- 7 weeks ago
Matt Pole, is joined by Brighton writer Derren Howard, Crawley Town expert Mark Dunford, and Sam Morton, who covers both the Seagulls and the Reds.
It was a disappointing week for our professional clubs in Sussex as Brighton blew a two-goal lead to draw 2-2 at home to Tottenham in the Premier League, while Crawley saw their unbeaten run come to an end in a dispiriting 4-0 defeat at Notts County in League Two.
This week, we pick over the bones of these two results, bring you all the team news ahead of Albion’s and Crawley’s next league games, and look back at Brighton’s midweek Carabao Cup tie at Barnsley.
It was a disappointing week for our professional clubs in Sussex as Brighton blew a two-goal lead to draw 2-2 at home to Tottenham in the Premier League, while Crawley saw their unbeaten run come to an end in a dispiriting 4-0 defeat at Notts County in League Two.
This week, we pick over the bones of these two results, bring you all the team news ahead of Albion’s and Crawley’s next league games, and look back at Brighton’s midweek Carabao Cup tie at Barnsley.
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00:00for a wide fight.
00:30over the bones of these two results, bring you all the team news ahead of Albion's
00:33and Crawley's next league games and look back at Brighton's midweek Carabao Cup tie
00:38at Barnsley.
00:39You can read all the stories we are talking about in videos and pictures online at sussexworld.co.uk
00:43forward slash sport.
00:45And we will start at the Amex where Tottenham fought back from two goals down to secure
00:49a deserved point against Brighton.
00:51The Seagulls, who were second best for much of the match, found themselves 2-0 up after
00:5431 minutes thanks to Yankouba Minter and Yasir Yari.
00:56However, Richarlison halved the deficit just before half-time and the equaliser came eight
01:01minutes from time when Jan-Paul Van Heek turned Mohamed Koudis' cross into his own net.
01:06It sounds like it was another supremely frustrating afternoon, Darren.
01:10What did you make of Seagulls' performance?
01:13And it might be stating the obvious, but that must feel like two points dropped for him.
01:18Yeah, for sure.
01:19When the fans were coming away, that was the talk, that it was two points dropped.
01:24For me, I think they'll probably look back on it and think when they analyse the actual
01:30game, they thought, well, maybe we actually got away with, you know, getting a point out
01:34of that one because Brighton never looked comfortable.
01:38They went two goals up thanks to two moments of individual brilliance.
01:43Yankouba Minter's goal was excellent, you know, bearing down on the goalkeeper showed great
01:49composure to round the keeper and then slot home after Jorginho's through ball.
01:55That was a great goal.
01:57And it was against the run of play, to be honest.
01:59They've been under pressure until that point.
02:02And then Yassi Nayyari, he then popped up with this angled drive from the, for about 25 yards,
02:08which deceived the Tottenham goalkeeper in the flight, you know, the flight of the ball
02:15was moving all over the place and it deceived the goalkeeper.
02:17He probably should have saved it really, but it was still, it was still a good goal.
02:22But for me, I think Thomas Frank's Tottenham, they look serious contenders this season.
02:28They're up to second and I was really impressed with how they, how they performed.
02:34They just suffocated the life out of Brighton.
02:37They just could not, could not get away from them.
02:40They were literally swarming all over them and any bit of space that Brighton had,
02:45they had to be at their sharpest and at their very best to, you know, to try and beat the
02:49press and to get the attacks going forward, which they did twice.
02:53But to, to be honest, you know, Brighton really sort of battled, they struggled and they,
03:02they just needed to see the game out just at the end of that first half.
03:06They were 2-0 up 10 minutes to go and you could see it coming.
03:09They were getting sloppy.
03:10They were getting, giving balls away, the likes of Matoma, Baliba, Jorginho, all gave the
03:15ball away.
03:16And, and Richarlison just got that goal just before the halftime and it, it just changed
03:21everything.
03:21They just needed to keep the ball.
03:23And for me, I was, I was saying to Sam afterwards, I think that's where Brighton need to improve
03:29is in possession in the midfield and, and keeping the ball and just stop being sloppy.
03:34Like they're a good team, Brighton, but for me, they're not good enough to, to challenge
03:38at the top six.
03:39That's going to be where, where they fall down.
03:42I think this, this season, because they can't keep the ball.
03:45They can't manage the game at the moment in, in these areas.
03:49And I think Tottenham, that performance against Tottenham highlighted that, but yeah, I'm
03:53sure it's something that they'll be working on, but at the moment, Brighton just aren't
03:57good enough to, in those moments.
04:01Are we then maybe foregoing the idea of a potential European tilt then, Darren, if things carry
04:08on the way there?
