Albion News
Photo: Paul Hazlewood
Next up: Derby County
The shock horror element of this match is that it is a Saturday kick off at 3pm – I think it’s one of only three in the last three months. Hopefully this isn’t just a freak and the rest of the season isn’t affected by TV schedulers. Though perhaps we should think ourselves lucky; the pattern of games will be even more chaotic if the Albion achieve the dream of top flight football. In the case of Derby County, their one similarity to the Albion shows how clubs in the Championship can thrive and prosper. Nigel Clough and Gus Poyet are two of the longest serving managers in the Championship. Derby are looking solid and on the fringes of a push for the play offs, just like Albion. The big spenders are always going to dominate, but if you’re not backed by massive foreign wealth, Derby and Brighton are showing clubs like Blackburn and Nottingham Forest how it’s done. Expect a tight 0-0 draw but no sign of “Gus out” or “Nigel out” from their respective supporters, which is as it should be.
Words: Mark Brailsford
A winning start to 2013
Gus Poyet was pleased with the way that his side adapted to the conditions at Portman Road following their 3-0 win against Ipswich Town on New Year’s Day Poyet told seagulls.co.uk: “Because of the conditions of the pitch we decided to play a bit longer which was good for Macca. The lads were complaining that the ball was not rolling very well so we had to be clever and play a different way.
“Earlier in the season we were very good at knowing when to play short and play long but lately we have been playing shorter. It was good percentage football. There are always reasons behind what we do and the decisions we make.”
Goals from Mackail-Smith, Dean Hammond and Wayne Bridge secured a first win in five games, which delighted the Albion boss.
“The most important thing is that we returned to winning ways because it had been too long. We were professional, we defended well and we made it very difficult for them. We were difficult to beat and for the first time in a while we were clinical in front of goal.
“We had to be better in both boxes and we did that. Then you have a chance of winning games. If we are clinical we are going to win plenty of games and we have started the new year in a proper way.”
Words: Will Jago
Photo: Paul Hazlewood
