Move along…

…there’s nothing to see here. What was that all about? The North Stand Chat harakiri has been reversed. For those of you who missed Naylor’s very odd piece, here it is:

A couple of points:

Remember the last ‘official’ person to tell Albion fans to “stop whining”?

Hello sexy

Only a few fans moaned when the team didn’t resort to hoofball against Bournemouth, from where I was sitting (Block H) they were told to shut the fuck up.

Naylor has since said that he was refering to:

“Article was, in fact, inspired by comments on The Argus website”

(@AndyNaylorArgus).

Then why did he say:

“Before the age of the internet, the vehicle for fans to release all their pent-up anger from the frustrations of life was on a Saturday afternoon. Now they can do it 24 hours a day, seven days a week, via websites” ??

Anyone with half a brain knows that NSC is one of those websites, not only that, it’s the biggest forum for BHAFC fans’ views. Mmmm.

Lastly, fans pay their money, and buy the overpriced shit in the club shop, they have earned the right to “whine”, Mr Naylor gets paid to sit and watch the team. Go figure.

Albion 0 – 2 Charlton

Gus Poyet has brought in a new keeper for a week long loan/trial period, although Michel Kuipers is available again, and boy will we need a good goalkeeping display tonight against Charlton. The teams are announced and after all that hype Graeme Smith will start in goal, oo-er. Every cloud has a silver lining though – Albion Legend Peter Ward is in the BBC Radio Sussex studio after the game for the phone-in.

El-Abd and one of theirs booked inside two minutes, is it going to be another Albion card frenzy tonight? Tunnicliffe hits the bar from a corner!!! Charlton clear. We’re playing the Addicks off the park so far. Elphick booked now for backchat. Fuck sake!!! Second effort on goal and Charlton score, 0-1. Next Charlton attack……2-0! We are officially fucking shit. Half-time, Saints are 1-0 up, we are right now two points adrift in the relegation zone.

Second half – Dicker booked on 54 mins. Jim McNulty is back! He comes on for El-Abd, come on Macca! Another little ray of light on a typically gloomy Withdean night. Dickinson comes on for a quiet Nicky Forster. Crofts puts the ball in the net – disallowed for a foul on the Addicks keeper. It’s not going to happen tonight folks. Double save from Smith, ironic cheers from the frozen Withdean crowd. Poyet throws Craig Davieees on for one last hurrah with three strikers. And that’s it, we got sweet F.A. off any of the Big Three in the end; Poyet and his sidekick Taricco have it all to do, and who would envy them in such a Sisyphean task?

The Hovian’s Albion Team Performance :   3 out of 10

The Hovian’s Albion Man of the Match : Behave!

Albion Team (goalscorers in bold):

(4-4-2) Smith; Hoyte, Tunnicliffe, Elphick, El-Abd (McNulty 55); Bennett, Dicker (Davieeees 85), Crofts, Navarro; Forster (Dickinson 60), Murray

Subs: Pelling, Whing, McNulty, Cox, Dickinson, Virgo, C.Davies

Coppell says no

Steve Coppell, the fans’ favourite to take over from Russell Slade has said no to the club. Who are we going to get now? Martin Hinshelwood will be in caretaker charge for the FA Cup game at Wycombe this Saturday, so are we going to see our new manager revealed at Saints the following week? Hope so, because I’ve two tickets for that one stuck safely away in my man drawer in the kitchen – could be a historic game folks!

Seagulls net a loan Gooner

In what could be an exciting move, the Albion have signed Arsenal teenager Gavin Hoyte on a month long loan deal. The youngster can play at full and centre back and should help shore up the leaky old tub that is our ever changing back four. Hoyte is in the squad, and almost certain to start, against Yeovil away on Saturday. Great stuff.

Cheque book Ron v Little Jimmy

Hove Born & Bred, a poster on NSC, who also writes the Put Those Floodlights Out! blog on the Argus website, found this little gem on YouTube and I thought I’d put it up here for those readers (2 out of my total of 4) who don’t frequent the mad, mad, world that is Brighton & Hove Albion’s main fan forum.

