Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. v Ipswich Town
Tuesday 29th December 2015 – 19:45
Amex Stadium
Opening Thought – Jamma
If there’s one word to describe Saturday’s game, it has to be ‘bonkers’! It was a bonkers match befitting of a bonkers league. Going in to the last 15 minutes, even the most ardent of Town supporters would have accepted that we hadn’t done enough to earn the win against an equally uninspiring QPR side, and would have taken a point as the most our performance deserved. And yet, when Jonathan Douglas equalised with a cleverly improvised finish, a winner somehow didn’t seem out of the question. Sure enough, that was exactly how it turned out, as Luke Chambers powered home a 92nd-minute header to wrap up the perfect Christmas present and keep us holding on to that coveted 6th spot. They say that winning when not at your best is the sign of a good team, and no one could argue that we were anywhere near our best on Saturday. The endeavour, as always, was there but the quality was severely lacking, as Town managed just two shots on target all game. We had played better against Middlesbrough and Derby and come away with nothing on each occasion. To borrow another footballing cliché, luck tends to even itself out over the course of a season. I seem to remember Mick McCarthy saying that we would win back the two points that we threw away in stoppage time at Griffin Park on the opening day. Well that’s exactly what we’ve gone and done against Brentford’s fellow West Londoners!
Saturday was certainly not one for the purists, nor, I suspect, for Andym.
I say this because Andy is one of the site’s biggest advocates of playing attractive football. He has been known to say that he would even accept losing to the odd goal in five if it meant playing a more expansive, entertaining brand of football. It’s an interesting debate: would you rather we had a team which was competitive but which lost as many as they won or is McCarthy right to say that winning is all that matters? In an ideal world, of course, we would have both but you can’t argue with the tactics that have seen Mick and Terry achieve success in this division before. To avoid using yet another cliché, if an approach has previously been successful, why change it? Personally, I have lost patience waiting for us to stumble upon the right formula combining substance and style under previous managers. I will take as many scrappy one-goal wins as it takes to get us back into the top tier, and then we can take it from there… In the more immediate future, attention turns to another couple of quick-fire matches, in which you imagine we will have to show more quality. First up is a trip to the South coast to face Brighton. A lot of water has passed under the bridge since our top-of-the-table clash at the beginning of the season, with the Seagulls having taken flight with a tremendous 22-match unbeaten league run. The dramatic 3 points claimed on Saturday could have significance beyond just our league position, as we look to add belief to the confidence gained from our own 4-game winning run away from home…The Opposition - Brighton & Hove Albion
Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. were founded in 1901 and, in 1920, they were elected to the Football League's new Third Division, in which they played until 1958, when they were promoted to Division Two. Within 5 years, they had been relegated down to Division 4 and took another 3 years to achieve Division 3 status again.
Mike Bamber was the Chairman of Brighton from October 1972 until 1983. He famously brought Brian Clough to the club later that year and then appointed former England player Alan Mullery as manager. Mullery led the football club to the First Division in the 1978/79 season. The 1982/83 season saw a wildly inconsistent start for the club, with victories over Arsenal and Manchester United mixed in with heavy defeats, ending in relegation at the end of the season.
Despite their relegation, Brighton reached their first (and to date only) FA Cup final and drew 2–2 with Manchester United in the first match. Brighton's goals were scored by Gordon Smith and Gary Stevens. This was the final that featured the "miss" by Gordon Smith with virtually the last kick of the game in extra time, prompting the well- known phrase "and Smith must score". In effect, it was actually a save by the Manchester United goalkeeper, Gary Bailey. In the replay, Manchester United won 4–0.
In 1996, the club's financial situation was becoming increasingly precarious and the club's directors had come to a decision that the Goldstone Ground would have to be sold to pay off some of the club's huge debts. After a terrible start to 1996–97, Brighton were stuck at the bottom of the league by a considerable margin – they seemed certain to be relegated from the Football League just 14 years after they had almost won the FA Cup. They ended up being saved by a relatively unknown Manager in Steve Gritt and a late goal in the last game of the season against the bottom side Hereford, which kept their 77-year history of being part of the Football League intact.
