Brighton & Hove Albion - The Seagulls Fly High

(see what I did there?)

Brighton & Hove Albion

Brighton & Hove Albion are a football club currently playing in the Npower Championship. They're based in the coastal city of Brighton & Hove, in East Sussex. They were founded in 1901 and in 1920, they were elected to the Football League's Third Division.

Brighton hire Pulis as new manager

Brighton & Hove Albion have hired Tony Pulis as their new manager for the 2012-13 season, after sacking Gus Poyet for behavioural issues. Speaking of the new job, Pulis said:
'It is an honour to be at this great club. After spending so long at Stoke I'd like to take on a new challenge in Brighton. There will be a few changes in the squad, I'm not gonna lie, but it'll only be what I think is best to take the club forward.'

Nice start, good choice of manager. Good luck

good luck! will follow!

Nooooo! Why Tony Pulis?! .... erm Good Luck though

Pulis' first Brighton press conference.

TP = Tony Pulis
I = Interviewer

I = Good afternoon Tony.
TP = Good afternoon.
I = So, what made you decide that Brighton were the right team to manage?
TP = Well after leaving Stoke I felt I needed a new challenge, a club I could change for the better. I saw that Gus Poyet had been sacked and jumped right in.
I = What players do you expect to be stars in the upcoming season?
TP = I've taken a brief look at my squad and saw a few stand-out players. Craig Mackail-Smith is an exceptional player, as is Bruno. Other than yhat, we have a great team, but no more stand-outs.
I = How do you expect to do in the Championship this year?
TP = Last year, Brighton got to the play-offs, so I'd feel great if we could go a little further this year. However, I'm aiming for another play-off finish this year. Onwards and upwards, as they say.
I = Who are you interested in buying and selling?
TP = The scouts have given me a list of the better players in the squad and the positions that need improving. With the formation I have planned, I'm looking for another back-up striker, but more importantly a centre-back.
I = That brings me to my final question. What tactic and style are you planning to use?
TP = I'll be using one quite different to the one used at Stoke. This is because I want a new start with this great club. I'll be playing a 3-1-2-2-2 formation with 2 full-backs.
I = Thank you for your time and good luck at Brighton.

Pre-Season

New Kit

(Thanks to Louis O and Lucas_C for making these)
- Home Kit
- Away Kit
- Third Kit

Transfers

- George Saville, Chelsea, Season-long loan
- Adebayo Akinfenwa, Northampton, 80k

Results

Brighton & Hove Albion 1 - 1 Aldershot Town - 25th July 2012
Leonardo Ulloa (23)

Danny Hylton (41)

Leonardo Ulloa

Brighton & Hove Albion 2 - 1 West Bromwich Albion - 28th July 2012
Adam El-Abd (13)
Vicente (90)

Gareth McAuley (71)

Vicente

Manager's Overview

Not a bad pre-season, I'm a bit disappointed with the Aldershot result but we strangely managed to beat West Brom. I'm hoping that in the season Saville and Akinfenwa can do the club some good and help us in our campaign for promotion.

August 2012

Results

Wolverhampton Wanderers 1 - 2 Brighton & Hove Albion - 4th August 2012 - Npower Championship
- Georg Margreitter (44)

- Gary Dicker (26)
- Will Hoskins (83)

Brighton & Hove Albion 5 - 1 Crawley Town - 8th August 2012 - Capital One Cup First Round
- Gary Dicker (6)
- Will Buckley (14)
- Adebayo Akinfenwa (36)
- Craig Mackail-Smith (40)
- Dean Hammond (42)

- Billy Clarke (34)

Brighton & Hove Albion 2 - 1 Nottingham Forest - 11th August 2012 - Npower Championship
- Matthew Upson (60)
- Craig Mackail-Smith (68)

- Chris Cohen (65)

Huddersfield Town 1 - 0 Brighton & Hove Albion - 18th August 2012 - Npower Championship
- James Vaughan (44 pen)

Reading 3 - 2 Brighton & Hove Albion - 22nd August 2012 - Capital One Cup Second Round
- Jason Roberts (7, 48)
- Noel Hunt (45)

- Craig Mackail-Smith (51)
- Will Hoskins (53)

Brighton & Hove Albion 2 - 0 Crystal Palace - 25th August 2012 - Npower Championship
Ashley Barnes (21 pen, 81)

Injuries

Craig Mackail Smith out for a month with a groin strain (22/08/2012)

Transfer News

Kazenga Lua Lua hands in transfer request (31/08/2012)

Manager's Overview

A decent start to the league, Huddersfield result aside. We played well in the second half against Reading but couldn't grab a third. We currently sit nicely in the play-offs but things can still change.

