Gull-Mouth Action podcast - episode 35 | Brighton signings and Crawley Town start pre-season
Matt Pole is joined by Brighton writer Derren Howard, Sam Morton, who covers both Albion and the Reds, and Crawley Town expert Mark Dunford.
The new season is hurtling into view for both the Seagulls and the Reds. Albion’s pre-season itinerary gets underway next week in Japan, while Crawley kicked-off their friendly programme this week. We’ll bring you all the latest from both clubs as the countdown to the 2024-25 campaign continues.
The new season is hurtling into view for both the Seagulls and the Reds. Albion’s pre-season itinerary gets underway next week in Japan, while Crawley kicked-off their friendly programme this week. We’ll bring you all the latest from both clubs as the countdown to the 2024-25 campaign continues.
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00:00Welcome to another episode of the Goldmouth Action Podcast where we take a look at all
00:06the latest goings on at Brighton, Hove, Albion and Crawley Town. I'm Matt Pole, I'm joined
00:10by Brighton Riot Darren Howard, Sam Morn who covers both Albion and the Reds as well as
00:14Crawley Town expert Mark Dunford. The new season is very much hurtling into view for
00:19both the Seagulls and the Reds. Albion's pre-season itinerary gets underway next week in Japan
00:24while Crawley kicked off their friendly programme this week at Lewis. We'll bring you all the
00:29latest from both clubs as the countdown to the 2024-25 campaign continues and you can
00:34read all the stories we are talking about with videos and pictures online at sussexworld.co.uk
00:38forward slash sport and you can check out other great videos on shotstv.com and freeview
00:42channel 276. You may also be watching on later TV so thank you very much for tuning in. Let's
00:48start with Brighton and with their on-pitch developments. Brighton have so far spent £80
00:53million so far on four players. Can we expect any more signings in the coming days Darren?
00:59It seems it's been quite a big outlay for Albion considering past seasons.
01:03Yes, it has and I think there will be more signings coming in. As you mentioned, they've
01:11spent around £80 million so far. Five players have arrived. Ibrahim Osman, he came in from
01:18Nordsland, then Jakimba Minter from Newcastle, Mats Whiffer from Fyernoord and then we had
01:27Mario Cosa-Derby from Arsenal. I wish they had signed some more easier names, it would
01:31be so much more helpful if they did. And Malik Yacoui, who came in from Gothenburg as well.
01:39So I've butchered all of their names, so apologies if I meet you in the press tunnel later. They've
01:47made some really interesting signings and I think there is going to be another one. I
01:52think there is a lot of talk around Diogo Gomes, who is at Inter Miami at the moment.
01:59He plays alongside Lionel Messi for David Beckham's team in the MLS.
02:05Another midfielder, which would be good for Brighton. Apparently they did make a bid for
02:11him earlier in the window of around £7 million, which was rejected and Brighton are still in
02:17talks with them at the moment. There was an interview with Gomes after a match he played
02:24yesterday and he confirmed that his agent is actually talking to Brighton and trying to
02:31conclude the deal. He said he's playing in the MLS but he wants to come over to Europe and I think
02:37Brighton would be a good move for him. He played for the same club in Paraguay, Libertad, as Julio
02:45Anciso. So, those two know each other from their younger days and also from their international
02:51football. He's a different player though. He's more of a defensive midfielder but it looks as
02:57though he could be another good addition. I think that central midfield area, despite signing
03:03Mats Whiffer from Feyenoord, I think they still do need to add to that area.
03:10So, yeah, that could be interesting, particularly if Jacob Moda does leave and it's also still
03:15Pascal Gross's future is a bit up in the air as well. So, yeah, more business to do for Brighton,
03:21I think.
03:23Still on the player front, Sam, what do you think is the latest on the goalkeeping situation?
03:28Verbruggen has obviously had a great year, owes Sydney for the Netherlands. Do you see him as
03:32the number one next season and on the flip side, do you think Karl Rushworth will leave? He's done
03:37fantastically when he's been out on loan, hasn't he?