A lifelong fan named d*ck Knight took control of the club in 1997, having led the fan pressure to oust the previous board following their sale of the club's Goldstone Ground to property developers.
The sale of the Goldstone ground went through in 1997 and this led to Brighton having to play some 70 miles away at Gillingham's Priestfield stadium. Micky Adams was appointed Brighton's manager in 1999. For the start of the 1999–2000 season, the Seagulls moved back to Brighton and started playing their home games at the Withdean Stadium, a converted athletics track owned by the local council.
2000–01 was Brighton's first successful season for 13 years. They were crowned champions of Division Three and promoted to Division Two. Brighton maintained their good form the following season, being crowned Division Two champions, winning a second successive promotion, just five years after almost succumbing to the double threat of losing their Football League status and going out of business completely.
In the 2002/03 season, they were relegated to what is now League 1, but came straight back up to what is now the Championship at the end of the following season and, in 2005/06, once again Brighton found themselves going back down to League 1.
During May 2009, Knight was replaced as chairman of Brighton by Tony Bloom, who had successfully secured £93 million funding for the new Falmer Stadium and secured 75% shareholding of the club. Building of Falmer Stadium (known as the AMEX Stadium) was started in December 2008. On 31 May 2011, the club officially completed the handover and were given the keys to the stadium, with an initial capacity of 22,374 seats, signifying the end of 12 years without a home. (Since then, the ground has been developed to include additional facilities and capacity has increased to 30,750 by May 2013.)
They stayed in League 1 until the 2010/11 season, when they achieved promotion back to the Football Championship, where they have played for the past 4 seasons.
Last season, there were expectations that the Seagulls would at a minimum match the previous year’s play-off finishing position, but ultimately they had a very disappointing season, managing only 47 points and ending in 20th place in the table.
One To Watch – Tomer Hemed
Brighton’s stand-out performer in the return fixture was Tomer Hemed, who scored the clincher that day. He has taken to the Championship like a duck to water, and has been a big part of the club’s success in 2015/16.
The Israeli striker started his professional career at Maccabi Haifa in his homeland. After progressing to the First Team, Hemed continued his footballing education with a number of loan spells. On returning to his parent club, he helped Maccabi Haifa to the Israeli title in 2010/11 with his 18 strikes. His goalscoring exploits attracted attention from Spain’s La Liga, and RCD Mallorca moved to sign Hemed that summer. He was not able to quite reach the same heights in his three years in the Balearics, being a part of the side that was relegated in 2012/13 and then suffering an injury-disrupted campaign in the Segunda División. Almería had still seen enough to take the striker back to the Spanish top tier, where he spent 2014/15. Hemed again top-scored for his club, with 9 goals in all competitions, but he made it an unwanted double as the Andalusian side were in turn relegated. Christ Hughton brought him to the Amex in June and the 28-year-old got off the mark on just his second league outing, with a 93rd-minute winner from the penalty spot against Fulham. He was on target again at Portman Road later that month, of course, and has struck up a good understanding with fellow attackers Kazenga Lua Lua and James Wilson, while chipping in with 6 goals.
The Gaffer – Chris Hughton
A product of Tottenham Hotspur's youth system, the left-back made his debut in 1979. He was a member of the Tottenham side which won both the 1981 and 1982 FA Cups, the 1984 UEFA Cup and was runner-up in the 1982 Football League Cup and the 1987 FA Cup. He played 398 games for Tottenham in all competitions, scoring 19 goals, and is considered one of the best full-backs to have played for the club.
In November 1990, West Ham United signed Hughton, initially on loan, then on a free transfer. He played two seasons at West Ham, making 43 appearances in all competitions, helping them win promotion from Division Two in 1991.
In 1992, he signed for Brentford, again on a free transfer. He played one season for Brentford, before retiring aged 34.
Though being born in England, Hughton qualified to play for the Republic of Ireland as the son of an Irish mother and a Ghanaian father, becoming the first mixed-race player to represent the country. He won 53 caps for the Republic from 1979 to 1991.