04:09I know it's still very early, but.
04:10It's still early.
04:11It's still early.
04:12So they're 14th at the moment.
04:13They've got five points, but Chelsea are six.
04:16They played Chelsea this weekend.
04:17That's six.
04:18And they're only three points ahead of Brighton.
04:20And so, so it can turn around pretty quickly, but for me, that there's just so many sort
04:26of glaring problems with, with Brighton at the moment, whether they've got so much individual
04:31talent, Mitoma, Minte, Jorginho, but just being more ruthless and just being better in possession
04:38in those sort of key moments and those key areas of the pitch is, is going to cost them,
04:44I think.
04:44Absolutely.
04:46Well, Spurs' equaliser came in unfortunate circumstances.
04:50I'm deflecting off Van Hecker's side, but Sam, do you think Brighton could have maybe attacked
04:54it a little bit more and gone on the front foot at 2-1 or were they forced to kind of
04:59retreat into themselves and sit deep due to Kudos and Richarlison and then latterly substitutes
05:04Brennan Johnson and Jadon Simmons?
05:07There's bits and bits of everything, really.
05:09I think Darren's covered it really well.
05:10I think Spurs were really impressive and they really did make life very difficult for Brighton
05:16to play their best, to be honest.
05:19But there was a lot of sloppiness and there's a lot of giving the ball away.
05:22We've obviously mentioned Carlos Baleva's poor form and that did continue.
05:28He was obviously substituted at half-time and I'm going to discuss it a bit more soon.
05:33But he, yeah, he definitely wasn't up to scratch and he was one of those players guilty of giving
05:37the ball away too easily and that was allowing Spurs just to dominate proceedings, really.
05:43And it was, yeah, it was a surprise to see Brighton take that two-goal lead because they
05:47really were second best and it was, yeah, it was remarkable that they did find themselves
05:52in that position and you kind of, you thought maybe, yeah, that's a good opportunity to attack
05:58it, maybe score a third goal and put the game beyond Spurs.
06:00But Spurs did do really well to fight back and to get back into the game.
06:04And as you say, those substitutes made a huge difference.
06:07So Jeremy Simmons, especially, coming on at half-time, I thought he completely changed the
06:12game for Spurs and he really did make a big impact.
06:18And yeah, again, really impressed by Spurs and I think they'll definitely be a finishing
06:24high up the table.
06:25And as a Brighton, I think a lot will depend on kind of bringing their key players back
06:30into form.
06:31I think the Labour's a big one, I think.
06:32If you can get him firing and get him playing back to his best, things can look very different
06:38quite quickly, I think.
06:39When he's not playing well, it does seem to throw everything off-kill a little bit because
06:44he's that good and he's that important.
06:46And that's why when there was talk of him going to Man Utd in the summer, it was just crucial
06:50they didn't allow him to leave unless it was for a huge amount of money because it was so late
06:55to try and find an ideal replacement for him.
06:57And his form is really showing why it's important that you've got him kind of firing all cylinders,
07:03really.
07:04And he hasn't been up to his best at the moment.
07:06And yeah, fingers crossed he can rediscover that form that we saw last season.
07:11Yeah, as Sam said, against Spurs, Carlos Belieber, who was linked during the summer transfer
07:14window with a rumoured £100 million plus move to Manchester United, continued his difficult
07:19start to the season and was substituted at half-time for the second time in four games.
07:23Why was the Cameroon international hooked at the break, do you think, Darren?
07:28And what has Fabian Hatzela had to say about the midfielders at the start of the season?
07:32Because he's been patchy, to say the least, I think.
07:36Yeah, he has been patchy.
07:37And there was so much talk about him in pretty much the press conference after the match was
07:41dominated by talk on Carlos Belieber and what's going on with him.
07:46There's nothing new in all the games, probably this season, his name has cropped up in the
07:52post-match press conferences.
07:54But it's been notable, the fall-off in his performances.
07:58So it's sort of the obvious question to ask.
08:01And it keeps getting asked in the first few matches.
08:04But there's no doubt about it in my mind.
08:07And I think it did unsettle him.
08:08There was a lot of talk of this move to Manchester United.
08:13But for me, I don't know how serious this talk was for Manchester United.
08:18I think they brought in quite a few of the attacking players, like Kuno and Buemo as well.
08:24And this Believer link came quite late in the window, almost like an afterthought.
08:29It was like, oh, yeah, shit, we need a midfielder.
08:32Let's try and unsettle this lad, the guy from Brighton, and get him in.
08:38And it didn't seem as though there was a plan right from the start of the window for Manchester
08:42United to really go for it.
08:44And then Brighton, well, thinking, well, if you want him, then you're going to have to pay
08:50a serious amount of money because this is going to disrupt us so late in the window.
