Ah dear Brighton, piers, queers and racketeers. A town that has been synonymous with crime from the time it sprang up on the sunny Sussex coast. You know a place is bad when Jane Austen describes it as a den of vice. A former murder capital of the world and host to Graham Greene's psychotic anti-hero Pinky. Let us hope Munoz knows Potter won't be killing his team after the opening minutes of this contest. While we cannot ride the Brighton Belle and who would not want to for the foreseeable future there will be a rather more confident and cheerful group of Vespa impersonators travelling down after the perhaps surprising win yesterday. Several of the signings made on the cheap given that we have less money than the late Oliver Reed after a binge in the West End impressed mightily. One has to hope that the midfield mastery on display from Kucka and Etebo is no flash in the pan. Nor the now aptly titled Dennis the menace ceases to harry and befuddle defenders with his balance, speed and hunger to show what he can really do when he has the time to turn his head from social media. And that is not mentioning our dearly beloved lost for a time prodigal son Cucho Hernandez. Unmistakable with his short squat frame, shock of platinum hair his run and finish will be savoured for quite a while not only in this neck of the woods but to all Cafeteros supporters wherever they may be. That level of commitment and effort, the team work to cover, harry in units and press from the front aided by the complete absence of Deeney. Compare the two. Aside from starting with a capital D and having six letters in their surnames Emmanuel Bonaventure could have a lucrative career as a pickpocket. The tactics from the Championship translated well enough. A 4-3-3, a high press and an early goal. Sarr and Dennis seem to have struck up that most precious of things in football and which managers revel in. A good understanding. Given that Craig Cathcart bless him is not exactly Javier Zanetti or Cafu in his prime that we managed to create so many overlaps for Ismaila aside from the opportunities his speed and skill created for himself was greatly encouraging. If we can get Kiko back while we may lose defensively there the threat is just magnified. What must remain an ever present is the commitment and energy. While it may be easy to maintain during the sun of the late summer and autumn we all know defeats are coming our way as we cannot hope to compete with teams backed by sovereign states and billionaires. We must not let confidence be knocked and as we saw with the Blades sometimes even now working as a team and sheer bloody hard work can produce results. We also still need to strengthen. If Hughes wants to leave so be it but we could do with some more presence at the back and as we saw when Gosling for Kucka (or it may be Etebo next time around)came on we lost that midfield. There is no room for complacency. Brighton are well coached, funded and have changed radically since that memorable sunny afternoon at the seaside where an otter sent thousands into ecstasy. Robert Sanchez has taken over from Matt Ryan in goal and looked more than assured against the rough and tumble of Burnley while their big money signing Enoch Mwepu impressed on his competitive debut having arrived from RB Salzburg. Indeed their squad is sprinkled with quality. Lamptey is still plagued by an ongoing hamstring issue so is very unlikely to be even on the bench but you have Pascal Gross, Lewis Dunk and Yves Bissouma providing a very stiff spine to the side. Throw in the emerging talent of Jakub Moder (a pity we cannot do the same instead of signing OAPs to long term contracts), tricky Trossard and Alexis MacAllister they can hurt sides. MacAllister bagged the winner yesterday and having watched him at Boca and Argentina u20 it has been amazing how little he has been used by Potter given the range of tools he has as an attacking midfielder. Often played out of position too when used. If he sets foot on the Amex turf on Saturday evening then he will need watching. One area where the Seagulls are lacking compared to us is upfront. While Maupay may have bagged another goal yesterday his scoring rate is alarmingly poor for a top flight player and dear Danny Welbeck who we nursed back to health is guess what injured again. Like Lamptey the old hamstrings are playing up again. I expect Laridae to come at us in front of the cameras (whereas they were more cautious against Burnley until the second minute) and like the Villa expecting an easy three points. This may well suit us given the speed and skill of the front two plus Sema. I do hope maybe Cucho get's the nod but you cannot fault Ken for his willingness to press hard and his defensive contributions. It would be nice to also see Sierralta return to the back but can you split Kabasele and Troost-Ekong. Neither put a foot wrong yesterday. Hope we can secure another three points on the road to safety which is the sole aim this season. Screw the cups. Seventeenth will be just fine. Opposition forum: https://northstandchat.com/ Two great performers from yesterday. @Filbert just for you...... Love William Ward-Higgs Sussex By The Sea. So here it is once again. The album cover is me with the wife when we had the novelty of travelling down to the smoke for the first time. My middle name is Methuselah. And my new favourite popular song as well. If we lost it should cheer you up. Continuing the literary theme the afore mentioned march and Kiplings poem share the same name. This is for any Brighton forumites popping in to see what the mood here is. Be sure most of it is tongue in cheek..... The old head to head: https://www.11v11.com/teams/watford/tab/opposingTeams/opposition/Brighton and Hove Albion/
Just returned from my honeymoon in Brighton and can confirm the best places to eat are The Vital Ingredient and Rotanos. Oast on Percy Street has a fantastic range of craft beers too. The whole town looks as though it has suffered from the pandemic with most of the restaurants moving towards Hove. Oh and the Brighton Smokehouse has stopped putting kippers in tiger rolls and stuck them in ciabatta's which aren't up to the job half as much. This has got a Desmond written all over it which would be a decent result.
