A VIEW FROM WEST STAND LOWER

"This story shall the good man teach his son"

Brighton and Hove Albion (0) 0

Middlesbrough (1) 1
Emnes 21

Attendance: 26,293

In the world of soccer there are 2 names that send a chill down my spine - Middlesbrough and Andy D'Urso. Together they create the perfect storm for the Albion. 

A sentiment we all support

I am old enough to remember that fateful day in August 1958 when the Albion played their first ever game in the second tier of English football. Hopes were high after hitting 6 in the team's last ever Third Division (South) game the previous April as they headed north for Middlesbrough. As a callow 10 year old I was glued to BBC TV's Grandstand as the old World War 2 teleprinter from the Admiralty typed out the final scores. "Middlesbrough 9 Brighton 0" it bashed out. Perhaps it was a typing error so I waited until the wooden blocks were sorted into place and the classifed results were read. The score was confirmed and to his credit the reader did not snigger or giggle. I walked into the kitchen of my Craven Vale council flat to inform my mother of the fateful result as if it were my personal responsibility.

4 months later and time for revenge with the return fixture at the Goldstone. I was not allowed to go to Saturday games without a parent and as my father worked that day Goldstone visits were limited to those late afternoon kick offs at the beginning and end of season. I was, therefore, dependent on BBC Radio's Light programme to know how my beloved Albion were getting on. It was to be decades before the Seagulls label stuck. At 4.05pm we had the half time scores and the Albion were 2-0 down. I then had to wait until Sports Report at 5pm for the final score. In those days there was just no way of knowing the progress of a game without being in the ground. The score reader reached Division 2 and said "Brighton and Hove Albion 4" and yes I thought a great fight back and some revenge for the first day slaughter and my hopes soared only to come quickly crashing down with "Middlesbrough 6". From that day forth my approach to the Albion became one of hope for the best but be prepared for the worst. I suspect conceding 15 goals against the same team in a season is some kind of League record but do not really want to know. From that day on Middlesbrough have been a bit of a jinx team and we have never delivered revenge for those 1958 defeats.

And what of Andy D'Urso? He belongs to that elite group of refs who seem to be in charge of a game totally different from the one I am watching. His comedy capers are fun if it is not your team on the receiving end of his bizarre decision making. On Saturday he saw fouls nobody else in the ground could spot and missed the more obvious. He gave 3 examples in a masterclass.

Albion practice for the BBC1 circles between programmes

Midway through the first half Hammond slid in with what appeared to be a perfect tackle. No player was hit and sent spriralling into the air and nobody appealed.  D'Urso gave a free kick which the visitors fluffed. He must have been feeling sorry for them as a few seconds later he gave them another free kick for an offence only he saw. Just after that a Middlesbrough player brushed through a powder puff tackle from Lopez which did not stop his momentum and the whistle blew again. In the second half Steele appeared to handle the ball outside the area under pressure from CMS but the ambling ref was to far way to see. Certainly from my seat in the West Stand it appeared as if Steele's momentum had taken him out the area. Perhaps we need 4 linesmen rather than goaline techology. 

Lastly, we witnessed a show of shall I blow my whistle of not and yes perhaps I will. A Middlesbrough player committed the worst foul of the game and was rightly booked. Andy put the whistle to his lips and, even though there was no particularly advantage to the Albion from playing on midway in their own half,  he withdrew the whistle only to change his mind and eventually blow. This only served to frustrate further an already frustrated Albion and Greer was booked for, I guess,  telling him what a twat he was. At the final whistle few Albion players found it in themselves to shaker the officials' hands and D'Urso departed to the booing he must be very familiar with by now.

He clearly was not interested in 3 penalty appeals - 2 which appeared harsh but have been given in the past but the defender who wrapped both his arms around CMS's neck and wrestled him to the ground was very lucky.

To be honest it was not the ref that cost the Albion the game - it was their wasteful finishing. We had enough chances to have buried the visitors. Home games are beginning to take on a familiar pattern to the extent I am thinking of asking Paul Barber for a refund as I have now watched the same game 3 times in a row. 

Games now have 3 phases:

• 15 minutes or so of pretty football which brings ripples of warm applause from the stands with the odd half chance coming and going
• between the 20 and 30th minutes we have 10 minutes of Sudoko moments in which the Albion concede a goal
• and finally 60 minutes of attack versus defence which includes missing several clear cut chances  

 To be brutal CMS should have scored when from a break away Bridge delivered the perfect centre only for the striker to hit the ball into the only part of the goal Steele could have palmed the ball away from. In the second half CMS and Barnes combined to miss the best 2 chances within seconds of each other. A perfect Hammond centre should have been headed in by Barnes but he got too far over the ball and headed it down into ground. Steele palmed it into the path of CMS who could not bundle it in. Lopez could perhaps have scored with a chance that fell to his weaker left foot and given a free shot in the penalty area Crofts tamely miscued the ball wide. Barnes stung Steele's fingers and Buckey drifted a shot just over the bar. Dobbie dribbled past 3 defenders only to tap the ball into the Steele's grateful waiting arms. Back in the first half Hammond planted a header into the South Stand from a perfectly delivered Lopez corner which found him in acres of empty space in front of goal.

The significance of this wastefulness is that like Brum and Ipswich before them the visitors scored with there only meaningful attempt on target and that came from a cruel deflection. Visitors sit back and let us play passing patterns in front of their defence and when the early sugar rush has worn off pop down the other end score and man the barricades until the ref mercifully ends the suffering of the home faithful.

