Match Preview - Game #15 - Watford (a)

Who Are You?

Name - Watford Football Club

Founded - 1881 (as Watford Rovers)

Nickname - The Hornets

Chairman - Graham Taylor

Manager - Sean Dyche

Club Captain - John Eustace

League Position (as of 31st Oct) - 21st

Twice champions of the old Third Division, League One play-off winners of the 05-06 season and FA Cup finalists Watford are our opponents for our first game of November. The ex-Premier   League outfit from Vicarage Road will certainly provide a difficult test for our struggling Albion. Some impressive results so far this season such as a 2-2 draw with Birmingham and a 2-0 victory over Reading, they'll be out for vengeance after last year's FA Cup meeting.

Haven't We Met Before?

Our last meeting with the Hornets came in the fourth round of the 2010-11 FA Cup, the game was played at Vicarage Road as the Albion ran out 1-0 winners against then opposition in the league above. Other encounters stretch back to when we were last in the Championship, from 2004-06 we met Watford four times, with one victory going the Albion's way, two ending up in 1-1 draws, and then the last, a victory for Watford at the Withdean, with Chris Eagles clinching his memorable strike from the halfway line which caught 'keeper Henderson out.

Man To Watch
Star front man Marvin Sordell will be the Hornets biggest threat on Tuesday night, having amassed over 50 appearances at age 20, the future is bright of the Englishman. Having represented his country at both under-20 and under-21 level, a big international career could also be ahead. A pacy striker who likes to attack the defence, we could be under a lot of pressure if Watford hit us on the break. A slightly disappointing four goals in 14 appearnaces so far this season means some are questioning his ability, but on his day Sordell can be a nightmare for any defence.

Match Prediction
We'll be under heaps of pressure from  the start, no doubt, especially with our below par performances as of late, but I think this will be the turn around game for us, I still think we will concede, maybe from a counter attack, but we'll still have the quality to turn it around into our favour. I'll go for 2-1 Albion, with Mackail-Smith and Sparrow to get the goals.

Come on you Seagulls!

Paynt by Numbers - does it all add up?

Our recent dry spell in front of the onion bag has led to a large chunk of our support worrying that we were losing our touch and goals would start to become few and far between, so the outcry for a loanee striker became increasingly bigger. Everyone had their thoughts and ideas as to who it could be, or more who it should be (in their opinion) but I bet that only a small proportion of those playing the guessing game thought the correct answer.

We all thought our prayers were answered; we’d bring in a proven Championship goal scorer who would kick-start out front-line back into action and continue the journey of the Gus Bus, but, who was the striker we got in? It was Leeds United’s Billy Paynter.

Now, I can’t be one to judge as I'm not sure I could manage 20+ goals in training at Championship level, let alone 20+ goals in competitive matches. I use that figure 20+ because it’s what we've grown to expect as supporters, every team having that one player who will guarantee the goals no matter what league they are in.

Having amassed a total of four goals in his 45 appearances in the Championship, I think it’s blatantly obvious that Paynter isn’t exactly a proven goal scorer at this level, so this got me thinking, why are we getting him in? What’s Gus doing? But after much self-deliberation, I believe I've got the idea.

Playing for Leeds, Paynter was never going to be the main striker; a plethora of talent up top for the Whites meant that Paynter would always be playing second fiddle. Being the height and weight that he is, I reckon that Billy has been brought in for a totally different reason than what we are all thinking.

Having no first-team striker above six foot means we are definitely lacking height up front, now Paynter is only six foot exactly himself, but what does offer which is definitely different to the rest, is strength. Billy’s got the ability to put himself about and definitely make a nuisance of himself where it’s necessary, a deft touch alongside that makes him a decent striker to play off. In my mind he’s a very Murray-esque player as he can get into a decent position and beat off other players with the strength to then open up the channels for others such as CMS or Nooney.

He’s not the goal scorer we were all hoping for, granted, but we shouldn’t shoot him down yet as we’ve only seen a matter of minutes of him. A sub appearance against Birmingham yesterday didn’t really show everything that he could do, I believe a longer spell on pitch is necessary to get a thorough evaluation of his talent. His report from LUFC fans might be slightly more judgemental of the bad bits, but a striker that hasn’t performed for them will always get that treatment, doesn’t mean he will be the same for us.

Any player can change under the right management, and here at BHAFC we’ve seen a number of players change their style and fit in perfectly, we will just hope that Billy can do the same for us, and not flop like he’s done in this league before.

Cook with Cherries: A Recipe for Success

What is it with BHAFC and producing some half-decent centre-halves? Adam Virgo, Joel Lynch and the ever-commited Adam El-Abd have all passed through the Albion ranks and gone onto bigger and better things. Even in today's game we are overloaded with quality youth products, and Steve Cook is definitely no different to that.

