• 10 months ago
SussexWorld's Matt Pole is joined by Brighton & Hove Albion writer Sam Morton, Seagulls season ticket holder Henry Bryant, and Crawley Town expert Mark Dunford.
The Seagulls returned to winning ways with a thumping 5-0 win at beleaguered Sheffield United in the Premier League on Sunday.
Wel pick over the bones of a ruthless win for Albion, and look back at an excellent week for Crawley Town.
Transcript
00:00 Welcome to another episode of the Goldmouth Action Podcast where we take a look at all the latest goings on at Brighton, Hove, Albion, Crawley Town and Sporting Sussex.
00:08 I'm Matt Pole and this week I'm joined by Brighton, Hove, Albion writer Sam Morton,
00:12 Seagulls season ticket holder Henry Bryant and Crawley Town expert Mark Dunford.
00:16 The Seagulls return to winning ways with a thumping 5-0 win at the League of Sheffield United in the Premier League on Sunday.
00:22 We'll pick over the bones of a ruthless win for Albion and look back at an excellent week for Crawley Town.
00:27 You can read all the stories we are talking about in videos and pictures online at sussexwales.co.uk/sport
00:33 and you can check out other great videos on shotstv.com and Freeview channel 276.
00:38 You may also be watching on later TV so thank you very much for tuning in.
00:42 As mentioned at the top of the podcast, Albion cruised a victory at the 10-man blades with Wakundo Buonanotte, Danny Welbeck and the returning Simon Odinga all on the score sheet.
00:51 And sum that performance up for us Sam, it's as clinical as can be I think.
00:56 Absolutely that really. It was a superb victory for Bryant and obviously they'd beaten Sheffield United convincingly in the FA Cup just a couple of weeks before at Bramall Lane.
01:05 And I was expecting a closer game really. I certainly wasn't expecting the result that came.
01:10 Obviously you can argue that the turning point was that early red card for the hosts for that horrendous Mason Holgate challenge on Matoma.
01:19 But it's not always easy playing against 10 men. I think we've seen in the past that teams can struggle to find the gaps.
01:26 So naturally teams with 10 men will sit back and try and defend what they have.
01:32 So it definitely wasn't an easy task for Bryton but I think they played the situation perfectly.
01:36 They also got two quick goals through Buonanotte and Danny Welbeck to get a 2-0 lead.
01:42 And it did look like they were going to just coast to a simple 2-0 victory but they had a late flurry of goals to make it 5-0 at the end.
01:50 And Simon Odinga got a couple of goals on his return to the club from his time at the African Cup of Nations with the Ivory Coast.
02:00 And he obviously did brilliantly there. So it was really great to have him back on the score sheet as well.
02:06 And having him and Matoma really made a huge difference. I think we've seen Bryton without those two key wingers really struggle to break teams down.
02:15 So having that width back in the team really helped them to cut through the 10 men of Sheffield and to find those gaps.
02:21 And it really did make a huge difference. And also very impressive they managed to do it without their main striker in Jal Pedro.
02:28 Who is obviously the main man at Bramall Lane in the FA Cup and he's injured at the moment.
02:32 So being able to still score another five goals without him is superb really.
02:37 I think Crawley Town could score five goals against Sheffield United though. And that's no disrespect to Crawley Town.
02:43 They've got to be one of the worst Premier League teams ever haven't they, this Sheffield United side?
02:48 Yeah, they are poor absolutely. So it's a definite argument. But I think it's positive that Bryton did really just put them to the sword and got the game done really convincingly.
03:02 And obviously Antifazi came on and did quite well at the end as well. It was great to see him back.
03:06 So yeah, a really positive result for Bryton. It's just important now that they keep the consistency going and they get a few wins on the bounce.
03:14 You mentioned the red card there Sam. Mason Holgate was setting off early on after a horrific Bologna lead challenge on Karamatoma.
03:22 Post-match Sheffield United defender Anil Amadozic quite bizarrely said the challenge didn't warrant a red card and was fair.
03:30 While Sky Sports pundit Jamie Redknapp, not prone to high verbally, claimed the tackle was an assault.
03:36 It was certainly a red card wasn't it Henry? How did you view it?
03:40 Yeah, that was definitely a red card. I don't really know how you can look at that and go that's a yellow or that's not a foul at all.
