Bloom admits Premier League safety target is hard to call

Brighton chairman Tony Bloom admits it is hard to call how many points will be needed to stay in the Premier League this season.
Brighton chairman Tony Bloom. Picture by Phil Westlake (PW Sporting Photography)Brighton chairman Tony Bloom. Picture by Phil Westlake (PW Sporting Photography)
Brighton chairman Tony Bloom. Picture by Phil Westlake (PW Sporting Photography)

The Seagulls are 12th in the top flight with 31 points from 28 games but are just four points ahead of third-from-bottom Swansea.

The average points total needed to stay up over the past ten seasons has been 37 and, speaking to BBC Sussex after yesterday's 4-1 win over Swansea, Bloom said: "There's no doubt that the average of 37 the last ten years isn't so relevant for this season or the next few seasons because you've got six such dominant teams.

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"About a month ago, I'd have said a decent chance of 32, 33 (could be enough to stay up).

"That's changed in the last few weeks and I'd say 36 or 37, it's certainly gone up because there's been a few shock results.

"But it's so difficult to tell, 32 points could still be enough but it's very unlikely and 37 can still go down.

"It's unpredictable, you just don't know."

Talking about the win over Swansea, Bloom said: "It's a brilliant result, we all knew it was a massive game and the players did us proud.

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"I'm delighted with the win, delighted with the four goals as well and it was a brilliant all-round performance.

"We're delighted to be in the quarter-final of the FA Cup, it's a game to look forward too but we've got two huge games before then. It would be nice to get some results, which means we can look forward to the cup game even more.

"We've got a lot of work still to do but it's great to be on 31 points."

Brighton smashed their club transfer record to sign Dutch striker Jurgen Locadia last month and the 24-year-old has now scored two goals in as many games.

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Bloom said: "I'm very excited about Jurgen, we haven't seen too much of him obviously but he looked really good against Coventry and hopefully there's more to come.

"He's been out for two months injured, so it's something to look forward too but Glenn (Murray) is doing so well. He's starting all the league games, so good luck to him and I'm really pleased tonight."

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