The Amex's much appreciated memorial garden

During the close season the consensus was that we needed a new goalkeeper, full backs, added strength in midfield and a striker who could hold the ball up. Gus attended to all of this accept the striker. Unless we recruit a big striker with a bit of physical presence we will not get the best out of CMS. We are just to dependent on him to score the goals and when he does not we look pretty forlorn.

Finally, a word for Ashley Barnes. He is expected to be a striker, midfielder and defender all at the same time. Perhaps we should forgive his occasional misses and misplaced passes given the amount of covering he gets through in a game.

My personal alternative man of the match: This must go to David Lopez who worked well in partnership with Bruno and showed much creativity. His set piece deliveries should have brought at least one goal and was unlucky not to score.  

A VIEW FROM WEST STAND LOWER

"It must be thought on. If it pass against us, we lose the better half of our possession;"

Brighton and Hove Albion (0) 1
Buckley (80)

Ipswich Town (1) 1
Murphy (27)

Attendance: 24,736

"We need a Plan B, Plan A is not working". No - this is not Ed Balls talking at the Labour Party Conference but the muttered whispers from the stands as Ipswich took the lead last night in a keenly fought draw in appalling weather. You could hear the thoughts of "here we go again" after half-an-hour as the confidence drained from the Albion players like sand through a hour glass.

This way for the Tractor Boys

This was a "Back to the Future" game. A repeat of last Saturday against Birmingham. Ipswich even turned up wearing their kit.

This blog needs to be perfectly balanced as my best friend is a tractor boy so for the sake of friendship let's deal with Ipswich first. They turned up with a plan which they nearly executed perfectly. Teams that come to the Amex and play get picked off just like Barnsley and Sheffield Wednesday so to  prevent this visitors now fall behind the ball in great numbers as Brighton move forward cautiously, mark Bridcutt to prevent him being the midfield outlet, squeeze the space and try to hit a frustrated Albion on the break. While a draw was the right outcome on the balance of play Ipswich could have snatched this. Murphy nearly scored before he actually did from an almost identical move. Kuszczak saved from Murphy just after half time as he again got in behind on the Albion's right and he saved again just before the end. Ipswich were well organised and often first to the ball. They certainly had more physical prescence than the home team and it was diffcult to see why they are second from bottom. Chopra, before he tired, and his replacement Scotland caused the Albion more trouble on their own than Barnes and Dobbie managed.

I suspect if Ipswich played to this plan at home they would lose and only drawing some of your away games will not garner many points. 

As for the Albion they have been given due notice of how visitors will now play this season and it is up to them to come up with a plan to avoid the 90 minutes of frustration we witnessed last night. 

In the last 2 games we have moved away from the more high tempo style that marked the first 7 games of the season. This might be because CMS is not available to creat space with his running or Bruno to give an outlet down the right. Playing at bearly walking pace from the back only to hit the ball to an opponent or a tightly marked colleague has supporters pulling their hair out. Getting into mazy passing patterns only to lose out in the mass of legs and bodies is equally a route to premature baldness.

The good times will return

There were, of course, postives last night. The return of Orlandi gave us much needed creativity. He was behind all that was good in the first half and nearly scored from a long range swinging free kick. Dobbie is better behind the main striker and might feel he should have scored one or two on the night. I feel sure that once he scores many more will follow but we need to see him with CMS. Bridcutt put in his usual excellent shift and the appearance of Buckley and Dicker galvanised a late come back.

Games turn on chances and the Albion could, and should, have been one up before the big screen clock had ticked to one minute. Early space in the visitor's box was exploited by Dobbie and Barnes but LauLau put an excellent chance the wrong side of the post. If that had gone in it could have been a very different game. Again before Ipswich scored Dobbie found himself with space in the penalty area but hit the ball straight at Loach. 

In the second half as the Albion chased the game Dobbie saw a pile driver take a massive deflection which fortunately for Roach just fell the wrong side of his right hand post with him up by the left hand one. LauLau stung the goalie's hands with another firmly struck shot but Orlandi could not control the rebound. With almost the last touch of the game Barnes was inches away from an excellent Bridge cross. 

This is the way to Brighton Gus but not as you know it!

In 2 games the Albion have racked up 19 corners but rarely threatened from any of them. 

In the end Calderon made up for letting Murphy get the wrong side of him for the visitor's goal by winning the ball just outside the penalty area and putting over the cross for Buckley to bundle in his second of the season. 

With CMS and Hoskins injured the lack of squad depth in the striking department has returned to haunt Gus over the last 2 games. He really does need somebody who can come on and hold the ball up for others and we have seen Lita, Chopra and Scotland show how it can be done over the last 4 days.

Despite a disappointing couple of games we are third and, hopefully, with the return of CMS, Bruno and Crofts the good old days of Millwall away will return.
 
My dream team would be: Kuszczak; Bruno, Greer, El-Abd, Bridge; Orlandi, Bridcutt, Crofts; Buckley, CMS and Dobbie. The bench reinforcements being Ankergren, Cauldron, Hammond, Vicente, Barnes, Dicker plus either David Lopez or LauLau. 

My personal alternative man of the match: Quite rightly the main award went to Orlandi but my personal favourite was Bridcutt for another all action display in poor conditions. He has batteries that put Duracell to shame.