Vote for your WeAreBrighton.com Player of the Month for March 2012
March saw Brighton and Hove Albion move up into fourth place in the Championship, the highest position they have occupied since September to give genuine hopes of claiming a play-off place come the end of the season.
In a busy month that featured seven games, the Albion won at home to Portsmouth and Derby County, drew away against Doncaster Rovers, Cardiff City, Nottingham Forest and Middlesbrough and lost only once at Blackpool on a Bloomfield Road pitch that had more sand on it than the nearby pleasure beach.
March will forever be remembered however as the month that we finally got to Vicente starting regularly in the stripes. After an injury plagued first five months as an Albion player, the former Valencia man worked his way back to match fitness and showed why he was once one of the most sought-after players in world football.
If he doesn’t win this award, then there is something very, very wrong with the world. It should be a no contest.
Inigo Calderon
Gonzalo Jara’s unfortunate red card away at Blackpool paved the way for the Spanish right back to return to the team for the final three games of March and he did so in style, scoring in the win over Derby County and the draw at home to Middlesbrough.
Adam El-Abd
Missed the Derby County and Nottingham Forest games with a virus but has continued to be one of the star players since his return from long term injury in December with the defence always looking much more solid when he is there partnering Gordon Greer.
Gordon Greer
The winner of February’s Player of the Month award had another brilliant month, helping to record clean sheets against both Portsmouth and Derby County as well putting in an impressive performance in what looks like being a very good point away at Nottingham Forest.
Kazenga LuaLua
Gus Poyet described his performance against Derby County as his best in an Albion shirt as he tormented the Rams defence all evening. We’ve been waiting a long time to see a showing like that but the flying winger proved that on his day and with all his injury troubles behind him, he can make a real difference at this level.
Vicente
Where to begin with him? It wasn’t Brighton and Hove Albion 2-0 Portsmouth, it was Vicente 2-0 Portsmouth as he single-handedly defeat our South Coast Rivals. That was followed by an equally breathtaking display against Derby including him going round eight Rams players on a run that ended with him smacking the crossbar from a full 30 yards. Keep him fit and he could be the difference between Premier League and Championship football next season.
Sam Vokes
The on-loan Wolverhampton Wanderers forward displaced Craig Mackail-Smith in the starting line up and has started looking potentially like the target man we’ve been missing since Glenn Murray’s departure for Crystal Palace, scoring goals against Cardiff City and Nottingham Forest.