Hughton was awarded a testimonial, staged on 29 May 1995 at Lansdowne Road.
He served as the national team's assistant manager under Brian Kerr, from February 2003 to October 2005.
From June 1993 to October 2007, Hughton was a coach at Tottenham Hotspur, initially in charge of the under-21 team, then the reserve side in 1999, being promoted to the First Team two years later. In his time at Spurs, he served under ten different managers. He also served as caretaker manager on two separate occasions. On 25 October 2007, Hughton was dismissed as assistant manager along with then manager Martin Jol.
On 22 February 2008, he was appointed first team coach at Newcastle United.
On 8 September 2008, Hughton was named Caretaker Manager of Newcastle following the departure of Kevin Keegan. Hughton stood down as caretaker and was replaced on a temporary basis by Joe Kinnear. Hughton was promoted to Assistant Manager after the Magpies appointed Colin Calderwood as First Team Coach on 26 January 2009. In February, Kinnear was taken ill before a game and Hughton took charge. In the following week, it was revealed that Kinnear needed a heart bypass operation and that Hughton, along with Colin Calderwood and Paul Barron, would have to take charge of the team for the next few weeks and possibly months. However, after a number of defeats, Newcastle decided to appoint Alan Shearer as Interim Manager until the end of the season.
During the off-season of 2009, owner Mike Ashley announced that he was selling the club. Hughton was again left with the job of Caretaker Manager, when the club failed to further secure the services of Alan Shearer.
Newcastle's unbeaten start to the new season, which saw Hughton win successive Manager of the Month awards for August and September and then again in November, resulted in the board naming him as the new permanent manager of the club, after two stints as caretaker.
On 5 April 2010, Newcastle, under Hughton's control, confirmed their promotion back to the Premier League after just one season away. Newcastle were unbeaten at home for the entire 2009–10 season, including both cup competitions, clinching promotion in record time.
Hughton received praise for his calm management style to stabilise the club, shrewd signings and guiding Newcastle back to the Premier League. Despite leading his newly-promoted side to a healthy ninth place by the end of October, unrest came when star player Andy Carroll was arrested for assault.
Following a defeat at West Brom in December, Hughton became the first Premier League manager of the 2010–11 season to lose his job, as he was dismissed by Managing Director Derek Llambias.
The decision was ill-received by the players and the supporters, with many key figures in the game condemning the action. The club stated that "an individual with more managerial experience [was] needed to take the club forward". Before the match against Liverpool, on 11 December, campaigners from United For Newcastle organised a protest outside St James' Park as an opportunity for supporters to thank Hughton and to show their anger towards Ashley's decision.
After media speculation linking Hughton with a variety of clubs, he was appointed manager of Championship club and League Cup holders Birmingham City in June 2011. In the club's first European campaign for 50 years, he led them into the group stages of the Europa League. During October, Birmingham won four and drew one of their League matches, an achievement for which Hughton was named Championship Manager of the Month. Hughton guided the Blues to a 4th place finish in the Championship, qualifying for the play-offs, where they lost over the two legs of the semi-final against Blackpool.
At the end of the 2011–12 season, Birmingham gave Norwich City permission to talk to Hughton about their vacant managerial post, and he joined the Canaries on 7 June 2012.
His first league game in charge was against Fulham, where Norwich lost, although this result was followed by memorable league victories against both Arsenal and Manchester United, as well as a League Cup victory against Tottenham Hotspur. Norwich, however, experienced bad form throughout the winter and towards the end of the season. Having battled against relegation for the whole of the season, Hughton's first season in charge saw them finish in 11th place.
On 6 April 2014, Norwich City announced that they had "parted company" with Hughton with immediate effect. At the time of his departure, Norwich were in 17th place in the Premier League.
After leaving Norwich, Hughton was offered, and rejected, Assistant Manager roles at various Premier League clubs.
On 31 December 2014, Hughton was announced as the new man in charge of Championship side Brighton & Hove Albion on a three-and-a-half-year contract.