Player of the Month

For me, it has to be Craig Mackail Smith. He scored 3 goals for us this month and has played exceptionally well in all the games he was in. He will be missed next month.

Great results mate, it's a shame about Mackail Smith but you're doing well in the league so you should be able to keep it up.

Good start and love the kits.

Brighton sign Mannone

Brighton & Hove Albion have snatched free transfer Vito Mannone. Mannone, 24, agreed a deal with the Seagulls last night (1st September) and today has confirmed the deal himself. The goalkeeper is thought to be excited about the time ahead of him and manager Tony Pulis has the board's backing over the decision.

My squad

So... the transfer window is over, so I thought I'd show you the full squad and their details.

Casper Ankerfren - GK - 32 years old
Peter Brezovan - GK - 32 years old
Tomasz Kuszczak - GK - 30 years old
Vito Mannone - GK - 24 years old
Bruno - DRL - 32 years old
Adam El-Abd - DRC - 28 years old
Wayne Bridge - DL - 32 years old (on loan)
Marcos Painter - DL - 26 years old
Ínigo Calderón - D/DMR - 30 years old
Vitalijs Maksimento - D/DML - 21 years old
George Saville - D/DMC - 19 years old (on loan)
Liam Bridcutt - DMC - 23 years old
Andrew Crofts - MC - 28 years old
Gary Dicker - MC - 26 years old
Jake Forster-Caskey - MC - 18 years old
Dean Hammond - MC - 29 years old (on loan)
Anton Rodgers - MC - 19 years old
Kazenga Lua Lua - AMRL - 21 years old
Will Buckley - AMRLC - 22 years old
Vicente - AMRLC - 31 years old
David López - AMRC - 30 years old
Andrea Orlandi - AMLC - 28 years old
Tobjorn Agdestein - AM/F RLC - 20 years old
Ashley Barnes - AM/F RLC - 22 years old
Brennan Dickinson - AM/F RLC - 19 years old
George Barker - AM/F RLC - 21 years old
Adebayo Akinfenwa - SC - 30 years old
Will Hoskins - SC - 26 years old
Craig Mackail-Smith - SC - 28 years old
Leonardo Ulloa - SC - 26 years old

Overall, I believe we have a good squad, may need a few improvements in order to get promotion but it's nothing I haven't done before.

September and October 2012

Results

Brighton & Hove Albion 5 - 0 Barnsley - 8th September 2012 - Npower Championship
Ashley Barnes (7)
Will Hoskins (30)
Will Buckley (40)
Andrew Crofts (44)
Matthew Upson (53)

Derby County 1 - 1 Brighton & Hove Albion - 11th September 2012 - Npower Championship
Richard Keogh (62)

Wayne Bridge (43)

Brighton & Hove Albion 2 - 1 Birmingham City - 15th September 2012 - Npower Championship
Andrew Crofts (41, 86)

Robert Hall (15)

Watford 4 - 2 Brighton & Hove Albion - 22nd September 2012 - Npower Championship
Troy Deeney (26)
Cristian Battocchio (52)
Matej Vydra (54, 59)

Kazenga Lua Lua (33)
Will Hoskins (48)

Brighton & Hove Albion 1 - 1 Bristol City - 25th September 2012 - Npower Championship
Ashley Barnes (37)
Craig Mackail-Smith (AGAIN - 1 month)

Sam Baldock (47)

Middlesbrough 1 - 2 Brighton & Hove Albion - 30th September 2012 - Npower Championship
Faris Haroun (14)

Ashley Barnes (10, 45)

Brighton & Hove Albion 3 - 0 Bolton Wanderers - 13th October 2012 - Npower Championship
Leonardo Ulloa (14)
Andrew Crofts (61)
Will Buckley (64)

Charlton Athletic 1 - 2 Brighton & Hove Albion - 16th October 2012 - Npower Championship
Jordan Cook (45 pen)

Leonardo Ulloa (76, 87)
Bruno (1 week)

Brighton & Hove Albion 3 - 0 Burnley - 20th October 2012 - Npower Championship
Gary Dicker (40)
Will Buckley (60, 71)
Andrew Crofts (2 weeks)

Peterborough United 3 - 1 Brighton & Hove Albion - 27th October 2012 - Npower Championship
Dave Hibbert (11)
Danny Swanson (18)
Lee Tomlin (55)

Craig Mackail-Smith (26)

Transfer News

David Lopez hands in a transfer request

Manager's Overview

These 2 months were extremely successful, and you will see just how successful they were when you see the table. Peterborough loss aside, we dominated every game.


We're 4 points clear of 2nd, 5 points clear of 3rd and 7 points clear of 7th! Great two months, thanks Brighton!

No player of the month as it's gone 2 months