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Ipswich Will Be A Telling Game - Notes for Brighton
Saturday, 29th Aug 2015 05:00 by HarryFromBath

HarryfromBath assesses the mood in the opposition camp ahead of Saturday’s top-of-the-table clash at Portman Road by delving into their forums.

“Something special is happening this year, you know. Everything is coming good. We have characters back in the team and we have discovered our habit of winning, I love it”, “We haven’t been in a better place for quite a long time”, “Let’s just enjoy the moment for what it is.”

“I am going to remain positive with an air of caution.” Saturday’s 1-0 home win over Blackburn saw the Seagulls keep pace with Town at the top of the table. An opening day 1-0 win over Forest was followed by a 2-1 victory at Fulham and then a 1-1 draw at Huddersfield last Tuesday week.

Fans are delighted with their start, but most are keeping a lid on expectations. “It’s good to be at the top of the table. Even though our current position flatters us, it builds confidence when you keep winning, so long may it last”, “You can only beat what is in front of you. Just enjoy it for now.”

A recent poll on one Seagulls forum had 75% saying that they were “content that with a fair wind they could make the play-offs”, “I’m excited because we are building something exciting again, but I’m not expecting the play-offs. I will be content with top half”, “Let’s not get carried away.”

Chris Hughton

“Chris Hughton changed things at Blackburn and secured our win. He has set us up to be very hard to beat”, “We will be better than last season but I’m not convinced we will win enough of these close games for the team to be seen as serious contenders, as he is ultra-conservative and risk-averse.”

“It shows how useful it is to have the same manager through the summer.” The former Norwich manager has had a settled pre-season, strengthening the squad with some low-profile signings. “Chris already has built quite a strong side which he has constructed in his favoured playing style.”

“The best start to a season in ages”, “We look so much stronger than last year”, “I am grateful for the wins, but they have all been marginal and we could easily find ourselves on the other side of the margins”, “It certainly could be a false dawn but I feel that the team have a lot more to offer.”

There has been criticism of the team’s cautious habit of sitting back and protecting points in games, but many fans view this as pragmatic good judgement. “You have to be astute at times and realise when a game isn’t there for the taking and subsequently cut your cloth accordingly.”

Formation

“As learning curves go this one seems painless. I am happy that we have only dropped two points with the side still gelling and new playing coming in with a new system to learn”, “All the new players look good and last season’s squad are performing better than last year.”

StockdaleBrunoGreer (c)HunemeierBongMurphyStephensKayalLua LuaBaldockHemed

The Albion team (above) which started last Saturday’s home tie against Blackburn has been praised more for its organisation and industry than for its creativity. Kazenga Lua Lua is seen as the biggest threat with Israel international Beram Kayal the more inventive of the two central midfielders.

“All these games we wasted playing fancy rubbish formations”, “It’s lovely to see so much attacking play from an Albion team and no frustrating tippy-tappy across the back.” Seagulls have been happy with the balance of a good tempo in attack and a defence which has conceded just two league goals.

“There are big question marks about us in the final third.” Fans widely agree about a lack of quality up front. “Even at this early stage it is becoming clear that a huge factor will be how our front men perform if we are to challenge”, “We cannot rely on winning every game by scoring only once.”

MaenpaaCalderonReaDunkRoseniorForster-CaskeyMurphyHollaMarchO'GradyInce

The starting XI for Tuesday’s 2-1 Capital One Cup defeat at Walsall showed 10 changes along with a different formation to the Blackburn game. “The 4-5-1 system doesn’t work when we are trying to break down a team with O’Grady up front and Ince, Holla and Forster-Caskey in midfield.”

Running Out Of Gas

The 4-5-1 system is worth noting, as Chris Hughton has switched to this system in the last quarter in recent league games. “They were good substitutions as we were being overrun in midfield at Huddersfield”, “We made similar changes at Fulham but got a winner on the counter-attack.”