Past Match - Video Highlights - Trev
Memories of an excellent away day towards the end of 2013/14, when a Jonny Williams-inspired performance saw us to a vital 3 points in the play-off race:
Trev's Trivia
Terry Connor Assistant Manager Ipswich 2012-present and Brighton Player 1983-1987
Mauricio Tarrico Ipswich 1994-1999 and Brighton 2010-2012
Nicky Forster Ipswich 2005-2006 and Brighton 2007-2010
Media Watch - K L Blue
Luke Chambers believes there is more to come from Ipswich Town this season:
http://www.eadt.co.uk/sport/chambers_to ... _1_4361026
…after admitting that his overall performance on Saturday did not reach his high standards:
http://www.eadt.co.uk/sport/reaction_lu ... _1_4360356
Stat Time
Head to Head
Brighton Wins............22…………....(35.48%)
Ipswich Wins.............28………......(45.16%)
Draws.....................12……………..(19.35%)
Brighton Goals...........93 (average 1.50 goals per match)
Ipswich Goals...........108 (average 1.74 goals per match)
Head to Head at Brighton
Brighton Wins..............15…………...(50.00%)
Ipswich Wins...............8…........(26.67%)
Draws.......................7…………..(23.33%)
Brighton Goals...........58 (average 1.93 goals per match)
Ipswich Goals............37 (average 1.23 goals per match)
The Predicted Teams
Brighton & Hove Albion
Chris Hughton is unlikely to make any unforced changes to the side that followed up their first league defeat of the season with a 0-0 draw at Brentford. Gordon Greer faces a late fitness test having been withdrawn with a tight hamstring in that game. There have been a couple of additions to the Seagulls’ squad since their visit to Portman Road back in August, with Rajiv van La Parra and James Wilson both creating a good impression on loan.
13 David Stockdale
2 Bruno Saltor
3 Gordon Greer
5 Lewis Dunk
14 Iñigo Calderón
13 Jamie Murphy
6 Dale Stephens
7 Beram Kayal
27 Rajiv van La Parra
10 Tomer Hemed
21 James Wilson
Ipswich Town
Mick stuck with the same starting XI for the sixth successive game against QPR. In spite of the rather lethargic performance levels on Saturday, it wouldn’t come as too much of a surprise if this were to extend to a seventh:
1 Dean Gerken
4 Luke Chambers
5 Tommy Smith
6 Christophe Berra
3 Jonas Knudsen
7 Ainsley Maitland-Niles
8 Cole Skuse
22 Jonathan Douglas
20 Freddie Sears
9 Daryl Murphy
11 Brett Pitman
Match Referee – Stuart Attwell
Final Thought – Jamma
It’s difficult to know how to assess our festive period. On the one hand, we may have expected/hoped to get more than the 3 points from the two games at Portman Road. Then again, I suspect many of us would have taken that tally from a tricky couple of fixtures against two of the division’s bigger spending clubs. And all of us would have snapped your hand off for the win at the 75-minute mark of Saturday’s match!
What I think just about all of us can agree on is that we would have been happy to accept our league position at the half-way point of the season. Looking purely at numbers, we haven’t progressed from our 6th place finish of 2014/15, and find ourselves 4 positions lower than this time last year. But this has to be viewed in the context of the season as a whole. Having slipped down the table following a difficult September and October, to have worked our way back into the top 6 has to be considered a positive.
The points accumulated by the top 2 would seem to back up the impression that the Championship is a tougher prospect all round this year. When looking back over Town’s last 13 matches, we have only lost to the current top 3, with our form over the last 6 games that of an automatic promotion-chasing team. All this will clearly be put to the test in our next two fixtures, against the two teams immediately above us. We may have put an end to our winless home run, but it could just suit us to be the away side, given our impressive recent results on our travels and the way we set ourselves up.
Coming away from the ground on Saturday, I said that I thought a win was crucial to our hopes of getting anything from Brighton and Burnley. Albion are not the formidable prospect they were a matter of weeks back, without a win in four, albeit two of those being against Derby and Middlesbrough. If we can carry on where we left off against QPR, we will give ourselves the chance of producing another result in this most bonkers of leagues!
BRIGHTON & HOVE ALBION 1 IPSWICH TOWN 1
