:seems like a lifetime away now..................................................................
Seagulls facing a long fight for survival3:30pm Monday 1st February 2010 in
By Andy Naylor Get ready for another anxious climax to the end of the season for Albion.
Gus Poyet’s side are unlikely to extricate themselves from relegation trouble any time soon.
Why? Because they have a terrible record against the top teams, which is a worry when you look at the fixture list.
They have got to play the top five in the next eight games, a daunting prospect considering that defeat by Millwall means they have now lost to the top six under Poyet. They failed to score in three of them and have only breached the defences of the best in the division three times in total.
All of which suggests not many points are likely to be gained from the forthcoming
encounters with Norwich, Leeds, Charlton, Colchester and Swindon.
Four of them are away, which, in Albion’s case, is actually cause for celebration, because they perform so much better on the road.
It is three and a half months now since they won at home in the league, which is bad enough. Just eight points from a total of 39 at Withdean is even worse.
It does not help when you give the opposition a leg-up. That was the case again, a mistake by Adam Virgo four minutes into the restart presenting Steve Morison with the only goal of a tight, untidy contest. Poyet is frustrated his team keep on giving themselves too much to do, although he preferred to talk in terms of collective responsibility rather than laying the blame solely on Virgo’s shoulders.
The Uruguayan admitted: “We cannot beat the top six. We are not good enough to beat them, especially at home. I don’t think there is anything to hide.
“When you finish every game chasing it, it’s impossible. Whether it is a 35-yard shot into the top corner or a mistake, at the end of the day we keep conceding first and that is always more difficult.
“It is happening every time and it is not good enough. It is too easy to play the way we do when, with 15 minutes to go, I put everyone up front.
“The problem is the rest of the game and not conceding so easily and trying to be in control.
“Unfortunately, we made a mistake and conceded a goal and it was another day chasing the game.
“I always say to the players it’s about doing the basics, doing your jobs, understanding what the manager wants.
“Sometimes you get lucky when you make a mistake and it doesn’t end up as a goal. It’s not a problem. We are a team and we take it all together.”
What a pity for the crestfallen Virgo that all the good work he has done in the five matches since forcing his way back into the team has been blemished.
He was fatally caught in possession by Morison, with no cover behind him. The former Stevenage striker could not believe his luck as he rounded Michel Kuipers to tuck away his 11th goal of the season.
Whether Albion did enough to win was debateable but they did not deserve to lose.
The only other time a well organised and efficient Millwall looked like scoring was in the closing moments, when the daring Seagulls were exposed to the counter-attack.
Shaun Batt was twice clean through but the smothering Kuipers foiled him, which epitomised the on-loan Peterborough striker’s efforts. He had pace to burn but no end product.
Albion were disrupted by the absence from the second half of the increasingly influential Alan Navarro.
The midfielder suffered a foot injury in a nasty tackle by Jimmy Abdou. Poyet regarded his departure as pivotal and is becoming irritated that Navarro’s contribution is not recognised.
He remarked: “People in this ground and this club are giving credit to too many people and not maybe as much credit to other players that are very important to the team."
Poyet must also wish he did not continuously have to make adventurous substitutions in pursuit of rescuing a result.
Liam Dickinson for an unusually subdued Nicky Forster was a straight swap, new signing Chris Holroyd for Marcos Painter anything but.
The changes made little difference until a frantic final ten minutes. Holroyd flicked a header just wide from a Gary Dicker cross and Tommy Elphick had a header from an Elliott Bennett corner cleared off the line by Chris Hackett.
Glenn Murray went even closer with a header against a post from an inviting cross by Navarro’s replacement, Dean Cox.
Results elsewhere were unhelpful. Doomed Stockport were the only other losers in the bottom eight, Wycombe winning at Bristol Rovers and Saturday’s hosts Leyton Orient, Tranmere and Exeter all picking up useful away points.
Orient won at Charlton last week and Tranmere drew there on Saturday. Albion could do with causing a few surprises of their own in the coming weeks, although it is too soon to panic with only three points dividing them from Yeovil in 14th.
Albion (4-4-2): Kuipers; Calderon, Virgo, Elphick, Painter (Holroyd 63); Dicker, Crofts, Navarro (Cox 46), Bennett; Murray, Forster (Dickinson 63). Subs not used: Tunnicliffe, Carole, Hoyte, Brezovan.
Goals: None.
Red cards: None.
Yellow cards: Elphick (2) foul, Calderon (76) foul.
Millwall (4-4-2): Forde; Smith (Dunne 74), Robinson, Ward, Craig; Hackett, Abdou, Trotter, Martin (Barron 83); Batt, Morison. Subs not used: Harris, Grabban, Price, Laird, Trotter.
Goals: Morison (49).
Red cards: None.
Yellow cards: Abdou (22) foul, Craig (79) foul.
Referee: Mr K. Friend (Leicestershire).
Venue: Withdean.