StockdaleBrunoGreer (c)HunemeierBongMarchStephensKayalLua LuaO'GradyInce

“We are getting flooded in midfield with 4-4-2 and tiring in the second halves.” The team which finished last Saturday (above) saw both starting strikers substituted. Chris O’Grady came on and operated as a hold-up forward and holding midfielder Rohan Ince helped shore up a tiring midfield.

“Ince for Baldock and O’Grady for Hemed, this seems to be the default 4-5-1 system when we are trying to close out games”, “When they announced that O’Grady was coming on at Huddersfield my heart sank but it seems it was just what was needed. Well done Chris Hughton.”

Many are quick to praise their manager’s tactical changes. “I cannot believe people are complaining about defensive substitutions. Previous managers’ attempts have resulted in never-ending pressure on our team. Hughton knows how to shut a game down where predecessors would have failed.”

“The central and midfielders and wingers tired more than anyone else. Although they put in a lot of work, that doesn’t explain it.” Fatigue levels with the midfield quartet have been regularly flagged up as a concern. “We are tiring at the end of games because our midfield is being run ragged.”

Brighton 1 - 0 Blackburn

Brighton beat their visitors last Saturday with a Kazenga Lua Lua goal 10 minutes before the break. Many Seagulls nominated keeper David Stockdale as man of the match for a series of fine saves he made after the hosts made a shaky start. “For the first 20 minutes Rovers were the better side.”

“We had a poor first half, were sloppy and had no cohesion with Blackburn on top”, “We gave their long throw experts plenty of opportunity to cause havoc in the penalty area early on”, “They had a player who could throw it the length of the pitch and used that to keep us under the cosh.”

“Blackburn were big but nothing much apart from that”, “We got to grips with them after the first 20 minutes. We were the better footballing side, scored and looked comfortable”, “We definitely played better football but with better finishing they could have taken something from the game.”

Huddersfield 1 - 1 Brighton

“I thought that the game kicked off at 8pm”, “So did Huddersfield by the looks of it.” Albion made the perfect start at the John Smith’s Stadium last Tuesday week, scoring through Beram Kayal after only 17 seconds. “Blimey, a positive start and great news - come on you super Seagulls.”

“It seems like we got what we deserved, sitting back too much”, “Stockdale was done on his near post.” The Terriers grew into the game as it progressed and equalised through Jacob Butterfield after the break. Most Seagulls were happy to escape with a point when the full-time whistle blew.


“We needed to strengthen our midfield as it was being overrun”, “We seemed to run out of ideas in the second half”, “A draw would be a good result now. We have surrendered the initiative”, “A draw was a decent result. The long periods of getting completely dominated are a bit concerning.”

Fulham 1 - 2 Brighton

“A lovely day out by the river”, “We really should have been out of sight by half-time. Fulham got stronger in the second half. We became nervous and they looked likely winners to be honest. Timely substitutions shored things up before our last minute winner.”

“We were lucky to get a win today, but not that lucky. We are a good team.” Brighton won at Craven Cottage last Saturday week with a last-minute Tomer Hemed penalty after Lua Lua was fouled. An earlier Sam Baldock finish was cancelled out by the hosts’ Tom Cairney before the break.

“We played a resilient, patient game, not taking too many risks”, “We were an attacking force before the break”, “If we maintain these resolute performances we will beat most teams this season. These more solid displays will be less action-packed but will promise three points on more occasions.”

Gulls credited Hughton for keeping them in the game and giving them an opportunity to win by keeping the balance of the team right. “We started getting overrun in midfield as we started to tire. Add the fact that both wingers were spent after 60 minutes and we started to drop back too deep.”

Defence

“David Stockdale just doesn’t look like being beaten at the moment, but it helps what we have a proper defence again this season.” The 29-year-old ex-Fulham keeper “is absolutely superb and made some brilliant one-on-one stops against Blackburn, looking confident catching and punching”.

