2017-18 Season Review Part One

It will be more than a one season stay in the Premier League for Brighton and Hove Albion after Chris Hughton's side defied the pre-season predictions to avoid an immediate return to the Championship, finishing the 2017-18 season in 15th spot, some seven points clear of the drop zone.

The Albion hit the magical 40 points target with two games to spare after a stunning victory over runners up Manchester United in what was the high point of a season packed with plenty of those.

We've visited some of the most famous stadiums in the world, seen some of the greatest players in the world and been on a journey that made all those years of struggle in the lower divisions with no home ground seem a million miles away.

So sit back and relax as we relive the 2017-18 season with part one of our Season Review.

	Pre-Season 2017 They were still clearing up the ticker tape off of Hove Lawns from the Parade to Celebrate Finishing Second when Brighton made their first signing ahead of the Premier League season, Pascal Gross arriving from Ingolstadt for £3m. He was followed through the door a month later by Maty Ryan, a £5m replacement from Valencia for David Stockdale who had decided that, rather than play in the top flight, he wanted to count all the money given to him by 'Arry Redknapp in a shiny new house next to Spaghetti Junction. Ingolstadt were raided again for left back Markus Suttner, a £2m capture and Izzy Brown turned down the opportunity to rejoin Huddersfield, nstead deciding to move to the Amex from Chelsea on a season-long loan. There could've been further signings but in two remarkable cock ups, the Albion agreed fees for the signings of both Rafael Dwamenaa and Renato Neto. In terms of friendlies, pre-season was a bit of a disaster. There were three injury blows as Anthony Knockaert picked up a knock that was due to rule him out for three weeks in a 2-0 win over Fortuna Dusseldorf, Beram Kayal broke a leg as Atletico Madrid won 3-2 at the Amex and Steve Sidwell suffered a back problem which required an operation. Glenn Murray then compounded things by getting sent off in a 0-0 draw with Gironia. The other friendly results saw a 6-0 win over Crawley , a 3-0 win over Southend and a 1-1 draw at Norwich.
	August 2017 Davy Propper was transfer record breaker number two when he signed for £11m from PSV Eindhoven five days before the start of the season. Chris Hughton couldn't have asked for a tougher start with Pep Guardiola bringing his cream coloured chinos and his title favourites Manchester City to the Amex, but the Albion performed credibly in a 2-0 defeat with Sergio Aguero and a bullet Lewis Dunk header netting for City. If that sort of dogged defensive display against millions of pounds worth of attacking talent looked like it boded well for the season ahead, then a 2-0 loss at Leicester City in which the Foxes went ahead inside of 90 seconds bought everyone back to earth. Hughton's response? Spending another new record amount of £13m on Jose Izquierdo from Club Brugge, bringing in Ezequiel Schelotto for £2.5m from Sprorting Lisbon and answering questions about whether Ryan was up to the Premier League after two poor opening performances by signing Tim Krul from Newcastle. August ended with a 1-0 win over Barnet through James Tilley's first goal and a first Premier League point in a 0-0 draw at Watford, who played for over an hour with 10 men after Miguel Britos' horror challenge on Knockaert. Record: P4, W1, D1, L2, F1, A4 Results: 0-2 Man City H, 0-2 Leicester A, 1-0 Barnet H, 0-0 Watford A League Position at End of Month: 17th
	September 2017 There was mass panic when the Albion failed to sign a striker as the transfer window shut, which was understandable given we'd failed to score a Premier League goal in our first three games. Those worries were calmed slightly as Gross got off the mark with a brace in our first league win of the campaign, a 3-1 victory over West Brom with Tomer Hemed netting the third. The 100-miles-apart-South-Coast-Derby saw our terrible record at Bournemouth continue as, despite Solly March opening the scoring, we suffered a 2-1 defeat and in one of those cup draws that commentators call "quirky" but we'd describe as bloody irritating, there was another trip to the Vitality Stadium five days later for a 1-0 League Cup defeat in extra time. The month ended with a second win of the season, Hemed scoring the only goal in a 1-0 win over Newcastle. The Israeli's joy was shortlived however as he was banned for three games retrospectively after television cameras picked up a deliberate stamp on DeAndre Yedlin, meaning that with Murray and Baldock both injured, we'd enter October with no fit or available strikers. Suddenly, that lack of signing was back on the agenda. Record: P4, W2, D0, L2, F5, A4 Results: 3-1 West Brom H, 1-2 Bournemouth A, 0-1 Bournemouth A, 1-0 Newcastle H League Position at End of Month: 13th