Attendance: 6,610 (829 Millwall
so that's just 5,781 BHA fans
Seagulls facing a long fight for survival3:30pm Monday 1st February 2010 in
By Andy Naylor Get ready for another anxious climax to the end of the season for Albion.
Gus Poyet’s side are unlikely to extricate themselves from relegation trouble any time soon.
Why? Because they have a terrible record against the top teams, which is a worry when you look at the fixture list.
They have got to play the top five in the next eight games, a daunting prospect considering that defeat by Millwall means they have now lost to the top six under Poyet. They failed to score in three of them and have only breached the defences of the best in the division three times in total.
All of which suggests not many points are likely to be gained from the forthcoming
encounters with Norwich, Leeds, Charlton, Colchester and Swindon.
Four of them are away, which, in Albion’s case, is actually cause for celebration, because they perform so much better on the road.
It is three and a half months now since they won at home in the league, which is bad enough. Just eight points from a total of 39 at Withdean is even worse.
It does not help when you give the opposition a leg-up. That was the case again, a mistake by Adam Virgo four minutes into the restart presenting Steve Morison with the only goal of a tight, untidy contest. Poyet is frustrated his team keep on giving themselves too much to do, although he preferred to talk in terms of collective responsibility rather than laying the blame solely on Virgo’s shoulders.
The Uruguayan admitted: “We cannot beat the top six. We are not good enough to beat them, especially at home. I don’t think there is anything to hide.
“When you finish every game chasing it, it’s impossible. Whether it is a 35-yard shot into the top corner or a mistake, at the end of the day we keep conceding first and that is always more difficult.
“It is happening every time and it is not good enough. It is too easy to play the way we do when, with 15 minutes to go, I put everyone up front.
“The problem is the rest of the game and not conceding so easily and trying to be in control.
“Unfortunately, we made a mistake and conceded a goal and it was another day chasing the game.
“I always say to the players it’s about doing the basics, doing your jobs, understanding what the manager wants.
“Sometimes you get lucky when you make a mistake and it doesn’t end up as a goal. It’s not a problem. We are a team and we take it all together.”
What a pity for the crestfallen Virgo that all the good work he has done in the five matches since forcing his way back into the team has been blemished.
He was fatally caught in possession by Morison, with no cover behind him. The former Stevenage striker could not believe his luck as he rounded Michel Kuipers to tuck away his 11th goal of the season.
Whether Albion did enough to win was debateable but they did not deserve to lose.
The only other time a well organised and efficient Millwall looked like scoring was in the closing moments, when the daring Seagulls were exposed to the counter-attack.
Shaun Batt was twice clean through but the smothering Kuipers foiled him, which epitomised the on-loan Peterborough striker’s efforts. He had pace to burn but no end product.
Albion were disrupted by the absence from the second half of the increasingly influential Alan Navarro.
The midfielder suffered a foot injury in a nasty tackle by Jimmy Abdou. Poyet regarded his departure as pivotal and is becoming irritated that Navarro’s contribution is not recognised.
He remarked: “People in this ground and this club are giving credit to too many people and not maybe as much credit to other players that are very important to the team."
Poyet must also wish he did not continuously have to make adventurous substitutions in pursuit of rescuing a result.
Liam Dickinson for an unusually subdued Nicky Forster was a straight swap, new signing Chris Holroyd for Marcos Painter anything but.
The changes made little difference until a frantic final ten minutes. Holroyd flicked a header just wide from a Gary Dicker cross and Tommy Elphick had a header from an Elliott Bennett corner cleared off the line by Chris Hackett.
Glenn Murray went even closer with a header against a post from an inviting cross by Navarro’s replacement, Dean Cox.
Results elsewhere were unhelpful. Doomed Stockport were the only other losers in the bottom eight, Wycombe winning at Bristol Rovers and Saturday’s hosts Leyton Orient, Tranmere and Exeter all picking up useful away points.
Orient won at Charlton last week and Tranmere drew there on Saturday. Albion could do with causing a few surprises of their own in the coming weeks, although it is too soon to panic with only three points dividing them from Yeovil in 14th.
Albion (4-4-2): Kuipers; Calderon, Virgo, Elphick, Painter (Holroyd 63); Dicker, Crofts, Navarro (Cox 46), Bennett; Murray, Forster (Dickinson 63). Subs not used: Tunnicliffe, Carole, Hoyte, Brezovan.
Goals: None.
Red cards: None.
Yellow cards: Elphick (2) foul, Calderon (76) foul.
Millwall (4-4-2): Forde; Smith (Dunne 74), Robinson, Ward, Craig; Hackett, Abdou, Trotter, Martin (Barron 83); Batt, Morison. Subs not used: Harris, Grabban, Price, Laird, Trotter.
Goals: Morison (49).
Red cards: None.
Yellow cards: Abdou (22) foul, Craig (79) foul.
Referee: Mr K. Friend (Leicestershire).
Venue: Withdean.
Attendance: 6,610 (829 Millwall
so that's just 5,781 BHA fans
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