The former Ipswich loan signing “is a very capable keeper, light under foot and not making any rash decisions. Stockdale moves quickly to snuff out threats and sticks out a leg when necessary”, “Some of his distribution and kicking can be wayward”, “He has been solid, calm and much improved.”

“The sun shone last Saturday and Bruno outdid it.” The 34-year-old Spanish ex-Valencia right-back “is like Ronnie O’Sullivan with a football, his right boot the most delicate and flair-adorned cue. He is my favourite player/magician”, “Bruno plays some brilliant and flamboyant football.”

“I am a Bruno nay-sayer, but he has been terrific this season”, “He is at his best when not having to push too far forward”, “He shone in the sunshine”, “Bruno is having an Indian summer and has been very good this season”, “Rosenior is going to find it difficult to start at right-back.”

“After a couple of impressive performances in a wide midfield role, Liam Rosenior reverted to full-back against Walsall and was truly awful.” The 31-year-old summer signing from Hull, another ex-Town loan man, “Looks very good when on the ball”, “He is pacey and skilful but is more of a threat higher up the pitch.”

“Another left-back better in the opposition half than defending? Hopefully not”, “Gaetan Bong has plenty of attacking threat but was caught out of position a couple of times against Blackburn. It could have been costly but for Stockdale”, “I love the overlaps he does with Lua Lua.”

Gaetan Bong (l) and Huddersfield Town's Ishmael Miller

“Bong is no Wayne Bridge but he is an upgrade on Joe Bennett.” The 27-year-old summer arrival from Wigan “crucially hesitated for Fulham’s goal. Most of their threat came down that side and he was guilty of leaving his man unmarked a few times”, “He puts himself about and is very strong.”

“Gordon Greer doesn’t deserve the grief he gets.” The 34-year-old former Swindon centre-back “is a transformed player compared to last season”, “It was not easy against Fulham’s Matt Smith, but he played well and kept a watching brief on his new partner”, “Made some very good forward passes.”

The team captain divides opinion. “Greer had a stinker against Blackburn. He barely got off the ground and Bruno had to bail him out twice”, “He gets beaten in the air too much”, “It has been a big test for him with the Lewis Dunk speculation, a new partner and keeping the team going.”

Uwe Hunemeier

“It is the first time I have seen the German and was quite impressed”, “Uwe looks real quality. Every time there was a 50-50 he came away with the ball and the Fulham player was on the floor in a heap. I reckon he’s as hard as nails”, “He looks a cracking defender, throwing his body on the line.”

“He flies into tackles and blocks superbly but can be out-jumped at times.” The 29-year-old new arrival from SC Paderborn “is extremely solid, but he’s no Dunk with his passing”, “He seems to have slotted in with none of those momentary lapses in concentration that risk a red card or a goal.”

Lewis Dunk

“You don’t get dropped after picking up man-of-the-match against Forest in the opening game for no reason. It’s ridiculous and the sooner it is done and dusted the better.” The 23-year-old centre-back - and last season’s top scorer - has not featured in the league since the opening weekend.

“It must be the first time our best centre-back gets dropped to the bench.” Despite being linked with Fulham and Newcastle in the media in recent weeks, the youth product signed a new five-year contract this week and fans are hopeful that this will put an end to transfer speculation.

Dunk played well but lacked match sharpness against Walsall during the week. “He was not on his game but this was unsurprising under the circumstances”, “He was mostly assured in possession but was clearly rusty and mistimed a couple of tackles. I’ll be happy when he gets back in the first team.”

Central Midfield

“Jake Forster-Caskey was the best of a bad bunch against Walsall.” The 21-year-old youth product “had no willing runners to try and get behind their defence so it looked as if he was slowing the game down”, “He ran with the ball and got forward well”, “He looks after the ball better than Ince.”

“Rohan Ince did what it says on the tin and shored the midfield up for the last half hour.” The 22-year-old ex-Chelsea youth player “looked assured against Huddersfield. We were being overrun in the middle when he came on”, “He helped regain control of the midfield against Fulham.”

