Sussex by the Sea: Brighton & Hove Albion

Warning Track Speed

Member
SoSH Member
Jul 20, 2005
1,547
astride the divide
In what may be destined to become one of the least lively threads in Gazza, I thought I'd offer up a semi-informed/semi-ignorant update on Brighton about a quarter of the way into the season. The Seagulls are sitting in 11th at 4-2-4 (-2 GD) heading into Saturday's match at Everton, with some encouraging signs that I will touch on in this roundup of random items from the campaign to date.

--Three wins "on the trot" mean the club is playing well, and also into a softer portion of the schedule. They played Liverpool, Man U, Spurs, and City before the end of September, with the results about what you'd expect aside from a second straight home win over Man U.
--That was Brighton's lone win from its first seven, although there were two draws in there, and in both of those the club came back from 0-2 to tie 2-2. One was home to Fulham (meh), but the other was at Southampton. The latter not exactly a threat to play in Europe next year, but given Brighton's inability dating back to last season to score at all on the road, this was a significant result. You got the feeling watching the players celebrate the second goal and again after the whistle that this draw was a real boost in confidence.
--A 1-0 win at home over West Ham preceded the last international break. That was followed by a 1-0 win at Newcastle, and the same scoreline at home last weekend against Wolves. There are no easy games for a club like Brighton, so taking 9 points from those three is a real positive.
--They've done all this winning without Pascal Gross, the German midfielder who in my view is their most valuable player and certainly their most dangerous set piece artist. Gross hurt his ankle in late September, and was expected back this weekend before experiencing a setback in practice. He now won't be back until after the next international break, three weeks from now.
--They also haven't gotten much from last year's big signing, Jose Izquierdo, who was injured after the world cup and has started just one of the last four games and subbed on three times.
--Veteran striker Glenn Murray has carried the offense. Six goals on the season, including the winner against Wolves last weekend, which was his 100th goal for the club. The guy is 35 and just has a nose for it.
--This year's "big" signings are easing into the rotation. Jahanbakhsh, the Iranian, has started the last three games. He hasn't scored or assisted on a goal yet. Balogun (Nigeria) hasn't appeared since August.
--Hometown defender Lewis Dunk got a call-up to England for the last international break. Brighton doesn't traditionally have a lot of capped England players so this recognition was trumpeted by the club.
--The schedule continues to be relatively favorable until mid-December: @Everton, @Cardiff, Leicester, @Huddersfield, Palace, @Burnley before hosting Chelsea on Dec. 16. It is time to make hay.

I'm cautiously optimistic that relegation won't become a serious threat this season. Any club of Brighton's stature can go scoreless for a dreary month and find itself in trouble, but they've put together a nice little run here with some key pieces out of the lineup. I'm a believer in Chris Hughton, he seems measured and knows what he's got to work with and gets a lot out of it.

Brighton fans, feel free to augment or correct anything I've claimed here.
 

Tangled Up In Red

Well-Known Member
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
Nov 8, 2004
4,538
Bernal
Why has Knockaert been sitting last couple of matches? He (aside from Grosj) seems like the most dangerous threat.
 

Warning Track Speed

Member
SoSH Member
Jul 20, 2005
1,547
astride the divide
Knockaert is fighting for playing time with Izquierdo getting healthy and Jahanbakhsh starting to earn more playing time:

Hughton says he has lots of options.

Knockaert played against West Ham but Hughton went with a combination of record signing Alireza Jahanbakhsh and fit-again Jose Izquierdo against Newcastle and Wolves.

Hughton told The Argus: "He doesn't have to do too much more to get into the side.

"When you have options and really good competition you know that you are able to change personnel, the team, for what ever reason, a particular game.

"Alireza came a little later, had a time of adjustment. He is also a very good player, gives us something a little different to Anthony.
Knockaert is an interesting player. Clearly a scorer but to my highly amateur eye is a guy with a fast motor but not a lot of touch or subtlety to his game.
 

OCST

Sunny von Bulow
SoSH Member
Jan 10, 2004
24,483
The 718
I will root for their defeat at Goodison today, but I like Brighton a lot. Great fans, great atmosphere at their stadium. Hughton is a class act. Dunk and Duffy are one of the better pairings around. I like Ryan too.

With Cardiff and Huddersfield virtual locks to go down, I don’t see Brighton being the worst team in the PL otherwise. No way NEW, SOU, FUL, among others, all finish ahead.

As with other teams in the same boat long/term they’ve got to splash the cash a bit for some attacking talent, to get away from being the team that grinds out gritty1-0 wins.
 

Warning Track Speed

Member
SoSH Member
Jul 20, 2005
1,547
astride the divide
Can anyone name the one club in the football league (92 teams) without a win in 2019?

Huddersfield at the AmEx on Saturday. Big chance to right the ship. Also still have remaining home games with Southampton, Toon, and Cardiff. Lots of points on offer there but things can get dicey this time of year when everyone is fighting like hell for survival.

Thing is, it hasn't felt like Brighton is playing that badly. Not much scoring punch, but they aren't getting totally rolled every week. A little leaky at the back. And this lousy run of PL form is accompanied by a quarterfinal appearance in the FA Cup, and at Millwall is certainly winnable for a trip to Wembley.