Vote for your WeAreBrighton.com Player of the Month for February 2013
On paper, February looked a tricky month for Brighton and Hove Albion so a haul of 10 points from a possible 15 represented an excellent return as the Seagulls put themselves right back into the mix for a spot in the Championship play offs.
This improved form was built around strong defesive performances with new signing Matthew Upson being particularly impressive at the heart of the defence. There were clean sheets recorded in hugely impressive wins against fellow promotion chasers Hull City at the Amex, away at the divisions run away leaders Cardiff City and at home to Burnley.
Vicente was out of the physio room following his annual Winter hibernation and tore Blackburn Rovers apart, scoring a penalty in a game that incredibly ended 1-1 despite the Albion dominating for the entire 90 minutes while the months only defeat came at Hillsbrough as our terrible record away at Sheffield Wednesday continued with a 3-1 defeat in which Ashley Barnes saw red.
Liam Bridcutt
Having won an unprecedented third Player of the Month award in a row in January, the defensive midfielder is going for his fourth consecutive triumph. It was another consistent month until he was ruled out of the final match of February against Burnley with suspension for accumulating 10 yellow cards.
Adam El-Abd
Picked up another Egypt cap as he continues to be a rock at the back, playing in all three of the games in which the Albion recorded clean sheets. Such has been his form in February that he is keeping one of Gus Poyet’s favourites, Gordon Greer, out of the side.
Dean Hammond
One mans misfortune is another mans opportunity. With Andrew Crofts out injured, the on-loan Southampton midfielder has thrived in with the only thing missing from a string of impressive performances being putting away the chances that have fallen to him.
Tomasz Kuszczak
A stunning one handed save from a header at home to Burnley and a match winning performance in keeping a clean sheet at Cardiff were the highlights as the Big Pole once again showed just how much he is worth to the promotion push. Best Albion goalkeeper ever? He’s certainly up there.
David Lopez
In a month in which he was given the honour of becoming one of the few Albion players to have had a flag made up in his name, he had another excellent month in which he scored the only goal of the game in the 1-0 home win over Burnley.
Andrea Orlandi
After notching twice to finish second in our January Player of the Month vote, the former Swansea midfielder followed that up with another pair in February, scoring the consolation in the 3-1 defeat at Sheffield Wednesday and and the opener in the fantastic 2-0 win at Cardiff. He’s made himself one of the first names on the team shirt.
Leonardo Ulloa
Finally, it looks like we might have a genuine replacement for Glenn Murray. The Argentinian striker added to his debut goal against Arsenal last month with a cool finish in the victory away at Cardiff. He brings a new dimension to the way the Albion play and looks as though he will have a huge bearing on our chances of finishing in the play offs come the end of the season.
Matthew Upson
Made his debut after joining on loan from Stoke City in the defeat at Sheffield Wednesday but three clean sheets in the following four games for a side that was struggling sightly in that department says it all about the former England centre backs impact on the Albion in February.
Vicente
February means it is Vicente time. After going into hibernation for the winter, the most talented player in the Albion squad unexpectedley returned to score against both Hull and Blackburn. With him back in the side, suddenly anything things seems possible.
