Mark Brailsford is relieved
Stephen Dobbie looked like a man who had the weight of the world lifted off his shoulders after he shinned the last gasp winner against Peterborough. The relief in Gus Poyet’s voice was palpable in his post match interview, which is probably exactly how the players were feeling as they left the pitch on an atmospheric autumnal night under the lights at The Amex. The same could be said of the occupants of the stands which contained a more than respectable 23,000 fans which was not bad for a Tuesday night in November.
Dobbie’s starting place should be assured for a good run of games, including away to a strong Huddersfield Town, followed by a big home game against Bolton Wanderers, now managed by our old nemesis from Our Friends in the North, Dougie Freedman. The visit to Huddersfield should make the Albion feel right at home as the John Smiths stadium, as it’s now called, was a forerunner for the design of The Amex. Bolton will be a tough game but if Albion can pick up a little more confidence, which was lacking against Peterborough, then look out for a pre-Christmas cracker for that one. Then we have one of the most eagerly awaited fixtures of the league campaign, The Albion’s visit to Our Friends in the North now managed by Ian Holloway. On the same night The Seagulls struggled to put the ball in the net against a poor Peterborough side, Glenn Murray, who many Albion fans think should still be playing in the blue and white stripes, scored a hat-trick for Palace to take them top of the league. Who would bet against them getting promoted now? Boo!
Strike force
Regarding the ongoing lack of a goal scorer issue, here are some intriguing comments, a litany of ‘if only’s. “If only we had marksmen to add penetration to our possession based football we would not be languishing in the League after 10 matches.” Sound familiar? Then there’s this: “We play him in that false number nine role. He is not your traditional striker who stands up there, stood static. That’s why when we get a number of players in who can work off his qualities it is going to make us a real threat and allow us to penetrate behind him.” Gus Poyet discussing tactics? Roy Hodgson trying to educate his England players? Neither. It was the new Liverpool manager describing Luis Suarez. Now, I am not comparing Suarez to our boys in the blue and white stripes, but the comment reflects exactly how Gus seems to set up the team with Craig Mackail-Smith. Like Liverpool, Albion have struggled to score goals despite their similarly intelligent pass-and-move approach to play and Rodgers knows the answer is to sign a more orthodox striker to get the best from his team. Until the transfer window opens, Mr Poyet, who clearly realises he needs this role filled by not one but possibly two forwards, will be relieved that Dobbie is providing the stop gap to keep The Albion in the hunt until the business end of the season. In the meantime, the mantra in the dressing room might be: keep calm and pass the ball to Dobbie.
Photo: copyright – Paul Hazlewood
