Albion 0, Brentford 1
The manager has changed, but it's the same old story for Albion this season at the Amex.
A fifth home defeat by the odd goal, and fourth blank sheet, has left the Seagulls with one of the bleakest home records in the country.
Why is it so much worse than the previous three seasons?
Simple really. The squad Sami Hyypia had, and inherited now by Chris Hughton, is nowhere near as good.
The home form will only change once the squad has improved.
And it will take Hughton and the revamped recruitment team more than one transfer window to repair the damage done over the past year.
An experienced central midfielder, a striker and more penetration out wide is the starting point this month.
Deeper corrective surgery will be required in the summer and possibly beyond to turn Albion back from relegation candidates into promotion contenders once again.
Hughton has taken a practical approach. The side and the set-up for Brentford's visit was the same as the one that edged to a second successive away win under his command at Charlton.
He favours a 4-2-3-1 or 4-1-4-1 formation. Too cautious? Not if you have enough quality.
Hughton is lacking that at the moment, so he is ensuring first and foremost that Albion are difficult to beat. Then, with a set piece or clinical finish, you can win games.
The deadlock was broken via a free-kick in the away victories under Hughton at Charlton and Brentford in the FA Cup, before that under caretaker Nathan Jones at Fulham with a penalty.
The game plan nearly paid off second time around against Brentford. Albion had two really good chances early in both halves, either side of Andre Gray's flukey winner for the high-flying visitors.
The more end-to-end the contest became after Lewis Dunk's daft dimissal on the hour, the more it suited the counter-attacking style.
Hughton said: "What I've got to be able to do is work with the players that are here in a system that I want to play. I'm still finding out about the players.
"We have been good away from home, quite resilient, and managed to get enough goals to win matches. But when you are at home, the expectation is to come out of that a little bit more.
"I think there were periods when we broke through midfield. The front players are reliant on a supply. They played with quite a high line, we felt we could exploit that at times."
Albion did just that inside ten minutes, after Brentford had dominated the ball. Craig Mackail-Smith put Inigo Calderon clean through. His angled drive was on target, but blocked away by keeper David Button.
Calderon can be forgiven. He is a right-back after all, but Mackail-Smith's main job is to score. Chances had been in short supply for him over two-and-a-half games, but he had an inviting one six minutes after the interval.
A defensive header bounced into his path 12 yards out. His swivelling effort was straight at Button.
Hughton said: "I think that's where we are at the moment. We set the team up to be resilient, which you have to be against a team as good in possession as Brentford. "But you have also got to be a threat and when you get those opportunities you have certainly got to be more clinical."
The goal which decided a tight, entertaining encounter approaching the half-hour owed a lot to fortune.
Gray, so wasteful in the FA Cup tie between the teams a fortnight earlier, looped his tenth in the league over the helpless David Stockdale via a severe deflection off the challenging Joe Bennett.
The first goal conceded by Albion in over six hours was just about the only time Brentford got in behind them, apart from late-on when they were stretched seeking parity with ten men.
Dunk's first booking in the first half exhibited maturity. He took one for the team with a foul on Alex Pritchard which halted a Brentford breakaway.
His second caution was immature. Having won a free-kick in a tussle with Ramallo Jota close to the corner flag, Dunk shoved him in the chest.
The Spaniard had been trying to kick the ball away to delay the free-kick and then reacted theatrically by falling to the ground.
Hughton, conceding that Dunk had "put himself in a position to be sent-off" was still dismayed by the way referee Andy Davies handled the incident.
He said: "I just felt the way the game was it was a real soft booking. If I look at referee management of a situation, it was our free-kick, we were desperate to try to get back in the game.
"The lad has made a meal of it, that's for sure. It's not a push head-height, it's a push in effect to the chest, and I just felt he (Davies) could have managed that better." The same, surely, can be said of Dunk. He now misses Ipswich's visit on Wednesday, although he will be available for the FA Cup tie against Arsenal on Sunday.
Arsenal's finishing will not be as inept as that of the Spaniard they have loaned to Brentford. Teenage substitute Jon Toral somehow got the ball stuck in his feet with the goal gaping after rounding Stockdale in the closing stages.
A more decisive defeat would have been especially harsh on Albion. They gave it a real go with ten men, nine for a few minutes with Mackail-Smith receiving treatment for an ankle injury once all three subs had been used.
The replacements included Adrian Colunga, who looked a more effective option on the left than Sam Baldock. Colunga tested Button and Danny Holla had a last-gasp opportunity to level blocked.
The five-match unbeaten revival over, Albion are a long way from being out of the woods. Hughton knows that only too well.
Aided by two or three key additions by the end of the month, you would back him to steer them clear of trouble. Transforming them into a top six team once more will require patience and a radical overhaul of the squad.