08:54And Brighton are adamant that it was going to be Moises Caicedo type money, 100 million plus.
09:01And United backed away.
09:03And whether they will come back, you know, in January or next summer, we'll have to wait and see.
09:09But I think it did get to Believer and it has affected his performances.
09:14He had a knee injury as well in pre-season.
09:17So he had a bit of a disrupted pre-season.
09:19But against Tottenham, he started the first 20 or 30 minutes, Sam.
09:24And he probably looked as though he had done in patches a bit towards last season.
09:29He seemed back to his best, but then really tired towards the end of the first half.
09:34Yeah, he seemed to look really laggy quite quickly, didn't he?
09:36He did.
09:37He really, really faded.
09:39And Herzella said afterwards that he wasn't tracking back.
09:41He wasn't going with his runners.
09:43He looked physically not great.
09:47And I wasn't surprised to see him hooked at half-time.
09:50He was against Everton as well.
09:52He came off at half-time.
09:53But it's a tough one because I guess Herzella wants to give him the minutes to play his way back into form.
09:58But also at the moment, he's a bit of a liability against teams, you know, really on you, like Tottenham and like Everton were at the Hill Dickinson.
10:07But when he is on it, he's one of the best midfielders in the Premier League.
10:12And Brighton need him, especially with Pinchel without, for the next couple of months.
10:15And he has something that no other Brighton player does.
10:18So, you know, he has that X factor and Brighton need him back to his best, hopefully, starting this Saturday against Chelsea.
10:27Yeah, fingers crossed.
10:28I think you're 100% right with the fact that United didn't really have a plan, Darren, because once they moved on for Believer, I believe they made a move for Conor Gallagher.
10:35It didn't seem to be any sort of structure in their thinking, which unfortunately looks like it's unsettled Believer, isn't it?
10:43Yes.
10:43Yeah, had a knock-on effect.
10:46But whether they come back for him in, you know, in the next window, it'd be interesting to see whether he is a long-term target for them or if he was someone that they wanted just to fill a gap.
10:57Yeah.
10:57Yeah, absolutely.
10:58Fingers crossed he sets his sights higher.
11:00I think he can do better than Man United at the moment.
11:03We shall see.
11:04Tuesday evening saw Albion travel to League One outfit Barnsley in the third round of the Carabao Cup.
11:10By all accounts, Sam, it sounded quite a successful evening for the Seagulls.
11:13What did you make of their performance and how did they get on?
11:17It couldn't have gone much better, to be honest.
11:19Those travelling fans who made the 238-mile trip were rewarded with six goals and some exceptional ones at that as well.
11:27Diego Gomez was a man possessed, scoring four goals, including three in the first 33 minutes of the match.
11:35The second goal was brilliant.
11:38He kind of ran onto it and put an unstoppable shot into the roof of the net.
11:41The third one was one of the greatest goals I think ever scored by a Brighton player.
11:45To be honest, it was absolutely brilliant.
11:48Can I interrupt you?
11:51The second goal was better than the third goal.
11:54Do you think?
11:55Technically, to hit it coming across him like that with his right fit into that top corner across the keeper.
12:01Second one, keeper wins no man's land.
12:03I could have scored that one.
12:04In fact, I did against a college from Bournemouth when I was at St. Vincent College.
12:09I scored a 30-yard volley exactly like that.
12:11But the keeper was way off his line.
12:13Anyway, I think the third one was incredible.
12:20What the swerve he got on him.
12:21He saw it from behind him.
12:23The angle that showed the ball.
12:24It was a good strike.
12:25I'm not denying it was a good strike.
12:27Yeah, it was absolutely incredible for me.
12:30He was obviously full of confidence after his first two goals and just felt that everything he touched would go in.
12:35And that's how it proved, really.
12:37It was quite incredible to see.
12:40And yeah, I don't think Barnsley really knew what hit them because they didn't actually play badly, to be honest.
12:44I think Brighton obviously scored two worldies, three nil up.
12:48And then the game was obviously gone at that point.
12:50And they just really just put their foot on the gas in the second half and added more goals.
12:55It was great to see Harry Howe involved in the goals as well.
12:58Really nice moment for him.
13:00Yassine Yari, he's got a bit of a nose for goal at the moment as well.
13:03He scored for Sweden in the national break.
13:05And he obviously got a goal against Spurs and now a goal against Barnsley as well.
13:08So that's good to see.
13:09Players chipping in from midfield.
13:12Yeah, Tommy Watson getting a couple of assists as well, which is really great to see.
13:18So yeah, I think it bodes well for Brighton, obviously, because they've now won back-to-back six nil wins in the Cup,
13:26which I understand is the record.
