Graham Potter makes bold Tony Bloom and Paul Barber claim after record busting Premier League season

Chairman Tony Bloom and chief executive Paul Barber have helped steer Brighton and Hove Albion to ninth in the Premier League

Albion ended their campaign with another fine display as a 3-1 win against a decent West Ham team saw them finish ninth on 51 points.

It’s the highest position Albion have ever achieved in the Premier League but Potter admitted it’s been far from easy this campaign.

Brighton went on a terrible run of form towards the end of 2021 as they only won once in 11 games and suffered a run of six successive losses in February and March.

An international break arrived at just the right time and allowed Potter to revaluate and his players to reset.

Potter came back revitalised and a change in tactics to the midfield – one that saw Moises Caicedo promoted to the first team – helped them finish the season like a train.

An impressive run of 18 points from their last nine games lifted them to ninth.

Many Premier League managers would have been feeling the pressure during that poor run but Potter said chairman Tony Bloom and chief executive Paul Barber were always supportive and were able to assess the situation objectively.

“Once a week I speak to Tony and before every game to talk about the game ahead and the previous one and I mostly chat to Paul [Barber] after games to check in that everything is okay.

“It’s more a consistent approach and they are very supportive. They have the ability to be objective despite the fact we have sometimes been in an emotional rollercoaster of results.

“Hopefully it is a mutual relationship in terms of when I have been supportive and objective with them. It’s been a really important relationship that I identify as one of the main reasons why I came here in the first place.

“I think back to three years ago it was because of those two guys and thankfully I made the right call.”

Chairman Bloom added: “Is a superb achievement, and I’d like to place on record my thanks to Graham Potter, his coaching and backroom staff, and, of course, the players for their efforts and achievements this season.”