A VIEW FROM WEST STAND LOWER

Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more.

Brighton and Hove Albion (0) 0

Birmingham City (1) 1
Burke (27)

Attendance: 26,121

I do not know what you do when you have finished your Amex pie and pint deal but I have a look down the team lists on the back page of the match programme. As my eye passed over the Brummy Boys' list of ex-Pompey players and yesterday's men I noticed the referee. Mr. Langford from the West Midlands. The West Midlands? If my geography serves me right isn't Birmingham the capital of the West Midlands Region? 

If things got tight in the game wouldn't the fans turn on the ref and accuse him of bias? Given all the refs available to the FA surely they could have found one from the West Country or East Anglia or even London. Perhaps this was a money saving venture by the FA - the ref comes down on the away team bus to save money. 

As it turned out we experienced our most hapless set of officials since last season's Burnley game. The ref did little to stop the visitor's time wasting which started immediately after half time or the persistent foul play in the final quarter of which LauLua was the main target nor could he control his flag happy linesmen who shot the flag up on every occasion. I recall that when the off side rule was changed a few years back linesmen (sorry assistant refs) were asked to give attackers the benefit of the doubt to promote attacking play. Clearly the memo did not get to John and Christopher. Some of the offsides in the second half looked very tight to me. Several times the ball appeared to strike the arm of defenders but Mr. Langford was not interested. He was better placed to see the ankle tap on LuaLua which could have brought a penalty. He waved away penalty appeals - perhaps he was distracted by thoughts of home. I sometimes suspect that in the Amex cauldron when the ref feels under pressure from the home crowd they adopt a "I will show them who is in charge persona" and give Brighton little in the 50/50s. 

In reality the Albion did not deserve to win the game even if they did not deserve to lose it. It was just a bad day at the office with too many regulars not cutting the mustard plus the injured trio being badly missed. 

We started with 6 of our League One regulars and some of last season's more unwelcome habits returned - slow build up from the back, forward passes going astray and giving the ball away in midfield. 

Brum City came with a plan and we played straight into their hands. Early on they looked suspect at the back but instead of playing with pace and power from the off we tapped the ball around patiently at the back allowing our visitors to put their 10 outfielder players behind the ball. Birmingham gained a foothold in the game and a long ball forward was headed to Chris Burke some 30 yards back who fired in one on the best goals the Amex has seen in its young life. 3 Kuszczaks could not have saved.

That was it as far and as shots on target were concerned for Birmingham and apart from a scrabbled save from Lita, Kuszcak could have sat in a deck chair for the second half and played patience. 

The Seagulls won the corner count 12-0, they dominated possession and countless crosses flew across the box. But in reality we rarely looked like scoring and the nearest came when Davies nearly headed into his own net. Butland was never made to show why he is England's number 2. 

Barnes was as anonymous as he was prominent against Millwall; Buckley could not weave his usual magic; Hammond had his least effective game; Dicker switched play cleverly from wing to wing but rarely forward; nobody possessed the killer forward pass to split the defence. We had neither the brawn or guile to undo the smash-the-ball-away-as-early-as-possible defenders. The delivery from set pieces was not up to the usual standard and Orlandi was badly missed. At least that part of the game improved with David Lopez's arrival. 

The player missed most was Mackail- Smith. His movement and harrying might have upset the defence but Dobbie is clearly not an out and out striker. He likes to come deep and collect the ball and I found myself reflecting how well he could play feeding CMS. Given that he has only played 70 mins for the development team this season he did not deserve the abuse he received from frustrated sections of the crowd as he tired. Together with CMS and an in form Buckley or LuaLua he could find us lots of goals. Let's hope on Tuesday we have some of the walking wounded back or it could be another frustrating evening. Perhaps Vicente will make a guest appearance!

And as for the ref? I wonder if he enjoyed the journey home in that rather nice Brum City coach.

Alternative Man of the Match: Quite rightly the main award went to Wayne Bridge who was head and shoulders the best player on the pitch but my award goes to Dobbie for showing us glimpses of what he might achieve when match fit and working with CMS

A VIEW FROM WEST STAND LOWER

"The man that once did sell the lion's skin while the beast lived"

Millwall (0) 1
Wood 79

Brighton and Hove Albion (1) 2
Barnes 17
El Abd 50

Attendance: 12,191

Last season I migrated with the Seagulls to Leicester City, Birmingham City, Reading and West Ham United. In those games we conceded 10, did not score and hardly mustered a shot on target. I feared I would bring my jinx to The Den but I need not have worried.

The Seagulls controlled most of this game and Millwall (and their fans) were only movitated by what they saw as an injustice when Taylor was sent off and subjected the Albion to pressure over the final 15 minutes.

Kuszczak sweepts up another attach

Up until then you could have been forgiven for thinking the Albion were the home side. We had most of the possession and controlled the game for long periods with Milllwall trying to hit us on the break. On the few occasions they found their way through the mass ranks of the Albion midfield, they were thwarted by the Pole in our goal in outstanding form.  

