A VIEW FROM WEST STAND LOWER

Going Shopping for the Premiership

Towards the end of the movie "Castaway" Tom Hanks drives up to a crossroads in the desert. Which way does he turn? In one direction lays the certainty and assurances of the past; in the other adventures and risks unknown. The Seagulls stand at a similar junction. In one direction lays good old Brighton and Hove Albion, the team everybody has a soft spot for given all those years of struggle without a home to call our own. Part of that package includes life in the third tier of the English leagues - a place we have occupied for all but 26 seasons since we joined the Football League in 1921. 

In the other direction lies a challenge for the Premiership and the senior cup trophies. To achieve that requires major investment in players, committed supporters and a full stadium for home games. We would lose friends on the journey and have to learn how to win ugly. The Club would need to operate at an entirely new level and not get silly with the finances. We would need to lose any lingering inferiority complex and not be intimidated by places such as Old Trafford, Anfield or White Hart Lane.

I doubt if there is a supporter who is not up for the challenge and it appears that Tony Bloom and Gus Poyet have not come this far just to retreat.

So the first task is team strengthening for 2012/13 and this would be my shopping list. One of the great attractions of soccer is being able to play virtual football spending other people's money!

Based on what I saw last season we need a new goalkeeper, left back, midfielder and striker. The first task, however, is sorting out whether Vicente will be returning for a second season. If he stays we need to build the team around him and learn to win with him in the side. Despite the goal assists we won only one of the 10 games he played in the run at the end of season. A full pre-season should help the other players to learn to play on his wavelength. 

The other big decision is whether to say thank you but farewell to some of the players who have been so successful for us over the last 3 seasons. Can Painter, Dicker, Barnes etc make the transition from level three to level one of English football like Peter O'Sullivan and Brian Horton did all those years ago?

Goalkeeper

Gus used 4 goalkeepers last season so I suspect he knows he has a problem in this position. Brezovan and Ankergren are great shot stoppers but are prone to simple errors when not under pressure so I would not be surprised to see a new goalie arrive soon.

Full Back

When the transfer window opened in January Gus went shopping for a right and left back and Reyes and Mattock duly arrived. To his great credit Calderon benefited from a break from the weekly rigours of Championship life and came back very strongly showing he could leap the divide from League 1 to the Championship. His goals from full back give us a bonus few other clubs can boast.   


We do not have the same strength  and pace at left back and with Mattock being released by West Bromwich Albion it would be great to have him back permanently.


Midfield

Despite all the midfielders in the squad we lack physical strength and are prone to give the ball away a bit too often. We need a ball winner who can get from box to box particularly if we play two in that position to accommodate Vicente. I personally would like to see Abdul Razak return on a season long loan.

Striker

It is clear after one season that Mackail-Smith is not a hold-up-the-ball type central striker. He needs to play off other players and run on to the ball if we are to get the best from him. Will Sam Vokes return? 

So that is my close season shopping list - what is yours?

Finally, last November my wife and I visited New York for the first time. We visited Ground Zero and, although I never knew Robert Eaton, I found his name on the memorial plaque around the twin towers' fountains and reflected for a few moments on all the Club had achieved. He would have been very proud.

 

A VIEW FROM THE WEST STAND LOWER

A Look Back at the 2011/12 Season

Well the season is over and it is time to sit down with a builder's cuppa and reflect on our first season at the Amex.

The first kick off in the first Amex League game

I have a confession to make! I feared we would struggle against the power and pace of some Championship sides and just simply be out muscled. And what was my evidence for this you may ask? Well it was that mauling against the ugly but efficient Stoke City side last season plus Steve Claridge's musings on The Football League Show. Who takes any notice of him I hear you say? I will know better next time although he does seem to get particular joy from telling the world how to play against Gus's passing game.

I need not have worried for apart from West Ham away, and briefly Blackpool and Leeds at home, we coped admirably against the all action hoofing sides.

