Brighton seal their best Premier League season as Connolly downs Burnley
There may have been nothing of great significance for Burnley and Brighton to play for in terms of the final Premier League table here, but there was certainly an opportunity to contemplate what lies ahead for both sides and their ultra-ambitious managers.
The dust had barely settled on a final-day victory for Brighton that ensured their highest points tally since promotion to the Premier League three years ago before both Sean Dyche and Graham Potter were discussing the future of their respective teams and themselves.
Dyche has again performed superbly in guiding Burnley to a second top-10 finish in three seasons, but that success means speculation about moving on is never far away. “I’ve been asked the question about 4,000 times and the answer is the same every time,” said Dyche when asked if he would be leading Burnley into a fifth straight topflight campaign.
“I think every manager is ambitious. We’ve been ambitious within the framework we have here. We’re trying to rinse every drop out of every situation. We’re ambitious to a level that the club can allow us to get to. That’s the way I look at it. As long as I know what the challenge is, I’m happy to manage it.”
Brighton, like Burnley, can look back with some satisfaction. Potter’s first season in charge has shown signs of a positive future for them, underlined here by goals from Yves Bissouma and Aaron Connolly that gave Brighton a final tally of 41 points, one better than their return two seasons ago.
Bissouma’s wonderful long-range strike – which ultimately denied Nick Pope a chance to claim the Golden Glove award as Ederson pipped him by one with 16 clean sheets – was cancelled out by Chris Wood’s smart finish on the stroke of half-time, but Brighton
were arguably the better of the two sides throughout and reasserted their dominance shortly after the restart.
Connolly should have already given them the lead again before he fired past Pope to put Brighton ahead for good, but his well-worked finish following a clever flick forward from Neal Maupay was the least he and Brighton deserved for their efforts. A record Premier League points total and a fourth successive season in the top flight would be cause for celebration for most managers, but Potter, like Dyche, was keen to look to the future.
“We want to improve, but we’re not satisfied,” Potter said. “It’s a good start for us. We want to improve but the Premier League is so, so tough. There’s been a lot of learning going on and to get 41 points is good: but we want to improve.”
Dyche and Potter have both performed above expectations this season: yet it is clear both managers are acutely aware of the damage that stagnating and admiring their work over the summer could deal.