Vote for your WeAreBrighton.com Player of the Month for January 2015
Chris Hughton’s first month in charge of Brighton and Hove Albion yielded a remarkable upturn in form with three wins in all competitions – nearly as many as we’d managed in six months of Sami Hyypia.
There was that rarest of things – a victory away at Brentford – albeit in the FA Cup which set up a fourth round tie against Arsenal who never really needed to get out of third gear to win 3-2 at the Amex.
In the league, there were wins 1-0 at Charlton Athletic and 3-2 at home to high flying Ipswich Town with Joao Teixeria rediscovering some of his early season magic with a mesmerising brace. Brentford managed to extract revenge for their FA Cup elimination with a Championship victory two weeks later at The Amex and rock bottom Blackpool also defeated the Seagulls on a game that may as well have been played on the surface of the moon given the condition the Bloomfield Road pitch was in.
The biggest noticeable difference about the Hughton era compared to what was being served up under Sami Hyypia has come in the huge improvements in the contributions of individual players, which is shown by the names on our January shortlist.
Who’d have thought they’d have the option to put a tick in the box next to Chris O’Grady, Teixeira, Solly March, Rohan Ince and Sam Baldock’s names a month ago? Now we’ve got a bumper list to choose from. Long may it continue.
Sam Baldock
Moved to a wider position than he is perhaps accustomed to by Chris Hughton and he responded with two goals in as many games with the stunning opener in the victory over Ipswich Town and a delightful dink in the FA Cup tie with Arsenal.
Joe Bennett
Missed out on the FA Cup game at Brentford but his stock rose as his replacement Adam Chicksen was given a torrid time in the first half. His worth going forward from left back was shown when he set up Joao Teixeira for his second against Ipswich with a swashbuckling run forward.
Inigo Calderon
Hughton has decided to use him further forward than previous Albion managers and as a result the Spaniard found himself playing as a right midfielder in the latter stages of the month, where he had a superb game against Ipswich, keeping arguably the finest attacking left back in the division Tyrone Mings as occupied as he has been all season.
Lewis Dunk
Stupid red card against Brentford in the league aside, it was another fine month for the young centre back with two clean sheets recorded and another goal to cement his place at the top of the scorers charts.
Gordon Greer
His return from injury coincided with that run of clean sheets kept when playing away in the captial. There is no doubting that the defence looks a lot more solid for his presence as he captains the Albion under his fourth different manager.
Rohan Ince
Finally began to show some of the promise he demonstrated in the first half of last season under Oscar Garcia following Hughton’s appointment, including scoring his first league goal in the win over Charlton Athletic and ensuring Alexis Sanchez was kept relatively quiet during Arsenal’s visit.
Solly March
It was unfortunate for Sami Hyypia that the former Albion boss never had the England under 21 winger fully fit to call upon and he certainly showed us what we’ve been missing thanks to his absence through injury, setting up goals galore at both Brentford and Charlton.
Chris O’Grady
The one player who has benefited the most from Hughton’s appointment is the former Barnsley striker. He returned from a loan spell at Sheffield United to be given a run of games in the Albion side, scoring his first two goals for the club against Brentford and Arsenal.
David Stockdale
Excelled in the first half at Brentford with the Albion under all manner of pressure and he also kept a clean sheet at Charlton before impressing against Arsenal’s superstars despite conceding three times. His form will be key if we are to stay in the division.
