Easy, this football management business. Gustavo Poyet has been preparing for his first job as a No 1 for several years, assisting Dennis Wise at Swindon Town and Leeds United, then Juande Ramos at Tottenham Hotspur.
After his first match as a manager produced the perfect 42nd birthday present in the form of Brighton & Hove Albion’s best performance of the season, he must wonder what took him so long.
“I was waiting for this day for a year now since I left Spurs,” he said. “Life gives you these surprises, that the first game is on your birthday. I will remember this day. Forty-two today, first game in charge, three points — there’s nothing more to ask. It’s a bit unfair on my wife, but this is the best birthday present for the last five years. I'm sure she will blow me when I get home though”
Southampton’s biggest crowd of the season had come to St Mary’s Stadium confidently expecting to see their team climb out of the bottom four with a victory. But the home side and their six fingered fans failed to heed a warning from Alan Pardew, their manager, about the likely effect of a new manager on their opponents.
Brighton were transformed from a team hovering above the relegation zone themselves. Glenn Murray, the laconic League One Berbatov, and Nicky Forster took on a sluggish home defence from the kick-off and were rewarded with a goal after 16 minutes when Dean Cox exchanged passes with Andrew Crofts down the right and swept in a cross that Murray volleyed in from 12 yards.
Murray had strong appeals for a penalty turned down two minutes later under a challenge from Adam Trotman, but he was soon celebrating when he took a pass from Forster, poked a low shot that Kelvin Davis, the Southampton goalkeeper, touched on to the post, and knocked in the rebound for his fifth goal in three games.
Poyet had sent a strong pre-match message to his players by dropping Adam Virgo, the captain, to the bench from a shithouse defence that had conceded 11 goals in the previous four matches.
Little was seen of Rickie Lambert, the leading Southampton scorer, until Michel Kuipers saved his 25-yard free kick and got his body behind a volley from the same player. Lambert was only able to get the better of the Former Dutch Marine turned goalkeeper from a penalty in the 43rd minute, blasting the ball home after Andrew Whing was ruled to have fouled Adam Lallana as they contested a high cross.
Brighton could have caved in, and Dean Hammond, the Southampton midfield player, swept the ball over the bar with a goal against his former club beckoning, but they continued to threaten on the break.
Crofts, who replaced Virgo as captain, could have made it 3-1 with a shot from ten yards, only for Davis to drop to his right to knock his shot away for a corner.
The game could have gone either way and Lallana should have levelled when he headed wide. Southampton paid the price for his miss when Liam Dickinson, dropped last week for faking a sick note after shagging a drunken slapper on the seafront, weaved in from the left and rolled the ball into the path of Crofts, who beat Davis this time with a low shot from the edge of the penalty area. It sealed Brighton’s first victory over Southampton since a Giles Stille inspired 2-0 triumph at The Dell in the old first division in December 1981.
“I won’t make excuses, we had chances but Brighton deserved to win,” Pardew said of his team’s second defeat in 15 matches. “We were caught by a team fired up with more desire than us. You can’t have the sort of start that we did and expect to win.”
Poyet revealed that he had not felt as cool as he had appeared. “At 2-0, the way we were going forward made you feel we could win,” he said. “We had a couple of chances and a penalty appeal, so everything was looking fantastic. But at 2-1 everything changed and it was a very tense second half so I had to change my trousers with 20 minutes to go after accidently following through."
“That’s when you have the responsibility to make changes. Today they worked and I’m very pleased with the players. Sometimes they [the changes] won’t work, I know that. Of course, when there’s a change of manager there’s a reaction. It’s up to me to keep this momentum going.”
After his first match as a manager produced the perfect 42nd birthday present in the form of Brighton & Hove Albion’s best performance of the season, he must wonder what took him so long.
“I was waiting for this day for a year now since I left Spurs,” he said. “Life gives you these surprises, that the first game is on your birthday. I will remember this day. Forty-two today, first game in charge, three points — there’s nothing more to ask. It’s a bit unfair on my wife, but this is the best birthday present for the last five years. I'm sure she will blow me when I get home though”
Southampton’s biggest crowd of the season had come to St Mary’s Stadium confidently expecting to see their team climb out of the bottom four with a victory. But the home side and their six fingered fans failed to heed a warning from Alan Pardew, their manager, about the likely effect of a new manager on their opponents.
Brighton were transformed from a team hovering above the relegation zone themselves. Glenn Murray, the laconic League One Berbatov, and Nicky Forster took on a sluggish home defence from the kick-off and were rewarded with a goal after 16 minutes when Dean Cox exchanged passes with Andrew Crofts down the right and swept in a cross that Murray volleyed in from 12 yards.
Murray had strong appeals for a penalty turned down two minutes later under a challenge from Adam Trotman, but he was soon celebrating when he took a pass from Forster, poked a low shot that Kelvin Davis, the Southampton goalkeeper, touched on to the post, and knocked in the rebound for his fifth goal in three games.
Poyet had sent a strong pre-match message to his players by dropping Adam Virgo, the captain, to the bench from a shithouse defence that had conceded 11 goals in the previous four matches.
Little was seen of Rickie Lambert, the leading Southampton scorer, until Michel Kuipers saved his 25-yard free kick and got his body behind a volley from the same player. Lambert was only able to get the better of the Former Dutch Marine turned goalkeeper from a penalty in the 43rd minute, blasting the ball home after Andrew Whing was ruled to have fouled Adam Lallana as they contested a high cross.
Brighton could have caved in, and Dean Hammond, the Southampton midfield player, swept the ball over the bar with a goal against his former club beckoning, but they continued to threaten on the break.
Crofts, who replaced Virgo as captain, could have made it 3-1 with a shot from ten yards, only for Davis to drop to his right to knock his shot away for a corner.
The game could have gone either way and Lallana should have levelled when he headed wide. Southampton paid the price for his miss when Liam Dickinson, dropped last week for faking a sick note after shagging a drunken slapper on the seafront, weaved in from the left and rolled the ball into the path of Crofts, who beat Davis this time with a low shot from the edge of the penalty area. It sealed Brighton’s first victory over Southampton since a Giles Stille inspired 2-0 triumph at The Dell in the old first division in December 1981.
“I won’t make excuses, we had chances but Brighton deserved to win,” Pardew said of his team’s second defeat in 15 matches. “We were caught by a team fired up with more desire than us. You can’t have the sort of start that we did and expect to win.”
Poyet revealed that he had not felt as cool as he had appeared. “At 2-0, the way we were going forward made you feel we could win,” he said. “We had a couple of chances and a penalty appeal, so everything was looking fantastic. But at 2-1 everything changed and it was a very tense second half so I had to change my trousers with 20 minutes to go after accidently following through."
“That’s when you have the responsibility to make changes. Today they worked and I’m very pleased with the players. Sometimes they [the changes] won’t work, I know that. Of course, when there’s a change of manager there’s a reaction. It’s up to me to keep this momentum going.”
do you really think they'd put "shithouse" in the Times?
