Ian Hart on Brighton and Hove Albion's season: It was good, bad and ugly - but we'll win a trophy within two years

I called it in my column of August 15 – at the very start of the season – that given we had the youngest manager in Premier League history, coming from the German second division to ply his trade in arguably one of the strongest domestic leagues on the planet, it was always going to be feast or famine.

Many said “You can’t learn on the job.” But to his credit Fabian Hurzeler has done just that.

Like all of us, he’s flawed and he’s made mistakes, but if he’s learning from them, which I believe he is, his development as a top-class manager will continue.

It’s been a classic footballing rollercoaster ride: when the Albion were good, they were very, very good, but when they were bad, they were horrid.

In August, what would you have said if offered EPL ‘doubles’ against Spurs, Manchester United and apparent near rivals Bournemouth , four-point hauls from Man City, Newcastle and West Ham, and a memorable Amex finale against champions Liverpool?

On the flip side, we lost to rivals Crystal Palace twice in the league for the first time since the 1932-33 season, we failed to beat any of the three relegated teams, Southampton, Ipswich and Leicester at the Amex, and it got worse with Foxes as we surrendered a two-goal lead, not once but twice, and the same thing happened at home to Wolves in October.

And I can’t pen this column without mentioning the 7-0 defeat at Forest, although despite the odd blip since, there’s a case to say that Hurzeler is a better manager as a result of this horrendous drubbing.

So, after the City Ground debacle, to finish eighth is an amazing achievement for Hurzeler in his first EPL campaign and I stand by what I wrote a couple of weeks ago – failure to qualify for European competition next season will in the long run be a positive factor for the long term development of the club.

Even as I write this, almost 48 hours after the emphatic 4-1 defeat of Spurs, there’s speculation in certain quarters that Manchester City will be given a points deduction that will see Albion qualify for Europe by default. In all honesty there’s more chance of the Beatles getting back together.

Man City’s eventual punishment is still far from being settled, and when a decision is made, can any of us see City not launching some legal appeal if they need to?

Albion and their young manager will now spend the next couple of months taking stock of the campaign thar has just finished, the good, the bad and the ugly.

All teams drop points, even the best, so while some of those we dropped were extremely frustrating, it’s all part of that learning curve.

While it always hasn’t been the case in previous seasons, the good far outweighs the bad. Aside from those failures against teams at the wrong end of the table, and losing to Palace, twice, my biggest Albion regret would be not giving ‘our best’ in the FA Cup quarter-final at home to Nottingham Forest.

With my well-worn blue and white specs on, I was still convinced we were on the Football Express to Wembley for our first FA Cup win, so to lose in that manner in was only compounded when our bitterest rivals eventually lifted the trophy!

On the positive front, after our final day demolition of Spurs at White Hart Lane, I’m still convinced of two things: Brighton will win a major trophy within the next two years and Hurzeler will win the Champions League before his 40th birthday. (Unfortunately as much as I’d like it to be, it won’t be with the Albion.)

The other question on almost every Albion fans lips, is come 16th August, and the start of the EPL, will Joao Pedro still be playing upfront for the Seagulls? Like a lot of Albion matters, it’s a head and heart scenario.

On his day Pedro is one of the most talented players to ever pull on an Albion shirt, but he has more baggage than a rich widow getting on the QE2.

I don’t know whether we can sort ‘his head’ out but if we can’t I’m confident Tony Bloom will hold out for the near £70m it will take to prise him away.

But as last summer, there’s so much positivity around the club.. a strong transfer window, and that long awaited trophy might even come within 12 months.