What’s interesting about this video is the difference in style, Big Flash Ron – a walking, talking football stereotype much ridiculed since by many good Brit comedians down the years – Mediterranean tan, Pringle golf jumper,  flair hair, dodgy Irish joke. Then there’s Jimmy Melia, the softly spoken little scouser, in his trackie and pale bald head. As HB&B mentions on NSC, David Colemanballs can’t even bring himself to say the words “Brighton” “Brighton & Hove Albion” or any combination of the above.

This all happened long before I was a fan of the Albion, but it’s an interesting window on a time when this little club almost toppled the biggest name in world football. It really is a little gem, real life David and Goliath stuff.

Seagulls sign ANOTHER winger

Russell Slade has just signed 20 year old Elliott Bennett from Wolves on a three year contract for an “undisclosed fee”. With three or four out-and-out wingers now in the squad either RS is adding to his attacking options or Dean Cox or Kevin McLeod could be on their way out.

I think we need another attacker and a good “midfield general” type in the centre of the park, but I’m sure Mister Slade and Mister Bloom have a master plan up their sleeves. At least they’re doing something after our mauling at Huddersfield the other night. Stockport’s visit to Withdean on Saturday has ceased being a fairly innocuous early season meet-up between two fairly mediocre League One teams, and is now a crucial must-win game if the Withdean boo-boys are to be kept in the cage for any longer, and the fingers of condemnation start pointing at the man in the blue baseball cap. It’s all business usual at The Good Ship Albion folks, we wouldn’t have it any other way.

Huddersfield 7 (that’s seven) – 1 Albion

Tough one tonight. I have Huddersfield down as one of my picks for automatic promotion this year, along with either Charlton or Leeds. Anything better than a heavy defeat at the Galpharm Stadium will be a good result for us.

The Argus reckons Jim McNulty is in the squad for tonight, but according to the NSC (which I trust more anyhoo), Jimmy Mac is out and so is Glenn Murray (shock! horror!). And Seagulls Player is online a full ten minutes before the KO, is that a good omen for the Seagulls? Fairly boring first ten minutes, that’ll do us nicely, 0-0 would be a result. Scrappy, Virgo big and strong. Second corner for Albion. Navarro gives the ball away, El-Abd saves his blushes as last man, Kuipers gathers.

It’s good hearing the travelling support singing, good effort. Saints 1-0 down at Swindon, hoho, remember my bet at work? $100 for Albion to finish above Saints this year. Gertcha! Virgo is playing a captain’s game so far, I’m liking this Albion defence, even El-Abd is doing well. Need goals. Smith hits one over the bar. Fooking hell, Huddersfield break, cross, header, onion bag, first go. Jesus. Now the home team are going for it, this is where this Albion team has to prove their bottle. No excuses, goals please.

OUT OF FACKING NOWHERE! LIAM DICKINSON VOLLEYS A BELTER INTO THE ONION BAG!!!!!!!!! 1-1 SEAGULLLLLLLSSSSS!!!!!!! Within a minute, a fooking minute, Huddersfield go ahead again! No mistake this is a good Huddersfield team, and this is a cracking match. El-Abd makes a poor back pass, the Terrier striker cuts in, Kuipers brings him down, penalty, Kuipers sent off. Kuipers is incandescent with rage. Step up Graeme Smith, what a game to come into. Smith has been booked for picking the ball up??? WTF? 3-1, game over at half time folks. Christ on a bike.

Second half as expected all Huddersfield. Smith gets his first decent touch collecting a corner. Whing gives away another penalty, poor old Graeme Smith, this could be really embarassing tonight, I can barely watch. SMITH SAVES!!!!!! The big Scot does brilliantly. This is one crazy game of football. Smith is FLAIR, fastest booking probably ever, then saves a penalty. Plan B – keep the score down, hope for the odd set piece to nick one.

