A  VIEW FROM WEST STAND LOWER

SKYbet Championship

24th August 2013

Brighton and Hove Albion (1) 2
Crofts 28
Ulloa 72

Burnley (0) 0

Attendance: 26,007 (day's best in League)

League Position: 10th

Three of the 4 games played this season have had the outcome determined against the Albion by poor refereeing decisions. There was nearly another yesterday following the 2 missed handballs against Leeds and Derby and the revoked sending off against Newport. As half time approached a poor back header was directed towards Tom Heaton, the Burnley goalkeeper. Buckley reached the ball first and knocked it beyond Heaton with the intent of running the ball into the unguarded net. Heaton cynically brought Buckley down just outside the area.

Heaton, with shoulders down, slunk back towards his goal to await the inevitable outcome of the trip to the early bath. The stadium went silent momentarily waiting for Mr. Sheldrake to lope his way to the penalty area to adminster the appropriate punishment. The Albion players were dumb founded,

Gully welcome Burnley with an eccles cake!

the Burnley players laughed behind their hands and the natives were outraged as the ref only produced a yellow card. 

It was one of the clearest red card offences I have ever seen. Any suggestion that Buckley was going away from the goal or that a defender could have got back to protect the line was giving Heaton a undeserved benefit of the doubt. The best punishment would have been for Lopez's resulting free kick to have found the back of the net instead of just swinging wide.

With the half time whistle Sheldrake was treated to the kind of booing from the West Stand usually preserved for Andy D'Urso. But the drama was far from over.

Shorlty after half time Heaton gathered the ball in his own area. He threw the ball forward as if he was going to clear but caught it again. Sheldrake ruled this to be unsporting behaviour, issued a second yellow and Heaton departed for the early bath anyway. 

By this time the Albion were ahead and just about deserved to be on the balance of play. On 28 minutes a poor back pass allowed  Ulloa to rob Long down the left and he galloped away from the despairing defender and his pass across the penalty area was easily converted by Crofts. Like London buses you wait a year for a Crofts goal and 2 come along in successive weeks.

Prior to this Crofts had just headed over a Lopez free kick, Ulloa had scuffed his shot following a clever pass from Ince and Calderon had driven just wide from the edge of the area.

Following the sending off the Albion controlled the game and played a lot of keep ball. They bided their time and on 72 minutes Crofts and Buckley combined well down the right and the pin point centre was expertly headed into the corner of the net by Uloa for his third of the season.

This was a very solid team performance by the Albion and built on last week's success at Birmingham. Nobody let the side down and there were outstanding contributions from

Calderon, Crofts, Ince and Ulloa. Buckley appears to be regaining form. Oscar will be pleased with successive clean sheets and the only cloud on the horizon has to be the ever lengthening injury list. Yesterday Barnes and Andrews joined Orlandi, Bruno, Bridcutt, CMS and Hoskins on the crowded treatment table. 

Burnley were tidy, energetic and well organised and were very similar to Birmingham and Derby in their set up and approach. They are probably doing the best they can within the constraints of the financial fair play rules. It is a pity the rules are not being applied in the same way across the Championship so as to produce more of an even field for all teams.

I could not let this post pass without a few words about Tony Millard. For those Albion fans that go back to the days before the Internet, websites, iPads and mobile phones, Tony's Seagull Line was the only access to quick, up to date and reliable information about the Albion. I must have spent hundreds of pounds dialing the number and listening to Tony's match reports and club updates. I recall once sneaking out of work to find a phone box in the street to get the latest news on the Archer saga. I once rang the Line from a Boston, USA

Tony Millard will be missed here.

hotel room to listen a report and wish I had not once I saw the bill! I wonder if he knew what an important part he was of fans' lives. So thank you Tony, you will be greatly missed. It would be good, subject to the agreement of his family, to have a minutes applause/silence prior to the Millwall game.

MAGIC MOMENT: The passing movement between Crofts and Buckley down the right that lead to the centre and Ulloa's goal.

REFEREE WATCH: From zero to hero in the flash of a card.