03:39Yeah, absolutely. I think Verbruggen will be the number one in answer to that question. I think
03:43he's had an impressive year, owes, and obviously last season he shared the responsibility with
03:47Jason Steele. But I think this season he really will be the main man in goal and I think that's
03:53the right decision. I think Jason Steele, I assume, will be back up and obviously get into
03:59the age of years. Obviously, he can provide great experience as he has been doing and obviously he
04:04can come in when needed. I think that's probably the best way forward at this point. But it'll be
04:09interesting to see, as you say, what happens with Karl Rushworth because, as you say, a really
04:12impressive loan spell with Swansea and he personally thinks he's ready to be a Premier League
04:19player. He's a really ambitious player and I don't think he'll settle for a bit part role. So,
04:25unless he goes out on another loan or a permanent move, I think one of those two options is probably
04:31the most likely at this point. Because at the age of 23, he's a little bit older than Wimbledon,
04:37I think he'll definitely prefer to be the number one choice goalkeeper at whatever team
04:43he's at really. There was an interview with him, BBC Sport Wales actually, when he was at Swansea
04:47and he said ever since he was a young boy, the two highlights he's always wanted to achieve
04:51would be to play in the Premier League and to play for England. So, if he's going to be able
04:55to make it to the national team, he's going to have to be starting games regularly. So, I would
04:59suggest that a move is more likely for him. But it'll be interesting to see as the transfer window
05:04rumbles on if anyone does come in for Barth or Brogan because he's obviously made a name for
05:08himself in the Premier League, had, as I say, an impressive Euros as well. So, I wouldn't be too
05:13surprised if a big team or bigger team, sorry, came in for him. And Rushworth then could get
05:19the opportunity to get some more regular games with Brighton. So, I think time will tell with that one.
05:24Finally, with player departures, Darren, we've talked about Rushworth and
05:27players like Gross and Jacob Murder. Is there any other players that are likely to leave?
05:31I noticed that Dennis Undab has been quite vocal when he was out of the Euros, to say the least.
05:37He really has. It's a complex deal, that one. There was an option to buy from Stuttgart.
05:44They took him on loan and had an option to buy. They triggered that option, which was believed
05:48to be around 20 million. But Brighton then had a buyback clause within that deal. So, they covered
05:54their bases in case Stuttgart did trigger the deal. But Brighton then thought, oh, hold on, we could
06:00either want him back or we can get more value from him elsewhere. So, if there's a bidding war for
06:06Undab, then that could be. So, I think he will leave. It's just a question of where he will go
06:12to, whether Stuttgart are prepared to pay a bit more money for him and for how much. So, yeah,
06:21that's an interesting one to watch. I agree with Sam. I think Karl Rushworth's situation is very
06:25interesting as well. He was so good at Swansea last year. He looked Premier League ready. So,
06:34yeah, that's one to keep an eye on, for sure. I think they will go with Steele. I agree with Sam.
06:39I think they'll go with Steele as the experienced backup. But quite where that leaves Rushworth,
06:44I'm not sure. Joel Veltman, he could be one to watch as well. I did a piece saying 12 players
06:49could be on the way on Sussex World website yesterday. So, yeah, I think Joel Veltman could
06:56be one as well. Jakob Moda, Brighton tried to offload him recently as part of the Dewsbury
07:03Hall deal, which fell through because he went to Chelsea. But Moda's got one year left on his
07:07contract and I think he could be on his way as well this summer, particularly with Wiffer
07:15joining from Feyenoord. Mo Dahoud, what's going to happen to him? We don't know. Yeah, he came in
07:23as quite a celebrated signing on a free transfer, but he didn't work out at all. He spent the last
07:29half of last season on loan at Stuttgart. Didn't do much there. Kasper Kozlowski, I think he could
07:35go. Yassin Ayari, Mark Leonard, he's got a number of clubs interested in him. He had a really good
07:41loan at Northampton. Buonanotte, I think he's another one who could be worth looking out for.
07:48He played a lot last season, but that was mainly due to injuries. And whether he's going to be,
07:54whether he did enough to actually grasp his position now that all the players are back,
07:58I'm not sure. Jeremy Sarmiento, Abdullah Simmah as well, I think they could be on the move.
08:05And also, as you mentioned, Denis Sendev as well. So, a number of players. Brighton have
08:10signed quite a few, but their squad is now very big and they're going to have to start moving
08:15players out this window. And I think there could be 12 who could be moving.
08:22We shall see. Also mentioned, Albion's pre-season tour of Japan kicks off next Wednesday with a
08:27game against Kashima Antlers. They then face Tokyo Verde on Sunday, July 28th. Obviously,
08:33Karimoto will be the main attraction. Sam, do we have an update on his fitness?
08:37Yeah, there's been a positive update from the man himself, actually. He's ready to play both
08:42of those games in Japan, which is brilliant news for Brighton. Obviously, as he missed the last
08:48few months of the season with a lower back injury, and he obviously was a big miss in a crucial part
08:55of the season. Because obviously, he did have that injury and he came back again. So, he did
08:59miss a long period of football at the end of the season, really. And he admitted in his interview
09:05recently that it was frustrating to finish the season with two or three months of not playing.
