A VIEW FROM WEST STAND LOWER

WILL IT BE KISS AND MAKE UP OR TAXI FOR GUS?

"Why have Brighton suspended Gus?" the text message from my Spurs supporting daughter demanded.

"I don't know - have they?" I replied

"It must be true it's on SSN. The yellow ticker never lies!" she retorted.

I switched on Sky Sports News and opened my Twitter account and rumours of Gus's suspension were viral. I decided to await a statement from the club as this may yet be another "Michael Owen is signing" story.

Within minutes the Club had indeed issued a short, terse but very clear statment - Gus, Tano and Charlie had been placed on the naughty step. 

Well that was over a week ago so what are the likely outcomes? From my 40 years experience as a NHS manager I know a little about disciplinary procedures

Who will be parked here?

(and no, I have not been subject to one). Employment law and good practice will have come into play now which means proceedings will be in confidence. It is unlikely North Stand Chatters will ever know the gruesome details of who said what to whom and when.

There can now only be one of two outcomes:


1. KISS AND MAKE UP
Out of the blue and totally by surprise the club issues a statement. Gus and Bloomers have held clear the air talks. Gus has pledged undying allegiance to all things Seagulls and agreed to attend a course on basic accountancy in exchange for a 2 year extension on his contract.  Gus states he is looking forward to the new season and building another team to challenge for the Premiership. Tony states funds have been made available for squad strengthening. Everybody holds hands and looks forward to the future.

This might sound unlikely as an outcome but in the crazy world of football who knows. Gus may not be the prospect he thinks he is. The Premiership merry-go-round has started and despite some bookmakers' odds Gus is not aboard. Newcastle and Fulham appear to have been false alarms as both clubs have decided to stick rather than twist. As of today Stoke City look like preferring the cut of Mark Hughes. I doubt Millwall is on Gus's list.

Is it possible that by being suspended Gus's credit

Will this remain in the cupboard for good?

has gone down somewhat and other chairmen may view him as a bit of risk? Winning the League One Championship and losing a play off semi-final may not look all that strong on the CV from the viewpoint of the Premiership.

For somebody who likes to put himself in the shop window getting suspended may not do Gus too many favours and staying might become his only realistic option. 

2. TAXI FOR GUS
This is the more likely outcome but what goes in Gus's bag may be the big issue. The club could decide Gus has fundamentally breached his contract to the extent that he should be dismissed without notice or further payment. The risk with this is that Gus trots off to an Industrial Tribunal and unless a deal can be done at the door of the court all the gory details of who said what to who would indeed spill out into the public domain. For Lord Sugar and his apprentice read Tony Bloom and his manager. The Sun would glory in the details for days. Reputations could be dented.

More likely there will be a negotiation, sums are agreed in respect of Gus's unspent contract, a confidentiality statement drawn up and everybody puts a brave face on it and moves on. One thing will be for sure - on both sides lawyers are circling the wagons.

My wife is a psychologist - and knows about these things - and suggests that Gus's statement after the defeat to Palace was an attempt to deflect responsibility for his failure on to the chairman (known as displacement, thanks to Freud). 

The Palace manager rather backed this

Who will be sitting here come August?

up when he commented that Gus has had three and half years to build a team while he has been at Palace only a few months. Holloway has achieved the play off final with players he inherited from the previous manager. 

I do know that, in the real world, if an employee refuses to do part of his job because he does not know whether he will be around in a few months, and opens budget discussions with the boss publicly via the media, somebody is likely to suggest that perhaps this is not the organisation he should be working for and that he might like to make other employment arrangements.

We need to remind ourselves that everything said about Poyet regarding Gusgate equally applies to Tano and Charlie. What about their futures? 

Fans will say this needs resolving quickly as next season is only 2 months away and there are holes in the squad that need filling. A combination of loan signings returning to parent clubs and players being released leaves big gaps in the defence and midfield. If David Lopez wanders off and Premiership teams come shopping for Bridcut, and possibly Buckley and Ulloa, putting together a team to challenge next season could become a major task.

So in the coundown to whether Gus stays or goes which is the pointless answer? Will it be deal or no deal?
 

 A VIEW FROM WEST STAND LOWER

"Thus far, with rough and all-unable pen, our bending author hath pursued the story"

Football League Championship

Play off semi-final (second leg)

Brighton and Hove Albion (0) 0

Crystal Palace (0) 2
Zaha 70 and 88

Attendance: 29,518

It has to be said, although the words stick in my throat! Crystal Palace were worthy winners of the Championship play off semi-final. The street-wise boys from the smoke came down to the seaside for the day and gave Gus's flairistas a lesson in how to win a one-off winner-takes-all game. 

