Often Partisan

GAMEDAY: Brighton at Home

Blues return to St Andrew’s needing to bounce back from the despair of an injury time defeat to Charlton at the weekend. They face a Brighton side led by former manager Chris Hughton who are pushing hard for promotion.

Brighton

Brighton are in 3rd place, six places and sixteen points better off than Blues. Brighton too dropped points at the weekend thanks to an injury time goal, but they haven’t lost away from the Amex since going down 4-1 to Cardiff in February.

Sam Baldock is a doubt with a hamstring injury but right back Bruno should be okay; Uwe Hunemeier and Solly March are both out however.

Blues

Blues may well be without Jon Toral after he had to leave the field with impaired vision at the weekend, while Diego Fabbrini’s toe is still being troublesome. Kyle Lafferty is still out with a groin injury while Jonathan Spector and Nicolai Brock-Madsen are both doubts having been ill at the weekend.

The big question is whether James Vaughan will lead the line in place of Clayton Donaldson or if the Jamaican will regain his place. Jacques Maghoma could well come in for Jon Toral.

Ref

Andy Madley is in the middle for this one. He’s shown 97 yellows and three reds in his 33 games this season. He’s never reffed a Blues game before.

Suspension Watch

One red card (three match suspension served): James Vaughan

9 Yellow Cards: Maikel Kieftenbeld
8 Yellow Cards: Stephen Gleeson
7 Yellow Cards: Jonathan Grounds
6 Yellow Cards: Diego Fabbrini
5 Yellow Cards: Jon Toral, David Davis and Paul Caddis
4 Yellow Cards: Michael Morrison and Paul Robinson
3 Yellow Cards: David Cotterill,  Clayton Donaldson and James Vaughan
2 Yellow Cards: Jonathan Spector and Neal Eardley
1 Yellow Card: Tomasz Kuszczak

The cutoff date for 5 yellow cards to attract a suspension is November 30, 2015
The cutoff date for 10 yellow cards to attract a suspension is March 13, 2016

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63 Responses to “GAMEDAY: Brighton at Home”

  • Alexjhurley says:

    So realistically we need 20 pts from 8 games to finish 6th which isn’t going to happen. I’d like to see a few of the under 21s given a run now. Having watched the reserves yesterday, Harding, Barnard, Adams & kobi Arthur all look there or thereabouts to me……..

  • I agree with you Alex. My mate Will and I talked about this on the way home from the game on Saturday. It’s a forlorn cause now so there’s little to be lost in blooding some of the youngsters at this stage. The Charlton game was a must win but we have been poor for weeks now so it wasn’t just down to the game at the Valley. To get promoted you have to beat the teams you should beat and we haven’t done that on anywhere near consistent enough basis. Here’s my take on the match on Saturday: http://www.joysandsorrows.co.uk/2016/04/view-from-the-south-charlton-athletic-v-birmingham-city-2/

  • Mitchell says:

    Forget Lafferty,Vaughan and Fab. Play Donaldson with Arthur and recall Spector for Robbo.and Maghoma. Also,forget Buckley and Shotton. Play a team with next season in mind and stick to contracted players. No amount of fiddling with any of the loan players is going to make a scrap of difference. Put Harding,Brown and if brave enough let’s see what Alex Jones can do for 30 mins.

    • .KC says:

      Agree with all your comments Mitchell as long as Maghoma stays awake. Just wonder how committed to next seasons contract for Vaughan.

    • Hillfield Blues says:

      Not happening.GR will be trying to get as many points on the board even if the playoffs are now out of reach.

      • StaffsBlue says:

        I agree. Whilst there’s still a chance that we can reach the play-offs, albeit an outside one, the manager and players owe it to the fans to give 100% effort until it’s mathematically certain either way. I’m hoping the players feel they owe us a performance after Saturday.

  • Mitchell says:

    brown,Harding and Jones on the bench.

