Graeme Souness has had his say on Albion's appointment of Roberto De Zerbi.

And he has got a reaction, you have to say that for him.

Speaking on TalkSPORT, Souness highlighted the new boss’s lack of Premier League experience and the fact he had changed clubs a lot.

He appeared to question the research De Zerbi had put in and said Albion were taking a risk in appointing him.

Well, to be fair to Souness, there is an element of calculated risk about it. As there is for Chelsea hiring Graham Potter.

Yes, De Zerbi is new to our league.

But football across the top European countries looks quite similar these days, wherever you go.

There was a far greater difference between British and Italian football in the days when, for example, Souness played for Sampdoria.

Yes, De Zerbi will stumble across things he did not know about the Premier League and he will have to adapt accordingly.

He will make mistakes and learn, as Potter did.

That has happened to everyone- even Pep Guardiola.

Souness made a valid point about having people around you who know the league.

Back in 1997-98, having taken charge of a struggling Benfica in November, he quickly got his team playing the best football in Portugal.

It was too late to catch runaway leaders Porto, though they beat them 3-0 towards the end of the season.

One of his master strokes was bringing in Brian Deane up front.

The Portuguese laughed at the ungainly English target man but he did wonders for the development of their darling golden boy Nuno Gomes who, at that time, was good but raw and over-rated.

Hopes were high of ending Porto’s dominance the following season.

But Benfica fell away and were struggling to secure even third place when Souness was sacked with four games to go.

Between those two seasons, he had replaced his veteran Portuguese assistant Nelo Vingada with Phil Boersma from back home.

That was seen as a key factor in how they fell away.

So, yes, get some local expertise around you. And keep it there.

That appears to be where Andrew Crofts, Nick Stanley and Jack Stern among others have their roles to play.

Souness’s point about De Zerbi having had a lot of clubs is ridiculous.

Don’t get too many promotions. And don’t go to a country where war breaks out.

Actually, there’s a big Norwegian lump of a centre-forward in east Manchester at the moment who has played for six teams since 2017. Journeyman.

Souness cast doubts over De Zerbi’s research on Brighton and said he could have just had a couple of hours on Google.

But the club themselves seem happy enough with the detail of his knowledge.

When he thought he might get the Albion job, he went and watched some of their matches.

It seems an obvious thing to do. But he did it so fair play to him.

It’s a start. That’s all. As De Zerbi points out, he will learn a lot more on the training ground.

As for looking up individual bits of information using Google, is there anything actually wrong with that?

It’s almost as if Souness is accusing him of cheating in a pub quiz.

So then, the risk. Well, if anyone knows about risk, and degrees of risk, it has to be Tony Bloom.

Brighton have to be inventive and imaginative. Do things a little bit differently.

There is not much point just copying what others, who have more money, are doing.

They do this in various ways.

In terms of managers down the years, Bloom has generally got it spot-on, even though Chris Hughton was the only man he has appointed to manage in a league where he already worked in that capacity.

Though even Hughton recognises his task in averting relegation was made easier by the work as interim of Nathan Jones, whose injection of fire and energy was just what everyone needed at that time after months of ice.

And there was an appointment before that which looked gold-plated.

That was when Micky Adams returned and Dean Wilkins was nudged to one side having almost taken a young side into the play-offs.

We are going back before Bloom’s days as chairman for this one.

What happened to Wilkins was unpleasant and, on a personal point of view, I wish I’d said so in print at the time.

(That wasn’t really my job back then).

What made it harder to criticise the decision was that Adams was a sure fire appointment in his place.

Absolutely no risk whatsoever.

Well, for whatever reason, we know how that one worked out.

If you don’t know, you’re allowed to Google it.

Souness is a giant of the game and his opinions are always interesting.

You don’t have to agree with them.

But Albion fans will be happy that it’s Bloom who has been playing the cards on their behalf.