Both us and Brighton have improved greatly over the last couple of years. I would not say we are level in terms of ability, Brighton have more cash than we do, but we seem to have more desire and hunger. The Amex is a tough place to go, and we are yet to win their. We should of won on our last visit only for Mapps to score a brilliant OG and deny us three crucial points. They will press us much more than Villa did, being the home side and like us, will want to build on their opening day win at Gravel throat's Turd Moor. Our away form last time in the Premiership was nothing short of pathetic. We hardly turned up and shipped goals like Deeney got through Happy Meals. We are not going to remain unbeaten all season that's a given, but we need to fight for every point we can get. Brighton are a tough well drilled outfit under "Harry" Potter, and we will need to play well to resist his 'magic touch' by his team. Everyone on our side played well yesterday so predicting the side will be difficult. Our general approach to the game might be a little bit more defensive but we know now we can get forward and track back when needed. I think we can get something here, I actually think we will win this. We need as many points as we can get before November (the month of Death), so six from two would be a great start. I would certainly suggest though, that a draw would not be a bad result. Seagulls 0 Hornets 1
It's slowly become what Camden became, a tourist hotspot. Before both places used to be unique but now bigger vendors have moved in, the lanes are now pretty empty or identikit stools selling similar wares.
It's a fun place for a stag or hen do. Other than that the beach is awful unless you really want piles and the place is overpromoted and overpriced tackiness. There are worse old seaside towns in the UK of course.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/20822994 But yes, it’s a team we for some reason usually struggle against, wherever both teams are in the table. Even in the 2-0 in 2015, part of one of the greatest days in Watford’s history, we had to work hard for that result, even changing formation and subbing Anya in the process. I’m going for 1-1, with BHA leading 1-0 at half time through Dunk from a corner and Sarr equalising with a late-ish volley, which I’d be quite happy with.
Its important we don’t get carried away, take things step by step. We are capable of winning this, we are capable of losing this.
I seem to remember winning at the Amex about 6 years ago. I think Jokanovic was manager at the time. I can't recall much else about the game
Moderately well known female tennis players who support BHA and will be playing at Hazelwood TC at 1pm today,number 1,Julie Salmon. Err... That's it.
I’m surprised at the criticism of Brighton the city. It doesn’t have the best beaches, but it has plenty of good places to eat, a vibrant seafront and a cosmopolitan feel that reminds me a bit of Bristol, plus it’s a great place for walking and cycling with its proximity to the South Downs. It’s certainly a better place than Portsmouth (a few attractions aside) and more interesting than Southampton. What would you say are your favourite South coast towns?
This is one of those games where if you lose, you'll be kicking yourself as it's a rare opportunity to get an away win. Brighton are an ok side, but not one we should fear. Sure they can easily beat us, if we put up a lame performance, but if we're on it, as we were yesterday, then I fancy us to win again. 6 points from the opening two fixtures would be huge for us. Of course, they'll be thinking exactly the same. It's a game both sides will feel they can win, so it should be a decent match. I'll predict a narrow Watford win.
This is an interesting one; I would have assumed ciabatta would be infinitely preferable in that regard!
You need the toasted tiger bread for the nuttiness, adds a different dimension. The ciabatta was far too spongey for the job. Was still good mind.
Brighton is a great place. Friend of mine went to uni at Sussex, so I spent a bunch of time visiting. I liked it so much that I nearly went to Sussex after finishing my first degree. As with most places, the key is to avoid the tourist hotspots.
I worked in Hove for a while and used to stay over Down in the lanes are there was a great tapas restaurant, forget the name, casa.... something, just around the corner from the cricketers pub, also recommended Up by the station was a small pub, grand central I think it was called, tiny place nothing to look at from the outside, but brilliant food and beer My only complaint is the homeless, millions of them, they must multiply if you get them wet or something... and if you're there the week after pride the whole front smells of urine, makes you heave
Quite fancy us to cause problems on the break in this one. Brighton will be in high spirits and will play on the front foot.
I have managed to convince Mrs Mazz into a nice afternoon shopping in Bath, followed by a meal, sandwiched in between is two hours at one the crappy football pubs watching Watford smash these buggers.
Are we going to have a minute of applause in the 25th minute to mark the sad demise of Matt Targett this past weekend? What Sarr did to him was tragic, and I feel it’s only right we pay our respects.
True. But we are also capable of drawing this - and that's my prediction. Though I think we might lose. Or win.
Great win at the weekend, all the best for this one. Brighton are one of those annoying little plasticky clubs, I’d struggle to name five of their players to be honest. Sort of like Bournemouth but with a nicer kit and ground. Brilliant town though, great for food drink.
2 places below us but, admittedly, much of the season still to go. Do you still think you can catch and relegate us ?
