The final final whistle of this unique season last Sunday was greeted with a bluntly-worded tweet.

“A game that will swiftly be consigned to the rubbish bin of history. The job was done a few weeks ago – 11 points clear of Fulham – but a big summer lies ahead.”

No, it wasn’t me. And it wasn’t typed out at the Emirates.

The tweet actually came from Bramall Lane courtesy of Burnley Express reporter Chris Boden as his local side went down 1-0 to Sheffield United.

Albion were 13 points ahead of the Cottagers, not 11, which was a giveaway.

They were also ahead of the Clarets, which in itself is a great indicator.

If you finish the season ahead of Burnley in the table, you’re staying up.

But the bit about them being safe weeks ago and the big summer ahead can also be applied to the Seagulls.

And indeed any of that handful of teams below halfway covered by four points.

Albion included – though perhaps not to the extent of others.

The indication at the moment as far as the Seagulls go is not to expect many players coming in, although there may well be a few departures to reduce squad size.

There is a case for saying that every summer is big for every club.

Such a lengthy period cannot be allowed to simply pass you by.

But there is a handful of clubs there who appear to be at a crossroads as we go into the summer.

For Albion, at least, the direction to follow seems obvious. A lot of groundwork has been done.

They are just waiting for the summer which will fuel or jet propel them forwards.

Others seem to have more decisions to make. It seems unclear which way they are going.

Take Burnley. Boden’s tweets were interesting.

No one in the media knows the club better than him.

Remember Burnley last went back up to the top flight in that two-from-three promotion race of 2015-16 in which Albion were edged out by Middlesbrough.

He described this fifth successive Prem campaign for the Clarets since then as “probably the least memorable even in an unprecedented season”.

Burnley now hit a crossroads because they go into their first close season under their new owners.

There has been talk of funds being promised for the window.

They have an ageing squad and ten players out of contract so the summer is likely to be far busier than usual at Turf Moor.

Late-season form can be an indicator for the following campaign and, in Burnley’s case, it has been poor with seven defeats in the last nine games.

But the fact they pedal like mad to be where they are means they are often susceptible to poor late-season results once safety has been secured.

Then there are the two managerless clubs in that group.

As well as looking for a successor to Roy Hodgson, Crystal Palace must rebuild their squad given 15 of their players are out of contract.

That can be daunting or it can be a huge opportunity.

Plenty of wages will have been freed up.

Palace seem to have a knack of sorting themselves out.

But those words “big summer” and “at a crossroads” apply at the top of the A23.

Wolves would appear to have a plan up their sleeve given they ousted the popular Nuno Espirito Santo when most of us thought he had gone of his own accord.

This from a club who seemed to have it all worked out and could do little wrong in recent years.

Nuno’s replacement could be Bruno Lage, who was at Albion’s training complex a couple of years ago in charge of a Benfica B side who lost to Simon Rusk’s under-23s.

Not long after that he took over the senior side with stunning effect.

Wolves will be a different proposition when Raul Jimenez returns, we know that.

Are the Newcastle locals happy yet? A flying finish to the season and an unlikely 12th place finish should have cheered them up a bit.

But one suspects the Toon Army will still feel their club should be further up the table than that.

And then there’s Southampton. I almost forgot about them.

They seem to have been drifting along for weeks now, almost unnoticed.

They will lose Ryan Bertrand, it appears they have an issue in goal and they need to keep Danny Ings fit.

Saints’ current form has been okay.

Their trend over a longer period might be irrelevant or concerning.

The Argus:

They are rock bottom of a table comprising only results from New Year’s Day until the end of the season with 17 points from 22 games (the same as Fulham but with a worse goal difference).

Albion are 12th in that (28 from 22), followed immediately by Newcastle, Palace, Wolves and Burnley in that order.

WHY TONY BLOOM WANTS THIS TO BE MORE THAN THE SECOND GOLDEN ERA

Southampton need to reverse their fortunes from the last five months of the season.

The teams who became detached along with the Seagulls in last year’s bottom six all had a “ big summer” and enjoyed good seasons this time.

Be it West Ham and Aston Villa in the Prem or Norwich, Watford and Bournemouth in the Championship after relegation.

VOICE OF ALBION TO RECEIVE LEAGUE WINNER'S MEDAL

Albion’s big summer will be largely governed by who they keep.

Be that of the players they want to keep or those they would prefer to move on to free up funds.

Will they also, going back to that initial tweet from Bramall Lane, consign the final match of 2020-21 to the bin?

WHY THIS CAN BE MORE THAN A SECOND GOLDEN ERA FOR TONY BLOOM

Hopefully they do because the only good reason to cherish it would be as Yves Bissouma’s farewell.

There are decisions to make for the Seagulls.

But their path seems more clearly mapped out than than that of most teams around them.