Gull-Mouth Action podcast - episode 46 | Crawley Town have a new manager_ Brighton_s highline
Matt Pole is joined by Crawley Town expert Mark Dunford and Sam Morton, who covers both Brighton and the Reds. Later in the show, we will be joined by Albion writer Henry Bryant.
Brighton lost for the first time this season in an action-packed match against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Saturday.
We’ll pick over the bones of that crazy match before we look ahead to the visit of Tottenham Hotspur to the Amex on Sunday.
Over at Crawley Town, this week saw the Reds announce Rob Elliot as the successor to League Two play-off winning manager Scott Lindsey.
The former Newcastle and Charlton goalkeeper joins Crawley from National League outfit Gateshead on a two-and-a-half year deal.
We run the rule over the new Reds boss, plus we’ll bring you the latest from a difficult week in League for the club.
Brighton lost for the first time this season in an action-packed match against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Saturday.
We’ll pick over the bones of that crazy match before we look ahead to the visit of Tottenham Hotspur to the Amex on Sunday.
Over at Crawley Town, this week saw the Reds announce Rob Elliot as the successor to League Two play-off winning manager Scott Lindsey.
The former Newcastle and Charlton goalkeeper joins Crawley from National League outfit Gateshead on a two-and-a-half year deal.
We run the rule over the new Reds boss, plus we’ll bring you the latest from a difficult week in League for the club.
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SportTranscript
00:00Welcome to another episode of the Goldmouth Action Podcast, where we take a look at the
00:05latest goings-on at Brighton, Hove Albion and Crawley Town. I'm Matt Poult and I'm joined
00:10by Crawley Town expert Mark Dunford and Sam Morton, who covers both Brighton and the Reds,
00:14and later in the show we'll be joined by Albion writer Henry Brime. Brighton lost for the
00:18first time this season in an action-packed match against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on
00:21Saturday. We'll pick over the bones of that crazy match before we look ahead to the visit
00:25of Tottenham Hotspur to the Amex on Sunday. Meanwhile, over at Crawley Town, this week's
00:29saw the Reds announce Rob Elliott as the successor to League Two play-off winning manager
00:33Scott Lindsay. The former Newcastle and Charlton goalkeeper joins Crawley from National League
00:38outfit Gateshead on a two-and-a-half-year deal. We'll run the rule over the new Reds
00:43boss, plus we'll bring you the latest from a difficult leak in League One for the club.
00:47But starting with you, Mark, what did you make of the new appointment? Not really that
00:51much of a surprise, really, considering Elliott was the bookie's favourite, I think, since
00:56betting open, I think. It was, yeah. I think Ben Gladwin was for about 10 minutes because he was
01:02made interim head coach. And then, yeah, and then it seemed Elliott emerged as the favourite. And it
01:07was very similar to when the MK Don's job came up. Scott Lindsay was favourite from straight away.
01:11And you could tell by the odds that obviously they had an inkling of what was going on. And,
01:17yeah, it was funny because I contacted one of the owners before when the news about Lindsay going,
01:24and I said, oh, I've got some questions about the process of appointing the new manager.
01:29And he was like, yeah, send questions over, send questions over. Didn't get anything back
01:32straight away. Chased him again after the weekend. He was like, it's done. And I was like, oh, okay.
01:37So the questions I'd asked that were irrelevant kind of thing, because I was asking about how
01:41long it would be and blah, blah, blah. So, yeah, really quick turnaround. And, yeah, no, looking
01:47at him, he's obviously got really good potential. And I contacted a chap called Mark Carruthers,
01:53who's a non-league writer up in the North East for some of our titles up there. And he covers
01:59Gateshead. And I asked him what he thought. And he just said he's done very, very well at Gateshead.
02:04He's very popular and he plays good football. But we should, Crawley fans should be cautiously
02:11optimistic and optimistic because he has been so good for Gateshead. Yes, it's a lower standard,
02:18but it's still a good level of football, but cautious because he's never managed at this level
02:23and it is a risk in that sense. But it's someone who has managed first team football and played at
02:29a very high level as well. Obviously, he's played for Newcastle, Charlton. So, yeah, I think we
02:36should be excited. I think it should be positive. It's going to be interesting. We haven't met him
02:41yet. We're meeting him tomorrow. So to have our first sit down chat with him. So it's going to
02:46be interesting what he's got to say. But yeah, no, I'm cautiously excited and optimistic.
02:53Excellent stuff. All very positive. And you mentioned the speed of the appointment there,
02:57Mark. The appointment of Elliot comes less than a week after Lindsay's departure from NK Dons.
03:02How pleasing is it to see the Crawley board make such a swift decision, Sam?
03:07Yeah, I think it was really important that they did that. So they, especially when you look at
03:10the league position now, so you've had a few disappointing results and they're slowly edging
03:15towards the danger zone. I think they actually are in the danger zone now. Yeah, they are now.
03:22I think that's reason enough to act fast, get the new manager in and get the new relationships
03:29and the style of play sorted. As I mentioned last week, I think it's important that
03:33Rob Elliot doesn't change too much. He kind of just allows the players to kind of continue with
03:37the left off. And I think he'll do that. And I think when you look at his style of play at
03:40Gateshead, I think he's quite a similar kind of, has a similar ethos really. He kind of likes to
03:46play attractive football, expansive football. And I think that will help the players that
03:51is obviously that's what they've become used to under Scott Lindsay. So I feel that that's
03:55probably the thinking as well behind the moves. They're not changing too much. So I think,
04:00yeah, really important they got this new manager in quickly and just hopefully he settles in as
04:05quickly as he can, because it's not easy. Obviously, some big games coming up in League
04:09One. Also, I imagine the players are feeling a little bit uncertain, a bit not their best,
04:16I guess. Obviously, after a few disappointing results, the managers left. It's probably a
04:20difficult time for the players. So a tough job for Rob Elliot to come in and steady the ship.