13:28That's never been done in the League Cup, which is as meaningless as a stat as you can probably get, to be fair.
13:35But it does go to show that Brighton are obviously taking this competition seriously.
13:40And you can say they're obviously bullying the smaller teams, but it's often not as easy as it looks to win these games.
13:47So, to be honest, you've seen obviously some upsets, even Man Utd losing to Grimsby this season.
13:54We saw Plymouth beat Liverpool last year.
13:58Not too much of a shock, but you know, Plymouth beating Liverpool last season.
14:02I think they've been at City quite close as well.
14:04So yeah, you never really know what's going to happen in the Cup.
14:07If you don't get an early goal, it can become quite tense and nervy.
14:11So, fair play to Brighton for making it look quite easy so far.
14:14And hopefully it will continue because it will be great if they can get some silverware, to be honest.
14:19I think that's got to be a real aim for Brighton this season with the squad depth they now have.
14:24And yeah, they're really making a good go of it, it seems.
14:27Yeah, absolutely.
14:28And sticking on that, when will the draw for the fourth round be made?
14:32At the time of recording, I know that we've got some more games to be played,
14:35but who could Brighton potentially face in the next round?
14:37And yes, so the draw is due to be after Wednesday night's matches.
14:42You'd expect Man City, Arsenal, Newcastle and Spurs all to put their names in the hat for the next round.
14:48Already there are Cardiff, Fulham, Chelsea, Wickham, Wolves, Wrexham and Liverpool.
14:54So yeah, so it's a big name sitting there and there'll be some interesting ties either way, I think.
14:59And I think Brighton will just be hoping for something a bit closer than Barnsley, to be honest.
15:04It wasn't an ideal Tuesday night fixture, but fair play to the ones that made the trip.
15:10And they obviously, as I say, they're rewarded with a great win.
15:13So yeah, we'll see, we'll see who they get. I'm looking forward to seeing the draw.
15:16Yeah, but do we not want Wrexham, I think?
15:19Do we want to avoid that circus or are we going to, yeah, we're happy to avoid that?
15:23Yeah, none of the things are good.
15:26Albion will be reunited with several familiar faces at Chelsea on Saturday.
15:30Saturday, I've probably forgotten a few players here, but the Blues boast former Seagulls.
15:34Jao Pedro, Moises Caicedo, Mark Cucre and Robert Sanchez.
15:38And Facundo Buonanotte, who I believe won't be able to play.
15:41Is that right? Is he on loan?
15:43Yeah, no, he's loan locked.
15:44So that's part of the deal here when he went to Chelsea.
15:47He won't be able to play against Brighton.
15:49Ah, right. Excellent. Thank you for clarifying that.
15:51Well, they sit sixth in the Premier League, but endured a torrid time at Man United last weekend.
15:55Going down 2-1 Old Trafford after Sanchez was shown an early road card for a silly tackle, to say the least.
16:01It's another tough game for Brighton, Derren.
16:03But I think that the Seagulls can certainly cause Chelsea some problems.
16:07How do you see this one going and what's the latest injury news from the Albion camp?
16:11Yes, yeah, it's a game that, you know, obviously Crystal Palace is one of the first games that Brighton fans look towards.
16:18But I think Chelsea is a close second these days because of all the transfer dealings and the money that's changed hands between the two.
16:25There's always a great stat that the Chelsea money has more than paid for the Amex Stadium and the whole of the Lansing training ground for the, you know,
16:34for the money that they've paid to get the likes of Caicedo, Pedro, Graham Potter even, you know, Moises Caicedo and Sanchez.
16:43So Brighton have done pretty well out of the arrangement and they've kept, you know, they've stayed competitive as well.
16:49They've sold their best players to Chelsea but managed to stay competitive.
16:53And it's a game that they'd love to win.
16:55They'd love to put one over Chelsea again.
17:00So, yeah, it's one really looking forward to.
17:03A lot of the fans are looking forward to.
17:06As you mentioned, Rob Sanchez won't be playing.
17:09He received a red card against Man United last time out.
17:12So, he sits out with a three-match suspension.
17:16Caicedo and Pedro also injured doubts as well.
17:19Mareska spoke about that earlier in the week ahead of their game against Lincoln in the Cup.
17:26And so, that's going to be an interesting one to see if Caicedo and Pedro play.
17:32But just in case Brighton fans are worried they won't have anybody to boo,
17:36I'm sure Mark Kukurea will be there as well.
17:39So, they can always just prevent all of their frustration on Kukurea.
17:45He'll probably play.
17:47Fekunde Bonnotte, as you mentioned, he's on loan to Chelsea but he's unable to play as part of the condition of his loan.