  • Dave Mann says:

    Just pride to play for now so what ever the side it’s staying 9th and no lower to play for . KRO

  • Little Al says:

    Very tough game tonight just hope GR sets it up to have an attacking threat, lets just have a go. Nothing to lose now, a draw against a high flying team would be a result. If we cannot finish sixth lets hope we can better last year’s position.

    I have this nagging feeling though that the season will just fizzle out.

  • RichardM says:

    I know it sounds petty but I really want us to piss on Hughton’s chips after he walked out on us a few seasons back – a scrappy 1-0 own-goal win will do me nicely, as long as it dent’s Brighton’s automatic promotion hopes.

    • Mirkwood55 says:

      So if you are managing in the Championship and a Premiership club offers you a job you turn it down, saying I’m happy where I am? Leave it out!

  • Jonathan Garrett says:

    My fear is (and has been for a while) the GR isn’t an attacking sort of manager, will that change with better players? we will see,it’s hard to be critical, given the financial constraints,I’m just worried that he is great at organising teams,making them hard to beat, but lacks the attacking flair,he seemed very reluctant to go more attacking on Saturday, i picked up on this from his after match interview, having said all that, GR has done a fantastic job,and the players have worked their socks off,we are getting closer to an ownership resolution, let’s see what more money for players will do in terms of more attacking ability, and indeed can GR change his tactics to suit,or are we starting to see limitations in his management style.

  • We need to address the shortage of shots at goal and so the shortage of goals , we don’t know what the future is going to be , and I can’t see GR taking too many chances for fear of a loss in the high opinion if we slide down the table whilst having a period of changes , but it must happen for us to prepare for next season unless we Beat Brighton and go on another run ha ha , with the players we have I still fancy 4+4+2 with arthur gleeson kief and cotts in midfield and the DON up front with toral , and as mentioned brown ,Adams , and Jones on the bench .COME ON a change is good as a rest ,…KRO

    • RichardM says:

      Jones on the bench is a good shout actualy, let’s see what he can for 15 mins – I think the Vaughan experiment hasn’t worked and I doubt he’ll be staying pas the season end so why not invest some time in Alex Jones?

  • Tony says:

    Well I know Dan’s opinion is that Hales is no where near ready, he may well be right about that however I watched a video clip of him scoring a hat trick at the week end. What I would say is the lad is very useful, he takes up good positions and can finish with both feet.
    No matter what level you play at these are vital assets I would like to see him given 20 minsin a match soon.

  • StaffsBlue says:

    Assuming Spector, Toral and Lafferty will be out and Fabbrini possibly only fit enough for a place on the bench, this is the side I’d pick, in a 4-1-4-1 formation. Davis to patrol across the front of the defence, in case Brighton break through our midfield 4.

    Kuszczak

    Caddis Morrison Robinson Grounds

    Davis

    Cotterill Gleeson Kieftenbeld Maghoma

    Donaldson

    SUBS: Legzdins, Shotton, Adams, Fabbrini, Arthur, Solomon-Otabor, Vaughan

  • StaffsBlue says:

    Interesting comments by the manager re player contracts on bcfc.com.

  • DoctorD says:

    I’m afraid this will be another 2-0 defeat.

  • Dave Mann says:

    I might have a tenner on that Doctor , I don’t normally back against us but can’t see anything other than another dismal performance and another defeat , hope Ime wrong .. I REALLY hope ime wrong . KRO

    • Mitchell says:

      Dave. I am really feeling through your comments that we were more than awful at Charlton. You were there and saw it all- and I have never heard you so disappointed to the extent of predicting a defeat tonight. Never have I heard you other than an optimist for a win home or away. This is why for others clamouring for new faces etc.remember what Dave Mann,Staffs,myself and a few others harp on all the time- anyone coming in has to be better than we already have and HAS to go straight into the starting eleven.

      • StaffsBlue says:

        Unfortunately Mitchell, we can’t in all honesty say that Shotton, Buckley, Fabbrini and Vaughan have fallen into that category. We had a great chance to make a difference in January. I think we blew that chance tbh. Only Toral of the loan players has made a difference.