04:24Absolutely. And Elliot gave his first official interview as the new manager of Crawley Town on
04:29Tuesday. And we've, as you mentioned, we've not actually spoken to him face to face yet,
04:33but what were the main takeaways from this interview, Mark?
04:36Yeah, so he said it was an opportunity he couldn't turn down. I think as soon as they found
04:42out that the owners were interested in him, he started watching Crawley Town and watching some
04:47games. And yeah, and he's just excited by what he saw, the work rate of the players,
04:52the talent of the players, the style of football that they've been playing. And he said, what did
04:58he say? He said, if you have any group, if you have that in any group, you will be successful.
05:03And when you have that bravery and played bravery to play in the style of play that has been
05:08implemented at the club for a long time from the previous manager, Scott Lindsay and the team did
05:12a brilliant job. It's just an opportunity I couldn't turn down. Yeah, I think he's a bit sad
05:17that he had to leave Gateshead because he was doing a good thing there. I mean, obviously they
05:21won the FA trophy. They were fifth, I think, in the National League table. It's a horrible league
05:26to get out of, the National League. So to do well in that league, he's obviously got some kind of
05:30potential, but he was talking about the playing style. Like Sam just said that Gateshead had a
05:37similar playing style and he wants to do the same here. But he obviously mentions that
05:44they want to start scoring goals. That's the key thing. And I think he's willing to adapt.
05:50I think that's something with Lindsay. He never wanted to go away from plan A. You just got to do
05:57plan A better, as people say. But I think, Rob Elliott, you get the impression that if it's not
06:03working, he will maybe make some tweaks and changes. But I don't think he's going... From
06:08what he said in the interview, I don't think he's going to be changing things massively.
06:12He's going to give it a go and then slowly make tweaks to try and make it better, to make them
06:17score goals, because that's what they need. They just need to score goals. They're playing well.
06:22But then a big thing, I think, is the two people he's brought with him,
06:25Louis Storey, his assistant, and Anthony Sweeting, who's going to be a coach.
06:31Anthony Sweeting joined Gateshead in the summer and he's proved a massive...
06:36He said he's taking Gateshead on another level this year, this season, with Sweeting on board.
06:41But Louis Storey is an interesting one because he's his assistant. He's known him for years.
06:45He's like his best pal. But he's been playing for Gateshead as a player. So it's going to be
06:51interesting to see if he gets involved playing. Obviously, this is the league one massive step
06:55up from the National League. So we'll see if he gets involved. But it all seems really positive
07:01from that first interview. I don't think Crawley fans are going to see huge changes in the way
07:05they play, but he's willing to give all the players an opportunity, which is really good
07:10because they've got quite a big squad. Scott Lindsay was always very...
07:18Seemed to have his favourite XI this year. If you look at the defence,
07:21midfield and that, it always... He started to change things a little bit after a couple of
07:25defeats with Will Swan instead of Hepburn Murphy up front. But yeah, Elliot said that he is going
07:32to give everybody a chance. It's a clean slate. And next two games, he's got EFL trophy on Tuesday.
07:38So in the next two games, you could see every player in that squad view. So he can have a look
07:43at them in action kind of thing. So interesting. No, but all very positive from that first interview
07:48and the fans, I think, responded well to that interview as well from the comments I saw.
07:52Yeah, absolutely. And I think we've brought up playing style quite a bit now. That is unveiling.
07:58Reds chairman Preston Johnson said that Elliot's style of play will bring continuity and greatly
08:03benefit the players. Do you think that... We've kind of touched upon it, Sam, but do you think
08:07Elliot's expansive brand of football is one of the key factors in his appointment?
08:11I think so. Absolutely. I think we mentioned it a little bit before there. I think it is
08:15so important that they follow exactly what Scott Lindsay was doing in that sense. That plan A,
08:19I feel like, is very similar. And you kind of want to put pressure on the opponent,
08:24dominate possession, and to give the fans something to be excited about. And we've
08:28really got that under Scott Lindsay. Some of the best football we've ever seen at the Broadfield
08:33Stadium in some of the biggest games, as we saw in those playoff games. It was even in those games
08:38when you felt like maybe you'd be more pragmatic and more cautious, you really wasn't. And they
08:42played in exactly the same way, that kind of fearless brand of football that got Cordy. It's
08:47where they are and the reason why Scott Lindsay was so successful. So, I feel like that's the
08:51blueprint going forward. I feel like that should be the style that's continuing to be used at the
08:58club. And I really hope that Rob Elliot does that. And I think he will do from what we've
09:01heard so far and what we see at Southampton at Gateshead. So, I think all the signs are
09:05really good. And I do like the fact that he's got a plan B. Because, I mean, even in Brighton,
09:10we've seen that with De Serby. He had one plan and it often didn't go right. And even the new
09:17man, I think time will tell. But obviously, as we'll discuss later on this, there's potential
09:22some changes needed to that plan in certain games. So, I feel like whatever league you're in,
09:27I think it is important to have a plan B. So, that's really good to hear that Rob Elliot has
09:31that. Also, at the unveiling, Reds chairman Preston Johnson said, we're not appointing Rob,
09:36as in Rob Elliot, to be Scott Lindsay 2.0. What do you make of this statement,
09:40Mark? And what do you think Johnson meant by it? It seems a bit of a funny thing to say to me.
