Brighton and Hove Albion need to summon Muhummad Ali’s spirit after thrashing by Everton
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At the end of the first round of his super-fight against George Foreman, Muhammad Ali went back to his corner. He stood and looked over at Big George, a man stronger than him, bigger than him, more ferocious than him, and nodded to himself. “This my time, this is my moment.” He raised his arms to prompt the huge crowd into a chorus of Ali bomaye, which translates to Ali kill him.
So why mention this legendary boxing tale now? Well in the wake of Everton’s emphatic and shock 5-1 win over the Albion, the Seagulls almost find themselves like Ali in that corner 49 years ago.
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Hide AdEveryone’s writing them off, as the world’s media had with Ali. But he found a way that night, going on to sensationally KO the previously undefeated Foreman.
Now, many are saying Albion’s European dream is over. And I love that – because anyone writing off the Albion does so at their peril.
Talk of Champions League qualification was shades of Icarus travelling too close to the sun.
Any European qualification will be an achievement. Fans of other clubs can call the European Conference Mickey Mouse, but ask the West Ham faithful – it’s a competition against other teams from across Europe and ticks all the boxes for me.
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Hide AdFive games remain: Southampton and City at home; Arsenal, Newcastle and Villa away.
I believe 61 points will be enough, and wins against Saints and from a final-day showdown at Villa would get us to that total. But, like Ali in Africa, don’t write off the Albion in any of the other three.
The Everton result, potentially season-defining for the visitors, was from the type of game we’ve seen countless times through the years – a team scrapping for survival score every time they go forward and their keeper has the game of his life.
But RDZ doesn’t become a bad manager overnight, and the team now has almost a week to regroup and return refreshed for the visit to Arsenal.
Doris Day was right when she sang “whatever will be will be”. So as the rest of football and even some of our owns fans dismiss the Albion, we have 450 minutes to make club history.