Judged against our previous history it was a season to remember and the numbers look pretty impressive:

• best finish for 21 years
• 9th best finish ever
• highest average home attendance since 1980
• 607,000 passed through the turnstiles in 30 games

Preparing for a corner at Brum City

 We should also not forget the 232,000 pies and 150,000 pints of beer consumed in the Amex!   No wonder there was always such a queue for the gents at half time.

If the giant jumbo screens had told us after the Doncaster game we would finish in the top 10 we would have nodded wisely and have settled for that. 

Sunderland arrive for a giant killing

In the end we flattered to deceive. A good start saw us go to the top of the Championship table but a poor spell saw us in mid table by New Year. This was followed by 12 games unbeaten (joint best run by any team in the division) and we were back in a play off position only to be followed by a run of draws and defeats and and finally settling in 10th.  The success of the season was built on excellent home form and an ability to keep going and snatch points in added time.

Game of the Season

No doubt we all have our choice for game of the season but for me it was that magic day in August when life at the Amex began with a dramatic last minute victory. For periods we were made to look pretty ordinary by an efficient looking Doncaster team but one thing Gus's team does not do is give up. Who would have thought that Will Buckley would emerge the unlikely hero? A superb outside of the foot pass by Craig Noone and Will was away in a space and calmly chipped the ball around the goalkeeper. At that moment 14 years of hope mixed with despair was lifted. The long wait for a victory in a home we could call our own had arrived. It was if a great cloud had been lifted. We were no longer the little team struggling against impossible odds. We had arrived in our new stadium and we meant business. To be honest I shed a tear.

Player of the Season

We forget now but way back last August we had a bit a crisis at centre back. Tommy Elphick and Adam El-Abd were out with long term injuries and we were down to our last 2 recognised centre backs one of whom had not played more than a handful of first team games. Lewis Dunk seized his chance and improved with every game to the extent that Premiership teams were supposedly looking him over. We had no defenders with any Championship experience to talk of and we could easily have fallen apart at the back but partly due to Dunky we did not. Inevitable for one so young and inexperienced his form suffered a bit as we moved into the second half of the season but nonetheless he is my personal player of the season.

Coming Through the Ranks

As much as we all like to go shopping it is not sustainable for any club, let alone the Albion, to rely on buying new players each season. Bringing players through the development squad is cheaper and they are more likely to remain loyal to the club that gave them a chance. It was, therefore, very encouraging to see Jake Forster-Caskey and Torbjorn Agdestein come into the first team. Jake provided a much needed goal scoring ability from midfield. Torbjorn gave us pace and power down the left. I am quite sure we will see more of them both next season. 

Adapting to a Higher League

It was pretty obvious from early on that the Championship was a big step up from League One. Opponents were fitter, faster, more skilled and just did not give up. Most teams had a class striker. Giving the ball away was more likely to be punished. Unlike the previous season nobody threw the towel in once they went a goal behind. 

Albion adapted well to the new challenges and several players quickly looked at home in the Championship particularly Bridcutt and Greer. El-Abd and Dunk were not far behind and Calderon recovered from a slight loss of form to emerge as one of the best attacking full backs in the League. KLL, Noone and Buckley all had purple patches and Barnes worked his socks off and scored some  vital goals. And then there was Vicente! He had most goal assists and we need him to stay but perhaps we have not yet worked out the best way to make the most of his obvious skills. 

At times our play belied our traditional lowly status and in some games our build up, passing and control made some more regular Championship sides look pretty ordinary. The second half against Liverpool was perhaps our best 45 minutes of the season. My particular favourites were the second halves against Southampton and Ipswich and the defeat against Reading was cruel given how well we played. 


.......And Next Season

In football you cannot live on past glories. To be brutal we are a team in progress and need strengthing if we are to challenge next season. I will take a look forward in my next blog but in the meantime will bathe in the warm feeling of a very successful first season at the Amex full of great memories and new friendships.