do that, we're heading in the right
38:22 direction.
38:23 Yeah, no, I agree. When you're doing multi-million, 100 million pound deals competing in Europe,
38:29 it's from where they've come from. It's when you're talking about things like that, it's
38:34 amazing, isn't it?
38:36 Yeah.
38:37 Yeah. Well, thanks. Thanks again for joining us, Ian. Always, always great to have you
38:40 on. And thanks again, Frankie, as well.