Cook, or 'Cookie' as he's more commonly known to Albion fans and players alike, joined the Albion's youth system as a 16-year old in 2007 as a versatile defender, but found his feet at either right or centre back. It was only a year into his time at the Albion that he made his first team debut, and it was against none other than newly crowned world's richest club Manchester City, although a cool head on young shoulders saw Cookie put in a credible performance against some of the Premier League's biggest talents.

No manager of BHAFC saw the talent in Cookie until the arrival of Gus Poyet, he saw the potential of the player inside him, he just believed that a bit of growing up was in order to fulfill the talent he saw.

Loan stints to non-league sides Havant & Waterlooville, Eastleigh, Eastbourne Borough and Mansfield Town gave Cook the vital experience he needed to both mature as a person and a player. And his big break came this season when Albion again faced Premier League opposition in the League Cup, this time it came against Liverpool.

A team packed with full-time internationals proved a tough test, but Cookie put in a solid 90 minutes, teaming up with Albion captain Gordon Greer in front of the Sky cameras, showing that despite his young age, he still had the skill to be a match with some of the world's greatest.

Cookie spoke of his experiences of being on loan to Seagull and said, "These spells are about me playing games and trying to prove to myself and to everyone else that I can play at a higher level." This hard-work and determination has definitely been rewarded as Cookie has just been sent out on loan into England's third tier of football, to local seaside town Bournemouth.

This is a massive step up in his progress because for a player of such young age to get their break in professional football this early on means he is only progressing well and building on what he has already learnt at the Albion. Players occasionally find it difficult fitting in with some of the more experienced heads of the side, but going out and getting the experience elsewhere means that Cookie will be able to build on his already promising career, and turn this into something far more successful,

A Cutt Above The Rest

Despite a slightly under-par performance in front of the Sky cameras on Monday night, there is no reason to doubt the quality that pint-sized Brighton midfielder Liam Bridcutt possesses. At just 22 years of age, it’s amazing that he can already bring such assurance and quality to the heart of our midfield, but he still has years of learning ahead of him.

Roll back the years to 2004, a 15-year old boy signed up to the Chelsea youth system. His name was Liam Bridcutt, he wasn’t the tallest, the strongest or the quickest, but a dab hand at tackling and passing meant defensive midfield was his element. Multi-talented with both feet meant he was capable of spraying the ball all over the field with ease.

His impressive performances in both the youth team and training led him to be named Chelsea Scholar of the Year for the 2006-07 season, this led on to his first professional contract, and a bright future ahead. It is also worth mentioning here, that the year before in the 2005-06 FA Youth Cup, Bridcutt and the Albion met for the first time, a January evening at the Withdean Stadium saw Brighton & Hove Albion Youth faced off against Chelsea’s Youth, littered with now successful stars, notably Jack Cork (Southampton) and Scott Sinclair (Swansea)

Liam was at the heart of the Chelsea midfield, in his favoured defensive holding position, however he and his Chelsea side were powerless to resist as the Brighton youth ran out 2-1 winners.

Every year went by as he progressed through the Chelsea ranks into their reserve squad, a flurry of loans to fellow Football League clubs put him in the shop window, showing everyone that he was definitely a class apart from the rest. Yeovil, Watford and Stockport all took him on, and probably wished they had offered him a full time deal judging by where he is now.

The summer of 2010 saw the end of Liam’s career at Chelsea, they thought they could do no more, so released him on a free transfer. However in August of that year, Gus Poyet, who was also a former Chelsea midfielder, offered Bridcutt a life-line and a 5-month contract with his progressing Brighton & Hove Albion. Fortunately for us, Gus saw what Chelsea didn’t, and that was a player with the potential to build on what he already had and play at the top level.

His performances at the start of his stint were somewhat average, however any player walking through the door at the Albion last season had a tough job adapting to the ‘tippy-tappy’ way of football we are now accustomed to. However as his confidence grew, so did his performances on the pitch, and suddenly we saw an exceptional talent develop right in front of our eyes.

We now approach November 2011 and with 50 league appearances to his name, it’s obvious that Bridcutt has been somewhat of a revelation since his arrival last summer. As before mentioned, for a 22-year old talent, he already shows such a level-headed approach to the game, handing the Brighton defence an extra body in times of trouble.

However, he can also surprise the spectators with a couple of moments of magic when they are most necessary. He only netted twice in the 2010-11 season, and weren’t they just the most pivotal moments in our season? A smash and grab volley in the 96^th minute against Carlisle United sealing a 4-3 victory to keep our promotion dreams alive, and the same score-line when it mattered most, a 20-yard pile-driver against Dagenham & Redbridge all but secured our promotion to the Championship, and we will never be able to forget the moments that Liam has given to us.