MANAGER WATCH: Following the chinos and fleece, Oscar chose the Mourinho well cut suit and loose tie look. But Sean Dyche takes the award for sartorial elegance complete with flower and pocket hankie. He managed to hold the appearance together despite all the arm waving, prowling up and down and general exhibitions of frustration.

ALTERNATIVE MAN OF THE MATCH: Lots of candidates this week but it goes to Calderon for his whole hearted commitment, non stop running and attacking intent.  It is difficult to believe he is our second choice right back.

 

 

A VIEW FROM WEST STAND LOWER

SkyBET Championship

17th August 2013

Birmingham City (0)0

Brighton and Hove Albion (0)1
Crofts 73

Attendance: 14,885

League Position: 16th

Eat your heart out Gus Poyet! Oscar has now achieved something that eluded you - a victory over the boys from Brum. In Gus's 4 attempts to overcome City he had achieved only draws and defeats but the Albion saw them off yesterday more emphatically then the score might suggest.

This was the Albion's most complete performance of the season and was an all round team effort. Kuszczak looked sound, the defence for the most part untroubled, the midfield in control and Ulloa a right

handful up front.

Ward settled in well at left back and gave the back four a more solid feel and Andrews controlled centre midfield so well that Bridcutt was hardly missed.

More needs to be done but the team are clearly now going in the right direction. We should be converting more of the chances that are being created and for the second Saturday runnning looked off the pace at the start of the second half. But overall there was a confidence not previously seen this season which I suspect has a lot to do with the experience grafted into the team via Ward and Andrews.

The Albion could have been out of sight by half time as slick passing created several chances that were squandered. From a Buckley corner Ulloa forced Randolf into a good save low to his left, Agustein found himself free in the area but dithered over shooting and the chance went, Buckley drove straight at the keeper and, when put through by Lopez, Ulloa lost the space he was in trying to move the ball on to his right foot. 

Birmingham rarely threatened and were reduced to long range efforts that hardly bothered Kuszczak.

Concerns that the Albion might live to regret the missed chances seemed to becoming true when City came out all guns blazing for the second half. They played a more direct style, put the Albion under pressure and struck the woodwork twice with their only meaningful efforts all game. Shinnie and Novak had Kuszczcak floundering as they stuck the ball from distance.

But City flattered to deceive and could not maintain the momentum. The Albion regained control of midfield and began to create chances again. Randolf could only beat away a volley from Agustein and then on 73 minutes the Albion struck.

A fine passing movement through midfield - Forster-Caskey to Ulloa, a lay off to Agustein,

Kusczak collects a first half corner

a pass into the path of Crofts who stuck the ball sweetly beyond Randolf from just inside the area. A fine team goal.

Shortly afterwards the Albion were unlucky not to extend the lead further. A Forster-Caskey corner was headed powerfully down by Upson and Randolf somehow managed to block the ball on the line. Eventually Crofts drove the ball narrowly over the bar from the edge of the area.

Ince and Barnes came on to help defend the lead but for all City's efforts they rarely threatened to get on the score sheet. The Albion defence easily dealt with the age old tactic of getting the ball wide and lumping it to the far post.

Lee Clark was a picture in the technical area as he ran up and down, ranted at his players and looked fit to burst at any moment. In contrast Oscar was calm personified.

Oscar came over at the end to celebrate with the travelling fans - do not recall Gus ever doing that.

While the Albion remain a work in progress this game showed

City defend a second half corner

rich promise and with 2 home games coming up a chance to move up the table. 

MAGIC MOMENT: Midway through the first half the Albion completed a 20 plus passing movement down the right as they moved the ball from near their own penalty area up the pitch to eventually win a corner. It was a joy to watch.

REFEREE WATCH: Hardly noticed him which made a very pleasant change.

MAN OF MATCH: It could have been anyone of a number of players in a fine team effort but for me it goes to Keith Andrews. He marshalled the midfield, rarely gave the ball away and protected the back four.

