Alan Smith: Brighton A ‘Great Club’ For Evan Ferguson Development

on September 14, 2023 at 1:31 pm

Evan Ferguson is the name on everybody’s lips at the moment after the young Irish star’s start to the new Premier League season.

We sat down with a man who knows all about what it’s like being a striker and scoring goals in the Premier League. That man is former Man United and England forward Alan Smith.

Smith gave us his take on the chances of Man United or Newcastle making a move for Evan Ferguson and also what is best for Ferguson’s development as a football player.

He also touched on the potential candidates for the Republic of Ireland manager job if Stephen Kenny departs, his personal experience from playing with Ireland legend Robbie Keane plus Champions League predictions ahead of the start of this year’s competition.

Brighton A Great Club For Evan Ferguson To Develop

Q- Evan Ferguson looks like one of the brightest prospects in the Premier League right now. Should your old clubs Man United and Newcastle consider him?

I’d imagine they would consider Ferguson. However, it’s up to the player and whether or not he wants to leave Brighton. This is a club with Champions League ambitions and beyond!

Roberto De Zerbi has made it clear that any players who want to leave Brighton can do so – look at what happened with Caicedo. Brighton now feel like they can compete with clubs like Chelsea.

I’d imagine Ferguson is enjoying life at Brighton now – he’s playing regularly, playing well, and scoring goals. There’s always the temptation to go to ‘bigger’ clubs, and that’s something he may well want to do in the future.

However, it seems like Ferguson is enjoying it at Brighton. He’s only 18 and he’s still learning his responsibilities. I’m sure he’s on plenty of radars right now.

Big clubs always want good young players.

Brighton will want to keep hold of him, and it’s a great club for him to be at.

Roy Keane, Damien Duff or John O’Shea For The Rep. of Ireland Job?

Duff is currently managing Shelbourne FC, of course, whilst Roy has already been an assistant manager in the Ireland setup. I’m sure if, given the right opportunity, all three could offer their own things.

It depends on what they have going on with their lives. I thought Ireland were really good for 45 minutes against Holland the other night and the emerging players look exciting. The Ireland fans would take all three! The combined experience of Duffers and Shane would be great, whilst Roy was a player of massive stature.

Smith On How Good Robbie Keane Was

Robbie would have plenty of clubs lined up. He was such an infectious player and I think you can see that everywhere he went. His attitude and application were present everywhere we went. He loved playing football.

I don’t think we saw the best of him at Leeds as he couldn’t play in the Champions League. He was cup-tied and we signed him too late! I’m sure he would’ve loved it.

Robbie was a big part of our club in the goalscoring department. People loved watching him as he was unpredictable and he could score goals for fun. He bagged five goals in a game for Tottenham once! He loved playing and now he’s managing in Israel.

It’s great to see so many of my peers still involved in the game. I’m sure he’ll do well – he was always dedicated to getting the best out of himself and everybody else.

Champions League Predictions

Man City The Team To Beat In Champions League Again

I’ve not seen all the teams play, but it’d be difficult to look past Man City again. They’ve gotten over the mental block of winning it, and perhaps they’ll feel freer to go and win it again.

I’d say most managers would consider winning their domestic leagues more important, though. I know Pep was begging to win the Champions League with City, but he’s an exception. That being said, the Champions League is still a magical competition. I can’t look past City now, they’ve got that experience.