      • Dave Mann says:

        Ime just fed up with the lack of fight in the last month Mitchell when we really needed it and Saturday was not good enough , my faith went after Fulham mate which I’ve mentioned a few times and tonight is an anti climax for me and dare I say it a bit of a burden but I will still be there whatever because I can’t keep away .. Keep smiling though :-) KRO

  • Mitchell says:

    Staffs . You picked up what I did regarding GR and players contracts. Holding back is not being sure and for that reason it makes obvious sense. Clean slate for me minus all current loan players would be a breath of fresh air. Just a query however about Vaughan-surely we are not committed to giving him a new season contract are we? If we have committed then why.

    • StaffsBlue says:

      I think in the summer, we should take every chance of freshening up the squad. Release all the players out of contract, send all the loan players back and consider any reasonable offer for other players. It’s time Rowett built his own team.. only then will we see what he can really do. I look forward to it.

  • Our form against the top clubs is good , mainly because they attack more which allows us to attack more on the break, Arthur up front with the DON , 2-2….

  • Dave Mann says:

    That sounds like a massive rebuilding plan for next season , if we sign so many players and Rowett puts together is own team it might take more than another season for it to all to gel together … Maybe 2017/18 season could be the push for the premiership unless something dramatic happens which is highly unlikely . KRO

    • StaffsBlue says:

      The players out of contract are unlikely be used next season anyway, so why keep dead wood? The loan players will be going back too, so the rebuilding will have to be done anyway. We really need a couple of centre backs, a right back, left back, a central midfielder and a good striker. That’s around 6 players. We won’t be able to get those without clearing the decks a bit. There are players who will be able to improve next season, but there are players who probably won’t get any better. They need replacing if we stand any chance of progressing next season.

      • Mirkwood55 says:

        And where are we going to find the money for six new players of the quality we need? And who is going to buy the players we release if they are not good enough for the likes of us? Unless there are dramatic developments in HK – and we’ve been waiting years for that to happen – we will still be scratching around for the cash to bring in new signings next season. Let’s have a bit of realism round here – and let’s not forget that if the B6 brigade are with us next year they will have the funds to outbid us for any player that becomes available, not forgetting Sunderland, Newcastle or even Norwich with the parachute money they will receive.

  • Bluey says:

    Knowing us we`ll probably win 3-1 tonight. If i was GR i`d throw caution to the wind,get bodies forward and play the ball into their half as quickly as we can. I believe that we can cause problems and create chances like this which will get the crowd going. Playing cautiously and losing 2-0 or even drawing 1-1 is not acceptable at this stage.Unlikely to get us into the play-offs but nothing to lose surely?

  • carlos1875 says:

    Let’s just get behind the lads tonight let’s start to look forward to next season let’s start looking for the big party at cardiff when we welcome the vile to the championship

  • Dave Mann says:

    Could put a smile on my face if we changed our approach Bluey but Mr cautious ( Rowett ) might take some persuading . KRO

    • Bluey says:

      He must see that there`s nowt to lose. His current cautious approach is just not working.Come on GR give us some excitement,A miracle might be round the corner…. KRO

  • We really need a few pre contractual agreements to know who we can afford to let go to avoid any awkward situations when the window opens as we need players IN , time to gel and players OUT time to find another club , I am with Dave for not getting to many players in at once , as it can have a anti – gelling effect KRO

    • StaffsBlue says:

      When you consider that Novak, Eardley, Hancox, Edgar, Duffy, Johnstone and Thomas are out of contract (and unlikely to be here next season,) plus Shotton, Buckley, Toral and possibly Vaughan gone back to their clubs, it’s going to leave an already small squad even smaller. We’re going to have to replace at least half of them.. or we’ll end up short again like we were this season. Just a thought.