 

 

A VIEW FROM WEST STAND LOWER

Sky BET Championship

10th August 2013

Brighton and Hove Albion (1)1
Ulloa 17

Derby County (1)2
Martin 27 and 47


Attendance: 26,238

League Position: 19th

Oscar's Championship education is complete - he has seen Andy D'Urso referee! Mr. D'Urso would be top of many fans'  worse referees list and he did nothing to dispel that placing in this game.

In a game played in generally a good spirit he managed to book 8 players - 5 from Derby and 3 from Brighton. I was convinced he was working on sending somebody off and my money was on Makismenko as his inexperience was targeted by the Derby players in the second half.

Gully's travels: checking out Bayern shirts in Munich

Fortunately that did not come to pass.

D'Urso has the knack of missing the blatantly obvious and seeing things nobody else spots. He displayed this rare skill midway through the first half. A clearance was quickly played back by Makismenko to Ulloa who was brought down right on the edge of the box. Lopez's free kick seemed to be heading for the net as it went over the wall. The ball hit something! I did not spot a player carrying a broom or a plank so, given the height, it must have been a hand. The hand belonged to the Derby midfielder Paul Coutts. The players saw it, the fans saw it but for some mysterious reason D'Urso did not and waved play on. He waved away protests and rubbed salt in the wounds by getting in the way of the resulting centre which he deflected into Grant's arms.

It would be churlish to blame this defeat on Urso however. Two appalling pieces of defending gifted Derby their goals who otherwise rarely threatened the Brighton goal.

The first came in the 27th minute when Buckley failed to cut out a cross from the left, Calderon fell over while trying to clear and Martin won the ball off Greer in a tackle, got the wrong side of him and was able to stab the ball past an unprotected Kusczcak.

Worse was to come on 47 minutes when the defence appeared to be still in the dressing room sucking the half time oranges. Makismenko missed a tackle, the winger skipped past him and centred, Kuszczcak hesitated, Martin again got the wrong side of Greer and hit the ball home.

The Albion then enjoyed their best spell of the game and began playing the way Oscar wishes them to. For about 15 minutes we saw high tempo football and players surging forward. Most of the good work came from Calderon down the right who put over a number of inviting centres and from one of these a towering Ulloa header hit the inside of Grant's post and went away to safety.  Agustien had a long distance drive

tipped over by Grant, an Ince shot from distance also went just wide, Buckley stung Grant's fingers and another Ulloa header  drifted just over. The final chance fell to Upson but he could not get his firm header on target.

In a sentence the Albion defence gifted 2 goals, an obvious penalty appeal was turned down and several good chances went begging.

The defence is a worry and clearly the disruption caused by injuries and the lack of a proper left back is undermining confidence. Kusczcak looked hesitant, Greer was less than commanding, and for all his promise, Makismenko is not a left back. 

The team is also very unbalanced. Orlandi was badly missed and without him we hardly ever attacked down the left. 

It is too early to push the panic button but the Albion under Oscar are clearly a work in progress. I sense some of the players are stuck in a no man's land between Gus play and Oscar play. Yesterday we saw Lopez always trying to pick out a colleage with a pass while Agustien hit the ball forward at every opportunity. We seem to be stuck between possession football and trying to hit the opposition by playing early balls forward.

I am quite sure Oscar's knows what needs to be done and I go to Brum next Saturday full of expectation.

MAGIC MOMENT: The passing move and centre down the right between Barnes and Calderon that led to Brighton's goal.

REFEREE WATCH: I look forward to seeing D'Urso in a Spec Savers advert soon.

ALTERNATIVE MAN OF THE MATCH: Quite rightly the sponsor's award went to Calderon but my personal choice goes to Rohan Ince. His height, power and pace gave the Albion midfield somethiing it has been lacking for quite a while. He nearly scored and is clearly one for the future.

 

A VIEW FROM WEST STAND LOWER

Captial One Cup Round 1

6th August 2013

Brighton and Hove Albion (1) 1
Barnes 18

Newport County (0) 3
Crow 81 and 94
Washington 102
(after extra time)

Attendance: 8,409

Welcome Oscar! Welcome to the rough and tumble of the Football League. Welcome to the good fortune and outragous injustices and welcome to consistently incompetent refereeing.