09:10And obviously, there were other players injured as well as him. And it was probably really,
09:15as you say, frustrating just to be sitting on the sidelines and wanting to help the team but
09:20not being able to. But it's really great news now that he's ready to play in his pre-season tour.
09:26And he's spoken of how brilliant it is that they're playing in Japan. Obviously, it's a rare
09:30thing to go to Japan and play there. And he hopes it'll be the first of many European players to
09:38travel to Japan. So, he hopes that becomes a more regular thing across the whole of the Premier
09:42League. And I'm guessing through the appeal in Japan, he'll find a higher love of the sport and
09:52football than there already is over there. So, I think that's really positive. And it's really
09:55great that he'll be there to play in front of those adoring fans in Japan as well.
10:00And finally, Darren, very quickly, Brighton's home kit was released on Monday. Looks all right,
10:04doesn't it?
10:05Yeah, I like it. I like it. I think it's a nice kit. It's sort of a nod to one of their past
10:13kits that they had with the pinstripes going down as well, a little splash of yellow.
10:17They released it this week with a nice sort of promotional video and a little photo shoot as
10:22well. So, yeah, I'm sure they'll be selling quite a few of those to the fans this season. But yeah,
10:31personally, I don't know what everybody else thinks, but I think it looks pretty good.
10:36Have they released the away kit yet or not?
10:43No, no. I think they're doing it in stages. Some clubs, they release them all at the same go. But
10:49I think Brighton are releasing the home kit first and then they might release the away kit at a
10:54later stage, which I'm sure they will.
10:57Well, you'll be the first to find out when they do at sussexworld.co.uk forward slash sport.
11:02We're going to take a very quick break. When we come back, we'll be talking all things Crawley
11:05Town. Welcome back to part two, where we take a look at Crawley Town and their pre-season schedule
11:12got underway on Tuesday down Isby and Premier Side Lewis. Mark Dunford, how did the Reds get on
11:17and what were the main takeaways from the game down at the Dripping Pan?
11:22Yeah, so they won 2-0. That seemed like a pretty good, solid start. I think it was
11:27Ronan Darcy and a trialist scored the goals. I think the trialist was Balin Johnson, who
11:33people have been raving about, so whether he could be a new signing soon.
11:38So they played, yeah, 45 minutes, two sides, two 11s. We saw Dion Conroy alongside Scott
11:47Toby Malarkey and Josh Flynn in defence in the first half. Anthony Papadopoulos and Rashan
11:53Hepburn-Murphy started in that one. And Charlie Barker, Michael DaCosta-Gonzalez,
11:59they started in the second half, the new signing. So Crawley fans got to see most of the signs.
12:04Gavin Holland didn't play, I don't think. But yeah, I think they've impressed. We had Ryan Aird
12:11there, one of our journalists. He was there and he said he was really impressed by Gonzalez in
12:18the second half and said the fans around him got really excited by him as well. Every time he got
12:23the ball he looked attacking. Anthony Papadopoulos, he looked comfortable on the ball. Josh Flynn on
12:30the left-hand side of defence and Toby Malarkey on the other side of Dion Conroy. I think that
12:36could be the sort of starting back three we could be looking for. But I think it was, yeah, it was
12:42just a really good run out. They wore their lovely new blue away kit. I mean, I'm a massive fan of
12:46their new kit, but the blue one, their third kit, is lovely. So yeah, I think it's a good start and
12:53it'll be interesting to see how he handles the next friendlies as well. More importantly, I really
13:00enjoyed the way you said Anthony Papadopoulos as well, Mark. That tickled me. The Reds then
13:06visit East Grinstead this Saturday before hitting the road to take Wilton on Tuesday night.
13:10What will Scott Lindsay want to see from his side in these two games, Mark?
13:16I think he'll be looking to just sort of implement that, his playing style and making sure that
13:25what they've been doing over the last couple of weeks is shown on the pitch kind of thing. So
13:30I think he's going to, certainly against East Grinstead, he'll do the same as he did at Lewis,
13:3445-45. But then I think Wilton and then into Crystal Palace, then into Epsui, I think he'll
13:41be looking more and more at sort of maybe 60-30. And then I think certainly against Palace and
13:47against Epsui, we'll start to see what his starting XI will be. But yeah, I think it's
13:53a lot about fitness, but a lot about just getting that started. We've got to remember he's got a
13:58load of new signings again, working with a mostly new squad. He's got to get what he did last year,
14:04get everybody playing the way he wants to play and he'll want to see that on the pitch in these games.
14:09Crawley have also been active in the transfer market once again,
14:12bringing in teenage goalkeeper Jasper Schaik from Aldershot Town. He also spent time on loan on
14:18our local clubs, Three Bridges and Borough of Ritchie. But what do you make of this signing
14:22market? It seems it's very much one for the future.