03:50 Jamie Redknapp was also saying that it's one of the worst tackles he's ever seen in years.
03:54 Darren Vent even went on to say that the tackle was malice. Yeah, really was a shocking tackle.
04:01 And had Mitthoma not been able to pull his left leg out of that challenge,
04:06 that could have easily been a career ender as Jamie Redknapp mentioned.
04:10 Or we would have seen the Japanese international be out for a very long period of time.
04:16 So, for me personally, that was an obvious red card.
04:21 I'm quite surprised now that referees are sort of just relying on VAR to give the straight reds as well.
04:27 I think that's something I've noticed a lot more in the Premier League.
04:31 It feels like they're using it as a safety net aren't they? They don't want to make that big decision.
04:36 They want to be sure. I kind of get it. Sam, we were discussing last night weren't we at Crawley,
04:42 which we'll obviously get onto later, but we were sort of saying that you've got to get something from the player reaction
04:47 because the player reaction straight away was like, 'God, that's bad'.
04:52 I know the referee can't rely on all player reaction because players are players and they try and influence the referee.
04:59 But in some circumstances like that, you can tell straight away, 'God, that's a bad one'.
05:04 Absolutely. You did really see from the reaction, especially of Lewis Dunc and Van Hecker as well,
05:10 they were absolutely fuming with the challenge immediately.
05:13 So, that just goes to show I think how bad it was. It's just completely unnecessary.
05:18 I don't know what I'm missing.
05:21 Well, I can't believe that he came out with a straight face, defended it and saying it was perfectly fair tapper
05:25 when we've all agreed here. I know that obviously we've got a slight bias as we cover Brighton,
05:29 but it was a horrible tackle, wasn't it?
05:32 It was a shocker. Absolute shocker.
05:34 Yeah, but there you go. I suppose that the result in the end kind of came through for Brighton.
05:39 But off the pitch, less good news. Chelsea have poached another key figure at Albion after agreeing a deal
05:45 to appoint Sam Jewell in a senior position in their recruitment team.
05:49 Jewell, quite unbelievably, will become the 11th person to join the Blues from the Seagulls in 17 months,
05:54 which does beg the question, Henry, why didn't Todd Boley just buy Brighton and save himself all this money?
06:00 I think the answer to that is Tony Bloom. If there was no Tony Bloom, then maybe he would have actually genuinely had a look.
06:07 But I think it's very clear to see if people haven't really gathered just yet or known too much about the plays that they've got.
06:16 Yeah, Chelsea are trying to do a bit of a Brighton at the moment.
06:19 And going on to Sam Jewell, he played a big part in getting Kaisedo to Brighton in the first place.
06:25 And we all know how big of a transfer fee that he coughed up for us, £150 million to Chelsea as a record Premier League transfer fee.
06:35 And he also helped to spot the Argentinian Alexis McAllister.
06:41 So he's been quite pivotal in some of the key players that we've been able to snap up.
06:49 And he obviously got the job of head recruitment, head of recruitment at Brighton.
06:55 And he's had that for 16 months now on gardening leave as well.
06:59 I think it's just another example of Brighton not being able to kind of keep some of these key staff members that are doing us,
07:07 obviously, a massive service with bringing players in, for example.
07:11 And I think there will be a point where that sort of luck may dry up.
07:16 I know that Tony Bloom is a gambling man and as a Brighton fan, it's not nice to sort of think about.
07:21 But I think that if you've got your sort of base of being known as a club that does really good transfer business
07:29 and focuses on statistic driven transfers, then losing all of your key men in that position of,
07:36 you know, not just not the pitch, but the staff and department is a major loss for us.
07:42 Do you think not? I was just going to say, because Brighton have got this all set up now,
07:49 do you think there's a little part of it? It doesn't matter who's in the position and that because Brighton have got such a good structure in place.
07:54 They must have, I mean, with the manager, we'd like De Servi coming in.
07:58 They must have a succession plan for all the key roles at their club.
08:03 And Tony Bloom and Paul Barber are such good operators.
08:07 Do you think that they will have that succession plan in place?
08:11 I think so. I think we, you know, in talking about De Servi, I think we got quite lucky with this sort of the positive effect that he had from the get go for us,
08:21 because I don't think any Brighton fan was expecting sort of a leap in quality and performance and sort of the attacking sort of mindset that we got from De Servi compared to Potter.
