Brighton & Hove Albion Fan View: New signings or bust

Brighton need a spark in the form of new signings or a team shake-up to ensure our crack at Premier League does not end with a whimper.

Saturday’s 2-0 defeat away to West Brom was hugely disappointing when a draw was a minimum requirement against a team who began the day seven points behind us in the table and without a win in 20 Premier League games. The fact we managed only one shot on target just serves to emphasise what a poor day it was.

This was never going to be an easy season with our squad limitations and comparative resources but our shortcomings are being exposed in almost all areas at the moment: our defending from set-pieces appears simply an invitation for others to score; we look leg weary in midfield; and we have failed to score in six away games on the trot.

I’m all for loyalty and not chopping and changing every game, but the team selection at West Brom was predictable and unimaginative. We may not have too many options but surely Beram Kayal had to start after his man-of-the-match display in the FA Cup win against Crystal Palace last Monday? Could possibly we have begun with 4-4-2 which served us so well last season?

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There were reasons why but everyone knows it was a huge failure by the club not to bring in a striker in the summer transfer window. Since then it has been a case of ‘let’s get through to January when we can reinforce the squad’, which is what the team did very well.

But the transfer window opened on January 1 and here we are in the middle of the month with no new arrivals nor any sign of them. Worryingly, the public messages from the manager on the signings front range from ‘we’ll only bring in someone if he is right for the squad’ to ‘no signings are close’ and strong dismissals of seemingly anyone mentioned, as in the case of Moussa Dembele. Basically, the vibes from the club are not encouraging nor offering much hope to fans.

Our only signings so far have been for the under-23s squad which may be good planning for the future but the pathway from the under-23s to the senior squad is still unclear to supporters. Okay, some lads were used in the Carabao Cup earlier this season but, despite mass changes, there was not a single current under-23 player in the 18 for the cup game with Palace. Might the inclusion on the bench of a youngster like James Tilley or Aaron Connolly not help lift the mood of the fans?

In fact, our first team squad is two players weaker since the opening of the transfer window, with injury forcing Izzy Brown to return to Chelsea and Steve Sidwell, with a return to action imminent, suffering a season-ending ankle injury in training.

There is a line in football between justified criticism and unnecessarily laying into your team. I am definitely in the former camp. What Chris Hughton and the squad did in the first 20 games was excellent, all things considered. I am not saying any players should be kicked out and I won’t change my stance about Hughton, who is exactly the right manager for Brighton and should be in charge next season whatever happens and wherever we are. But something needs to happen, because Brighton have won once in 12 games and nobody should dress that up as doing well.

@GriggoHome