Vote for your WeAreBrighton.com Player of the Month for October 2011
October always looked like a tough month on paper with games against promotion challengers Ipswich Town, Hull City, West Ham United and Birmingham City.
Even so, three points out of a possible 15 – secured through draws against the Tigers, the months other opponents Millllllllllllllllllllll and away at St Andrews represented a poor return and left the Albion 23rd in the form table for the month and without a win since September 10th.
Gus Poyet has seemingly acknowledged the fact that some of the squad aren’t up to the step up in class from League One to the Championship and has acted accordingly, bringing in Gonzalo Jara and Steve Harper on-loan from West Bromwich Albion and Newcastle United respectively.
Signing a full back and a goalkeeper will help the defensive side of things but it is in front of goal the Albion have really struggled, scoring just twice all month through Vicente and Craig Noone as three of the five games saw blanks recorded.
Even so, we’ve put together an eight man shortlist for you to choose your WeAreBrighton.com Player of the Month for October 2011 from.
Casper Ankergren
A mixed month for the goalkeeper. He pulled off a couple of superb saves against Hull City to preserve a clean sheet as well as in the first half at Millwall before failing to deal with the Lions’ long range goal. That ultimately cost him his place in the side as Steve Harper arrived from Newcastle United shortly afterwards.
Liam Bridcutt
The midfielder had his first really poor game for the club against West Ham when giving the ball away for Kevin Nolan’s goal, but still looks like a player who is at home at this level. Makes the side tick and when he doesn’t play well, neither do the Albion.
Gordon Greer
The captain continued his fine season with another decent October. He played a huge role in the clean sheets against Birmingham and Hull and dealt admirably with West Ham’s John Carew who gave him the run around last season in our FA Cup Fifth Round exit at Stoke City.
Steve Harper
Hr only played twice in October, but the on-loan goalkeeper did well in both games against West Ham United and Birmingham City, bringing much needed stability to the defence. He has looked comfortable with the ball at his feet and has dealt with every high ball into the box. Really, he is unlucky not to have two clean sheets from two games.
Craig Mackail-Smith
He may not have scored in October but his work rate is still impressive. The Albion’s record buy looked extremely lively at Millwall, including a superb assist for Craig Noone’s volley although that it is fairly obvious that he needs more service if he is to reach his potential.
Craig Noone
The former Plymouth man is undoubtedly the player of the season so far for the Albion. He scored at Millwall and ran an extremely effective and experienced West Ham defence ragged. Premier League clubs will no doubt have an eye on him before too long.
Gonzalo Jara
Most Albion fans thought he would slot into the middle of the park on his arrival, but so far he has played exclusively at right back. Not as attacking as the man he replaced Inigo Calderon, but he has looked a class above any of our other fulls backs in his appearances so far against West Ham and Birmingham.
Vicente
Vicente’s appearances in October have obeen limited by injury, but when he has played looks like he can be the key man. Scored an incredible goal at Ipswich and pulled the strings against Hull. If the Albion want to impress in the Championship this season, they need to get him fit and keep him fit ASAP.