08:32 We kind of thought that this would be a step back, not a step forward.
08:36 And it's really proven to be a step forward in just the way we play our football and get in our football to another level.
08:42 So to an extent, I think sometimes it can be due to luck.
08:47 But like you were mentioning, Mark, I think Tony Bloom is the sort of the engine in terms of how Brighton run,
08:55 how they operate and how they actually get people in and replace them in a good way.
09:01 So I guess to an extent you'd be right. Yeah, I do agree with that.
09:05 I think it's more of a case of when will these quality players, you know, that we've seen in stats and all that sort of stuff be, you know, be underperforming because Tony Bloom is a gambling man.
09:17 And you have to say that a lot of this is a gamble, although it's paying dividends for Brighton and we're cashing out at the moment.
09:24 I wonder if in a few years down the line we'll be talking about sort of how Brighton have given up some of the quality they've had.
09:32 And that's, you know, not done them any favours. We'll see. But I hope not.
09:39 We're moving back to matters on the pitch. This week sees the Seagulls in action in both the league and the Cup.
09:45 Albion host Everton on Sunday before travelling to Walser and FA Cup fifth round tie on Wednesday evening.
09:50 How do you see these going, Sam Morton? And do you think that Roberto Di Zerbi is likely to prioritise one game over the other or will it be win both and see what happens?
10:00 Yeah, I think he'll definitely be going all guns blazing for both games. I think he'll take both games very seriously.
10:06 And he's obviously positive the players are returning from injury and international duty.
10:10 So that obviously helps pick two strong teams for the games, really.
10:14 And as I mentioned before, it's important against Everton that they get another victory and to really put running games together.
10:21 We've seen a little bit of inconsistency all season in the Premier League.
10:25 So it would be great to see Brighton put back to back wins together. It's going to be a tough one.
10:30 Everton are really a tough team to score against, really. They really do defend in numbers.
10:35 Pickford's had a good season. We've really seen Jarrod Brantway impress a lot as well in recent weeks and months.
10:43 So it's a difficult, difficult game, but it's one that Brighton probably will be favourites for.
10:49 I think Everton are not scoring a lot of goals at the moment. They had a one-all draw against Crystal Palace the other day.
10:55 So, yeah, I think Brighton will go on the front foot from kick-off and they will be wary of the threats that Everton can pose.
11:02 As we all remember what happened last season at the Amex and it was one of the worst defeats of Di Zerbi's time at Brighton.
11:09 So he will definitely be conscious of the threats that Everton do have. So they'll definitely be wary of that.
11:17 And in terms of Wolves, obviously they're another really tough opponent. It's a long trip to make on a Wednesday evening as well.
11:24 I think a win would be a brilliant result in circumstances against a really well-coached team in their own backyard, really.
11:30 And obviously we know Pedro Neto is the main danger man, particularly with Matthias Kuhnert out injured.
11:36 So that's a little boost for Brighton. But I think Neto is definitely one to watch out for.
11:41 And they've got quality all over the pitch, really, Wolves. And as I mentioned, they are really well-coached and it's a really tough, tough team to beat.
11:49 But both teams really fancy a good run in the cup. So it should be a good game. Looking forward to that one.
11:54 Well, we'll wait with bated breath. Thank you very much for that, chaps. We're going to take a quick break.
11:57 And when we come back, we will be talking all things Crawley Town.
12:01 It's been an excellent week this week for Crawley Town. The Reds claimed an excellent 2-0 home win over struggling Forest Green Rovers on Saturday
12:08 for their first victory in all competitions since the start of January. Sum that up for us, Mark.
12:13 It wasn't a vintage performance, but three points is three points.
12:17 No, exactly that. And it was a clean sheet. And I think that pleases Scott Lindsay more than anything.
12:23 And he's got two on the trot. We'll come on to Wimbledon in a minute, obviously.
12:26 But Saturday was a funny one because, yeah, I didn't think it was a particularly great performance.
12:31 And I was expecting Scott Lindsay to come into the press conference and say to us, "So, it wasn't a great performance, but we got the three points.
12:38 We've got a clean sheet, blah, blah, blah." But he came in and he was full of praise for the whole performance.
