First champions.. then we need to get used to losing
SEAGULLS WILL GET WINGS CLIPPED IN PREM WARNS HUGHTON
CHRIS HUGHTON is warning Brighton’s promotion heroes they will have to “get used to losing”.
The Seagulls boss returns to his old club Norwich tonight for the first time since being sacked three years ago knowing a win will seal the Championship title.
Brighton have racked up 92 points during their rise to the Premier League, but Hughton knows it will be a lot more difficult next season.
He said: “The difference is that you are a team that has got to get used to losing more games than winning.
“That’s a completely different mindset to the seasons before. That’s absolutely not being negative, that’s just fact. You only need to speak to teams like Bournemouth and Burnley that have gone into the Premier League, stayed and done well.
“The way you manage has to change slightly. You have to adapt.
“It is about picking players up, accepting you cannot win the majority of the games like you have done the season before.
“It’s just a different way of managing. There aren’t as many midweek games, so certainly your preparation times can more often be greater.
“With all due respect to the Championship, the profile of the games is bigger, so there are lots of things to get used to. But they are all positive things.” Hughton was sacked by Norwich in April 2014 after heavy criticism from Canaries fans, despite leading them to a mid-table Premier League finish the previous season. But he insists there are no hard feelings ahead of his Carrow Road return. He said: “I am looking forward to going back. Ultimately people make decisions and I generally don’t think that they are personal. “I have to make tough decisions day in, day out, week in, week out, so the best way is just to get on with it and never look back. “It’s certainly nice to go back there in the position we are in. “We had a wonderful result against Norwich earlier in the season when we won 5-0. “I was asked then and I can honestly say it didn’t matter to me that it was Norwich – it was just another result.”