I need to STFU, soon as I say “Plan B” the Terriers score a fourth. 5-1 now, we’re ragged. Slade takes off Dickinson to give Fozzy a run out. Dicko is the only positive from tonight, perhaps Jamie Smith’s good run out before he had to make way for Kuipers’ sending off. It’s six, we’re being butchered here. This is hard to stomach, I never expected this result. In injury time Huddersfield stamp one last boot into the Albion’s battered and bloody face 7 (SEVEN)-1. Ah well, we’re still ten points ahead of Southampton. Goodnight.

Xenophon’s Albion Team Performance : 2 out of 10

Xenophon’s Albion Man of the Match : Liam Dickinson

Albion Team (goalscorers in bold):

(4-5-1) Kuipers (sent off 39); Whing, Virgo, Elphick, El-Abd; Cox, Navarro (Thornhill 75), Crofts , J Smith (G Smith 39), McLeod; Dickinson (Forster 70).

Subs: G Smith, Tunnicliffe, Thornhill, Dicker, M Wright, Forster, Davies

League One table

Tuesday, 18 August 2009 21:52 UK

Position	Team	P	GD	PTS
Full League One table
1	Colchester	3	8	9
2	Charlton	3	4	9
3	Leeds United	3	3	9
4	Huddersfield	3	8	7
5	Brentford	3	3	7
6	Bristol Rovers	3	2	6
7	Millwall	3	2	5
8	MK Dons	3	1	5
9	Yeovil	3	1	4
10	Walsall	3	0	4
11	Carlisle	3	-1	4
12	Oldham	3	-1	4
13	Swindon	3	-4	4
14	Gillingham	3	2	3
15	Southend	3	0	3
16	Leyton Orient	3	-1	3
17	Tranmere	3	-1	3
18	Exeter	3	-1	2
19	Wycombe	3	-2	1
20	Hartlepool	3	-3	1
21	Stockport	3	-3	1
22	Norwich	3	-7	1
23	Brighton	3	-7	1
24	Southampton	3	-3	-9

We’re off!

Will it be "Fortress Withdean" this year?

It’s match day people. The sun is beating down on Furze Hill, the seagulls are singing (the real ones with feathers that shit on you while nicking your chips on the seafront, not Albion supporters), and I’m off to the Preston Park Tavern at 1pm for a pre-match swally with a couple of buddies and the trouble. According to the Argus yesterday Russell Slade has put out the exact side I predicted in my last post, apart from he has Matty Thornhill on for my choice Gary Dicker. They’ve also described it 4-3-3, same as 4-5-1 really anyway.

As it’s Walsall I’m predicting a score draw or a last minute three pointer for the Seagulls, but it will be a tight game. I’ll be getting rat-arsed after the game, win, lose or draw; so the best match report on the south coast – right here – will have to wait until I crawl out of bed tomorrow afternoon.

Shoreham 0 – 2 Albion XI

An Albion XI featuring a seemingly fully fit Jim McNulty beat minnow neighbours Shoreham at their gaff last night. The big fella with one kidney played sixty minutes of a game where Jamie Smith and youngster George Barker both got on the scoresheet.

Glad to have McNulty back, but it does give Russell Slade a bit of a headache with so many good defenders now in the squad.

My starting line-up for Walsall this Saturday is as follows:

Kuipers

Whing          Elphick          Virgo (C)          J Wright

Navarro

M Wright          Dicker             Crofts               Cox  

Dickinson

Jake Wright is a Seagull

Great news. Although Crawley Town fans tell me he’s a natural centre back it looks like Wright will slot into cover Jim McNulty at left back. The new signing played for us at Torquay and was man of a very poor match for us.

Hearts were the SPL club interested in signing him, and offered a lot more money for Wright, but he seems to like life in Sussex. Good lad!

Russell Slade has made quite a few signings this summer, pre-season has been poor, but the buck stops next Saturday 8th August.