17:54He got his first goal for Chelsea actually yesterday.
17:57He scored the winner against Lincoln City in the Carabao Cup.
18:02So, he won't be playing.
18:04But as far as Brighton are concerned, I hope to have Maxine de Kuiper back.
18:07The left back, he's missed the last couple of games after he was shoved into the advertising ball in Zet Cornmouth.
18:12He's injured his knee but he's hoping to be back.
18:17Matt Swiffer, he's the right back.
18:19He played the last few minutes against Tottenham.
18:22So, he could be back in contention as well.
18:26Jack Hinchwood has remained sidelines.
18:28He's going to be out for the next couple of months with his ankle injury.
18:33And Solly March and Adam Webster, the long-term absentees as well.
18:37So, yeah, Brighton would be at full strength.
18:39It would be very interesting to see if Diogo Gomez plays ahead of Kiles Belinda at Stamford Bridge this weekend as well.
18:48I'm pretty sure Yassi Nayyari would be in the midfield.
18:51So, he's probably going to be between Belieber now and Gomez for that second midfield slot.
18:56He played in a slightly more advanced position against Barnsley.
18:59He usually plays a deeper role.
19:00So, yeah, it would be an interesting decision for Herzella as well.
19:06Yeah, absolutely.
19:06Best of luck to Brighton on Saturday.
19:09Now, we will turn our attention to Crawley Town, who saw their three-match winning streak come to an end at Notts County in League Two on Saturday.
19:17Goals from Scott Robertson, Alessana Jatta and Tyrese Hallsbrace earned the Magpies a resounding 4-0 win at Meadow Lane.
19:24I think we said it would be a tough game, Mark, but we didn't predict such a heavy defeat.
19:28You took this one in and it sounded like an utterly miserable afternoon for everyone involved at Crawley Town.
19:35It was an afternoon to forget, definitely, for everyone.
19:38It was pretty poor.
19:41I mean, the first half, it was sort of like Darren was saying about Brighton.
19:44They let that goal in before halftime.
19:46If Notts County hadn't scored just before halftime, it could have been a different story.
19:52But there were no signs that Crawley were going to go out and put off a shock victory or whatever.
19:58It wouldn't have been a shock victory, but a victory.
20:01But, I mean, they were in it.
20:02And even up to like the 70th minute, it was only 1-0.
20:06And they were in it, but they just didn't look like they were ever going to score a goal.
20:10There was no real threat.
20:11I think they only had two shots in target in the whole game.
20:15And it was just, yeah.
20:17I mean, we're going to get on to what Lindsay said.
20:19But he said there wasn't a lot of, he said it wasn't a lot of commitment from the players.
20:25He didn't seem to have that sort of drive or anything.
20:29For a team that have just won three games on the try, it was quite poor.
20:32I mean, I was surprised that Ryan Loft and Keane Dixon didn't start.
20:36But he stuck with the same side that beat Cheltenham the week before.
20:44And I think, I don't know if that's a little bit of loyalty, thinking, or is it just, well, we won with that team.
20:49Why would we change it?
20:50And you get that why a manager wants consistency and all that.
20:54But maybe, maybe he's thinking, oh, maybe I did get that a bit wrong.
20:58But it wasn't, it wasn't very good.
21:01And, yeah, they need to bounce back this week and put in something because you said there was 250 fans, I think, made the trip up there.
21:09And, yeah, I would have been furious.
21:11I saw one comment where one guy said, he said, I spent 200 quid on a hotel, probably the same in petrol money and food and drink, all for that.
21:22And, yeah, so what a waste.
21:25So, but these things happen, don't they?
21:27I remember in the promotion winning season, was it, they lost, they let in six at Swindon, I think, on that season.
21:33Yeah, I think so.
21:34Away at Swindon.
21:35And, yeah, they had some big defeats on the road then as well.
21:38So, these things happen.
21:40Hopefully, it's just a blip in the road.
21:43Yeah, fingers crossed.
21:43And as Mark alluded to, Scott Lindsay was furious after the Reds performance in Meadow Lane.
21:48He said Crawley served up tripe and said Reds fans should be throwing things at him after that performance.
21:53And it's good honesty, I guess, from Lindsay.
21:56But will that salve any wounds?
21:58Because, as Mark said, you spent a lot of money to go up to Nottingham and be served up that.
22:02I'd still be pretty livid if I was a Crawley fan.
22:05Yeah, no, I'd be pretty livid too.
22:08But I'm sure they're probably pleased to hear the honesty from the manager.
22:12I think there's probably nothing worse than seeing that and then see the manager try and make excuses or things like that.