09:45It did seem really odd. It's like when a presidential campaign's like that, you're
09:49always told not to mention your opponent. And I think everybody now, as soon as everybody heard
09:56that Scott Lindsay was leaving, all the fans, a lot of the fans were like, we've just got to move
10:00on now. He did his job. He was brilliant. But now we need to sort of get behind the new one. And it
10:06just seemed a really odd thing to say. I personally think in that statement, it was like, we've got
10:11Rob Elliot. Why are you mentioning Scott Lindsay again? You can mention Scott did a great job.
10:15Here's Rob Elliot. He's going to do his own thing and that. But I think, I thought maybe he thinks
10:21that the fans think that they've just got someone who can play the same style as Scott Lindsay.
10:26But it's kind of, it's a difficult one because you kind of do want a Scott Lindsay 2.0, don't
10:33you? You want someone who's going to take them, do what Scott Lindsay did, but then take them to
10:37the next level. So you kind of do want that. But to mention it like in that sort of vein,
10:43I just found it a bit odd in the statement when you're welcoming the new manager,
10:47you want this positivity and then you say, oh, we're not appointing a Scott Lindsay 2.0. And it's,
10:52I don't really know what he meant by it. And I think I discussed with you when the statement
10:57came out, but why did he say that for? So it'd be interesting. I don't know if Preston Johnson
11:03is going to be at the press conference with Rob Elliot tomorrow, but I'm, I'm going to ask him
11:07that he mentioned it. So I'm going to mention it. I was going to say, what did you actually mean?
11:10You don't want a Scott Lindsay 2.0 because to Scott Lindsay 2.0 sounds pretty good if you ask.
11:18So yeah, but I'm, I'm sure Rob Elliot is his own man and he is going to do things his own way. Yes,
11:25there's going to be similarities in the playing style, but maybe, maybe that's what he meant. He
11:29just went, please treat Rob Elliot as his own man. Don't see him, don't air into Scott Lindsay,
11:35maybe is what he meant, but that's me speculating. So, but yeah, just a very odd thing to say,
11:41but yeah, never mentioned your opponent, never mentioned the past, move on, look forward.
11:46I'd have to agree with you there. I think it's a very odd comment for him to make,
11:49because as you said, Rob Elliot is his own man and I don't think any comparisons to Scott Lindsay
11:53will help him potentially in the long run. No, exactly. Yeah.
11:56We'll see how it goes. As I said, I'm very optimistic about Rob Elliot and speaking of
12:00optimism, Sam, it seems that the appointment was taken quite well by the Reds fans and
12:06looking at the comments as well, it seemed that Gateshead fans as well,
12:09quite sorry to see Elliot depart to the Broadfield stadium.
12:11Absolutely. Yeah, no, no, starting with the Gateshead fans, they've really said that he gave
12:18them some of their best moments and matches they've ever seen and they'll be forever grateful
12:22for that was one comment that I think you wrote in your article, Matt, that you picked up on.
12:28And people have pointed out that he's kind of deserved this move. He's done so well at
12:34Gateshead and Gateshead fans are not begrudging him at all and they feel like it's such a big
12:39step up for him and they're really proud to see their manager going obviously from National League
12:43obviously to League One. I think they're really pleased with that, despite admitting that it is
12:47heartbreaking, but they do really wish him the best at Crawley and one person said, enjoy him,
12:53lads, he'll play great football and he has a plan B, hope he does well, so take care of him. So,
12:58that was really nice as well. And the Crawley fans have taken it well as well. I think one
13:04comment said, I'm ready to start smashing our way back up the league. So, plenty of optimism there.
13:10But one person said, very early days, but he believes it's a very good fit for the club.
13:14So, yes, I think there's definitely signs of very positive and I hope he has a
13:20quick start. He needs it, I think he needs to get some points on the board as soon as possible.
13:26Yes, absolutely. And he'll need to get points on the board after the week that Crawley Town have
13:30just had. Crawley Town under Interim Manager Ben Gladwin fell to a 2-0 home defeat against Bolton
13:35in League One on Saturday in front of the Sky Sports cameras. You were in attendance for this
13:40one, Mark. I think we've briefly spoken about it between us, but it sounds like it was quite
13:44frustrating down at the office of Crawley in terms of their lack of cutting edge.
13:49It was, absolutely. And I think I'm going to sum up because we're going to come on to the
13:54Mansfield game as well. I might as well talk about them together because they were almost identical
14:01in the way Crawley conceded the first goal. Both were in within the first 10 minutes, I think.
14:08The Mansfield one might have been a little bit later, but it was from a corner and a player
14:12was unmarked and he just smashed home. Really poor defence. It really didn't seem organised
14:18at all. And I saw a stat this morning that Crawley's, in the last six games, they've gone
14:23behind. They've gone behind, I think, and haven't been able to, gone behind early, sorry, and haven't
14:28been able to, and they're always chasing the game. And that's what they were doing in both these
14:31games. But they chased it really well. In both games, they had 60 odd percent possession.
