Vote for your WeAreBrighton.com Player of the Month for September 2011
Five points out of a possible twelve in September bought Brighton & Hove Albion down to earth following their flying start to life in the Championship.
There was only one win and that came in the opening game of the month away at Bristol City. The Albion did give Liverpool a run for their money in a 2-1 Carling Cup defeat at the Amex after suffering a first defeat of the season away at Leicester City four days previously.
Those exertions against Kenny Dalglish’s Reds seemed to take a lot out of the side as a wildly entertaining 3-3 draw at home to The Leeds United was followed by a first league defeat at the Amex. That just had to be against Crystal Palace didn’t it, and Glenn Murray just had to score their third as the Eagles ran out 3-1 winners.
The bumper shortlist from our August Player of the Month poll has gone with just six players having done enough to be candidates for the award this time around.
Ashley Barnes
Another three goals for the month means that he leads the scoring charts with seven from 11 starts in all competitions. Most importantly, two of them came from the penalty spot which looks to have buried last seasons curse from twelve yards.
Liam Bridcutt
He continues to look at home in the centre of midfield having made the step up to the Championship with apparent ease. If he carries on in this form, it surely won’t be long until the offers from bigger clubs start coming in.
Lewis Dunk
The young defender continued his immense form from August before tailing off slightly after being rested for the visit of Liverpool. He has been rewarded with his first call up to the England under-21 squad for their upcoming European Championship Qualifiers.
Gordon Greer
The captain put in two dogged defensive performances at the start of the month, leading his side to a clean sheet at Bristol City and dealing admirably with Leicester’s expensively assembled and dangerous front line.
Craig Mackail-Smith
The Albions record buy has bizarrely attracted criticism from some quarters, but Mackail-Smith answered the doubters in the best way possible with two goals in the last three games of September. Continues to impress with his workrate.
Craig Noone
Augusts’ player of the month carried on where he left off by continuing to be the Albion’s tormentor in chief. He saw off the challenges of Will Buckley, Kazenga LuaLua and new signing Vicente to maintain his place as the teams wide man.
