[Albion] Hello old friends - Ipswich v Brighton, Thursday January 16th 19:30pm

Cotton Socks said:

Woooah, when did that become a 'thing'. Obviously it's not a 'thing' yet but is this a possibility of it becoming a 'thing' of watching away matches at the Amex without having to subscribe to TNT or Sky?? Hope that made sense!

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It’s been done before but not very often…….odd they chose this game to do it. Maybe a precursor to the fan zone opening where they’ll do it more often perhaps ?

dazzer6666 said:

It’s been done before but not very often…….odd they chose this game to do it. Maybe a precursor to the fan zone opening where they’ll do it more often perhaps ?

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Good shout

dazzer6666 said:

Probably fixtures but there’s a beamback

https://tickets.brightonandhovealbion.com/en-gb/categories/beambacks

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anyone done this sort of thing before and know whether there are huge screens or is it just lots of the smallish screens (50" ish) like the concourse so you'll need to stand quite close etc

worthingseagull said:

anyone done this sort of thing before and know whether there are huge screens or is it just lots of the smallish screens (50" ish) like the concourse so you'll need to stand quite close etc

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Went for the Ajax game last year - it was in one of the 1901 lounges with a big screen (projector type) at the front, but also being shown on the TV screens around the lounge.

dazzer6666 said:

Probably fixtures but there’s a beamback

https://tickets.brightonandhovealbion.com/en-gb/categories/beambacks

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Sounds a great idea. Just hoping there’s an option for getting a real pint. Has anyone emailed the club to confirm the pitchers are not pictures?

Prediction for this one : Ipswich 1-2 Brighton
Looks like you have some players back fit in time for this one and I think the more established Prem outfit beats the new boys on their own patch.
Crowd 29,848 (Away 2,110)
Scorers Delap (IPS), Pedro, Baleba (BHA)
Safe trip!

dazzer6666 said:

It’s been done before but not very often…….odd they chose this game to do it. Maybe a precursor to the fan zone opening where they’ll do it more often perhaps ?

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Aren't they doing it to get fans to also look at the safe standing example which they are putting into the NS, be interesting to see how much lost space there is for walking long the terrace when people are already in place, be good to see some photos

ArnoldLane said:

Prediction for this one : Ipswich 1-2 Brighton
Looks like you have some players back fit in time for this one and I think the more established Prem outfit beats the new boys on their own patch.
Crowd 29,848 (Away 2,110)
Scorers Delap (IPS), Pedro, Baleba (BHA)
Safe trip!

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Do you ever predict Ipswich victories on opposition's fans forums?

ArnoldLane said:

Prediction for this one : Ipswich 1-2 Brighton
Looks like you have some players back fit in time for this one and I think the more established Prem outfit beats the new boys on their own patch.
Crowd 29,848 (Away 2,110)
Scorers Delap (IPS), Pedro, Baleba (BHA)
Safe trip!

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Doubtful. If you are going to stay up you have to win this one, with our injuries, mediocre form and aversion to playing teams at the bottom, we'll be one of your easier home games this season, trust me.

If you lose this I'm certain you're goners, which will be kind of disappointing I guess.

Resting my weary bones in the Premier Inn @ Claydon after the game, if anyone with a similar reservation wants to share transportation !

Machiavelli said:

Do you ever predict Ipswich victories on opposition's fans forums?

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Good shout, only post on this one tbh

Kalimantan Gull said:

Doubtful. If you are going to stay up you have to win this one, with our injuries, mediocre form and aversion to playing teams at the bottom, we'll be one of your easier home games this season, trust me.

If you lose this I'm certain you're goners, which will be kind of disappointing I guess.

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This is the only thing that gives me a hope - after BHA we have Man City and Liverpool so we may well properly target this one.
Just going man-for-man, think you will edge it

We're I an Ipswich fan i'd not be thinking too much about Leicester, Wolves, Everton etc.

I'd be thinking ... We're on 16 points from 20 games. We need to get another 20 points from our last 18. 36 will be enough. (well maybe 32ish will be enough, but that really would be squeaky bum time).

P18 W5 D5 L8 will do it. A bit of an uptick needed, but not a ridiculous one.

As for the game on Thursday, I make us narrow narrow favourites, but wouldn't be surprised by any result and a 1-1 seems the most probable result

Best of luck after tonight anyway Arnold

Heart says Brighton win, head says frustrating draw.

ITFC will start a game outside the bottom three for the first time in the top flight for 24 years

ArnoldLane said:

ITFC will start a game outside the bottom three for the first time in the top flight for 24 years

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McKenna on Brighton if anyone interested

"Each game starts at square one and we're facing a really good Brighton side. It's going to be a big challenge and we just take the game fresh and give it everything we got.”

McKenna was asked whether he sees Brighton as a blueprint for Town trying to establish themselves in the Premier League, the Seagulls having been a fixture in the top flight - and latterly the top half of the top flight - since being promoted in 2016/17.

“They've done it fantastically on their journey,” he said. “As I've said before, it's well known and well regarded and they've done incredible work really to establish themselves as they have, but each journey is unique.

“I don't know what the reference is for us in modern football. Brighton were four or five years at the top of the Championship competing in the play-off positions, investing heavily in the squad, in the training ground and everything before they got promoted.

“So the point that they got promoted was very, very different than the point that we got promoted, similar for Brentford, Fulham, Bournemouth, obviously kicked on really well but two teams who were in the Premier League for a good amount of time, had one season in the Championship, kept the group together bounced back up and have now kicked on.

“So, I'm not sure there is a reference for us. I'm not sure there is a shining example that we can see and in some ways that's a challenge. But in another way, it's exciting because there are no rules for how you go from League One to the Premier League in two years and try and make a real good fist of it.

