'De Zerbi's boots are big ones to fill'

The announcement that Roberto de Zerbi is to leave Brighton is that strangest of things: an unsurprising shock. The Albion board do not take well to public criticism, so from the moment De Zerbi questioned the club's transfer plans and said those at the top would need to learn lessons from the 2023-24 season, it felt like he had cooked his own goose. Gus Poyet went the same way 12 years ago, although Brighton have at least avoided a repeat of another messy and undignified divorce.