Rohan Ince

Ince has performed well in league games arriving late into games, but he struggled when the onus was on him from the start against Walsall. “He won nearly every challenge and was the fulcrum in the middle, but gave the ball away like a schoolboy and let opponents just run off him all the time.”

“Dale Stephens kept probing against Fulham, but is yet to get on to the same wavelength as our forwards, but he will do for now.” The 25-year-old ex-Charlton man “tackles well but makes too many wayward passes”, “Stephens is a solid player who works hard but doesn’t create much.”

“Stephens is a composed player and he is developing a good understanding with Kayal, which is a massive benefit in a 4-4-2 midfield”, “I like his midfield partnership with Kayal but it still needs more attacking intent”, “I barely noticed him in the second half against Fulham where he faded badly.”

Beram Kayal

“Kayal is the glue in our midfield”, “He’s a player-of-the-season shoe-in already, the best midfielder on the pitch”, “King Kayal, warrior, superb, class and an excellent midfielder”, “His partnership with Stephens is outstanding when compared to last season’s shambles”, “He drives the team on.”

Kayal (r) with Boro's Vossen

The 27-year-old ex-Celtic man and Israel international “is the difference between the Hyypia Albion and the new Albion”, “He’s bright and inventive. A lot of good things start with him”, “The opposite to the prima donnas you see, a man of steel who gets up instead of having treatment when hurt.”

Wide Midfield

“Solomon March generally seems unable to cross or shoot.” The 21-year-old youth product “does lots of good work, but just needs to work on his final ball”, “Works hard but no shot, no cross, no product”, “He had the beating of the Fulham full-back all day but his final ball was very mixed.”

“March always comes inside. He can be lightweight and some of his crosses are poor but gives defenders nightmares and most of his crosses are good.” The right winger “really does need to work on his decision-making. He breaks away, only to softly shoot rather than use the supporting striker.”

New signing from Sheffield United Jamie Murphy “made a good starting debut against Blackburn with some good runs and he kept possession well. He was tiring and didn’t look as quick as I had hoped”, “Solid if unspectacular. He looks lively though and is a step up from March on the right.”

“Wipe your glasses clean if you don’t think Murphy is a superb winger. I look forward to him changing games, something he looks capable of”, “He looks a real player.” The 25-year-old “is a technical player with good feet and pace who can help support the central midfield players.”

Kazenga Lua Lua

“Blackburn could not handle Kazenga, long may his ‘A’ game continue”, “I’m biased but I love watching him. He works so hard and is impressive”, “Most of our attacks come through him and Bong”, “He has made a great start to the season”, “Tough and creative, who could ask for more?”

The 24-year-old former Newcastle left winger “is a constant thorn in the opposition side and a goal machine. His faith in taking the ball past his man might be replaced at times with a simple pass”, “He was marked by three Blackburn men and was a game-changer again”, “Keep banging them in!”

“He was tiring against Fulham and Bong had to do more work.” Many Gulls were also calling for him to be replaced against the Terriers. “He looked out of steam after an hour against Fulham, but then popped up right at the end to win a penalty”, “Hughton has found a way to get the best from him.”

Strikers

“We still lack any sort of goal threat up front”, “We need a clinical finisher, something that will be pivotal if we are to have a good season”, “We are a proper striker away from challenging this season. Without one, some of these squeaky 1-0s could easily turn into 1-1s or 1-2s.”

“Imagine having a lead and bringing Bobby Zamora on - the poor opposition defence.” The 34-year-old new arrival from QPR has yet to feature this season with a groin injury. “The Championship is very physical and he may struggle to build the fitness to compete effectively, even from the bench.”

“Chris O’Grady is a good target man who takes pressure off the defence and midfield and who plays the wingers in.” The 29-year-old ex-Barnsley striker “gave it all and held the ball up well and could have scored at the end at Huddersfield”, “I wonder how we would fare in a two man attack.”