“We're doing what we feel is right. We've tried to make the decisions that we feel are right, but I think we're on our own journey and there aren't many who have been on this journey, and certainly not in the very modern Premier League that we're facing at the moment.

“They are an example in some aspects for every football club in the world in terms of how well they've been run and made decisions, but in terms of us competing in the Premier League this season, I think we're our own story.”

Earlier in the season, the Blues battled to a 0-0 draw at the Amex Stadium, a match McKenna says was as tough as any so far.

“I think it was one of the most difficult games we've had and the players really felt that on the pitch as well, and that was part of their reflection,” he said.

“We know the level of the opponent. I think they were much better than us on the day, but that's understandable at the time of the season and the journey we've been on compared to where they're at.

“To get something out of the game, we showed a great level of resilience and we showed a great level of desire, and our defensive organisation was really good to keep them at bay.

“We had a few moments which went our way and actually we had a 15-20-minute spell in the second half where we kicked on and actually we could have went and got a winner.

“I think we're going to need those ingredients again tomorrow night. We know they're a very, very good team whenever they're in full flow and they've shown that all season.

“They've beaten some of the best teams in the league and played very well in the majority of their games.

“So we're going to be up against it at times, we're going to have to show resilience at times, but we also know that we can impose ourselves on them.

“We want to do it for longer in this game than we managed to do in the away game, and that will give us a better chance to get a result.

“We know the level of the opponent, we know the challenge, it's a good test for us to see where we're at from when we played them early in the season and we're going to go and try and give a good account of ourselves.”

Brighton boss Fabian Hürzeler, the youngest manager in the Premier League at 31, is someone McKenna, who is seven years older, admires and the Town manager feels the two have taken comparable paths to the Premier League.

“I don't know the ins and outs of how he works,” he said. “Of course, I think there are some similarities. He's much younger than me and makes me an old hand at it, but there are similarities in terms that he's done a very, very good job at St Pauli and got them promoted to the Bundesliga when they weren't expected to be.

“Other than that, I think you can watch the teams and there are some similar principles in there in terms of what we want from our teams in certain phases.

“And I think he communicates very well. I think he communicates very well in the media and I've met him once or twice now and he's a very nice guy, so he seems to be doing a good job and we'll try and give them a really good contest tomorrow.”

Has Brighton’s style of play evolved over the course of the season, Hürzeler having taken over in the summer following Roberto De Zerbi’s departure with McKenna himself having been ear-marked as the man to take over at the Amex until he opted to sign a new deal at Town.

“I think probably more so they've had quite a few changes and they've had quite a few injuries as well,” he reflected.

“They’ve got a lot of different options, especially in the forward positions, so I think he's said himself they've probably not been as consistent in terms of selection as he would have liked.

“And then when you have different players available, sometimes that changes the structure that you decide to play in, so I think they've had quite a lot of variation over the last couple of months.

“The team that we played in the fourth game was a little bit different. I think maybe it was the first game that [Georginio] Rutter came into and that changed their positional balance a little bit, so they've had quite a bit of variation.

“I don't think there's a big change in style, but I think you can clearly see from the start of the season what they wanted to do.

“I think it's more of an effect, probably they have a big and deep squad, they've had some injuries and personnel-wise they can certainly change the whole front four, they can change a couple of midfielders and have different options that change the nature of the challenge in that area of the pitch.”

The Seagulls are without a win in eight Premier League matches, although losing only two, and have dropped to 11th in the table.

At the weekend, they won their first game in a month and a half, albeit a 4-0 FA Cup victory at Championship Norwich City.

On their travels in the Premier League this season, Brighton have won three - 3-0 at Everton on the opening day, 1-0 at Newcastle in October and 2-1 at Bournemouth in November - drawn four and lost three.

McKenna says Albion’s lack of recent victories illustrates the tightness of matches at this level.

“I think it's just the competitive nature of the Premier League,” he reflected. “You can say they've not won in eight games, but also they've only lost four times in 20 games, and the only teams who've lost fewer are Liverpool and Arsenal, I believe, so they've been really, really hard to beat.

“What I think they have said, and I'm sure they are saying, is they've probably drawn more games than what they would want and they've lost some leads late, and they've conceded some late goals.

“I'm sure a couple of those draws being turned into wins, they'd be in a much happier position with their points total and their place in the table.

“The games that I've watched, they've shown some really, really good things. It's clear that in flow, when they're on top in a game and when things go how they want, they're a top side, a top, top Premier League team.

“But the league is so competitive this year and the margins to win games are really, really tough, and they've probably had too many draws, which is why they're maybe not quite as high as they want. But that certainly doesn't change our perspective on the size of the challenge that we're going to face.”

Nobby Cybergoat said:

Best of luck after tonight anyway Arnold

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....what - for tomorrow night you mean??

dazzer6666 said:

It’s been done before but not very often…….odd they chose this game to do it. Maybe a precursor to the fan zone opening where they’ll do it more often perhaps ?

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That would be good. If I had known it before I might have gone down there. Yes, it was probably in an email that I didn't read!

Bodian said:

....what - for tomorrow night you mean??

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It's very easy to confuse me and now there's been another sending me to Football Web Pages to check the date of the match.

It looks like 19.30 Thursday. I've written it down now

Milano said:

Can we have your left back and striker please?

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Mmmm Delap is a Donkey and a complete back to front

Chicken Run said:

And your manager

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I’ve changed my mind, if he can’t beat Nouveau riche teams like Brighton with no apparent History ( yep some toothless 5 finger said that on your forum) then he’ll be better off in the Championship next year