Time for Brighton to bury the hatchet with Gus Poyet
There was not much to like about the Albion’s 2-1 defeat to Crystal Palace. Possibly the only bright spot was the appearance of former Brighton manager Gus Poyet in the Monday Night Football studio as a pundit for the game.
You remember Gus? He was the man who took over from Russell Slade in November 2009 with the Albion fighting a second successive League One relegation battle.
Within 18 months, Brighton had won the League One title with four games still to play by blowing every other team out of the water. Two years on from that and the Albion came within two games of reaching the Premier League, losing in the Championship playoff semi finals to Palace. Bloody Palace.
In three-and-a-half years in charge, Poyet transformed the Albion from a club who looked destined for League Two into one who could challenge for a place in the top flight.
If Tony Bloom was the man who brought Brighton into the 21st century off-the-pitch by funding the Amex and then the American Express Elite Football Performance Centre, then Poyet was the man who did the same job on-the-pitch.
He revolutionised Brighton’s playing style, gave the club a real identity with his brand of passing football, introduced modern-day sports science and ultimately, left the Albion 41 places higher up the football pyramid than when he arrived.
Watching Poyet waxing about his time in charge of the club on MNF brought all those happy memories of a golden period in Brighton history flooding back.
He spoke warmly about his time in charge. He was full of praise for Bloom, the job the chairman has done and the relationship they had. And he declared his love for Lewis Dunk, a player who Poyet handed a senior debut to as a 19-year-old in 2010 and helped nurture through his first three seasons as a professional.
Judging by the reaction on social media, most Brighton fans watching seemed to love seeing one of the best managers we have ever had talking about the Seagulls again – which makes you wonder if now is the time for Brighton to bury the hatchet with someone they have refused to acknowledge the existence of for eight years.
Poyet of course had his downsides. He frequently complained about not having enough money, despite Bloom funding a squad including Tomasz Kusczcak, Bruno, Matthew Upson, Gordon Greer, Wayne Bridge, Andrea Orlandi, David Lopez, Vicente, Will Buckley, Ashley Barnes, Leonardo Ulloa and the rest.
He constantly linked himself with other jobs when they became available, too. Not just big jobs, like Tottenham Hotspur or Chelsea but teams who were on a par with or even below Brighton at the time. Wolves, Reading and The Leeds United spring to mind.
Half the time, Poyet had not even been mentioned as the next potential next manager of these clubs until he himself threw his hat into the ring with all the subtlety of using a sledgehammer to make an omelette.
Then there was the way it all ended. That playoff semi final defeat to Palace was bad enough but Poyet’s conduct in his post-match interview was pathetic.
He again questioned why he had not been given more money, a whinge that seemed particularly ironic given that Craig Mackail-Smith alone had cost more than the entire Palace side who won 2-0 at the Amex that night.
Bloom had heard enough. Poyet was placed on gardening leave, later sacked and then pretended that the first he had heard about it was whilst live on air working as a pundit for the BBC during their Confederations Cup coverage. Classic Gus.
You could understand the bitterness between Brighton and Poyet at first. Most fans were happy to see the back of him, too. It was an intense relationship that had taken us to ridiculous highs before souring to the point where his sacking was genuinely seen as a good thing.
A lot of water has passed under the bridge since then though. We are eight years on from Poyet’s departure and Albion supporters seem to be willing to forgive and forget the way it ended and instead remember the good times of those first two seasons at the Amex and that extraordinary 2010-11 season.
The club appear to hold a very different view. They seem to want to airbrush Poyet from history and dare not speak his name, as if he were Lord Voldermort rather than one of only four managers to have won a divisional title throughout the century Brighton have spent in the Football League.
In the past eight years, Brighton have written more positive words on their official website about Greg Stanley than they have Poyet. Stanley used the Albion as his own personal cash cow, giving the club a £600,000 loan which attracted £381,000 in interest over three years at a rate which outstripped by some distance the amount that even a top Swiss bank would offer.
He was part of the board which removed the non-profit clause from the articles of association, sold the Goldstone Ground to developers and intended to pocket the profits. It is astonishing that Stanley is viewed in a better light by some at the club than Poyet.
Brighton’s influence on the matter of Poyet spreads beyond their official channels and into the local media. It is strange that so long after leaving Brighton, none of The Argus, Andy Naylor at The Athletic or any other media have spoken to Poyet.
Everybody loves a nostalgia piece and you would think that 10 years on from that League One title would be the perfect time to remember it.
The anniversary of the 4-0 victory at Charlton Athletic and the 3-0 win at Peterborough United passed with barely a mention. Two of the best away performances Brighton have ever given against their nearest League One rivals at the time, forgotten about.
March is not far away, which will mark a decade since Poyet led the Albion to eight consecutive wins in four weeks. That run set a post-war club record and included the crazy 4-3 win over Carlisle United when Liam Bridcutt’s crashing last minute volley sparked Johnny Cantor to scream, “It’s the stuff of dreams, it’s the stuff of champions” on BBC Radio Sussex.
What better time to speak to Poyet than to record his recollection of eight successive victories in a calendar month? Chances are that it too will pass without a murmur.
Making this all the weirder is that Brighton run regular On This Day with some hotel features on their social media channels. A 2-0 win over Derby County in the 2014-15 season is considered an occasion worth remembering, but anything from the 2010-11 season or Poyet’s time in charge is off limits.
Poyet himself has touched on the fact that Brighton-friendly media will not talk to him. When the Together BHA podcast interviewed him about his departure from the club, he said, “It feels like everything is bad in Brighton with me.”
Gus was right to question why in the past eight years, only a fans’ podcast has spoken to Poyet about his time at the Albion. He added that he believed Brighton have “managed” the situation, making media outlets and other fan groups reluctant to speak to him for fear of upsetting the club and having their future access at the Amex restricted. “Talk to Poyet, we will not speak to you.” All rather draconian, if true.
Because it appears that Brighton fans want to remember the good that Poyet did – and would like the club to acknowledge it. Time is a great healer. Poyet looks back at his three-and-a-half years at the Albion as the best of his managerial career, willing to look past how it ended.
Albion supporters know that we will never see a Seagulls side dominate a division like Poyet’s did League One. Those games against Charlton, Peterborough and Carlisle; the last minute winner against Oldham Athletic; a team playing football from another planet. The way it all ended should not cloud or dim the memory of some of the best Brighton-supporting times we have ever had.
The only party who do not want to forgive and forget is the club. Which is sad, really. Everyone has moved on bar the grudge still being held, presumably in the Amex boardroom.
A decade on from that 2010-11 season, Brighton should be celebrating the 95 points the Albion won. In August, it will be 10 years since the Amex opened with that 2-1 win over Doncaster Rovers.
Would it not be brilliant to hear the thoughts and memories of Poyet, the man who was in the dugout on arguably the most famous afternoon in the club’s history?
Gus’ appearance on MNF was a reminder of his charisma, his passion and what he did to transform the Albion. Time to bury the hatchet, Brighton.