“The world loves a trier.” Many Seagulls are dismissive of him. “Hopefully O’Grady will move on to a good League One club. I wish him well”, “He isn’t a footballer, not on the Walsall display”, “He’s journeyman lower-league striker”, “For a team lacking in goals he’s just a passenger at the moment.”

“Sam Baldock’s movement is good as well as his touch and link-up play. He uses his skill to get around his man or make space”, “On good form he could score 20 goals this season, but I wouldn’t pin all our hopes on him.” The 26-year-old “is just a Craig Mackail-Smith Mark II”.

“Baldock is a real pest and a handful up front. I can see him scoring a hatful with Zamora up top.” The ex-Bristol City man “runs his socks off and has improved vastly on last season”, “He’s lively but he is not yet clicking with Hemed”, “I’m still not sure about him as one of the starting two.”

Tomer Hemed

“Oh, God, I so want Hemed to be the one, but…”, “The jury is still out for me. I think he is more David Rodriguez than Leonardo Ulloa”, “He needs a bit of luck but is bustling with lots of positivity”, “He works hard but needs that strike from open play and hopefully the floodgates will open.”

The 28-year-old ex-Almeria man and Israel international “has good technical ability, works hard and is decent in the air. He doesn’t have great pace but I would like him to make more clever runs. He seems a well-rounded player”, “He has a good touch and can spring off a defender to make space.”

“Hemed works hard and creates space for others but needs better service from out wide”, “No-one is pretending he has pace to burn or a box of tricks but he is a physical presence”, “He has some lovely touches but if I am brutally honest I haven’t been convinced by him.”

Seagulls’ Views on ITFC and the Game

“Our recent record at Portman Road is appalling. I hope we can finally address this but rather expecting the inevitable defeat, probably by a single goal given both teams’ starts to the season”, “Our position is slightly deceptive because we've played poor teams so far.”

“Unfortunately we might find out that we're not actually very good.” On one prediction thread, 50% of Seagulls forecast an Ipswich win against just below 25% predicting an Albion victory, pessimistic for a top two clash. The most popular scores forecast are a 2-0 Town win and a 1-1 draw.

“A draw would be a great result for us”, “I don’t expect too much on Saturday and would be delighted to come away with a point”, “Let’s hope for a 0-0 here”, “If we are on top form, we will draw 1-1”, “I predict a hard fought 1-1. We'll take the lead, as usual.”

“This will be a tough game and we never seem to do well up there. I’m going 2-1 to the Tractor Boys, but hope I'm wrong”, “I can’t see us getting anything here - 0-3”, “I can't see anything beyond a 2-0 defeat. We do fade badly and if Ipswich keep Lua Lua quiet then we are not too much of a threat.”

“This was always going to be a tough away fixture, but now we've lost our momentum with that loss at Walsall, I can't see anything other than perpetuating the losing habit”, “They will be just too big and physical for us and very direct. It will be a testing day for our defence.”

They had some kind words to say about our manager. “Mick is alright, it's no surprise that he's doing well with Ipswich as he is an excellent manager”, “Same here - his post-match comments in defeat last season were very gracious. Let's hope we hear more of the same on Saturday.”

One Seagull was less kind about our loan signing from their South Coast rivals. “I've an awful lot of time for Mick McCarthy. He’s a credit to the game, but less so for Ryan Fraser, who, whilst having plenty of ability, is an obnoxious little cheat.”

Websites

The busiest Brighton message board is the polite and knowledgeable North Stand Chat.


Photo: Action Images



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BlueInBerks added 11:07 - Aug 28
M25 is really slow
0

obj124 added 11:11 - Aug 28
just show ryan fraser that last comment and he will hit a hat-trick! Lets stop those seagulls from flying!!
0

TR11BLU added 11:11 - Aug 28
Fantastic Harry, yet another first class insight to the opposition fans' views.

