When Paul Barber showed Oscar Garcia, his coaching staff and a few members of the local media around a Lancing building site in 2013, he occasionally threw three words into the conversation.

Those three words (or maybe there should be a hyphen in there somewhere) were: Premier League ready.

He said it a few times as, in hard hats and ‘hi vis’ jackets, we walked around what would become, just a few months later, Albion’s state-of-the-art training complex.

Albion were doing okay in the Championship.

A bit up and down but they ended up scrambling into the play-offs.

The elite seemed a little way off, though, and I know how phrases like “Premier League ready” can be interpreted and thrown back in faces by supporters, be it of Albion or rivals.

Bear in mind, too, we were only a few months on from play-off trauma at the time.

So, just before the next day’s paper went to press, I called Barber and asked him whether he was really happy to be quoted on that “Premier League ready” stuff. Was he sure?

Of course he was. That was the whole point.

Albion’s chief executive is a skilled and experienced communicator.

He does not say things to media or fans by accident.

And the thinking was sound.

You cannot script what will happen on the pitch, especially in the Championship.

But you can be ready off the pitch for what comes along.

So, when Barber and Tony Bloom spoke three years ago about their top-ten ambition for the club, such double-checking was not needed.

Besides, we had been briefed earlier in the day about what Bloom would say at that evening’s fans’ forum.

We were tipped off he would reveal the top-ten ambition, just to make sure we didn’t miss it.

The ambition has been misconstrued at times. Thrown back in faces, even.

But top-ten means being around that top half on a sustained basis.

The goal is not fulfilled by finishing tenth once. Or even ninth.

Which is where we are now. One good season does not satisfy those ambitions.

Nor would slipping below tenth this season be failure.

As long as it is not too far below, of course.

The top-ten target allows room for, say, a respectable and competitive 12th place or an 11th.

This is the strongest competition in domestic football.

English football in general is oversubscribed.

You have a “big six” who all think they belong in the top four.

There are clubs away from those six who will be targeting Europe.

There are about 15 clubs who think they should in the top ten.

There are probably up to 20 or so clubs outside the Prem who think they should be there.

There are an awful lot of fanbases, many of them up north, who think they should be where Albion are now.

That they are bigger clubs than Brighton and that the Premier League would be enriched by their presence.

And then there is a National League packed with EFL clubs.

So it is tough. You have to keep setting yourself goals, both long and short term.

You have to keep pedalling hard.

Of course, the top-ten mission was unveiled two days before Graham Potter took charge of his first Premier League match with the Seagulls.

We have come a long way since then. The first Potter season was one of transition.

So was his second as we saw more of Potter’s own players and his way of playing.

Only in season three did it really feel like Potter’s team playing is way all the time.

And even then it was not always a bed of roses. Six defeats in a row, an awful home record and too any blanks at the Amex underlined that.

But when it was good, it was the best we have ever seen. Both in terms of results and the football.

And it was good quite often in the closing weeks.

Still, in performance and consistency levels, Albion have room for progress.

It has been interesting to hear one or two players say they could actually have done better as a team last season.

No one looked that disappointed after the closing day win over West Ham.

But you can see why they arrived at that conclusion on greater reflection.

So many players missed more games than they would have wanted.

Key men like Adam Webster, Danny Welbeck until Christmas, Enock Mwepu, even Lewis Dunk, the now departed Yves Bissouma.

Moises Caicedo was only here for half a season and only played about a fifth of a season.

Bissouma’s anticipated exit looks one which can be covered.

Marc Cucurella would leave a big, more unexpected hole to fill.

There remains scope to find a regular goal-getter although various players are showing an increased ability to chip in on that score.

What cannot be controlled is how other teams are looking.

Of those who finished below Albion last season, Newcastle appear the biggest threat over 38 games.

Remember, there was 45 minutes between ninth and 13th at the end of last season.

Three goals against the Hammers meant Albion came out on the right end of that.

They will be somewhere around that area again, one would imagine at this early stage.

But nothing is never guaranteed. The key is to be ready – one way or the other.

They will be.