14:39The only difference was in the Bolton game, they lacked any kind of, creating any chance,
14:44creativity. Is it Santos Almeida who plays centre-back for Bolton? He was
14:49unbelievable. Just stood there and they just couldn't get past him. He mopped up everything.
14:55They just couldn't get past him. But in the midfield, they dominated. At the back, they
15:00passed the ball beautifully. There was lots of ticky-tacky kind of stuff.
15:04But they just couldn't get anything up front and not create any chances. And
15:09then Bolton broke away at the end and scored a late goal to make it 2-0 and sealed the win.
15:13And you could just see the heads drop and everybody, fans started leaving straight away,
15:18et cetera, because they knew there was no way back. And then Mansfield, exactly the same,
15:22but this time they did create a load of chances. They just couldn't, they just didn't have that
15:27purse, that fox in the box. There was a few balls that flashed across the goal.
15:31Ronan Darcy had a brilliant free-kick, tipped onto the post.
15:36Ronan Darcy was something else on Tuesday night. He was like a Dura, Scotland used to call him,
15:41sorry, that was me mentioning him. He used to call him the Dura-Sale Bunny because he was non-stop
15:47energy and he was unbelievable on Tuesday night and he deserved a goal or deserved at least an
15:52assist. But yeah, they're just lacking that. They needed some teeth more. I think Ben Gladwin
15:58said afterwards, they just need more teeth up front kind of thing and they just need to be
16:03ruthless and they just need to have that desire to get on and just really throw themselves when
16:07a ball comes flying across the box. There just seemed to be no one there. And then yeah, again,
16:12Mansfield scored early and then they scored late and just finished off sort of thing. And
16:16yeah, both 2-0. Possession stats were the same. The only difference was that they did create more
16:20in that Mansfield game. But it was, yeah, so frustrating and you could see the fans can see
16:27what they're trying to do, but they're just, yeah, there is that frustration there that they
16:30just haven't got that desire up front and in that final third to make something really happen.
16:38Yeah, going off script a little bit, how's Will Swan looked? He's a new boy, isn't he,
16:42up front for Crawley Towns. Has he suffered from maybe a lack of service from his wingers or
16:49how would you assess his first few games? Yeah, I think he's certainly. So, just after he signed,
16:54he came on for the second half in the game against Barnsley when they were already 3-0 down.
17:01And he looked really low, running everywhere. He was trying to get involved. He started against
17:09Bolton on Saturday and he was okay, but just lacked any kind of service. But then on the
17:17flip side, on Tuesday night, he started again and he came off. No, it wasn't half, quite halftime.
17:24No, he did come off at halftime, I think, him and Adeyemo, because they were both really
17:28ineffective. And yeah, he seemed to lack the movement on Tuesday night. So on Saturday,
17:38he did move a lot. He wanted to get, but there was just no creativity, no balls coming into the box.
17:42But on Tuesday night, there were balls coming into the box, but he just wasn't showing the movement
17:46or anything to get in there. He worked hard. He seemed to run a lot, but he just didn't
17:50seem to want to get into the box. So, yeah, it's been a frustrating start for him, I think. I don't
17:55think Crawley fans have seen the best of him yet. I'm sure they will. Yeah, I'm sure they will.
18:01It's one of those things where he'll get a goal and then they'll start flooding in, I'm sure.
18:07Fingers crossed. Well, following the Mansfield game, Gladwin said he had no indication of what
18:13his role would be going forward following the second final game as Crawley Town Interim head
18:17coach. A lot of speculation about his future, isn't there, Mark? What is the latest on that
18:22situation and where do you think his future may lie? Yeah, I think I said it last week. I can't
18:29see any future that doesn't involve Gladwin joining Scott Lindsay at MK Dons. I think he
18:38said he'd had a quick conversation with Rob Elliott on Tuesday, the day that Elliott was
18:46appointed, and he said he was going to have another chat with him in the next couple of days
18:50to see what the intentions are, if they have a place for Ben Gladwin. I'm thinking it'd be good
18:57to keep him here for a transitional period to be that link between the new manager and the players,
19:03so there is a bit of consistency. But I don't know. Rob Elliott, he's brought his two men with
19:10him, Anthony Sweeting and Louis Story, and I just think probably looking like there's not a place
19:18for Gladwin. But I don't know. That's just my gut feeling. A couple of fans said to me, oh,
19:23you know Gladwin's leaving, don't you? And I was like, I don't know that for sure. But they said,
19:28because the goalkeeping coach obviously went with Lindsey Steefe Hale. MK Dons goalkeeping coach has
19:35just gone to Carlisle to follow Mike Williamson. So that's freed up a little bit of budget for
19:40Scott Lindsay on his staff at MK Dons. And that's why I think everybody's made the assumption that
19:46that hole will be filled by Ben Gladwin. So they've been together for years now at Swindon,
19:51and then obviously at Crawley. So I think that's where it is. But it'll be interesting. There's
19:56been no announcement yet. I've been keeping an eye. We're expecting something imminently. But
20:01another question for me to ask tomorrow if nothing has come out by then.
20:05Absolutely. Watch this space. We've spoken about Crawley's lack of cut and edge, Sam,
20:11but how do the Reds go about addressing this?