Wouildnt it be great to go into this international break with another 3 points, the world would be a good place!
I fancy 2-0/2-1, come onnnnn.....
2

SamWhiteUK added 11:24 - Aug 28
Good read again Harry, as always. Quite surprising to hear a second-place side have such little confidence going into a top-two clash. Pleasant though!

Has anyone noticed any "obnoxious cheating" from Fraser? Haven't gotten that impression of him at all, albeit I've only listened on Player.
1

theipswichman added 11:30 - Aug 28
In all honesty, we thought the same about Fraser at portman road last year, haven't really seen him dive for us yet though. Hope Micks takes that part out of him.
3

BLUETEL added 11:36 - Aug 28
as long as we score one more goal than Brighton i will be happy .....our next 2 away games will be pointers to show where we really are ??? ...
1

GeoffSentence added 11:37 - Aug 28
Regarding the 'obnoxious cheat' comment, I think it is fair to say that this kind of comment was aimed at just about every Bournemouth player from our support last year, and it was true. MM is an honest manager though and I am sure he will be encouraging Fraser to play rather than fall over.
5

ThatMuhrenCross added 11:44 - Aug 28
Bit hypocritical from the Brighton fans saying Fraser goes down too easily, having seen that blatent dive from LuaLua in the Fulham highlights!!!
3

bfc1 added 11:58 - Aug 28
Well he is little but obnoxious - he could get a role in a Disney film as the bonny lovely Scots lad who looks after Lassie. Cheat - well I guess you'll have to decide on that but it seems the colour of the shirt affects judgement.

If Ryan was in blue and white stripes they'd be loving him. Lua - Lua has been diving ever since he first went to the Withdean on loan from Newcastle.
1

Bluebell added 12:06 - Aug 28
Great read Harry as always.

I have been right in my predictions all season (very unlike me!) hopefully I will be right this time. This is a 'must win' game so once again I am going for 2.1.
2

Superblue95 added 12:08 - Aug 28
I do worry about lua lua up against chambers but we should still have enough to win this one and have top spot all to ourselves
0

WadeyBlue added 12:11 - Aug 28
When Bournemouth played us at Portman Rd last year i didnt think Fraser was an obnoxious little cheat, i thought he was a menacing little sh!t, that gave Chambo a difficult time. However so chuffed he's on our side now, so please carry on being a menace!
1

dav86 added 12:22 - Aug 28
Win tomorrow and mick will be manager of the month and Ryan Fraser will be player of the month
0

StowTractorBoy added 13:01 - Aug 28
I too am very worried about Lua-Lua coming down our right flank and trust that MM will try and get his players to double up in front of Chambo. Brighton have been a very stubborn side over the past couple of seasons and Hughton is certainly a defensive minded manager so hope we get an early goal. If they score first they could make it very difficult for us and no doubt Dunk will be back for them. Hope there is a good crowd to cheer the lads on and make us all happy before the international break.
1

carsey added 13:02 - Aug 28
Looking at the highlights I do worry about Chambers at full back if they are allowed to run at him. That aside I believe we have the attacking force to score against anyone this season so in the words of the song here's hoping "we're gonna score one more than you" and take the 3 points.
1

BlueandTruesince82 added 13:23 - Aug 28
Agreed, LuaLua needs to be shackled, always thought he was a decent player at this level and pacey too which might expose chambo.

Could even see Fraser on the left and Sears on the right to try and help Chambo out. 3 points tomorrow would be a great way to lead into the international break
0

hotdog added 13:38 - Aug 28
I agree with you Superblue95- I can see lua lua getting past Chambers and scoring/assisting a goal. Hopefully I'm wrong!
1

PunchNoHopers added 14:36 - Aug 28
Emmanual will hopefully be able to come out on top with Lua Lua, as Chambers will be in the middle with Smith.
0

SpiritOfJohn added 10:54 - Aug 29
Reading Harry's articles has become part of one's pre-match morning ritual, alongside a bowl of porridge and tea in one's favourite Town mug.
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