Blown Away

Yesterday was an object lesson on the influence a good manager can have on his team. Gus Poyet has been at Brighton less than a year and has turned them into as good a Third Division side as I can remember, but they didn’t do anything earth shattering.

Pass and go, pass and go, neat little triangles, keep the ball, don’t give posession away cheaply, if there’s not a forward pass on, shift it sideways or even backwards, don’t just launch it.

Kishishev was made for that team, pass it short then move into a position to get it back. If Brighton had a real cutting edge they would be really formidable but be grateful for small
mercies, Kazenga LuaLua’s hamstring was not deemed strong enough for him to start.


Parky was surprised by the Seagulls diamond midfield though I’m not sure why, they have used the formation before during the season, Kishishev
sits with his partner being further forward. Look at the corner that led to the first goal, clearly Brighton work on them in training. How
Charlton fell for the same trick less than five minutes later is anyone’s guess, do the coaching staff actually watch our opponents? Do they even watch the goals on television? LuaLua’s was exactly the same as the one he scored last week.

Poyet has turned Brighton’s fortunes round in less than a year, what does that say about Parkinson’s efforts after two years in the hot seat? Can he turn it round, does anyone honestly believe he can get the club out of this division? A few weeks back I said I thought Parky could be
gone before Halloween. Today Charlton sit in 16th place in the Third Division with a game at Carlisle next week followed by Sheffield Wednesday’s visit to The Valley, is it time for a change?
Muzza has a decision to make, this is an awful division……..but not as awful as
League Two. One thing is certain, a 4-0 home defeat in the Third Division is unaccptable for a club like Charlton.

Charlton had a number of chances early on which mainly fell to Abbott. One was a inviting cross from the right but the target man seemed unable to jump.

Brighton did their homework on the Addicks too. Reid was identified as the danger man and had two opponents for company whenever he broke into the Seagulls’ half. To add insult to injury, Reid had to be taken off with ankle ligament damage which will sideline him for a few weeks.

These are dark days at The Valley, let’s hope the new dawn is imminent. The cacophany of boos and chants of, ‘We want Parky out’ which rang around The Valley at the end would have been an unpleasant end to a thoroughly wretched afternoon for Richard Murray.