With a heap of Premier League clubs now interested such as Fulham, West Brom and Wigan, his truly exceptional ability is finally being recognised and appreciated by the big boys in the big league, however the big question is, how long can we hold onto him for? We as Brighton fans would like to think forever, but I think I’m not the only one that knows he has a massive career ahead of him, we’ve just got to hope he enjoys it with us and not elsewhere.

Top of the Christmas Wishlist

Upon the first weekend of the new season, every supporter across the length and breadth of the country will be confident about their squad. It’s a familiar scene when fans ‘big-up’ their supposed stars to others, comparing the quality of every single player, making their own personal assumptions on the failures or the successors of the league.

The npower Championship is definitely no different. A plethora or ex-Premier League veterans and up and coming local stars, you are assured of quality in every single team you’ll see this season. However, you’ll always have the minority of supporters who aren't totally happy with their side, and believe a couple of additions would bolster their squad.

Reading popular BHAFC forum North Stand Chat led me to a thread which asked the question, “If you could add any two current Championship players to our squad, who would they be?”

Now, upon reading the answers, the names people suggested were hardly surprising; Rickie Lambert, Ross McCormack, Michael Chopra, Kevin Phillips and more notably, Glenn Murray. Notice the trend? I do too, they’re all strikers. I hope that I’m not alone when I say just because strikers score all the goals, it doesn't mean they are necessarily the best players.

However, in Brighton’s case, strikers are the problem, so I do actually empathise with these answers. We lack the killer instinct upfront that will provide the final finish to our free flowing moves, a big lump that’ll put themselves about and attempt to win the ball in the air. Massive respect to Craig Mackail-Smith for trying, however at only 5ft 10”, he’s unlikely to compete with some of the towering talent in the Championship defences of this season.

Back to the point though, reading this question made me think about it myself. Aside from strikers, what else are we missing? I've come up with two players that I think would fit quite snug into our currently faltering side. These two are players who would restore the belief and the much needed assurance to get the confidence back and get us playing the football we are used to.

Kevin Nolan – Formerly of Bolton and Newcastle fame, West Ham’s captain Kevin Nolan is a Scouse powerhouse that shouldn't be confronted, unless of course you want a heated exchange. Scoring 73 goals in his 394 league appearances, it is obvious that Nolan is a player who likes to get forward and attack the defence. Having only playing West Ham recently, the memories of Nolan’s performance are still strong in the mind.

Putting 110% from the first whistle to the last, Nolan provided the strength in the middle to break up attacks, and then was easily capable of pouncing on the counter-attack. It was no surprise that when Liam Bridcutt slipped in possession and Nolan took control of the ball that he would take advantage of the surprised Steve Harper in goal to drive the ball away from his ex-Newcastle team-mate into the corner of the goal. His celebration afterwards did raise a question of being over-zealous, but at the end of the day that’s just the character that Nolan is.

Linking up with ex-Magpies boss Sam Allardyce at Upton Park, Nolan has definitely bolstered the Hammers midfield with real character. Some fans have been questioning his performances since the start, but recently Nolan has shown real improvement in his game. In my opinion, Nolan is one of them players who I like to call a ‘wind-up merchant’ He’s there to obviously play the game, but at the same time, a bit of banter with the oppositions fans is exactly what Nolan thrives on. He’s a Marmite player, you love him when he plays for you, but when you’re against him, he’s your worst enemy.

Ibrahima Sonko – Senegalese international Ibrahima Sonko sits at the heart of the Ipswich defence like a skyscraper above the city. At a towering 6ft 3”, any Championship striker will have their work cut out to out-muscle the centre-half. 

Joining Town on a free transfer in the summer of 2011, Sonko’s career hung in the balance after two consecutive loan spells from his parent club Stoke City, he was released at the end of last season. Sonko was a presence on the pitch, dealing with crosses and passes with ease whether it be on the ground or an aerial threat.

When we faced off against Ipswich early in October, it was obvious that CMS and Barnes would be up against it from the start. Crosses were played in, but Sonko’s towering presence was too much of a match for our strike-force, and we were powerless to resist when Sonko also towered above the rest of the team at an Ipswich corner to put them into a 2-1 lead. He provides an aerial threat whether it be in defence or in attack, and I believe alongside our captain marvel Gordon Greer, Sonko would provide the perfect partner in crime.

Our line-up has always struggled for the height and power and times where it is most necessary, and I believe the addition of players such as Nolan or Sonko could really make a startling difference to our team. Now, that’s only my opinion, but what do you think, whichever team you support, which two Championship players would you add to your team?

Answer in the comments section who you would add...