Davy Propper voted WeAreBrighton.com Player of the Month for January 2019
After approaching 18 months as a Brighton and Hove Albion player, it finally looks like Davy Propper is starting to get the recognition he deserves as one of the classiest operators in Chris Hughton’s squad.
The Dutch midfielder was in scintillating form throughout January, one of the few players to put in consistently high levels of performance in a month that was by and large pretty disappointing as the Albion failed to win a league game in five attempts.
Propper’s undoubted highlight was his superb outside of the boot cross that dropped straight onto the chest of Pascal Gross for the German’s consolation goal in the 2-1 defeat away at Manchester United, which must rank as one of the best passes ever played by a Brighton player.
Had Paul Pogba done it at the other end, then it would have spawned a million GIFs and had Gary Lineker and co waxing lyrical on Match of the Day afterwards.
But because it was unfashionable Brighton, it barely even received a murmur. Propper’s brilliance may go largely unnoticed by the rest of the Premier League, but we’ve been treated to it week in, week out and as a result, as he takes his first ever WeAreBrighton.com Player of the Month award with exactly 50% of the vote.
David Button capped a highly impressive month deputising in goal while Maty Ryan was playing for Australia at the Asian Cup by claiming second spot in the poll.
There had been plenty of concern over whether Button was of the required quality to replace Ryan but the former Fulham goalkeeper has made all of us who were prophesying doom and destruction look rather silly.
He recorded a clean sheet in the FA Cup Fourth Round draw with West Bromwich Albion and pulled off some excellent saves against both Liverpool and Manchester United.
Rounding off the top three was Shane Duffy for his third appearance of the season among the finalists after finishing third in September and winning the August award.
Duffy scored his fourth goal of the campaign with a finish a seasoned striker would be proud of away at West Ham United. He also pulled off two utterly outrageous goal line blocks at Old Trafford and in the 4-2 defeat at Fulham, where he was one of the few players to emerge with any credit after the second half collapse in which the Albion conceded four times.
Davy Propper – 50%
David Button – 30.58%
Shane Duffy – 7.85%
Martin Montoya – 5.37%
Glenn Murray – 4.55%
Pascal Gross – 1.65%