Palace's desire, commitment, hard running and tactical nous linked to Zaha's flair presented a puzzle the Albion were unable to fathom. Ian Holloway is sometimes derided as a manager

They might regret the hair dos in the morning!

but he certainly outwitted Gus on Monday night.

For me the turning point of the tie came at half time in the first leg at Selhurst Park. For 45 minutes Palace had retreated in the face of the Albion and given them time and space to pass the ball around and build attacks. The visitors should have been ahead - Ulloa and particularly Hammond spurning good opportunities. 

Holloway changed tactics. He matched Brighton's 4-3-3 formation and played a much higher line. Every Albion outfield player had a marker, Kuszczak could no longer play the ball short to allow attacks to build from the back and the Albion were forced to hit the ball longer. This meant more 50/50 challenges for the ball and more often than not Palace's greater physical strength won out. This was not critical as the Seagulls doggedly dug in knowing there was a second leg to come.

Palace employed the same tactic at the Amex and the Albion were unable to respond. For a team which likes to keep the ball tight and the game under control the match became far too open and more often than not Ulloa was left to battle on his own to win balls in the air against 2 defenders, sometimes assisted by the midfield holding player. 

Gus commented on this after the game but during it the Albion were unable to find a Plan B that would put Palace under real pressure. Barnes' arrival helped but why didn't Gus put Crofts on to stiffen up the midfield and play LuaLua and Buckley more centrally and use their pace on the break to put pressure on the Palace back four? Instead that was what Palace did and they gave early warning in the second half of their intent when they broke at speed when a David Lopez free kick was cleared, Williams ran away from the Albion's defence to put the ball just past Kuszczak's right hand post when he should have hit the target.

Another break in the 70th found Bolaise with space and time wide on the left. He turned past Calderon and Zaha, with space in the middle, emphatically headed home past Kusczak.

There was still 20 minutes to go but the Albion were unable to mount a concerted response and chances were limited to a powerful header from Barnes but straight into Speroni's grateful arms.

With 2 minutes to go Zaha turned past Greer as if he was not there and smashed by ball home off the underside of the cross bar.

As in the first game the Albion had chances to go ahead and take control of the game. They were finding space down the sides of the Palace defence which they were unable to do in the second half. David Lopez saw a shot deflected narrowly wide, Orlandi fired a cross into Speroni's arms and a fine centre from the left was headed clear from almost

Sadly no service to Wembley

under the cross bar. The best chance fell to Buckley who robbed Zaha on the edge of the penalty area but saw his low shot diverted away for a corner. If that had gone in I doubt Zaha would have emerged as hero for the day.

With  Barnes' first touch he chipped the ball over Speroni who managed to get a hand on the ball which diverted it on to the cross bar. Barnes held his head in disbelief. From the resulting corner Barnes headed the ball powerfully past Speroni only to see it headed off the line by Delaney. 

The first Palace goal arrived soon after and Albion maintained their long record of being unable to win once they have fallen behind. 

Palace have leaked 19 more goals than the Albion this season but in 2 games they were unable to find the net once. Ulloa manfully fulfilled the lone striker role with limited support either from Mark Clattenburg or  his fellow players. Perhaps the failure to find a replacement striker for the injured CMS and Hoskins in the transfer window finally took its toll.

The Albion just did not tick as a team particularly as the second half wore on. Palace's tactics disrupted them. Bridge did not look fully fit and played with a heavily bandaged left thigh. David Lopez's passing boots seemed to have deserted him but he ran himself into the ground as usual. Hammond faded away as the game progressed and Buckley saw less of the ball the more the game progressed.  

So it all ended in a great night of disappointment. Expectations were raised and then dashed. Football can be a cruel game. To their great credit many Albion fans did not forget the 4th place finish - the 7th best in the Club's 112 year history and best in this Division since the late 1970s - and remained behind to give the players a deserved round of applause for the season's efforts. 

Gus was right to point out that if the season had finished on 4th May it would have been heralded as a great sucess but now if feels like a waste.

Gus was also right to ask the question if this was as good as it got for the Albion or were the play offs a stepping

Will Gus and Tano be sitting here next season?

stone to greater things? It was his timing and doing so in public that was questionable.

So that is my final game blog of the season - I so wanted to write just one more with the words "as Brighton and Hove Albion ran out on to the Wembley turf for the first time since 1991" but it was not to be. 

I also have to put away my Henry V and searches for a quote to suit each game.

I am sure next August 30,000 of us will turn up at the Amex to welcome a new season of endeavour focussed on getting into the Premiership whoever the manager might be.

