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The Argus - Albion Analysis - Naylor
Spot on in pretty much everything he's written here.
Albion Analysis: Hyypia deserves fair crack of the whip
Albion and Sami Hyypia face a big week against two clubs from Yorkshire.
Defeats at Huddersfield tomorrow night and back at the Amex at home to promoted Rotherham on Saturday would almost certainly plunge them into the relegation zone.
That would make owner-chairman Tony Bloom and his fellow Board members very uncomfortable.
They might accept a season of mid-table mediocrity but any possibility of returning to League One will send shivers down their spines.
I sincerely hope it does not come to that. Hyypia deserves a fair crack of the whip, more than 14 Championship matches to prove he is the right man for the job.
Appointing Hyypia was brave and bold on Bloom's behalf, much like the choices of Gus Poyet and Oscar Garcia.
All three were top flight players but Poyet had not been a No. 1, Oscar had not managed in England and neither had Hyypia.
Oscar was a success in Israel with Maccabi Tel Aviv, so initially was Hyypia in Germany with Bayer Leverkusen before it went pear-shaped.
The disadvantage for the Finn compared to his predecessors is that he has an inferior squad to work with.
Poyet had the best of it in this respect. His team beaten in the play-offs by Crystal Palace was better than Oscar's team beaten in the play-offs by Derby.
Oscar's team was better than the one Hyypia has now.
What is happening to Albion on the pitch is only to be expected. If you do not adequately replace quality players you are only going to go one way.
That has been happening, gradually, ever since Poyet departed so acrimoniously.
Kuszczak, Upson, Orlandi, Lopez, Bridcutt, Buckley, Ulloa, Barnes, Vicente. Loan signings Bridge, Hammond, Ward, Lingard, Conway.
That is quite a list. Some of the holes have been well-filled but not enough of them to avoid a detrimental impact on Albion's playing fortunes.
Shrewd recruitment is crucial, because Financial Fair Play and an increasingly unfair playing field in the Championship is bleeding the life out of the Seagulls' chances of continuing to mount a promotion challenge.
Chief executive Paul Barber pointed out in his programme notes that nearly half the division receive parachute payments, while the initial parachute payment this year for relegated Cardiff, Fulham and Norwich is almost as much as Albion's entire annual turnover.
As much as Barber and his colleagues try to drive down costs and increase revenue streams, the club still has to depend on the multi-million generosity of Bloom to be competitive.
Hyypia's job is to get the best out of what he has. That is not happening at the moment with Albion 20th and winless for eight league games but it is still early days for his methods.
The messages were not taken on board by his players against Middlesbrough. Albion's lack of width was not deliberate. Why would it be when Boro had both full-backs, Ryan Fredericks and George Friend, booked in the first half?
Hyypia said: "In the first half we didn't use the width enough and maybe we didn't have the guys in the front three who score a lot of goals from crosses, so we decided to change things in the second half, tried to use the width more and bring Chris O'Grady in to have a chance to score from a cross as well.
"That's why the full-backs are high so we can use them. We couldn't get the ball there. Many times they came too much inside, then we lose the momentum to use the width and get the balls in."
A warning was not heeded in the manner of Middlesbrough's second goal early in the second half. Hyypia said: "We were talking about it, they would sit back and wait and counter-attack and we would have to be careful about it. That's exactly what happened."
The most disturbing aspect of a performance Hyypia branded as "very bad" was the absence of any meaningful response to the two-goal deficit with plenty of time left when it only needed one goal to change the complexion of the contest.
Gordon Greer's far post header from Paddy McCourt's corner flicked on by fellow substitute Adrian Colunga - the fifth league goal out of 11 scored by the central defenders - came too late to make a difference.
Hyypia, recalling with irony Liverpool's comeback from 3-0 down to AC Milan nine years ago to win the Champions League final on penalties, said: "I was thinking why we didn't have the urgency earlier that we did after we scored and there were only a few minutes left.
"Nobody needs to tell me if you are trailing by two or three goals you can't get back. In 2005 I remember one game, one not too important game, that we came back in in seven-and-a-half minutes.
"I would like us to have that kind of mentality, that we don't give up. We didn't have the urgency at that stage to just carrying on trying 100 per cent."
It doesn't help when you keep on playing catch-up. Albion fell behind, for the eighth time out of 12 in the Championship, after only eight minutes. The defence was exposed as Lee Tomlin side-footed home Adam Reach's cut-back.
They conceded eight minutes into the second half as well, a classic counter-attack by Boro ending with Albert Adomah tucking in the rebound from close range after his initial effort from the rampaging Daniel Ayala's cross had been parried by David Stockdale.
Boro, with a strong squad, two disciplined banks of four and potency going forward, were the best side Albion have faced so far but it could have been different if Gary Gardner and Paddy McCourt had taken good chances just before each of the visitors' goals.
McCourt fired wide following a weaving run into the area. Supporters have been clamouring in increasing numbers for him to start and he got an hour due to the unfortunate withdrawal of Joao Teixeira caused by concussion fears following a heavy aerial collision with Friend seconds into the match.
McCourt, for the most part, looked a little jaded by his travels with Northern Ireland, while the fit-again Sam Baldock fluffed his only clear sight of goal in the closing stages, guiding Boro old boy Joe Bennett's cross well wide.
Inigo Calderon, also back in the side after a ban in place of the injured Bruno, said: "I don't think we have deserved to lose so many games or not being able to win any in the last month.
"It's just sometimes the small details, like the first goal. If we hadn't conceded so early we had a good chance against a good team because there wasn't a massive difference between us."
He is right but Albion and Hyypia need a win this week to ease the anxiety.
