A VIEW FROM WEST STAND LOWER

"Tell him my fury shall abate!"

Brighton and Hove Albion (0) 0

Nottingham Forest (0) 0

Attendance: 26,684 (Amex record)



"Papa Noel,

I be good boy this year but it difficult. My strikers they play like un burro. All I want for Christmas is striker who find back of net. It not much to ask.

Feliz Navidad,

Gus"

I am contemplating not writing a fresh blog after each Albion game. After all each game is more or less the same so a bit of cut and paste and name changes to protect the innocent should do.

Yours truly meets Santa Gully!

True to form this game was like so many this season with the Albion dominating for long periods and creating chances galore but unable to convert because of the usual mixture of appalling finishing, bad luck and inspired goal keeping. A new award should be introduced for the week's striker who misses the most chances. Ashley  Barnes would have walked away with it against Bolton, Stephen Dobbie against Charlton and yesterday the reluctant recipient would have been Will Hoskins.

Not that Will had a bad game. His link play was outstanding, he never gave the ball away and looked very effective in the left side winger/striker role but when he arrived in the penalty area a red mist seemed to arrive with him. Sadly he failed to hit the target once with 4 very presentable chances. He could have had a first half hat trick and if the Albion had been 6-2 ahead at the interval it would not have  been an injustice. 

So here goes with Will's catalogue. His first chance arrived after good work from Bridge down the left but from his centre he steered the  ball agonisingly the wrong side of Camp's left hand post. Chance 2 - further good wing work this time from Buckley down the right saw Will get on the end of cross completely unmarked in the centre of the penalty area only to misdirect his header over the bar. The next chance was arguably the best when the ball came to him again unmarked in the penalty area but he seemed unable to work out whether to head or kick the ball and ended up screwing it over the  bar. His fourth and final chance arrived early in the second half when a free kick from the outstanding Lopez found him unmarked beyond the far post but the ball bounced off his foot and tamely behind for a goal kick. As his shoulders slumped in disappointment so did those of 24,000 Albion fans.

The bad luck award would go to Inigo Calderon who was an outstanding deputy for the injured Bruno. He found time to keep Andy Reid pretty quiet and join the attack at every opportunity. He saw a left foot shot clip Camp's left hand post and shortly afterwards he forced Camp to tip over a drive heading for the roof of the net.

Two further first half chances fell to CMS following good running but both went wide of the target.

Forest could have punished Albion for their wastefulness as half time approached as first Reid drove a good chance over the bar and then Sharp clipped a Cohen centre against the bar with Kuszczak a spectator. The goalie's only meaningful first half action could have been picking the ball out of his net. 

Is there a striker under this tres?

The second half was badly affected by driving rain. It was a credit to both sides that they managed to keep both their feet and the ball in such testing conditions. Forest came more into the game and El-Abd cleared from a dangerous situation early on. Kuszczak was forced into a save but for all their increased possession Forest were held at bay.

The rain made playing increasingly difficult. The ball either skidded away on the damp surface or slowed in the developing puddles particularly down the Albion's right. 

Two more chances came and went. LuaLua who replaced Hopskins forced Camp to tip the ball round the post from a low shot and then as injury time approached Halford lost possession to Buckley who immediately bore down on goal. Could this be a repeat of last season's last gasp win? Buckley's firm drive appeared to  be heading in only for Camp to turn over the bar. Buckley's frustration was all too apparent. 

The odd thing about this was that the Albion played really well. Nobody had a bad game (if you exclude finishing). Lopez revelled in a more central midfield role spraying the ball out to the wings and picking up anything loose as part of a dominating Albion midfield. We rarely looked in trouble at the back and coped well defensively with the conditions. Bridge and Calderon rampaged down the wings at every opportunity and general team play was outstanding until it came to you know what.

Gully's Girls final appearance?

A word about Will Buckley as Forest had a plan for keeping him quiet. It simply involved fouling him at every opportunity with the full indulgence of the referee. Like so many refs in the Championship Mr. Salisbury does not believe in protecting skilful players. The first time Buckley ran at the hapless Harding he just shoulder charged him over. In the Premiership that would have merited a booking but by not doing so Mr. Salisbury encouraged more of the same. This duly arrived a few minutes later with a late tackle from Reid who was belatedly booked. Fearing for his future on the pitch Harding was replaced for the second half by Greg Halford. He persistently fouled Buckley and was lucky not to be sent off when he appeared to raise his hands.

So what does Gus do about the inability to turn possession and chances into goals? The risk is that the inability to convert a tight defence and creative midfield into victories could just undermine the whole team and lead to a second half of the season struggle. For the time being I suggest Gus sticks with what he has and hope that against Millwall Hoskins gets the goals the rest of his play merited. Given the Albion were without both Vicente and Orlandi they still created plenty of opportunities. I am not convinced that a lot of chopping and changing will improve matters much.

The big challenge for Gus will come when the transfer window opens. Will he be able to hold on to assets like Buckley, CMS and Bridcutt while finding that all important reliable striker? I recall well how Zamora and Ward won us games we hardly deserved because they could convert the few chances that came their way.

My Personal Alternative Man of the Match: DAVID LOPEZ: Andrew Crofts may have received the Stadium award but for me Lopez was outstanding. He picked up lots of spare balls and kept the Albion moving forward. He was part of a very dominant midfield trio. He rarely gets to start but who would have known until he began to tire towards the end. The conditions were very un-Spanish but he appeared to revel in them.