22:18Because that would probably make fans even more angry, to be honest.
22:20So, it's good to see him own up to it.
22:22And, yeah, just to say exactly what comments he made, he said,
22:27Honestly, I'm so angry that we've given that tripe to watch in many ways because those goals are just disgusting.
22:32And no fans should have to travel this amount of distance and watch that.
22:35But he said, The fans are brilliant.
22:36The guys over there, they're just class.
22:38They don't deserve that.
22:39And I don't deserve the fans after that, really.
22:41I don't deserve their appreciation of me after that rubbish.
22:43They should be throwing things at me for the truth to be known.
22:47But I love them.
22:48And as I say, I think it's refreshing to hear Lindsay be that honest.
22:51And we know that he doesn't hold back when he's angry, does he?
22:55We've seen it a few times in the past.
22:58And I'm sure if he's this angry in public, he would have been absolutely livid behind the scenes.
23:05I can only imagine what you're saying to the players after that.
23:08And I'm sure he'll ensure that the performance isn't repeated again.
23:11And those loyal fans, I'm sure, won't be deterred from making the next long trip as well.
23:17Because, yeah, they're obviously great, great fans.
23:19Obviously, Claudia have got that do follow home and away.
23:22So, fingers crossed, it doesn't deter you.
23:24You don't hear the word tripe enough, do you?
23:26You want to hear the word tripe more often.
23:29Yeah, absolutely.
23:31Well, I was going to ask, Mark, was Lindsay's summation of that performance correct?
23:38Was it not to over...
23:39Because I think this is the strongest I've heard him let into his players.
23:43Was that half of the course?
23:45Did they deserve those words?
23:47Probably, yeah.
23:49Because once they went 2-0 down, it was pitiful.
23:53There was no fight.
23:55They just gave up and heads dropped.
23:57And, yeah, people weren't reacting.
23:59They weren't committed to getting into tackles and that.
24:01And they were just completely overrun by Notts County.
24:04And you could say Notts County sends blood soon as they scored their second.
24:07They just went for it.
24:09So, I don't think it's too overboard.
24:11I think there was another thing he said in another story I wrote.
24:14I think he said something like,
24:16I spend so much time planning how we're going to play,
24:20what are the tactics and all that.
24:21And he said that I wasted my time.
24:24I just wasted my time this week doing all that work.
24:27So, yeah, no, I don't think it was over the top.
24:30Like I say, it's just refreshing to hear a manager do that.
24:34Because there's so many media trained people out there.
24:37They try to take the blame themselves.
24:41I mean, he obviously has taken a bit of blame himself.
24:43But to go after the players like that, I think, yeah,
24:47when they play like that, they should get that.
24:50So, yeah.
24:52Fair enough.
24:53Well, Crawley midfielder Geraldo Bajrami endured a nightmare return to Notts County,
24:58one of his former clubs.
24:59He, too, was also very honest in his appraisal of the Reds' performance.
25:02What did Bajrami have to say to start, Mark?
25:06And did any Reds' players come through that game with any credit in the bank?
25:11Or was it they should all hang their heads in shame after that one?
25:15Not quite all of them, I don't think.
25:17I mean, I'll start with what Bajrami said.
25:19He said the lads were a bit sloppy today at times.
25:21They looked a little nervous out there.
25:23And the scoreline reflected that.
25:24You have your off days and whatnot.
25:26But I don't think there's much of an excuse for today.
25:28I don't think we were bad in parts.
25:30But then the gaffer said to us in the changing room,
25:32we did a few out-of-character stuff second half,
25:34a few things that we would never do in training.
25:37So, I'm not sure why we're doing that in games.
25:39And he said the scoreline reflected that.
25:41But, yeah, because Bajrami's been really good since he's come in, actually.
25:45He's sort of someone who came in right at the end of the transfer window.
25:49And I think he's been quite surprised.
25:50He's with Jay Williams out injured.
25:52I think he's got to be key in that sort of central midfield role
25:55in the sort of slightly defensive alongside Carl Scott.
25:59But, yeah, it's funny because myself and Ron Alderman of this parish,
26:05he watched it as well.
26:06And he was doing the player ratings.
26:07And we were sort of discussing.
26:09And he was like, how low can I go?
26:12And we always try to be quite positive.
26:15I always, when I do player ratings, a bit sort of behind the curtain here,
26:19I always start with a seven and go from there.
26:21But I think the lowest mark we gave was a six.
26:28And there was a couple of sixes.
26:30But Harvey Davis, Ron kind of wanted to give him an eight.
26:33Because in the first half, Harvey Davis did keep them in the game.
26:35He pulled off some really good saves.
26:38But at the end of the day, he let in four.