14:25I think so, yeah. And I can imagine him possibly going out on loan this year. I know we're going
14:29to get on to Preston Johnson later, but when I spoke to him the other day, he said they're
14:34looking to build a relatively big squad and there will be intention to send some out on loan. I
14:40think Jasper Schaik is ideal for that. He's 19. He really impressed at Three Bridges last season.
14:47We had Alf Blackler, who sends in our reports, was raving about him. So,
14:51yeah, I think he's a really good player. He started on Tuesday night and looked pretty solid.
14:57So, yeah, I think he's a really good young signing and one for the future. I don't think
15:01he's going to be one. I mean, you never know whether he'll be around for the EFL Trophy games,
15:07but I think they'll have two other keepers to sort of alternate between league games and the EFL
15:13Trophy, EFL Cup games, etc. Meanwhile, fellow keeper Ryan Sanford has
15:21signed a one-year contract to the Reds. Sam, he's not made an appearance for Crawley yet,
15:25but reading the announcement that he had signed a new contract, seemed to be quite
15:28a popular part of the squad. Yeah, exactly that, Matt. Really,
15:33Sanford has not had a minute of football for Crawley Town as of yet. So, he's not being able
15:38to see what he can do. As Crawley had died, which was so impressive last season that you just
15:42couldn't get him out of the team. It'll be interesting to see how he does because, as you've
15:45mentioned, he's a popular part of the squad. Whenever you see him kind of about, he's always
15:48happy, always smiling, always kind of jovial, as you say. Yeah, so I think it's looking forward
15:53to seeing how he gets on because he had 31 games at the National League Football. So,
15:58to go straight into League One, it'll be interesting to see how he gets on.
16:03And lastly, on the goalkeeping front, Mark, goalkeeping coach Steve Hale made a cryptic
16:07social media post after the shaken Sanford announcement saying the Reds have one more to
16:12come. Are we assuming that this one more to come will potentially be Crawley's first choice
16:17goalkeeper for next season and the long-sought-after replacement for Corey Udai?
16:23I think so, yeah. There's been people sharing footage or clips from training and they can see
16:30who's there. It appears to be Vincent Angelini is the player currently there. Maybe we'll see him
16:38in one of the friendlies coming up. But, yeah, I think he will be. Ryan Sanford, like we said,
16:43he hasn't added me. He didn't get any game time at all last year. So, they're obviously,
16:48I don't know if they see him as a potential replacement for Udai in the future, but I think
16:53Angelini looks like he's got more experience, more pedigree, so maybe he is going to be the
16:59one that they pick. But, yeah, they do need another keeper and Steve Hale, I mean, that
17:05message seems to suggest that there is one coming in and I think it will be the number one. Yeah,
17:11they had such, kind of, it's not luck at all, luck's the wrong word, but with Corey Udai last
17:17year because they started off with him and he looked a little bit shaky and then they brought
17:22Luka Ashby-Hammond, who played in a few of those and they sort of alternated EFL trophy games and
17:28then Ashby-Hammond became the first choice and then he had a couple of shaky games and then
17:32there was like, oh, right, we better go back to Corey Udai and it turned out that it was a stroke
17:38of genius from Scott Lindsay or Corey Udai just suddenly got confidence and he was one of the
17:44reasons Cordy got promoted last year. He was absolutely sensational. So, they do need someone
17:49to come in who can replace that. It's not going to be an easy task, but maybe Angelini, maybe it
17:54is Seth Sanford who could be the number one and Scott Lindsay and Hale have been working with them.
17:58I know Scott Lindsay rates Steve Hale so much as his goalkeeping coach and he worked wonders
18:04with Corey Udai. He'll do the same again next year, I'm sure. No doubt. And finally, Mark,
18:10you had an in-depth chat with Preston Johnson last week where topics such as player sales and
18:14finance are spoken about. What were the main takeaways from your chat with the Reds chairman?
18:19It seemed to generate quite a lot of, I don't know if buzz is the right word, on social media when
18:24you posted the first of your articles. Yeah, so the first article I posted was basically about
18:30selling all the star players from last season and his quote was, it wasn't a plan.