      • Dave Mann says:

        I think the point me and William are making staffs is not the fact we don’t need a total clear out and overall but it migh take the season after next season to make a promotion push with so many players needing to gel if that makes sense . KRO

        • StaffsBlue says:

          Of course it makes sense. Altogether, with loans and permanant signings, there’s been about 10 new players (not counting Halford and Lowry.) Only about 4 of those have come off really.. Kuszczak, Kieftenbeld, Maghoma and Toral. No matter how many or how few players you bring in, there’s no guarantees they’ll work out. A bit of trial and error I suppose.

  • Mitchell says:

    Bluey read my mind. It would be ironic if we beat Brighton. It would be welcome at the same time bloody annoying for obvious reasons. What ifs then come to mind-but as for the result I go for a barmy 3-0 blues win. Great performance written all over it for me. Perverse if you like.

  • Some will be gone that we don’t play but with giving youth incentive which we must do staffs your probably right we will still need around 5 players ..

    • StaffsBlue says:

      I’d like nothing more than to see some of our youngsters come through next season.. but would Mr Rowett play them? I’m not so sure. I wouldn’t put money on it that’s for sure. But I think all fans need to see local lads in their team.

  • Dave Mann says:

    I agree but only if they’re good enough . KRO

  • mark says:

    this game could go either way, i am going for under 2.5 previous games 0-0 2-2 0-1 bri 1-0 blu.

    imo brighton will come to try and win, hopefully we can counter them….regardless of my opinion of hughton done a good job but if other big pay day comes he will jump ship from them leopard never changes his spots lol………… oh missed you all ;)

  • mark says:

    donaldson to be first scorer done this 3 times in the last 20 home games. maghoma done it twice in 20 home games..

  • mark says:

    both teams to score this could go either way……

  • mark says:

    good to see GR deny drugs been taken at blues……i said before we never quite reach the highs this season lol

  • I think with blues system of attacking on the break ,it suits us to play against the teams that attack a lot because we score more goals because we get more chances on the break ,We do not do so well against the more defensive teams those near the bottom , so if blues were cheating it makes sense that we would be using energy giving drugs on the teams that we were not doing so well against the lower teams , especially as it would look more normal to beat the lower teams to avoid suspicions ….COME ON NOW…

  • StaffsBlue says:

    Spector, Toral and Lafferty in. Looks like 4-4-2 with Laff and the Don up top.

  • Mitchell says:

    Mark. Don’t blame Hughton for leaving Blues. Pannu tried his utmost to get WBA and Norwich to pay compensation etc.when imo Hughton never applied or showed interest in moving. Pannu was up for selling anything that was saleable.

    • mark says:

      that might be in your case regarding pp but Hughton wanted out, he realize he took blues as far as he could, he could not better that again…..Norwich took the opportunity. TBH hes another championship manager, not good enough for the premiership imo.

  • This looks like a team that can change to 4+4+2 on the counter , GET IN THERE BRUM…..

  • mark says:

    no mich he one season wonder became a rabbit in headlights when money was thrown at him……we see what reception he gets tonight shall we…..most noses I know called other names which I will politely refrain from using……..

  • mark says:

    well that ended well both teams scored and under 2.5 goals that paid the drinks this evening 25 pounds on each…..blues have proved to be a soft touch once again missed opportunity, passing, defense not a clue, i wonder if some of our players are coloured blind then passing. what earth was kieftenbeld
    doing….he needs to learn to pass properly this so school boy stuff its quite shocking.

  • mark says:

    this why i said we hammered every week in premiership if we went up finishing around 12th fine..
    looking forward to vilers next season and there will be some great derby’s…….lets see what GR does for next season?????

  • mark says:

    this will give GR time to sort out players who have under belly, not got the mental ability, or the footballing brain need to be shipped out…

  • mark says:

    brighton crosses was sheer quality, what was ours!!…..it about having cheer players using their footballing brain…when brighton was 2-1 up they never looked in any danger even from a few huff and puffs from our players, even with extra five minutes we had not got a clue how to break them down brighton.


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