Up the Albion!

Mark Brailsford on moving on & moving on up

All change at The Amex? At the time of writing the clock has started ticking on the transfer deadline. By the end of January we will know who’s in and who’s out, and whether Vicente actually exists or was a figment of a dream.

First let’s deal with who may be going. If one of The Albion’s star players do move on, don’t expect too much remorse from Gus Poyet who accepts that players the fans adore will go elsewhere. As Gus himself was a high profile player at a top Premier League club, he knows what the rewards feel like and he doesn’t blame any player for wanting to play at the highest level. For the fans who prefer to hold onto the idea of loyalty in a player, this is a difficult time: the incomprehensible amounts of money footballers earn and the media frenzy in the transfer market means that old fashioned ideas such as the one club player are rare indeed. The exception to the rule is Steven Gerrard at Liverpool, but this is only because Mourinho was on his way out of Chelsea and Gerrard changed his mind about leaving.

So if Bridcutt, CMS and Buckley are all still Albion players by the end of the deadline then Albion fans will be delighted. As for those who may be coming in, the rumours indicate that Gus will have brought in a striker by now, maybe more than one signing too. Some fringe players may be moved on, Hoskins, in particular appears to have missed the opportunity to nail down a permanent place, and if this mythical Spanish or Argentinean player is about to sign, will CMS be surplus to requirements?

Striker wanted
The transfer window may be a circus of hype and daft interviews through car windows, but it presents the best opportunity for clubs like The Albion to sort out the squad for a promotion push. Exciting times lay ahead if that elusive striker arrives and while the received wisdom is that clubs that buy in the window rarely get full value from it, the Albion feel like a club who have been biding their time until this transfer window kicks in. Where Gus and the team have been fortunate is in the kamikaze nature of the “form” teams. Any team can beat another at the moment it seems, and although Albion haven’t beaten any of the top teams at home so far, Albion are sitting comfortably in the top ten. This may be a rather tantalising prospect for a player wanting to break into English football from abroad; some come to impress at a smaller club to later secure a big move to a top Premier League club as in the case of players who move to clubs like Wigan and then on from there. Brighton and Hove Albion are arguably bigger now than the likes of Wigan and with a more attractive stadium and location and are well placed to bring in a Michu or a Bentake, at a bargain price and kick onwards and upwards. As Gus thinks English players are overpriced, expect players from abroad who may be here today and gone tomorrow. Let us hope they’re not injury prone like a certain Spanish invisible man.