12:43 And it was a bit bizarre. I didn't want to contradict him and say, "Well, I actually thought it was a bit rubbish."
12:47 But, I mean, Forest Green, obviously fighting for their lives. They've got a new manager.
12:51 They look quite organised and they made it tough for Crawley. But once Crawley got their opener,
12:55 they should have taken them apart, really, because Forest Green have got nothing to lose.
12:58 They've got to go all out. But, yeah, it was good. But the substitutes made a huge difference.
13:05 It was Nick Cerrulla, Adam Campbell and – oh, someone else came off.
13:10 But Kellyn Gordon came on, Harry Forster and Clydie Lollos came on. Oh, Jeremy Kelly was the other one who went off.
13:16 And, yeah, they made a huge difference. And they looked much more threatening going forward in that second half.
13:21 And it was Kellyn Gordon crossing to Clydie Lollos to side foot home from close range.
13:26 But, yeah, I mean, it was important just for Crawley to get a win. It was a game they should have won.
13:31 And they did. And it was kind of a professional job, but it was nothing like what they did at Wimbledon last night,
13:39 which I know you're going to come on to with Sam now.
13:41 We are indeed. Yes, Crawley Town followed up their win against Forest Green with a superb 1-0 victory at High Flying AFC Wimbledon on Tuesday evening.
13:49 As Mark has alluded to there, Sam, how good were the Reds?
13:52 I must admit, I didn't think Crawley would get anything out of that game.
13:55 So they must have put in a real shift and put in a real good performance.
13:59 Absolutely. It was one of the best performances I've seen from Crawley in a long, long time.
14:03 I think definitely the best performance of the season or at least one of the best performances of the season that I've seen from them.
14:09 They were superb. Really, I think the first half they were under pressure.
14:13 Wimbledon started the game strongly and really did put Crawley under some significant pressure.
14:18 But Crawley were always a threat on the break and they did pose some problems to Wimbledon.
14:24 But I mean, the second half and Crawley were just fantastic, really.
14:27 I think Corey O'Day made two brilliant saves. One in particular was incredible point blank range reaction save that me and Mark couldn't believe that he'd just stopped.
14:37 And that felt like a really big moment in the game because if that had gone in, then potentially Wimbledon would have gone on to win the game.
14:43 But the fact that the game was still 0-0, both teams really were throwing caution to the wind.
14:49 But it was Crawley that managed to get that winner of Di Nino Orsi from a long throw in that found his way into the box.
14:56 And the goal poacher, he is in a bit of a quiet game, but he was on hand to score the winner.
15:01 And that's all you need to do as a striker. It really did spark jubilant celebrations in the way end.
15:06 And they were singing their hearts out all night, really.
15:09 They really did make their presence known and far out sang the home support, really.
15:14 So that was really great to see and really well deserved for them making the trip and a really big victory in a derby.
15:20 And obviously a really good way to get revenge because it was such a poor performance in December at home against Wimbledon.
15:26 And Scotland's he was furious at the time with the attitude and the performance of some of the players on the day.
15:31 So I think we definitely saw players remember that and really tried to put that right.
15:37 And they really did last night. And there was some really quality, real quality performances all around the pitch.
15:42 I mentioned Corey O'Day. I think it was Lollos as well that really did instigate some of the strong attacking moves towards the end.
15:50 And yes, a really strong performance. And then Liam Kelly was brilliant again.
15:54 And see, I can't praise Crawley enough for the performance and the way they went about it yesterday.
15:59 Yeah, I was just going to say, speaking to Scott Lindsay afterwards, it's always interesting talking because he always talks about any tactical tweaks
16:06 he makes during a game and when it obviously goes his way, he's going to talk about it.
16:10 Because a lot of Crawley fans say there isn't a plan B with Scott Lindsay's teams.
16:14 They play lovely football, but when it's not working for them, he doesn't know what to do kind of thing.
16:20 But what they don't know is the little tweaks he makes. It was like he didn't change the formation yesterday at half time.
16:25 What he did apparently was change how they pressed and they pressed further on the pitch because he felt they were allowing balls
16:33 into their box too easily because they weren't pressing deep enough. So they pushed Wimbledon back and they had to lump the ball forward
16:39 from further back. So they were defending higher up the pitch, making Wimbledon less of a threat and then obviously making in reverse
16:46 Crawley more of a threat. And it's just really interesting hearing him talk about that.