26:39I don't think any of the goals were particularly his fault.
26:43So, I said, oh, you've got to knock him down to a seven.
26:45You can't have a goalkeeper letting him four and give him eight out of ten.
26:48But he did pull off some great saves.
26:51Harry McCurdy, he tried really hard and looked like the most likely to create anything or score a goal.
26:58But, yeah, it was just a final ball.
27:01And like I said, there was, yeah, there was two shots on target in the end, I think.
27:06So, yeah, it was disappointing.
27:07Even Kaheen Dixon and Ryan Loft, when they came on, I thought, oh, this, they could spark something.
27:12But Ryan Loft missed the Crawley's best chance, shot over from about eight yards.
27:16And Dixon didn't seem fully on his game.
27:19So, no, I think Harvey Davis and Harry McCurdy are the only two that sort of came out of it with any credit at all, really.
27:26Well, the Reds will hope to get back on the winning trail when they host Barrow this Saturday.
27:31The Bluebirds sit 19th in League Two, one point and two places above Crawley.
27:36How do you see this one going, Sam?
27:37I noticed that Barrow may well be on a bit of a high after beating Crewe 1-0 at home last weekend.
27:44Yes, they did snap their dismal four-match losing run with a resolute victory, it sounds like.
27:50I think Crewe dominated possession and had more shots on goal, but it was the host who got the all-important goal.
27:55And it sounds like it was deserved for their resilience, they showed in the game.
28:00And obviously, they have been on a terrible run of form.
28:03So, yeah, really important for them to get that win.
28:07It sounds like the match was in terrible conditions as well.
28:11So, yeah, really, really important for them to get over the line.
28:14And I'm sure they'll be looking to follow that up at Crawley.
28:18And, as I say, Barrow were previously beaten 5-0 by Blackpool in the EFL Trophy.
28:24And before that, they were beaten by Bristol Rovers, Swindon and Fleetwood.
28:27And they won three and lost six this season with no draws.
28:31So, of course, that all points to the draw, like Crawley did, on Saturday.
28:35So, we'll see how it goes.
28:37But I think Crawley have got to be looking at this as a game they need to be winning,
28:40especially after the result they've just had.
28:43It's a game that, yeah, I think if they're playing well, they should win.
28:46So, yeah, time will tell.
28:49But I'm sure both teams will be just as desperate as each other to get three points in the day.
28:53So, it could see them cancelled each other out.
28:55Yeah, couldn't agree more.
28:57Finally, Mark, what is the latest injury news from the Crawley camp?
29:00How are they looking ahead of the visit of Barrow?
29:03Yeah, it's looking quite good, actually.
29:05Because, obviously, they made, what was it,
29:0710 changes for the EFL Trophy game in midweek as well.
29:12So, a lot of players have got a lot of minutes.
29:13And that was a chance to get a cut.
29:14But, like, Gavin Houlihan had a – he missed that EFL Trophy game,
29:18but he played on Saturday as a sub.
29:21He had an ankle injury, I think.
29:24So, but he should be back fine.
29:27Jay Williams, we know, is out for a long time.
29:31I think that Lindsay said last week,
29:33they're targeting Gillingham and Wai on November the 15th, I think it is,
29:38for Williams' return.
29:40But, like Scott said, Williams will want to play next week if he could.
29:44But they're going to manage that quite carefully,
29:46because he's had a bit of a knee injury issue for quite a while now.
29:50I think even in the promotion winning season,
29:51he played through some injury to his knee.
29:56And Danny Cashman, they're not sure when he's going to be back.
29:59He's got a facial injury.
30:01Not facial, facial in the foot.
30:05I see.
30:06I think it is, yeah, at the bottom of the foot.
30:09And he's saying he can't accelerate with the pain
30:13and kicking the ball as well can cause a bit of pain in that.
30:16So, they're working on that, seeing what they can do with that.
30:18But there's no time frame on him.
30:20So, Cashman and Williams definitely out.
30:22But the rest of the team look like they're sort of available.
30:26Last week, Lindsay said it's clear in his head
30:29what the team should be to play Notts County,
30:31assuming that was because of the win against Cheltenham, et cetera.
30:34But this week, you'd imagine there will be changes
30:36after that Notts County performance.
30:40So, it's going to be interesting who comes in.
30:42But there's plenty of choices.
30:43Ben Radcliffe, he scored two goals against Aston Villa
30:47and played really well against Aston Villa.
30:48We haven't seen him in the league this year.
30:50He could be in for him.
30:52But looking at the back four, you've got Davis, Flint, Conroy and Barker.
30:56I can't see that changing any time soon.
30:59To be honest.
30:59So, unlikely to see Radcliffe be in.