20:14It's a million dollar question, really, isn't it? They would not be in the relegation zone if they'd
20:18scored more goals. It's as simple as that, really. They've dominated a lot of games and they haven't
20:23got the results. They've deserved none more so than obviously at Wrexham. And before that,
20:27against Stockport, two of the best teams in the league, as we mentioned last week,
20:31they should have got at least a win out of those two games. And they could have won both
20:35if it had to someone with them. Well, yeah, clinical striker, basically. And as we've
20:41mentioned, we've not seen that from Will Swan just yet. Hepburn Murphy is not really
20:46showing his best either. So I thought both of those players need to score more goals
20:51if Crawley is to be successful, I think. And I really hope they can. And really, so far this
20:57season, the main source of goals has been Junior Cortana. He's been the man to create a lot of the
21:02goals, score a lot of them. So, yeah, I thought more players need to chip in with the goals.
21:08And that's the most important thing. That's the biggest challenge that Rob Elliott has got in his
21:11hands, really, is to make sure that you're taking advantage of the domination of games,
21:17because there's no point having all the possession and all the chances if you're not going to take
21:20them. So I feel like that's obviously the hardest thing in football. But I feel like that is the
21:25biggest challenge for the new manager. And hopefully you can help the players find their
21:31scoring goals, scoring boots. Fingers crossed. Well, Elliott will take the helm for the first
21:36time this Saturday with the Reds visit Wickham in League One. How do you see this one going,
21:39Mark? And should we expect much in the way of tinkering to the team from the new man in charge?
21:46From what he said in his interview, I don't think there'll be many sort of changes.
21:50It'll be interesting to see what he does up top, whether there is a bit of a change to try and make
21:55something happen to score goals. But certainly defensively in the midfield, I don't know. I don't
22:00see why he would change it, because they are controlling games. It's just whether they throw
22:04someone in for a bit of creativity. I should say on Tuesday night, they were much better second half
22:09because they changed it. Jeremy Kelly didn't start for the first time this season. And when he came
22:13on, he made a big difference as well. So, yeah, be interesting to see if he goes back to him
22:18starting. But it's going to be a tough game. Wickham currently eighth in the table. They've
22:24won four of their eight games, drawn two of them, lost two. They drew two-two away at Barnsley. I
22:30mean, we saw what a good side Barnsley were when they battered Crawley at the Broadfield Stadium.
22:35And they beat Bristol Rovers away from home before that as well. So it's not going to be an easy
22:41game, I don't think. But yeah, Matt Bloomfield in charge at Wickham Wanderers. I'm going back to my
22:46old stomping ground. My first ever job, the Wickham leader as a trainee reporter. So I'm
22:51looking forward to going to that and seeing what Rob Elliott does, because it's going to be
22:56interesting. Because he does need to make changes and he does need to inspire them. But I don't know
23:03if making wholesale changes will work straight away, because you don't want to confuse the
23:07players. So I think it's just a lot of it about instilling confidence as well. But yeah, it won't
23:12be an easy trip, but I'm sure there'll be a load of Reds fans there to cheer the boys on and cheer
23:17Rob Elliott on. Yeah, no doubt about that at all. The Reds then entertain AFC Wimbledon in the
23:22AFL Trophy on Tuesday night. It seems like less of a priority this season, Sam, than the league.
23:28Do you reckon we'll see Elliott give a chance to some of his fringe players and see what they're
23:33made of? I would imagine so. Yeah, as you say, it's definitely not a priority now looking at
23:37the league and that's what will take the focus, the main focus. But it's still an important game.
23:43I'll be at this one. I'm looking forward to it. It's always a feisty one against Wimbledon,
23:47obviously they're rivals. So it should be a good watch either way. Obviously, you've got that.
23:52They're paying for the pride as well. They want to have one over Wimbledon as well as anything else.
24:00And obviously for the fans, they'll be well up for it. But if you look at Wimbledon's form,
24:04they were narrowly beaten 1-0 by Newcastle in the League Cup this week. So they clearly don't
24:08roll over easily. I think Newcastle obviously dominated the game, but it was a penalty in the
24:13end that obviously won the game for them. So Wimbledon, obviously a dogged team, made it really
24:19hard for Newcastle to score. But in the league, their last two league games were a goalless draw
24:24at Bradford. Before that, they beat MK Dons 3-0. And then before that, it was a 1-0 win over Fleetwood.
24:30So they're clearly in really good form and not conceding many goals. They sit 11th in League 2
24:35with four wins, a draw and a defeat. But they've actually played not many games because of
24:41postponements. They've had the fewest games in the league actually. So if you look at the points
24:45to game ratio, I think probably the best or one of the best, if not the best in the league.
24:50But I think, yes, still, equally in the league above, they should be going there expecting to
24:54win. And it's a good chance for the French players to impress their new manager because
24:58for a lot of them it's a clean slate. So they'll be looking to really show what they can do and
25:03show the new man why they should be in the starting 11 for the league. Because as Scott
25:08Lindsay quite often said, he kind of had his favourite team. It was very difficult to get him
25:14to change that. Obviously, with his plan A, we didn't want to change many things for the league.
25:18But Rob Elliott will be coming in with a new perspective of things. And he'll be looking at
25:22this game against Wimbledon and seeing what players perform and potentially they could become
25:27a starting player.
25:29Absolutely. Well, thank you very much, chaps, and best of luck to Rob down at Wickham on Saturday.
25:33We're going to take a very, very, very quick break. When we come back,
25:36we will talk all things Brighton and Hove Abbey.
25:46Welcome back to the Goldmouth Action podcast, where we'll now discuss all things Brighton
25:51and Hove Abbey with Henry Bright and Sam Morton giving us the lowdown. Starting with you, Sam,
25:55crazy old game at Stamford Bridge, crazy scoreline as well. But did that tell the full story?
