Vote for your WeAreBrighton.com Player of the Month for January 2014
Safe passage through to round five of the FA Cup and remaining in touch with the play off places represented a decent January on the pitch for Brighton and Hove Albion, even if the clubs dealings in the transfer windows left a lot to be desired.
While three experienced players in Liam Bridcutt, Ashley Barnes and Adam El-Abd went out and there was very little in terms of players coming in, things continued to chug along nicely on the pitch with FA Cup victories over Reading and Port Vale and a five point haul.
It could have been more had referee Simon Hooper not denied the Albion all three points on New Years Day when his shocking penalty decision handed Bournemouth the goal that eventually saw them leave the Amex with a point.
There was a victory away at Birmingham City through David Lopez’s second goal of the season, defeat at Derby County and a 0-0 draw ay Burnley that doctors are hailing as a possible breakthrough in the fight to find a cure for insomnia.
Solly March hammered home his potential with goals in both of those cup wins in what proved to be a relatively good month for the younger members of Oscar Garcia’s squad with Rohan Ince also making the shortlist.
Bruno
No surprise to see him back to somewhere near his best now Oscar Garcia appears to have jettisoned the experiment of playing him as a central midfielder in favour of returning him to right back which has played a big part in the Albion’s imporved defensive record in January.
Rohan Ince
At the start of the season, selling Liam Bridcutt would have been seen as a complete and utter disaster, but such has been this mans impact that Bridcutt’s move to Sunderland actually seems like a decent piece of business. He even managed to pop up with his first goal for the club in the win at Port Vale.
Tomasz Kuszczak
The form of Peter Brezovan when deputising for the Pole during his spell out injured meant he had to wait a while to regain his place but when he got it back at the start of the month he carried straight on where he had left off, conceding just twice in four league games.
David Lopez
After the will-he-won’t-he stay saga of the summer, the Spaniard has really struggled for form in 2013-14. As a result, this is his first appearance on a Player of the Month poll and he makes the shortlist for scoring the winner away at Birmingham City.
Solly March
The young winger underlined why he is so highly thought of by Oscar Garcia as he scored in both of the FA Cup games he started, putting in a man-of-the-match performance against Reading along the way.
Matthew Upson
The former England defender must be short odds to win this years Player of the Season crown. It was another month of consistency from one of the best centre backs in the division as he played a huge role in the Albion conceding only two league goals.
Stephen Ward
His first goal for the club couldn’t have been anymore timely, coming as it did in the 89th minute to earn a deserved point in the home match with Bournemouth. He had another consistent month as part of the now-settled back four.