2 games in and Ocar is learning the hard way about life in the Football League where matches are as much decided by the decisions of officials as they are by the quality of the players.

He could have been purring over 2 victories but a combination

Gully's travels: checking out the beer in Vancouver

of poor decisions by officials and wastful finshing means he has to look back and learn from 2 harsh defeats made worse by a growing full back crisis.

Against Leeds a handball which everybody except the referee appeared to see cost the Albion a point with just 10 seconds to go. I wonder what the referee thought when he saw the television replay assuming he cared at all. Even the Leeds manager confessed to the handball.

But Oscar is a realist and noted that if Will Buckley had scored with a header set up for him on plate by a combination of Bruno and LuaLua a few minutes before the end, the Albion would probably have been looking back on a third successive win at Elland Road.  

The Newport game followed a similar pattern. The Albion scored early on and as the match moved through the second half the home team exerted more and more control and looked likely to get the much needed second goal at any time until the fateful 66th minute. 

Newport's Byron Anthony broke quickly down the right wing following a clearance but never really had the ball properly under control. The advancing Calderon stretched for the loose ball and there was a sickening collision. The sound of breaking bone echoed around the West Stand. Initially it was not obvious who had come off worse but it soon emered that it was Anthony and he was stretchered off with a double break to the leg.

The assumption was that it was an accident, nothing malicious was intended and both players were going for a 50/50 ball. Mr. Malone saw it differently and showed a red card to the distraught Calderon. 

I sit in the West Stand and was nearer to the incident than the referee or the linesman and it clearly was not a foul but a very sad accident. I wonder if the Mr. Malone was influenced by the excitable Newport manager. Oscar just shook his head with a sad look of resignation. The television reply also supports the unfortunate accident view of events. Let's hope that the Albion's appeal is successful

Gully's travels: to many beers in Toronto

but given the FA's track record I would not hold my breath. 

As with the Leeds game the Albion should have had the game sown up before the officials intervened. They had the ball in the net 3 times in the first half but only 1 counted. TV replays seem to indicate that Forster-Caskey's early header was not off side and should have counted.

LuaLua and Barnes failed to convert a 3 on 1 break away and Ince was unfortunate with a powerful long range drive. As the game moved into the second half a Buckley drive missed by the width of a coat of varnish and a spectacular 25 yard shot from El-Abd flew inches over. 

Barnes had a excellent header cleared off the line but was wasteful with several other chances and his old hang dog expression returned. 29 attempts on goal only gave a return of 1 goal - a problem Oscar has been quick to highlight.

Newport exploited their numerical advantage well and consistently moved the ball wide with the Albion unable to block a succession of crosses. Despite a lot of endeavour they had rarely threatened before the sending off but they rode their luck and seized their chance.

The makeshift Albion team did not play badly and there were a number of pluses. David Lopez got more game time as did the impressive Agustien. Buckley showed glimpses of a return to form and Maksimenko looked sound defensively when he replaced Calderon.

The big revelation was Rohan Ince. His power, pace and control helped the Albion dominate in midfield and was unlucky not to score. He was able to do something rarely seen at the Amex - win headers in midfield. If he maintains his rate of progress he may be a fixture in the first team earlier than most expect.

The bottom line after 2 games is that the Albion need to take their chances if results are not to be left to "Lady Luck"  and they really want to challenge this season. Oscar knows this. Didn't Gus used to say something similar?

MAGIC MOMENT: The fine interplay down the right between Ince and Buckley leading to Barnes's goal on 18 minutes.

REFEREE WATCH: Saw the oportunity for his 5 minutes of fame and took it. Looked genuinely distraught at the hostile reception he received

Gully's travels: checking out the home of the Blue Jays in Toronto

when he walked off.

MY PERSONAL ALTERNATIVE MAN OF THE MATCH: Rohan Ince - a very exciting prospect who should prosper under Oscar's guidance.