Sussex
Sport
By Laurence Elphick
Brighton and Hove Albion
With Sami Hyppia
deciding to quit, after
what most people
would agree was
the lowest point of
the season, the 1-0
home defeat to Millwall,
Albion were worryingly
ensconced in the relegation zone. But you
couldn’t help feeling that the big Finn’s mind
was made up when his wife and children
were there to witness some of the abusive
comments coming down from the stands.
Chuck in the moronic buffoons from the
Docklands who were intent on trying to
cause a riot in the South Stand that night
and Hyppia decided it was time to call it
a day.
Enter ex-Spurs defender, Chris Hughton,
as the new Messiah to lead us back up the
table then and eventually (hopefully) in to
the Promised land of the Premiership !?.
Maybe not this season, but some time soon
would be nice Chris. No pressure!?
After 4 points from 2 games under the
temporary stewardship of Assistant Boss
Nathan Jones, including that tremendous
2-0 win at Fulham, (that’s karma Fulham
fans for the stick you gave us a few weeks
earlier when we had the nerve to let your
old player Darren Bent score against you!),
Chris Hughton has taken the reins and
instilled some belief and confidence in both
players and fans alike!
Hughton’s tenure then began with 2 away
wins in the Capital. 2-0 against Brentford in
the FA Cup and a 1-0 win at Charlton. I was
at the latter and so were 3000 plus others
to witness a rare Rohan Ince headed goal.
Fortunately that came in the second half,
having spent a good percentage of the
first half utilising the facilities (the curse of
arriving nearly 3 hours before kick off and
thinking that some bonding time with fellow
Seagulls fans was needed over a few
libations in the local hostelry!!)
This was then followed by a sobering
1-0 home defeat to Brentford, a superb
3-2 win over Promotion chasing Ipswich,
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Crawley Town FC
Since the last edition,
a run of poor form has
seen Manager John
Gregory temporarily
step down due to
needing major heart
surgery and being
replaced until the end of
the season by former Wales, Aston Villa
and Liverpool striker Dean Saunders.
While results have been worrying to say the
least, there have been quite a few changes
in playing staff, crowds at the Checkatrade.
com Stadium have gone down and with
over half the season gone, the Red Devils
are staring at relegation to League 2 unless
they can vastly improve on 1 win in 15
during November, December and January.
That win came against Preston North End
at the end of January and was secured
courtesy of new signing Lee Fowler,
volleying the winner in the winner from the
edge of the box with only 3 minutes to go!
The sort of late goal that is the best feeling
if you support the winning team and the
worst for the fans on the receiving end who
start asking a higher authority, “…what
have we done to deserve this?” Well that’s
the polite version anyway.
Photograph: Paul Hazelwood
another nearly moment, after going down
3-2 at home to Arsenal in the Cup (that was
definitely handball and should have been a
penalty by the way!) and then a depressing
defeat on what can only be described as the
worst football pitch in the league surely, 0-1
away at Blackpool ?!
Players wise, those moving on include
Gary Gardener, Elliott Bennett, Darren Bent
and Adrian Colunga. At the time of writing,
the players arriving at the Amex included
striker Leon Best on loan from Blackburn
and Midfielder Beram Kayal from Celtic as
well as the extended loan of Greg Halford
from Nottingham Forest. Add to that, the
impending return from injury of Kazenga
Lua Lua and Dale Stephens and the much
improved displays on the pitch, there is
some cause for optimism.
At the time of writing Hughton has also
been reunited with Colin Calderwood, who
was his assistant at Birmingham, Norwich
and Newcastle.
I for one think we’ll stay up and even finish
in the relative comfort of mid table. My work
has often prevented me from attending the
away fixtures this season, but I plan on a
trip to the Lions Den of Millwall in March…
another chance for karma to weave its
magic in the Capital again! I’ll just make
sure I don’t get up there too early!
Back to the crowds, more alarmingly the
home gates have dropped to under 3000
each week, so why are the supporters
staying away? Quite simply isn’t it the
results. Fans may blame the way the
Club is being run or vent their frustration
at certain individuals for what they’re
not doing, but trust me when I state the
obvious. Put a good run together, start
winning games, move up the table and the
fans will come back.
The transfer window has just closed with
7 players signed in January. With the loan
window opening up, I suspect there will be
more to tell you about in the next edition.