16:50 I mean, obviously, he's going to big himself up when he does something that changes the course of a game.
16:54 But I think there's a little message to some Crawley Town fans. He has got plan Bs.
16:59 It doesn't mean you suddenly go 4-4-2 and lump the ball up. It's just little tweaks here and there can make a huge difference
17:05 in a game like that. But, yeah, it was fantastic last night.
17:09 Well, that great result has left the Reds two points adrift of the playoff places going into this weekend's trip to Atkidton.
17:14 I'm going to ask this to both of you, Mark and Sam, but is a playoff charge realistic for the Reds or are they simply too inconsistent?
17:23 As I said, that win against Forest Green was their first since the start of the year.
17:27 Yeah, I said this to Scott a couple of weeks ago that they can never quite marry up their away form and their home form
17:34 because their away form has been really good recently and their home form has been terrible since the new year,
17:41 since after the Swindon win. But he said it is frustrating that they just can't get them at the same time.
17:46 But now we've had a draw and a win at home last week, a win at away this week.
17:52 So maybe this is the time where they are, because as we've seen, there's always one team that's lower down the table,
17:59 whether it be the Championship League One, League Two, that always has that momentum and has that run that gets them into the playoffs.
18:06 And it's normally those teams that do well in the playoffs because they've got that momentum,
18:10 not the team that's been there the whole season kind of thing.
18:13 So there's no reason why they can't because they've proven they can beat anyone on their day in tough circumstances.
18:19 And in Scott Lindsay, they've got the right man to sort of make those little tweaks to tactics for different teams.
18:26 He really does put a lot of effort and focus in to every, analyses every opposition.
18:33 And I feel sorry for his family sometimes because when you speak to him, you feel like he never sees them.
18:38 And when he does see them, he's watching a game of football.
18:41 So, yeah, but yeah, I don't know. Yeah, they could do. But yeah, it'd be nice to see them put four or five wins together to show they can be consistent.
18:52 Yeah, going to you Sam on the playoff front. I'd say the only thing as well going against Corley is it seems there are quite a lot of teams who are only two points adrift of the playoffs.
19:00 I don't think I've seen that part of the table so congested in quite a while.
19:04 It is exactly that really is crazy just how congested it actually is in League Two.
19:10 I think it's about seven on team, two points off the playoffs.
19:14 And I think there's a stat as well that Salford are not too far off.
19:19 I think they're 19th in the league, but even they are only nine points off the playoffs and they're near the bottom of the table.
19:27 So that really just shows how congested and tight it is in the league.
19:32 And really anyone, if you put a few wins together, could get into that playoffs.
19:36 And that is the most important thing for Corley to do is to put that run of wins together.
19:40 And they've made a great start to two back-to-back clean sheets home and away.
19:45 And they've got two really good victories and they've proven they can do it.
19:49 And just hopefully they can keep that going and really kind of use, especially last night's performance,
19:54 as a kind of a template to go on and to really make them a formidable team in the league.
20:00 It would be very exciting if they do manage to get to the playoffs because as we've obviously not seen before,
20:05 it's a real exciting and plausible route to the playoffs they have.
20:11 I think Orsi was saying after the game as well that it's nice to have something to play for because there's been a lot of seasons
20:16 where it's been a bit of a dead rubber at the end of the season where it kind of just peters out.
20:20 So it's nice to have that to play for. After this time last year, it was batting against renegation this time last season.
20:26 So it's a real brilliant upturn in form and in fortunes in a short space of time, really.
20:31 So I think, yeah, Scott Lindsay's done a brilliant job.
20:34 Chalk and cheese in comparison to last year, isn't it? I think it's safe to say two completely different ends of the scale.
20:40 But we're going to quickly roll this into the score predictions as well as I think we're running short of time.
20:44 Sam and Mark, they are, as I said, at Accrington on Saturday.
20:49 Starting with you, Mark, how do you see that one going and what scoreline are you predicting?
20:53 It's another tough one. You never like going up north to play a way, do you?
20:57 No.
20:58 Crawley haven't had a great, but they won at Bradford and things like that.
21:01 So I think they could get something out of it. I'm going to go for a one-all draw.