Original article
The manager has changed, but it's the same old story for Albion this season at the Amex.
A fifth home defeat by the odd goal, and fourth blank sheet, has left the Seagulls with one of the bleakest home records in the country.
Why is it so much worse than the previous three seasons?
Simple really. The squad Sami Hyypia had, and inherited now by Chris Hughton, is nowhere near as good.
The home form will only change once the squad has improved.
And it will take Hughton and the revamped recruitment team more than one transfer window to repair the damage done over the past year.
An experienced central midfielder, a striker and more penetration out wide is the starting point this month.
Deeper corrective surgery will be required in the summer and possibly beyond to turn Albion back from relegation candidates into promotion contenders once again.
Hughton has taken a practical approach. The side and the set-up for Brentford's visit was the same as the one that edged to a second successive away win under his command at Charlton.
He favours a 4-2-3-1 or 4-1-4-1 formation. Too cautious? Not if you have enough quality.
Hughton is lacking that at the moment, so he is ensuring first and foremost that Albion are difficult to beat. Then, with a set piece or clinical finish, you can win games.
The deadlock was broken via a free-kick in the away victories under Hughton at Charlton and Brentford in the FA Cup, before that under caretaker Nathan Jones at Fulham with a penalty.
The game plan nearly paid off second time around against Brentford. Albion had two really good chances early in both halves, either side of Andre Gray's flukey winner for the high-flying visitors.
The more end-to-end the contest became after Lewis Dunk's daft dimissal on the hour, the more it suited the counter-attacking style.
Hughton said: "What I've got to be able to do is work with the players that are here in a system that I want to play. I'm still finding out about the players.
"We have been good away from home, quite resilient, and managed to get enough goals to win matches. But when you are at home, the expectation is to come out of that a little bit more.
"I think there were periods when we broke through midfield. The front players are reliant on a supply. They played with quite a high line, we felt we could exploit that at times."
Albion did just that inside ten minutes, after Brentford had dominated the ball. Craig Mackail-Smith put Inigo Calderon clean through. His angled drive was on target, but blocked away by keeper David Button.
Calderon can be forgiven. He is a right-back after all, but Mackail-Smith's main job is to score. Chances had been in short supply for him over two-and-a-half games, but he had an inviting one six minutes after the interval.
A defensive header bounced into his path 12 yards out. His swivelling effort was straight at Button.
Hughton said: "I think that's where we are at the moment. We set the team up to be resilient, which you have to be against a team as good in possession as Brentford. "But you have also got to be a threat and when you get those opportunities you have certainly got to be more clinical."
The goal which decided a tight, entertaining encounter approaching the half-hour owed a lot to fortune.
Gray, so wasteful in the FA Cup tie between the teams a fortnight earlier, looped his tenth in the league over the helpless David Stockdale via a severe deflection off the challenging Joe Bennett.
The first goal conceded by Albion in over six hours was just about the only time Brentford got in behind them, apart from late-on when they were stretched seeking parity with ten men.
Dunk's first booking in the first half exhibited maturity. He took one for the team with a foul on Alex Pritchard which halted a Brentford breakaway.
His second caution was immature. Having won a free-kick in a tussle with Ramallo Jota close to the corner flag, Dunk shoved him in the chest.
The Spaniard had been trying to kick the ball away to delay the free-kick and then reacted theatrically by falling to the ground.
Hughton, conceding that Dunk had "put himself in a position to be sent-off" was still dismayed by the way referee Andy Davies handled the incident.
He said: "I just felt the way the game was it was a real soft booking. If I look at referee management of a situation, it was our free-kick, we were desperate to try to get back in the game.
"The lad has made a meal of it, that's for sure. It's not a push head-height, it's a push in effect to the chest, and I just felt he (Davies) could have managed that better." The same, surely, can be said of Dunk. He now misses Ipswich's visit on Wednesday, although he will be available for the FA Cup tie against Arsenal on Sunday.
Arsenal's finishing will not be as inept as that of the Spaniard they have loaned to Brentford. Teenage substitute Jon Toral somehow got the ball stuck in his feet with the goal gaping after rounding Stockdale in the closing stages.
A more decisive defeat would have been especially harsh on Albion. They gave it a real go with ten men, nine for a few minutes with Mackail-Smith receiving treatment for an ankle injury once all three subs had been used.
The replacements included Adrian Colunga, who looked a more effective option on the left than Sam Baldock. Colunga tested Button and Danny Holla had a last-gasp opportunity to level blocked.
The five-match unbeaten revival over, Albion are a long way from being out of the woods. Hughton knows that only too well.
Aided by two or three key additions by the end of the month, you would back him to steer them clear of trouble. Transforming them into a top six team once more will require patience and a radical overhaul of the squad.
Original article