26:01It didn't. It didn't. Six goals and they all came in the first half. And to be honest,
26:06there could have been another six in the first half, let alone the second. It was a game I've
26:11never seen the likes of, to be honest. It was absolutely crazy. Brighton actually took the lead
26:17for Eugenio Rutter getting his first goal for the club. So really, really good start for Brighton
26:21in a way at Stamford Bridge. But Chelsea responded really quickly. Cole Palmer hit the post and
26:28they had a goal harshly ruled out for offside. Well, two goals ruled out for offside. One was
26:33harsh, one was obvious. And Cole Palmer scored four goals in that first half. Some terrible
26:40defending, some big mistakes, none more so than Adam Webster gifting the ball to Nicholas Jackson
26:47that led to a goal for Brigham's Court, playing out from the back for Cole Palmer's fourth.
26:53Obviously, they gifted a penalty for one of them. It was a bit of a disaster, in all honesty. They
26:58obviously really missed Van Hecker, who was injured. And we'll talk about that a bit later
27:03as well. But Adam Webster and Lewis Dunk, playing a high line isn't necessarily the best way to go
27:09if you're playing away at Stamford Bridge. They were taught that the hard way. But as I say,
27:15they lost 4-2, but it could have been a lot worse. It really could. The chances that Chelsea missed.
27:20Jackson could have had a hat trick on another day. Sancho was unlucky not to get on the score sheet.
27:25Yeah, it really was. It really was a bit of a drumming on all counts, really. But Brighton
27:32did look a threat going forward. And they obviously, they got a second goal through
27:35Carlos Baleba, which initially did bring them back into the game because they were 3-1 down.
27:41They got a goal back to make it 3-2. And you felt like they could have equalised because Chelsea
27:47was still a bit suspect defensively. But Brighton really, yeah, they've got a lot of improvements
27:51to do in that area of the pitch and in defence. And to make sure that they learn from this,
27:56really. And they don't let that happen again. Because it really was, yeah, a harsh lesson.
28:02It was indeed. Henry, how much of a concern was the defence performance? I ended up catching
28:06the highlights of Match of the Day and it looked like Brighton were suicidal at the
28:10back sometimes. Is the highline in need of a rethink? I think so in some games. I think
28:17that highline was just such a massive talking point amongst fans and pundits after the game.
28:23We have to mention as well, it was a slightly different squad to what we'd seen in the opening
28:27games. Kadioglu coming in for his first Premier League start there. No Veltman in the squad.
28:34No Jean-Paul van Geck that we mentioned. Adam Webster coming in there. So this new highline
28:39tactic coming along with players that aren't as familiar with playing together as the season's
28:43just started and getting used to this new manager, I think did add to the poor defensive performance.
28:50And against a team like Chelsea, it's going to be really difficult because they're just
28:54finding their form now with all of these players. And it looks like they've got a really,
28:59really dangerous attack. And we saw that with those four goals from Cole Palmer in the first
29:04half. As we mentioned, Boliva got caught out. Verbruggen got caught out. Webster got caught out.
29:11But I think overall, with the fact that it's a very new tactic that we're playing here,
29:16I think that it just puts everyone under the cosh, especially playing
29:20teams like Chelsea. And we just didn't get it right. I think Josella just didn't get it right.
29:25And there was a lot of things said after the press conference was sort of done. And Josella said he
29:33should discuss the highline before he goes out into the public and say something about the style
29:38of play. But he did mention, as he was correct in saying, there were too many individual mistakes.
29:44I think with playing that highline, you do need a certain calibre of defender that's got a bit
29:50more pace to them. You need a bit more reassurance at the back. And I think that
29:54it was a rude awakening for Josella into sort of how games can go so quickly in the Premier League.
30:01I think that it's going to be a real tricky one. I'm interested to see how we sort of do that and
30:08are able to sort of thwart that pressure if we play the same highline against Spurs.
30:13Yes, absolutely. Speaking of the Spurs game, what is the latest injury news,
30:18Sam? I'm hearing that one key defender could be out for a while, which is a bit of a concern.
30:23Yes, so we're hearing that Jan-Paul Van Hecker could be out for six weeks following a groin
30:29injury. He revealed that he had a significant tear to the groin after that game at Chelsea.
30:36He said he'd been playing through the problem for a while, but it became more of an issue
30:40in the closing stages of the game against Nottingham Forest. He said obviously he's
30:45been playing a few matches with it, but it's got to the point now where he needs to get it looked
30:49at. It seems like potentially he's made it worse in playing these games, obviously with an injury,
30:54which is obviously not great. So we need to see how the rehab goes, but it could be around six
31:00weeks before we see him again. It's obviously a major blow for himself and the club. He's been
31:05one of Brighton's most consistent performers at centre-back over the last year or so.
31:12Obviously, with Dunk being in and out of form, he's still brilliant on his day,
31:17but I think he's definitely been in and out of form. Having Van Hecker next to him is when you
31:20see Lewis Dunk at his best, and he really does bring the best out of the captain as well.
31:24I think when Dunk's alongside Webster, you don't see the best from him as we saw against Chelsea.