Spot on in pretty much everything he's written here.
Albion Analysis: Hyypia deserves fair crack of the whip
Albion and Sami Hyypia face a big week against two clubs from Yorkshire.
Defeats at Huddersfield tomorrow night and back at the Amex at home to promoted Rotherham on Saturday would almost certainly plunge them into the relegation zone.
That would make owner-chairman Tony Bloom and his fellow Board members very uncomfortable.
They might accept a season of mid-table mediocrity but any possibility of returning to League One will send shivers down their spines.
I sincerely hope it does not come to that. Hyypia deserves a fair crack of the whip, more than 14 Championship matches to prove he is the right man for the job.
Appointing Hyypia was brave and bold on Bloom's behalf, much like the choices of Gus Poyet and Oscar Garcia.
All three were top flight players but Poyet had not been a No. 1, Oscar had not managed in England and neither had Hyypia.
Oscar was a success in Israel with Maccabi Tel Aviv, so initially was Hyypia in Germany with Bayer Leverkusen before it went pear-shaped.
The disadvantage for the Finn compared to his predecessors is that he has an inferior squad to work with.
Poyet had the best of it in this respect. His team beaten in the play-offs by Crystal Palace was better than Oscar's team beaten in the play-offs by Derby.
Oscar's team was better than the one Hyypia has now.
What is happening to Albion on the pitch is only to be expected. If you do not adequately replace quality players you are only going to go one way.
That has been happening, gradually, ever since Poyet departed so acrimoniously.
Kuszczak, Upson, Orlandi, Lopez, Bridcutt, Buckley, Ulloa, Barnes, Vicente. Loan signings Bridge, Hammond, Ward, Lingard, Conway.
That is quite a list. Some of the holes have been well-filled but not enough of them to avoid a detrimental impact on Albion's playing fortunes.
Shrewd recruitment is crucial, because Financial Fair Play and an increasingly unfair playing field in the Championship is bleeding the life out of the Seagulls' chances of continuing to mount a promotion challenge.
Chief executive Paul Barber pointed out in his programme notes that nearly half the division receive parachute payments, while the initial parachute payment this year for relegated Cardiff, Fulham and Norwich is almost as much as Albion's entire annual turnover.
As much as Barber and his colleagues try to drive down costs and increase revenue streams, the club still has to depend on the multi-million generosity of Bloom to be competitive.
Hyypia's job is to get the best out of what he has. That is not happening at the moment with Albion 20th and winless for eight league games but it is still early days for his methods.
The messages were not taken on board by his players against Middlesbrough. Albion's lack of width was not deliberate. Why would it be when Boro had both full-backs, Ryan Fredericks and George Friend, booked in the first half?
Hyypia said: "In the first half we didn't use the width enough and maybe we didn't have the guys in the front three who score a lot of goals from crosses, so we decided to change things in the second half, tried to use the width more and bring Chris O'Grady in to have a chance to score from a cross as well.
"That's why the full-backs are high so we can use them. We couldn't get the ball there. Many times they came too much inside, then we lose the momentum to use the width and get the balls in."
A warning was not heeded in the manner of Middlesbrough's second goal early in the second half. Hyypia said: "We were talking about it, they would sit back and wait and counter-attack and we would have to be careful about it. That's exactly what happened."
The most disturbing aspect of a performance Hyypia branded as "very bad" was the absence of any meaningful response to the two-goal deficit with plenty of time left when it only needed one goal to change the complexion of the contest.
Gordon Greer's far post header from Paddy McCourt's corner flicked on by fellow substitute Adrian Colunga - the fifth league goal out of 11 scored by the central defenders - came too late to make a difference.
Hyypia, recalling with irony Liverpool's comeback from 3-0 down to AC Milan nine years ago to win the Champions League final on penalties, said: "I was thinking why we didn't have the urgency earlier that we did after we scored and there were only a few minutes left.
"Nobody needs to tell me if you are trailing by two or three goals you can't get back. In 2005 I remember one game, one not too important game, that we came back in in seven-and-a-half minutes.
"I would like us to have that kind of mentality, that we don't give up. We didn't have the urgency at that stage to just carrying on trying 100 per cent."
It doesn't help when you keep on playing catch-up. Albion fell behind, for the eighth time out of 12 in the Championship, after only eight minutes. The defence was exposed as Lee Tomlin side-footed home Adam Reach's cut-back.
They conceded eight minutes into the second half as well, a classic counter-attack by Boro ending with Albert Adomah tucking in the rebound from close range after his initial effort from the rampaging Daniel Ayala's cross had been parried by David Stockdale.
Boro, with a strong squad, two disciplined banks of four and potency going forward, were the best side Albion have faced so far but it could have been different if Gary Gardner and Paddy McCourt had taken good chances just before each of the visitors' goals.
McCourt fired wide following a weaving run into the area. Supporters have been clamouring in increasing numbers for him to start and he got an hour due to the unfortunate withdrawal of Joao Teixeira caused by concussion fears following a heavy aerial collision with Friend seconds into the match.
McCourt, for the most part, looked a little jaded by his travels with Northern Ireland, while the fit-again Sam Baldock fluffed his only clear sight of goal in the closing stages, guiding Boro old boy Joe Bennett's cross well wide.
Inigo Calderon, also back in the side after a ban in place of the injured Bruno, said: "I don't think we have deserved to lose so many games or not being able to win any in the last month.
"It's just sometimes the small details, like the first goal. If we hadn't conceded so early we had a good chance against a good team because there wasn't a massive difference between us."
He is right but Albion and Hyypia need a win this week to ease the anxiety.