21:06 Mr. Morton, how do you see it going in Merseyside?
21:10 I'm going to go for another win for Crawley. Two-one.
21:12 As Mark said, a really, really tough game. But you look at the table, they're neck and neck, both on 32 games and 46 points.
21:20 Accrington haven't had too many wins of late. So I'm backing Crawley to get a third win on the bounce.
21:28 Henry, I know that we might be putting you on the spot here, but how do you see, do you share Sam and Mark's optimism of Crawley getting something at Accrington?
21:37 From what I've seen from Crawley, it very much seems like they'll get a win and then they'll sort of tail off.
21:43 So I might have to agree with Mark in the one-all section of that one.
21:48 So they won't lose all three points. They'll be able to pick up something on the road up north.
21:54 It'll be a good result if they can get anything at Accrington, I think. So, yeah, definitely.
21:59 Well, hopefully something you have to be a little bit more of an expert on us for us, Henry.
22:04 Brighton are home to Ebbingham at the weekend. What are you going for there?
22:08 Well, against Everton, because of how we have played them in the past, I feel like this will be quite a cagey affair.
22:15 I feel like Deservey does not want to be embarrassed. And I feel like we'll end up winning it, but it'll be a 2-1.
22:22 And I reckon they'll score first. I reckon we'll be caught early.
22:26 I think Brighton have a habit sometimes where if it's a team that we've had a poor result against previously,
22:33 we're quite slow off the blocks and our sort of pass and move play isn't as quality.
22:41 And teams have been quite quick to realise that if they pressure us in the first 10 minutes of the game,
22:46 they'll be able to get some sort of opportunity at goal.
22:51 So I feel like Everton will be able to sort of make use of that.
22:55 But I feel like we'll end up pushing on players like Mitoma.
22:59 And, you know, I feel like Lewis Dunne will make a big impact as well.
23:03 I think we'll need him to have a good game. So I'm hoping for a 2-1 victory for Brighton.
23:09 Very quickly, Henry, how do you see the game at Wolves going?
23:13 I think same again. I think Wolves, to be fair, have been a good side now that they've appointed their new manager.
23:20 And I think that they're a real well-drilled team at the moment. And I feel like that will be quite a hard one for Brighton.
23:26 I think we'll still get the victory. I still think we'll be able to win 2-0, if I'm honest with you,
23:33 just because of the attacking options that we've got available now.
23:36 I mean, I looked at the training footage of Brighton over Albion recently and the players that we've got back.
23:43 We've got Ansu Fati that might be able to make an impact, you know, Mitoma back as well.
23:50 So it looks like we've got a lot of attacking options ready to go and players coming back from injury.
23:56 So it's really nice to see. And I don't think that will be, I don't think Wolves will be able to handle that, to be honest.
24:07 Very quickly, Sam, sorry, short of time, but two wins for Brighton this week.
24:12 I think they'll get the win over Everton. I can see a victory there.
24:16 I think if Steve Boateng came up with the stat that Brighton have won every game in 2024 by scoring four goals,
24:24 or every win in 2024, sorry, has been by four goals or more that they've scored.
24:29 So I don't expect that. I don't think that that will continue, but I think it'll be a free one.
24:34 Wolves, I think will be a draw. I think it's going to be a replay that neither team wants.
24:39 It's a real tough trip. As I say, Wolves are a really tough team and are in good form.
24:45 So I think one will draw.
24:47 And finally, Mark.
24:49 Yeah, they'll win 4-1 because they got to score four goals. They'll win 4-1 Saturday.
24:54 But I think with England's next manager, Gary O'Neill, I think Wolves will win on the midway.
25:00 I think it'll be 1-0 to Wolves.
25:02 You can't bring that up. That's a discussion for another week. You can't bring that up near the end of the podcast, Mark.
25:07 That's just unfair. I was going to say thank you very much for this week.
25:11 But yeah, we'll have to bring that up at some point. Thank you very much for listening.
25:16 You can catch up with all the latest sports news covering everything we've talked about today at suzzacksworld.co.uk.
25:20 And you can watch more excellent videos on shotstv.com, on Freeview channel 276 and also on Latest TV.
25:26 Thank you very much for listening and we'll see you all next week.
25:29 - Thank you.
25:30 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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