31:29I think both of them weren't very good in that game. Obviously, their Brazilian defender Igor
31:36has had some injury problems, hasn't really had consistency in the team, but I think now's a good
31:40chance for him to really establish his place and to show what he can do. It's so important really
31:45because Brighton have got some big games coming up. Spurs, Newcastle, Wolves. They've played
31:50Liverpool twice in League and Cup. They've got Man City and an away trip to Bournemouth before
31:55the international break. So lots of games that Van Hecker's going to potentially miss here,
32:00which is a huge blow. So we'll have to see what happens. Hopefully, he can maybe come back a
32:05little bit sooner than anticipated. But Brighton's have a bit of a lengthy injury list at the moment
32:09with Joel Veltman still missing. Matt O'Reilly, obviously, not sure when he'll be back.
32:13Joel Pedro could be out for a prolonged period of time, which is another huge blow.
32:18James Milner, not too sure when he's returning. And Idingra also missed that game at Stamford
32:24Bridge. So hopefully, he won't be out too long. He's been really good this season. We could
32:28potentially see Soddy March return in the not too distant future, obviously after a serious injury.
32:34And Brian Gruder as well. He's in line for a potential appearance against Spurs. We've not
32:39seen him yet since his £25 million move from Mainz in Germany. So yeah, excited to see him
32:45because it's been a long time coming. And I think as these injury problems start to mount up,
32:49you really see the importance of the squad depth that Brighton have managed to get in the transfer
32:54window. And hopefully, it really comes into fruition. But a little bit of a concern defensively.
32:59That's one area that does concern me now with Jan Van Hecker out for a prolonged period of time.
33:05Absolutely. And Henry, what can we expect from the match? I think
33:08myself and Mark have both said that we're predicting a five-all draw with the way that
33:12both sides are playing at the moment.
33:15Yeah, I think Brighton won't be able to get back into winning ways. But I certainly think
33:21they'll be able to give a good game to Tottenham. I think they'll have to sort of compose and
33:25regroup after that defeat to Chelsea because it was sort of curtains after that first half,
33:31both teams expelling so much energy. And then that second half was a little bit flat in comparison to
33:37the topsy-turvy first half. But Brighton at the time of recording, currently sitting in ninth
33:42position with nine points and Tottenham are in eighth position with 10. So similar sort of
33:49positions there. Funnily enough, Brighton won this exact fixture 4-2 last season.
33:55I wouldn't mind that happening again, but Spurs have won their last two Premier League games,
34:00beaten Man United 3-0, Brentford 3-1. And Brighton's last two home games have been
34:06draws to Ipswich and against Nottingham Forest. And as Sam mentioned, I mean, we've got no Van
34:11Hecke for around six weeks. So we really do need to adjust and to sort of praise Van Hecker and
34:17what he's been doing for Brighton. He has arguably been one of our best defenders in the last few
34:24years. Just the way that he's been able to come up from a young age and he still is a young man
34:30and have been able to grow and develop with the squad. He's been really pivotal and he's turned
34:35into a defender that was probably learning from Lewis Dunk and maybe Lewis Dunk could learn a few
34:39things from him right now in the form that he's in at the moment. But yeah, the 24-year-old Van
34:46Hecke said that he'd been playing through the problem that he had for a while, but it became
34:51more of an issue during the end of the two-all draw with Nottingham Forest. And it's just a case
34:56of trying to get him back now. Dhingra could be back in the squad and he's been in fine form lately.
35:00So that's more of an attacking threat for us. Veltman could be back as well because it was
35:05illness that took him away from that Chelsea game. And as Sam was mentioning as well, Gruda could be
35:11another attacking option. So yeah, lots to think about. And it's just the way that Hersele
35:16bounces back really and gets his players ready because Tottenham we know can score goals. Maybe
35:22they should have scored more goals as well against Manchester United when they played and won 3-0
35:27there. But yeah, it'll be a really tricky match. I don't see Brighton winning this one, but I do
35:32think that if we can give a good account of ourselves defensively as well in other positions,
35:37but most importantly defensively and making sure that that high line isn't as leaky as it was last
35:42time out, then that'll be making a good account of what we can do.
35:46Absolutely. And before we wrap up, how would you both sum up Hersele's start to life at Brighton?
35:51Sam, he's without a Premier League win since August with three draws and a defeat in September.
35:56Is that early promise faded a little bit?
35:59Yeah, it's difficult, isn't it? Because he obviously got that Manager of the Month award
36:02and I think as you've rightly predicted, that could have put a curse on him. And that seems
36:07to have happened. Yeah, really good start with those wins against Everton and Man United. And
36:13obviously they haven't won since that game against United, obviously with the three draws
36:17against Arsenal, Ipswich, Nottingham Forest and then losing against Chelsea. And there's
36:22obviously absolutely no shame at all in drawing against Arsenal. It was a really good result,
36:26but they really need to pick up some points in those home games against Ipswich and Forest.
36:31Absolutely.
36:33They're the two games you kind of look back on as the two missed opportunities, really.
36:38Because I think the form Chelsea were in, losing there wasn't necessarily a disgrace at all,
36:42just the manner of it was a bit farcical. But I feel like there's still plenty room for improvement
36:47and I just really hope that Hersele learns from where he's gone wrong. I think there's been some
36:51really good signs, but obviously some worrying ones as well. And just hopefully he learns from
36:56that. I think obviously as we saw with De Servi, it just felt like he was just stuck to his plan A
37:00all the time and you didn't really see any tweaks in him, even in games that you felt like he needed
37:05to be a bit more pragmatic. So I think maybe Hersele will learn from that. He's obviously
37:09still a very young coach and still obviously got a lot to learn in the Premier League. And I think
37:14Martin Keown, to perhaps harshly say he was wet behind the ears in commentary the other day. You
37:20can see the argument, he's obviously a very young manager still learning his trade and things aren't
37:25always going to go right for him.