	October 2017 The lack of forward options meant that Brown was asked to lead the line as a false nine away at Arsenal with the result being a 2-0 defeat to the Gunners in which they didn't get out of second gear and we hardly left our own half. For 89 minutes against Everton a fortnight later, the Albion were in control and looked to be heading to a third win of the season thanks to Knockaert's late opener. That was until Bruno went temporarily brain dead, elbowing Dominic Calvert-Lewin in the head in the box in the 92nd minute when there was absolutely zero sign of any danger. England's record goalscorer Wayne Rooney duly converted the resulting penalty to earn the Toffees a share of the spoils. We bounced back from that late heatbreak with one of the most impressive performances of the season, hammering West Ham United 3-0 in front of nearly 60,000 at the London Stadium. Murray scored twice with Jose Izquierdo scoring a brilliant distance effort for his first for the club. October was rounded off with another home draw, Murray's equaliser just before the hour mark cancelling out Steve Davis' early goal for visitors Southampton. Record: P4, W1, D2, L1, F5, A4 Results: 0-2 Arsenal A, 1-1 Everton H, 0-3 West Ham A, 1-1 Southampton H League Position at End of Month: 12th
	November 2017 November kicked off with the Albion's second and final away victory of the season, Murray continuing his attempt to score with every single part of his anatomy by using his thigh to score the only goal of the game at Swansea. Our record of being disappointing in games following the international break continued as Stoke City left the Amex with a point in a 2-2 draw with Gross and Izquierdo netting the Brighton goals. That extended our unbeaten run to five games and it should've been six at Old Trafford where the Albion were the better side against Manchester United but failed to take any of the numerous chances created, instead falling to a Lewis Dunk own goal. Jose Mourinho said afterwards that Brighton were the toughest side his team had faced so far which should have been a real boost going into the first eagerly anticipated derby match of the season with Crystal Palace. As it was, the game was a dull affair with both teams prioritising not losing over winning in a 0-0 draw. The only fireworks came off the pitch, quite literally in the away end, as ticketless Palace fans stormed the turnstiles and let flares off inside the Amex in an embarrassing evening for Sussex Police. Record: P4, W1, D2, L1, F3, A3 Results: 1-0 Swansea A, 2-2 Stoke H, 0-1 Man United A, 0-0 Palace H League Position at End of Month: 10th
	December 2017 Everyone knew we were due a hammering at some point from one of the big boys and it duly arrived when Liverpool visited, the Reds blowing the Albion away on their way to a 5-1 win with Murray netting from the spot. We were simply unable to deal with their pressing game, which was bad news for the following weeks trip to Huddersfeld who play in a similar manner. That game at the John Smith's Stadium resulted in the worst performance of the season and a 2-0 defeat and it was the same score four days later at Wembley, where Hughton rested some of his big names, seemingly accepting that defeat to Tottenham Hotpsur was a foregone conclusion. The decision was vindicated with a much improved performance in a 0-0 draw with high flying Burnley in which Murray missed a penalty and a week later, we finally managed to score from open play for the first time in over nine hours as Gross netted to vanquish Watford 1-0. Boxing Day saw a 2-0 defeat at champions Chelsea while the fixtures computer kindly gave us Newcaslte away on New Years Eve Eve, where a string of unbelievable saves from Ryan earned a 0-0 draw. Record: P6, W4, D1, L0, F10, A4 Results: 1-5 Liverpool H, 0-2 Huddersfield A, 0-2 Spurs A, 0-0 Burnley H, 1-0 Watford H, 0-2 Chelsea A, 0-0 Newcastle A League Position at End of Month: 12th