And So The Story Begins…

Eleven strangers all forced into a new environment, in front of the prying eyes of 6,000 people expecting brilliance, but getting boring – No I’m not talking about the new series of Big Brother, the football season (09/10) was back for Brighton and the 71 other clubs that form the Football League.

£90million investment, 10 new signings, 1 new chairman and the sight of a new stadium rising out of the ground, who could blame fans of Brighton for starting the season with high expectations?

It had been 14 weeks since Nicky Forster slammed home the goal that kept Brighton in League One, but finally the day came for a new campaign to begin. The sun was shining, fans got back into their pre match schedules with eager anticipation, and there was a buzz around the ground before kick off of high excitement.

Sadly, all that built up excitement was extinguished by 5pm as Brighton started the season by losing at home to Walsall after a dire game of football that produced virtually no excitement for the crowd that took their seats in the sun-bathed Withdean. The only buzz left around the ground was that of the invasion of wasps that decide to descend upon the South Stand.

Jake Wright, Mark Wright, Andrew Crofts, Matt Thornhill, Alan Navarro and Liam Dickson all made their debuts for the club, as the team produced a disjointed first half performance which at best could be described as average.

We thought the new season would see a stop to the woeful defending and comedy own goals, but within half an hour of the new season, Andrew Whing inexplicably headed into his own goal to make it 1-0 to Walsall despite them not having a shot on goal.

This goal was as stupid as the new dog kennels that make up the extra seats on the subs benches in line with the new seven substitute rule.

The second half saw some improvement, and at least offered some encouraging signs that will give us hope of a successful season. Dickinson and Mark Wright in particular stood out, and were responsible for Brighton’s only two shots on target.

Forster is the one that changed the game and gave us momentum. Even if not fully fit, he showed why he is so important to the club, with some good hassling from the front and sending a header just over after great work from Dickinson.

Chances were very few and far between, and in truth, we didn’t really look like scoring. Walsall never looked like scoring either, but they started the season with 3 points. Andy Whing nearly signed for Walsall in the summer, and now he is their top scorer this season.

Should we feel down heartened, no. No matter what anyone says, these things do take time to gel. But if we are to learn anything from last season, it is to not keep unnecessarily chopping and changing every game, as it only ends in disaster.

It may seem bad, but it was not as bad as losing to Walsall last season when they only had nine players for 61 minutes of the game. And if you think that was bad, favourites for the title Norwich City, started the campaign losing 7-1 at home to local rivals, Colchester. And Swindon lost 5-0 to rivals Gillingham.

In summary, it was a below par performance, but not one that we deserved to lose. The facts are we did, and Russell Slade starts his permanent career with the Albion with a home defeat. A slow start but it’s a marathon, not a sprint!

Brett M