18:38It was never their intention to go out and sell Danilo Orsi, Corey Udai, Liam Kelly, all those
18:44things. But he said there were some, there were contractual obligations. So whether that's,
18:51I don't know what the contractual obligations were, I'll pass you to them. But
18:55some of them, they just couldn't turn down. It was good business. They put these players in
19:01cheap and they sold them for a fee or maybe they got them in on a free. They sold them for a fee
19:06or when they bought them last year, they sold them for three or four times more than they actually
19:10bought them for. So it is a really good business model financially and for a sustainable football
19:16club. But obviously from the outside, looking in for fans, all they care about is where are my
19:21favourite players gone. So he did address that and he addressed the fact that they didn't communicate
19:25it very well because I don't think he said because they're from the US, they didn't appreciate it was
19:30that big a deal that used to sell all players. I mean, yeah, you're shaking your head. I can see.
19:37But it is. Yeah. So he understands that a bit more now. And he said maybe they could
19:41have communicated what the, even though it wasn't a plan, they could have communicated
19:45the intentions and why they have sold these players a bit more.
19:49But they're looking to be, as I referenced earlier, they're looking to build a squad of
19:52about 20 to 25, 25 to 26 players. At the moment, from my account, there's about 17 players
20:00in actually signed on. So there's still quite a few signings to make. And we said that there's
20:05obviously going to be a goalkeeper. I think they need more and more support up front.
20:10Rashan Hedda-Murphy played really well on Tuesday night by all accounts in his 45 minutes,
20:16but there will need to be support for him. Orsi didn't have that support last year.
20:21But other things he talked about, he talked about Evan Smith and because people are questioning
20:25why Evan Smith took a backseat. He said he's got other things going on. And Preston Johnson
20:31was full of praise for Evan Smith, just saying Crawley would not have got promoted without him
20:36last year. It's that simple. He wasn't very vocal. He's not very public, Evan Smith,
20:41but he did a lot of work behind the scenes to help them get promoted.
20:45He talked about Scott Lindsay and the fact that they've changed the squad and Scott Lindsay's
20:50got to do what he did last year all over again, implement his style with a whole new bunch of
20:54players. But he said Scott Lindsay's the man who's going to be able to do that. He did such
21:00an incredible job last year. Miracle's not too strong a word, I don't think. But he's got to do
21:05it again this year. And he talked about his expectations that we're going to do a bigger
21:12piece on this. But basically, mid-table, if somebody says to him, you're going to finish
21:1812, 13 or 14 this year, I think he would bite that handle for it. It would be an incredible
21:23achievement if they do do that. But I think he's under no illusions that it is going to be a real
21:27scrap this year with some of the big teams in League Two, League One, sorry.
21:33Obviously, I'm not a Wagney apologist in any way, shape or form, but do you kind of get the
21:38feeling that Preston, whenever he says something or doesn't say something, he can't win either way?
21:42I know that's probably a lot to sum up in two minutes left of the podcast, Mark,
21:45but I'd be interested to get your take on it.
21:47Yeah, I think you're right. I mean, I think it is the most vocal people are the people who are on
21:52Twitter and on Facebook forums and that and they are the loudest and they're the ones that you see.
22:00So I think it is a small minority, but you're right. Anything he does say, it was like it in
22:06a bit about when he was talking about selling all the players and didn't realise it was going to be
22:13such a big deal. He did say, I remember last year when we brought all these players in and the fans
22:18hated them and then suddenly they're the heroes because they got promotion. And it was the fans,
22:24they pick up on one little bit, the word hated. I don't think Preston meant they actually
22:29probably hated these players. He meant they didn't like the decision to bring in these non-league
22:32players. But the fans have picked up on that and that's the bit that they're hanging on to,
22:38sort of thing. So I think sometimes they are looking for him to say something wrong
22:43and highlight it. But there are a lot of fans who've actually responded to that saying,
22:48oh, actually, yeah, fair play to him. Yeah, we understand that he's not that experienced in
22:51English football. And there are those sensible, level-headed fans that do say things like that.
22:56But I think there are a lot of people who are still looking for Wagmey to fail, which is
23:02just, for me, just bizarre because they own the club, they are the custodians of the club
23:09and essentially they do want the best for the club. And I do believe that the time I've spent
23:13with Preston, the minimal time I've spent with Eben in the past, and now with Ben Levin,
23:18who's the vice-chair, all they want to do is grow this club, make it sustainable and make it a
23:23success. And so far, barring that first season, they have done. So, yeah, just give them a chance
23:29to listen to what they have to say. If you want them to communicate, don't moan when they do.
23:34Absolutely. And I think as well, but this is a topic for another time. I don't think it helps
23:38our American either, but maybe another juncture, we'll discuss that. But thank you very much for
23:43your time this week, chaps, and you can catch up with all the latest sports news covering
23:46everything we've talked about at thesussexworld.co.uk. And you can watch more excellent videos
23:50on shotstv.com and Freeview channel 276. Thank you very much for listening and watching,
23:55and we'll see you all next week.