The Albion pressed early on but the best chance fell to Wood before Kuszczak denied him. Within minutes the Seagulls had swept up the field and following excellent wing work by Buckley, his pass across the front of the penalty area was put away by Barnes arriving late. His new haircut was obviously paying early dividends.

Millwall huffed and puffed but the better chances fell to the Albion when a Buckley shot was hooked off the line and the same player swept the ball just pass Forde's left hand post.

Mackail-Smith went to ground and a Millwall player sportingly kicked the ball into touch. CMS was substituted by Dicker with Barnes moving further forward with Orlandi in support. This period of reorganisation gave Millwall an opportunity to press and the half time whistle left most Albion fans wishing for a second goal which duely arrived just after half time. Hammond challenged for an Orlandi corner, the ball fell to Adam El Abd who thumped home one of his very rare goals.

Are the Lions at home?

It looked like game, set and match as Albion set out to kill the game with lots of possession football while Millwall just continued to huff and puff. Chances came and went with Barnes seeing a shot cleared off the line and a 20 yard bender from Orlandi going just over the bar.

On the 68th minute Andre Mariner unwittingly changed the course of the game. Taylor, who had already been booked for a lunge at Calderon appeared to lunge again at Kuszczak. The ref thought he had his studs up and off he went on a second yellow. Taylor obviously felt it was harsh and so did the crowd and the remaining Millwall players. With the crowd behind them the Lions had a go at high tempo football with deep crosses hit to the far post from left to right. Remember this was a tactic which had undone the Seagulls several times last season. Without Bruno some of the height at the back had gone and not surprisingly with Henderson on for added aerial power a long cross to the right back position was won in the air for Wood to hit home against his former employers. How ungrateful. 

Lua Lua came on to give the Millwall defence something new to think about and apart from the odd half chance and lot more hard running by Millwall the Albion saw the game out apart from an added on time save of the game as Wood was denied an equaliser by Kuszczak.

Is this the training ground?

This was an excellent team performance with everybody doing their bit and potential men of the match all over the pitch but I suspect the official award went to Kuszczak for cool command of the penalty area and an excellent save at the death.

7 games gone and we sit proudly at the top of the League. We look to have a strong squad bearing in mind Crofts and Vicente were missing yesterday and Millwall is always a hard place to get a result. Dare we dream?

My alternative man of the match: Andrea Orlandi - lots of neat touches and always prominent during long periods of possession. He hits a mean corner and was unlucky not to score.

 

A VIEW FROM WEST STAND LOWER

"let me speak proudly"

Brighton and Hove Albion (1) 3
Bridge 24
Mackail-Smith 54
Buckley 58

Sheffield Wednesday (0) 0

Attendance: 26,594

It was just like the final season at Withdean! The Seagulls strolled to a three goal lead then played keep ball for 20 minutes and won the game easing up.

I am quite sure we will face harder challenges this season but the portents are promising. Any team scoring at a rate of 3 plus goals a game, as we have done over the last three games, and keeps things tight at the back usually does very well. In 5 games only one opponent has been able to beat Kuszczak in open play.

What has impressed me is the way Gus and the players have attended to the matters that let us down a few times last season. We are a little more direct which means giving the  ball away less in midfield. I assume we will soon have a midfield of Bridcutt as the holding player with Crofts and Hammond taking it in turns to play further forward. The best midfield in the Division?

The new full backs and physically stronger players in midfield should make us less vulnerable against hard runnning hoof ball teams. At times last season these teams steam rollered us a bit.

We now have a goalie who looks safer than the Bank of England (pre recession of course). How he stopped Bothroyd's header near the end still amazes me. If Bothroyd was really thinking about coming to the south coast during the transfer window I bet he now wishes he had. In this game he was starved of service and when at last he was feed a tempting cross Kuszczak pulled off what may yet turn out to  be the save of the season.

The Seagulls are creating chances at a far greater rate than last season. Our shots on goal number is up there with the Championship front runners this time around. Perhaps we could convert even more but Dobbie should help attend to that. 

So its on to Watford and Millwall. These games should help answer the question as to whether our away form can improve compared to last term. 

And Gus has some challenging team selection decisions. Does Crofts come back and if so who drops out? Dicker? What about Dobbie? Will he replace action man Barnes? My head cannot cope with worrying about fitting Lopez and Orlandi in the team. And what about a certain Vicente - assuming he ever returns? I suspect Gus will say these are the sorts of challenges managers like having and it's up to the players to force him to pick them.

Things could hardly be better in the Seagull nest but we should not get carried away. The Championship will be keenly fought and we are still the new boys in with a group of Premiership hardened teams some with sugar daddies with deep pockets. A friend of mine who supports Ipswich said to me that when Blackburn visited Portman Road they almost needed another page in the programme to list their vast squad. The reported £8million they fluttered on Rhodes would probably buy most Championship squads. 

Finally, you might  be wondering about the quote at the top of each blog this season. I am trying to find an appropriate Shakespearen Henry V quote for each game. I will be going to the Millwall game so the warrior King should have plenty to offer in the Den!

My personal alternative Man of the Match: Dean Hammond - it was as if he had never been away, not a pass out of place, covered every blade and very unfortunate not to score twice.