A decorating disaster made up for by two Brighton wins in a week
Here is a quick tip for you. If you cannot get to an away game and find yourself with a few spare hours on your hands before Brighton kick off, do not start decorating.
On Sunday afternoon, I disconnected all the leads which keep the Noble Household connected with the outside world and gambled that I could get a second coat of paint on the walls and wire everything back up in time for the game at West Ham.
It turned out to be an impossible task. In a rush to complete it, guess what happened? Yes, a tray of paint dropped everywhere.
The week did get better from there though. Brighton beat the Hammers and followed that up with a League Cup victory at Forest Green Rovers on Wednesday night. Two wins to make up for the decorating disaster.
Whilst washing the paint off my hands before settling down to listen to the West Ham game on BBC Radio Sussex, I was hit by a longing to be at the London Stadium.
Not just because it would have meant no paint spillage, but because there is a little bit of history between West Ham United and Tony Noble.
I know what you are thinking – is he related to Mark Noble? Not as far as I know. However, my dad was born in East London a few streets away from Upton Park and as a boy of course he was a West Ham supporter.
He took me up there one day and we bought a West Ham pendant from Bobby Moore’s sports shop. It was signed by Moore, Geoff Hurst and Martin Peters and would be worth a small fortune these days.
I placed it for safekeeping inside a book and there it stayed. Which book I could never remember, and as my dad was not a hoarder like myself, it must have been thrown away at some point.
That still bugs me as I remember so well the World Cup of 1966 having been a 10-year-old boy when Moore, Hurst and Peters helped England win the cup.
Maybe we will see a Brighton player help England to their second World Cup this November? Former Brighton coach Paul Nevin is now at West Ham and helps out with England.
He can surely report back to Gareth Southgate the great form Lewis Dunk is in having witnessed it first hand on Sunday? Just maybe we see Dunk in Harry Maguire’s spot come November in Qatar?
The big news when the teams were announced was that Neal Maupay was on the Albion bench. There was no further hint over whether he will be moving or not, although the fact he did not feature at Forest Green in midweek suggests he will.
Warren Aspinall reported that the grass at the London Stadium looked long and unwatered. I know we have a major water shortage, but the lack of watering must have been down to West Ham trying to make it more difficult for the Albion to carry out their slick passing than wanting to help Thames Water save supplies.
Lukasz Fabianski was wearing a bright yellow goalkeepers top and bright orange loves, which the commentator likened to a Solero ice cream.
I was hoping that he would melt like one in the sun to give our strikers a chance. Rather it was Thilo Kehrer who melted as the German defender gave away a penalty and Brighton the chance to take the lead.
A 20th minute break allowed Leandro Trossard to race up the pitch. He had Danny Welbeck ahead of him and slipped a slide rule pass through, causing Kehrer to make a challenge right on the edge of the box.
Referee Anthony Taylor was there and had no doubt as to whether it was a penalty. He awarded it straight away. There was a short wait as Warren told us they had to wake up the officials at Stockley Park from their afternoon nap to review the action.
They eventually concurred with Mr Taylor. That two minute wait must have seemed like an age for Alexis Mac Allister, who we were told hugged the ball in anticipation of taking the penalty.
It was a cracker. He played it to the right hand corner. Fabianski went the wrong way and Brighton had the lead against West Ham in yet another game.
As a listener, it did not sound as if the Hammers were giving the Albion much of a problem in the run up to half time. I returned to the decorating when the whistle went for the 15 minute break, quickly checking the Leeds v Chelsea score.
The paint nearly went flying again in surprise that Leeds were 2-0 up at half time. It ended 3-0 and I wondered how poor Marc Cucurella found his first experience of the short end of Thomas Tuchel’s short fuse.
Apparently, part of the problem was that Chelsea had no airplane to get to Leeds on Saturday so they had to get the bus. Well if that’s how it works, we have real hope.
No real decorating got done before it was back to the game. I felt sure the Irons would come out all guns blazing. They had a couple of opportunities but the Albion seemed to have them covered.
The 63rd minute saw Adam Lallana substituted to allow the Brighton debut of new signing Pervis Estupinan. He helped get the Albion back on the front foot and within three minutes of coming on, Brighton scored again.
A delightful flick on by Pascal Gross put Trossard on course with Fabianski, who he beat with ease. The assist from Gross was something else.
Then came the push from West Ham. David Moyes made his five changes but not even that could help the Irons find a way through the Albion.
The final whistle saw the players celebrate in front of the away fans with Graham Potter punching the air. I was more subdued in my own celebrations at home, having spilt more paint than was actually painted.
By Wednesday night, the decorating was done. There were no dramas as I sat down to listen to the Forest Green game, coming live from the greenest football club in the land.
Everything is recycled, even the seats you sit on and watch the game. A tweeted photo of our commentators Johnny Cantor and Warren showed them squashed in like sardines into this small League One ground.
Then guess what? The connection was lost for just a few minutes at the start of the game. Johnny told listeners it may happen again as there was not enough room for all their radio kit. I think he and Warren wanted to eat another vegan pie.
Potter made 11 changes, giving us the chance to get a good look at new signings and young players. Jason Steele captained the Albion in goal.
In front of him came Levi Colwill, Jan Paul van Hecke and Ed Turns. Midfield was Tariq Lamptey, Jack Spong, Steve Alzate and Kaoru Mitoma. Then the front three of Julio Enciso, Deniz Undav and Evan Ferguson.
Johnny and Warren described Brighton as sloppy in the final third during the opening 30 minutes. The commentary team wanted the Albion to move the ball quicker.
Maybe that was part of the problem? The balls being used in this competition are Football League balls rather than Premier League balls. The players do train with them to get used to the difference, but it could have had an impact and explain the slow start.
Any questions about the balls were extinguished on 38 minutes. Undav slotted home his first goal of hopefully many in a Brighton shirt to put the Albion 1-0 ahead.
The young Brighton team were starting to settle now. A second was scored in the first of two minutes of injury time. Alzate used his weaker left foot to let rip a shot that went straight into the back of the net from distance.
Steele made a great save to prevent Forest Green Rovers getting a goal back shortly after the restart. That served as a reminder of the threat they could offer and encouraged Brighton to get back on top.
A great run from Ferguson down the right saw him deliver a cross which Undav headed wide of the far post. Undav seemed to know that was a real chance.
Then to finish the evening off nicely, a perfect long ball was hit down the left side for substitute James Furlong to latch onto. He did well to cross to Ferguson who slotted home right on the final whistle.
The third round draw has paired Brighton with Arsenal. That will be interesting. I have just been watching the Arsenal documentary on Amazon Prime and Mikel Arteta seems desperate to win a trophy. Will Arteta play his first team against us at the Emirates?
Finally, a reminder in case you would like to buy my book about last season. Here is the link to The Seagulls Best Ever Season.
Tony Noble @Noble1844Tony