31:03But I think he had an injury at the start of the season
31:05so he's back.
31:06So, yeah.
31:08So, Williams and Cashman are the only ones
31:10who are definitely out.
31:12But unless there's any sort of thing from the Notts County game,
31:17I'm assuming everyone else will be fit and ready to go.
31:20Excellent.
31:20Good news.
31:20Well, best of luck to Crawley against Barrow at the weekend.
31:23And as a tradition, we'll do our score predictions
31:26before we finish this episode.
31:27Starting with Chelsea v Brighton in the Premier League on Saturday.
31:31Darren, how do you see this one going?
31:33I'm going to get my predictions out of the way
31:35for both Chelsea, Brighton and Crawley Barrow.
31:36I'm going for a pair of one-all draws, I think.
31:39I can't see a winner in either of them.
31:41But, yeah, we'll start with Chelsea, Brighton.
31:42How do you see this one going?
31:44I think Brighton, they're going to respond.
31:48But, yeah, I'm going to go for 2-1 for Brighton.
31:52Yeah, yeah.
31:54Do you share Darren's confidence?
31:59I don't think I do, actually.
32:01I think Chelsea will be looking to bounce back after that.
32:05Yeah, pretty dismal defeat against United.
32:09A dreadful game, really was, especially the second half.
32:12Neither team played well.
32:13I think they'll be looking to bounce back.
32:16I think Chelsea might edge this one, 2-1.
32:19And finally, Mark, what do you reckon?
32:21Was it last year they got battered in the first half at Chelsea?
32:26Yes.
32:27Yeah, I fear.
32:28So, I'm going to go for 3-2.
32:29I think it'll be Chelsea will go steaming into a 3-0 lead.
32:34Brighton will bounce back, but won't quite do enough, I don't think.
32:37So, I'm going for a, yeah, Chelsea win 3-2.
32:40If, say, Brighton were to lose, Darren,
32:42where would that leave Herzell in terms of the supporters' feelings about him?
32:48Yeah.
32:50I've mentioned it before.
32:51Internally, I don't think there's a great, a huge amount of pressure on him at the moment.
32:56I think if it gets to the point where they're around Christmas, January, February time,
33:01and they're way off the pace for Europe, I think then, you know, questions can be asked
33:07and probably, you know, quite rightly, they've got a good squad that, you know,
33:11they're not playing sort of like, you know, game and game, you know.
33:15So, yeah, so they should be performing better.
33:19But for me, yeah, I think he's doing okay.
33:27The performances have been good.
33:29The away performances haven't been great.
33:31But hopefully that can change against Chelsea.
33:33But, yeah, it's an interesting one.
33:36And the fans have never really sort of, you know, they're quite split on him at the moment.
33:42So, yeah, defeat wouldn't be good in terms of the mood of the fans.
33:46But I don't think his job's under sort of a serious threat.
33:50Yeah.
33:50Fingers crossed for a good result for Brighton.
33:52And finally, Crawley v Barrow.
33:55Mark, again, I'd say, as I said, I could see that being the draw.
33:59Yeah, Barrow, never an easy side to play.
34:03I remember they'd had a good season when Crawley got promoted.
34:08And they came to Crawley and got a draw.
34:10I don't think Crawley only needed a draw in that night sort of thing.
34:15But, yeah, it's always a tough game.
34:17But I think Crawley will have enough to beat them.
34:20And I'm going to go for a tight 1-0 win.
34:23Tight 1-0 win.
34:24Sam, yep, do you share Mark's confidence again?
34:27And do you reckon we will see, not wholesale changes,
34:30but do you reckon we'll see a few changes from Scotland?
34:32I think we'll see.
34:32Yeah, I think we'll definitely see a few changes.
34:35I can't imagine he'll let the same team go again for this one.
34:39He'll be given some opportunity to different players to impress, I imagine.
34:44Yeah, I mentioned it a bit before.
34:46I think it'll be a draw.
34:47I think it's going to be two teams canceling each other out.
34:50And it'll be one-on.
34:52Yeah.
34:53Darren, finally, what do you reckon is going to happen at the Broadfield Stadium on Saturday?
34:56Yeah, I think they'll respond well from the previous game.
35:00So I'm going to go for a 1-0 Crawley.
35:03Yeah, I'm going to think they can bounce back.
35:05Yeah, fingers crossed.
35:07Best of luck to both Brighton and Crawley this weekend.
35:09And thank you very much for joining us this week, chaps.
35:11Don't forget you can catch up with all the latest sports news covering everything we've talked about today.
35:15It's sussexworld.co.uk forward slash sport.
35:18Thank you very much for listening and or watching.
35:20And we will see you all next week.
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