37:27My advice, Sam, would be just ignore anything Martin Keown says, quite frankly. I nearly said
37:33a very rude word then. Henry, as a Brighton fan, what's the mood amongst supporters at the moment
37:41with Hersele? Is there still that optimism after this recent run?
37:47I think that it's just getting into that sort of winter period and seeing how he does there,
37:54because I think that when we saw the run he had in that first month of the Premier League,
37:59getting the Premier League Manager of the Month award, a lot of fans were saying,
38:04we told you, we told you. We've got a 31-year-old manager and he's performing
38:09and he's getting results. And I think that first game in particular, that 3-0 against Deverton,
38:15that really did make fans think, yes, that's a tricky game for Brighton and we've been able to
38:22do well. But I do think that there's a little bit of a flat atmosphere with some fans,
38:27some fans thinking that we just need to give him a bit more time. Other fans are thinking,
38:32well, we've spent X amount of money, that's £1m mark. Why are we struggling in defence when we've
38:45had such a big spend up really? I think in terms of Hersele's style of play as well,
38:50it's something we still need to get used to. Obviously Chelsea aren't shy on spending money
38:57and they've had a real spend up in recent seasons and their attacking threat shows.
39:02But I do think in terms of Hersele, if he's not able to get some results in the next month or so
39:09and we end up in that bottom end of the table, then there will be a lot of
39:14question marks as to whether he is actually the right man for us.
39:17One thing I did see in the post-match press conference was he did sort of echo the amount
39:23of individual mistakes that were made. And yes, there were individual mistakes made,
39:27but there's also potentially mistakes made from him on the way that Brighton set up that game.
39:31And I thought there was a little bit of naivety in the way that he answered some
39:36of the reporters' questions. So we'll just see. He's a very professional bloke, I've got to say,
39:42but I do think that sometimes taking ownership of situations and not just
39:47blaming certain players can also help.
39:52Yeah, I think you do make a good point there with the money they've spent. I think if you
39:55spend that amount of money, you should be beating newly promoted Rich at home. But I've no doubt
39:59they'll turn it around against Spurs. And before we wrap up, we'll have our score predictions as
40:04usual. Mark, we mentioned a very, very, very long time ago that Crawley were travelling down to
40:10Wycombe, your old stomping ground on Saturday. How do you see that one going? Positive?
40:15Well, I hope they're travelling up to Wycombe, not down to Wycombe.
40:23I think if he can get anything at Wycombe, I think it's a good result if he gets a draw or a win.
40:30I think Crawley have won there before. I remember I think it was Josh Payne scored an amazing free
40:35kick to win at Wycombe one year. I'm going to be positive. New manager bounce. They're
40:41going to dominate possession. They're going to create loads of chances. Will
40:44Squon's going to get the win at 1-0.
40:46Where is Wycombe? Buckinghamshire, is that right?
40:49Yeah, yeah.
40:50Sam, how are Crawley going to get on in Buckinghamshire then?
40:55I'll go for 1-0. A positive draw off the mark for Rob Elliott and I think everyone would take that.
41:02Absolutely, yeah. Do you agree with that, Henry? Do you think a draw would be a good result for
41:05Crawley?
41:06Yeah, I mean, if you've got a new manager coming in, especially with the success of Scott Lindsay
41:12and what he's been able to do for the club, I think that...
41:14Oh, I'm mentioning him again. Go off.
41:16I can't mention Voldemort. But yeah, I think you've got to say it's a big pressure game for
41:26him. He's got to establish himself. He's in the EFL. He's got to do well and if he gets a draw,
41:34I think that will give him a lot of confidence.
41:37Absolutely. And we'll do this one very quickly as it's only the EFL trophy. Crawley,
41:40AFC Wimbledon mark. Straight score prediction?
41:432-0. 2-0 Crawley.
41:45Sam?
41:462-1.
41:48And Henry?
41:49I'll agree with Sam. I think 2-1.
41:52And finally, Brighton against Spurs on Sunday, starting with you...
41:55We'll start with Henry this time. How do you see that one going?
41:59I'm going to say 2-2 and I'm going to say that guy Welbs with two absolute creepers.
42:08Mr Moore, how do you see that one going?
42:11A tough one. I think it'll be high scoring. 3-2 Spurs.
42:173-2. And Mark, are we sticking with Fievel?
42:21Yeah, I'm going to be so disappointed if it's 2-2 or 3-2. I'm going to go 5-4. 5-4 to Everton.
42:31I don't know. I can't call it. I'm going 5-4.
42:35It's going to be a nil-nil now, isn't it? It's going to definitely be a nil-nil.
42:39Nailed on. It's not going to have a shot on target between them now,
42:42is it? It's going to be the toughest game in the world.
42:44Brilliant. Thank you very much for joining us this week, chaps. And thank you very much
42:47for listening and watching this bumper episode. You can catch up with all the latest sports news
42:51covering everything we have talked about today at sussexworld.co.uk forward slash sport.
42:55And you can watch more excellent videos on shotstv.com and freeview channels
42:58262. Thank you very much for listening and or watching and we will see you next week.
43:04Thanks, guys.