Richard Johnson: Middlesex boss keen to replicate success of Brentford and Brighton

Richard Johnson's Middlesex side were relegated from the top flight

Middlesex must follow the models of Premier League football clubs Brentford and Brighton in light of their recent troubles, according to head coach Richard Johnson.

The Lord's-based club will operate under sanctions imposed by the England & Wales Cricket Board for breaches of financial regulations.

This will restrict their ability to sign players in the coming years.

"We have to be smart about how we go about our business," Johnson said.

"We are well aware of the finance over the next couple of years."

The club have been handed a points deduction across all formats, suspended until October 2025, while payments from the ECB will be reduced.

Johnson, 48, who played 13 times for England, says Middlesex's focus will now have to be on youth, using the comparison with the two top-flight football clubs.

Brighton and Brentford - 'That's how we have to do it'

"We have got to have cricketers who are multi-format, who can play all types of cricket," Johnson told the club's website.

"We want value for money and that's the way we have to operate.

"It doesn't mean to say that we can't be competitive and we can't strive to get in the first division, and sustain and build and try to win it.

"We've got to do it a different way to most other clubs.

"If you look at a football model, Brighton and Brentford, their recruitment, and the way they go about bringing through their own on lower budgets and lesser wages, that's something we have to look into and that's how we have to do it.

"We've got to be smart and clever about how we go about it."

Middlesex were last relegated in 2017, the year after they won the Championship.

This year's relegation was confirmed by a defeat on the final day at Nottinghamshire.

"We knew it was going to be tough," Johnson said.

"Not playing Division One cricket for six years was a shock to the lads - how much higher quality the first division was.

"We tried desperately hard to stay in the division - it went right up to the last hour of the last day and just failed at the end.

"We're disappointed that we are back in the second division. We have spoken to the lads and the aim is to get promoted, but that is not the sole aim.

"Now that we have seen what the first division is like, the challenge for us is not just to get back in but to build a squad that can stay in the first division and an ethos that can, in the end, win it."