Vote for your WeAreBrighton.com Player of the Month for August 2014
After two league defeats from the opening two games of the 2014-15 season, things picked up for Brighton and Hove Albion as Sami Hyypia ended his first month in charge at the Amex with a four game unbeaten streak.
That coincided with some belated work in the transfer market from the club, with two of those mid-August arrivals in Joao Teixeira and Danny Holla making our six man shortlist for the first WeAreBrighton.com Player of the Month award of the campaign.
Teixeira scored in the 2-0 victory at Leeds United along with Kazenga LuaLua and the on-loan Liverpool man was also on target in the 2-1 home win over Bolton Wanderers.
Lewis Dunk remarkably scored twice in the 2-2 draw at home to Charlton Athletic while the fringe players successfully negotiated Capital One Cup ties at home to Cheltenham Town – Dunk on target again – and at Swindon Town after the league season began with a 1-0 loss at home to Sheffield Wednesday and defeat at Birmingham City by the same score line as the Blues won at St Andrews for the first time in nine months.
Bruno
Was voted sponsors man-of-the-match in the victory over Bolton Wanderers for a composed central midfield performance as Sami Hyypia revisited Oscar Garcia’s positional change experiment of last season. Even if he plays it right back, it looks as if the Spaniard will enjoy Hyypia’s style of football involving cavalier full backs.
Lewis Dunk
His best month at the club since those heady early days of the 2011/12 season. He looks to have nailed down a spot as Gordon Greer’s regular partner and even managed to finish the month as top scorer with three goals including a points saving brace against Charlton Athletic.
Gordon Greer
There had been question marks in the summer about whether he would retain the armband under Hyypia but he has done so and hasn’t let his new boss down as a result, a number of trademark solid performances at centre back in a defence that has given up the least number of shots on goal in the division.
Danny Holla
Eyebrows were raised when the Albion signed an unheard of Dutch midfielder who had no pre-season training behind him. They were quickly un-raised as his arrival transformed the sides form with two wins and one draw coming in his three games following back-to-back defeats in the seasons opening weeks.
Craig Mackail-Smith
Looks like he might finally have a manager who is going to play to his strengths by using him through the middle and getting balls in behind. That was rewarded with two goals in August in the Capital One Cup against Cheltenham Town and more impressively in the home win over Bolton.
Joao Teixeira
Looked a class above his lacklustre team mates on his debut away at Birmingham and with more quality added around him he has thrived, scoring in both the victories away at Leeds United and home to Bolton and looking like an outstanding play maker. Little wonder he is highly thought of by parent club Liverpool.
