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Peterborough United’ director of football, Barry Fry, has backed Craig Mackail-Smith’s decision to snub West Ham and Leicester City and join Brighton And Hove Albion.
The Scottish striker appeared to be on the verge of a move to either Upton Park or the Walkers Stadium and even spoke to Sam Allardyce and Sven Goran Eriksson.
But in the end the striker who fired the Posh into the Championships via a play-off victory at Old Trafford this season opted to join Gus Poyet’s Brighton.
Fry told talkSPORT: “Brighton have got huge ambitions and they’ll be dark horses next season knocking on that door to get in the Premier League, I assure you of that.
“Craig Mackail-Smith never went to Brighton for money, I’m absolutely one billion percent sure. It’s not a case of money it’s a case of ambition. He feels Brighton have got ambition and he obviously feels Brighton will be as big a club, if not bigger, than West Ham and Leicester. Only time will tell who’s right and who’s wrong.
“I think Brighton are a very, very ambitious club, Tony Bloom their chairman phoned me from Australia in the transfer window in January and offered a substantial amount of money which I put to our chairman and he turned it down because he wanted Craig to help us get promotion which he has.
“It’s a real family love affair [for the Bloom’s], they’re real, real supporters with real, real ambitions and I’ve got to tell you their passion, their commitment and their urgency blew everyone out of the water to be quite honest.
“Craig Mackail-Smith has been a magnificent servant for Peterborough United football club. He scored 99 goals in 209 games. He got 35 goals last season to get us promotion, he’s been involved in three promotions in four years and I can’t see one Posh fan that would begrudge him going wherever he wants to go.”
The Scottish striker appeared to be on the verge of a move to either Upton Park or the Walkers Stadium and even spoke to Sam Allardyce and Sven Goran Eriksson.
But in the end the striker who fired the Posh into the Championships via a play-off victory at Old Trafford this season opted to join Gus Poyet’s Brighton.
Fry told talkSPORT: “Brighton have got huge ambitions and they’ll be dark horses next season knocking on that door to get in the Premier League, I assure you of that.
“Craig Mackail-Smith never went to Brighton for money, I’m absolutely one billion percent sure. It’s not a case of money it’s a case of ambition. He feels Brighton have got ambition and he obviously feels Brighton will be as big a club, if not bigger, than West Ham and Leicester. Only time will tell who’s right and who’s wrong.
“I think Brighton are a very, very ambitious club, Tony Bloom their chairman phoned me from Australia in the transfer window in January and offered a substantial amount of money which I put to our chairman and he turned it down because he wanted Craig to help us get promotion which he has.
“It’s a real family love affair [for the Bloom’s], they’re real, real supporters with real, real ambitions and I’ve got to tell you their passion, their commitment and their urgency blew everyone out of the water to be quite honest.
“Craig Mackail-Smith has been a magnificent servant for Peterborough United football club. He scored 99 goals in 209 games. He got 35 goals last season to get us promotion, he’s been involved in three promotions in four years and I can’t see one Posh fan that would begrudge him going wherever he wants to go.”
