Boro’s failure shows bad things can hit good people ... Brighton beware
BY COMMON consent, Steve Gibson is an excellent person to run a football club. At a time when it seems poor or rogue owners are causing havoc, Gibson is a shining light.
Local, doesn’t interfere, rescued the place from extinction, invests, builds, listens, keeps down ticket prices, has strong links with the community, his nephew is the best player — every club should have a man like Gibson in charge.
And did you see what happened to Middlesbrough on Monday? Relegated. For the fourth time in the Premier League era, too — a record shared with Sunderland, Norwich and Crystal Palace.
That is the problem with football. Bad things happen to good people. It doesn’t need Venky’s in charge to end up in the Championship. With the best intentions, a good owner can go down.
Those now hailing Brighton as ‘the perfect football club’ — as one headline had it this weekend — need to remember this, as they step into the Premier League for the first time. Outside the elite, where 11 points currently separate eighth place from relegation, a lot can go wrong; or a little.
It doesn’t take much to relegate a club of the stature of Brighton or Middlesbrough. A spate of injuries in the same position, two or three misjudgments in the transfer market, a raid on your best player, a manager who unexpectedly struggles with the pressure.
That is what happened at Middlesbrough. Aitor Karanka organised the defence well, but Middlesbrough could not score. The fans grew frustrated. Karanka bit back. Then he criticised the transfer policy. The mood deteriorated, results suffered. Ultimately, Karanka alienated too many people.
It was a similar story at Manchester City under Roberto Mancini. A highmaintenance coach, causing conflict behind the scenes. By the time he left, he had few allies. The difference being that, when this happens at Manchester City, they still come second and reach the FA Cup final because that is the quality of the squad. When it happens at Middlesbrough, they go down. Again.
At Stamford Bridge on Monday night, with 87 minutes gone, trailing 3-0 and as good as in the Championship, a remarkable thing happened: the travelling fans sang Gibson’s name.
They remembered. They remembered that he built a stadium, a training ground, and a modern club and that, no matter how it felt in that moment, this still constituted the most successful, exciting period in Middlesbrough’s history.
They have won a first trophy, the League Cup in 2004, reached a European final and an FA Cup final, they have seen some proper players and produced England managers. Most importantly, they have never been given reason to doubt that, successful or not, the owner had the interests of their club at heart.
And that simple acknowledgement is what we wish for Tony Bloom at Brighton, too. Already, his club are next season’s even-money favourites to go down. Yet he is another Gibson. Built the stadium, built the training ground, forged wonderful community links, looks after the staff, a true supporter whose investment totals in the region of £250million.
There are some lovely additional touches, too. Brighton light up the concourse used by away fans in the colours of their team, to make them feel welcome. They don’t have to do that but isn’t it marvellous that they do?
Yet will it help them if Chris Hughton loses three centre halves the week before he plays Manchester United or if Anthony Knockaert gets his head turned by a much bigger club two days before the transfer window closes? When Knockaert’s father died in November, Hughton cancelled training and took the entire squad to France for the funeral.
It was an incredibly supportive, respectful act, one that Knockaert says he will never forget. Yet this is football. This time last year, could anyone imagine that Claudio Ranieri, having won the title with Leicester, would be sacked by them the following February?
Bad things can happen, even in perfect stories, or to perfect clubs. It is to be hoped that, whatever the future holds for Brighton, nobody is expecting a perfect season in the Premier League.