MAGIC MOMENT: In the second half Buckley flipped the ball over Delaney's head and ran around him and away down the wing.

REF WATCH: In both games the players did not allow the occasion to get to them and played in a competitive but sporting manner. This made controlling the games much easier for both refs. Clattenburg had a quiet but authorative game only failing to protect Ulloa from the mauling provided by the Palace centre backs but penalising him whenever he asserted himself physically.  

ALTERNATIVE MAN OF THE MATCH: My nomination goes to Will Buckley. Whenever in possession he was a threat to the Palace defence. Unlucky not to score in the first half. 

"Follow your spirit....."

A VIEW FROM WEST STAND LOWER

Football League Championship

4th May 2013

Brighton and Hove Albion (2) 2
LuaLua 4 and 38

Wolverhampton Wanders (0) 0

Attendance: 30,003 (a new Amex record)

To their great credit Albion supporters resisted the opportunity to gloat over Wolves' misfortune - some club's supporters would not have been so kind (no names!). Perhaps too many home supporters have vivid memories of their team's years of struggle and our own double dip relegation. Albion fans have learnt the hard way to treat triumph and disaster as the imposters they really are.

Wolves looked and played like a team destined for relegation despite the millions of pounds of talent on show - substitute Sigurdarson cost £2.5million alone. 4 managers in a little over a year, selling the best players and replacing with inferior imports is a recipe for disaster and so it proved. Fans feel really hurt when they

Gus saves top players for the Play Offs

resort to booing their own players with Jamie O'Hara a particular target. He went straight off at the final whistle with no salute to the long suffering fans. I cannot recall Albion fans doing that since the distant days of Robert Codner.

The visitors looked neat and tidy in their approach play, had more than their fair share of possession and forced 9 corners but created few real chances and their defence looked fragile when LuaLua ran at them.

As always with relegated teams when the chances come along they go begging. Kuszczak pawed a first half corner away from under the cross bar and Wolves failed to bundle the ball in after a miscued clearance from David Lopez. This was after Sako had clipped the outside of the post. In the second half a dangerous inswinging centre from the right was headed down by Roger Johnson into the ground and over the cross bar.

In between these chances LuaLua had won the game almost single handedly. In the 4th and 38th minutes he seized on passes from the impressive Crofts, ran straight at the terrified defenders and thumped the ball past De Vries. The first with his right foot and the second with the left. Each was a class goal. The first a curling shot into the top corner as LuaLua cut in and for the second a lighting turn of speed and step over that left Gorkss flounding and the ball in the back of De Vries' net. LuaLua celebrated with a trade mark somersault.

Gorkss, as a Reading player last season, had played like an impenetrable man mountain but in the Amex Spring drizzle looked slow and isolated. 

LuaLua had ended the game as a contest and the second half was a bit of a non-event.

A touch of Spain on the terraces

The Albion played in second and third gear and decided to settle for what they had and save their energy for bigger battles to come. 

A mazy dribble from Vicente, a shot over from Ulloa and pile driver from Barnes well saved by De Vries were the only times they really broke sweat after the break.

The crowd (except the south east corner) were in party mood with lots of touches of Spain to be seen (pity the weather did not oblige) and a well observed Mexican wave. On 70 minutes a spine chilling chant for the Albion rang around the stadium. Everybody celebrated the record Amex attendance (the Albion's highest home attendance since the old Division 2 days in 1979) and gave the long suffering visiting supporters a hearty round of applause. 

The sudden arrival of an army of stewards and police in front of the Wolves' supporters seemed an over reaction but possibly the consequence of social media rumours.

While wishing Wolves a speedy return to the Championship (the Prem League parachute payment should help), for the Albion the whole season now boils down to 2 nerve racking encounters with Crystal Palace. On form the Albion should win through but Palace have history and tradition of their side. The play offs are a lottery and a team's whole season can turn on one mistake, missed opportunity or missed penalty. 

Whatever happens the Albion have laid down a marker - we are back as a challenging club. 4th in the regular season is the the seventh best finish in the Club's history.

MAGIC MOMENT: Vicente's mazy second half dribble past several defenders before he turned the ball over the ball.

REF WATCH: Mr. Hooper was quite tolerant and clearly did not want to inflame the day

Spanish happy families

by over using his cards. Wolves had a good shout for a foul before LuaLua's first goal but Hooper waved play on. Had little option than to book Johnson near the end for bringing down El-Abd.

ALTERNATIVE MAN OF MAN OF THE MATCH: My personal award goes to ANDREW CROFTS who had his most effective game since his return from Norwich. Combative in the midfield battle, his passing and covering was outstanding and laid on both goals for LuaLua.