Why come to the Amex to slag off a Brighton team sitting 10th in the table?
On a beautiful February afternoon, the Amex was bathed in sunshine and you could almost forget about the grim shadow hanging over the world at the current time.
We had a little longer than expected to enjoy the unseasonal weather before kick off thanks to the Aston Villa team coach getting caught up in the traffic delays on the main roads approaching Brighton.
The Villa squad were not the only ones with travel issues. There were no trains again due to significant track repairs being carried out over nine consecutive days in an attempt to get the job done in one hit.
Not wanting to be stuck on a rail replacement bus down to Brighton, I opted to complete the journey via coach with Seagulls Travel. Once again, they got their beak to the forefront and we got to the ground in very good time.
The previous week’s 3-0 defeat to Burnley would no doubt have knocked the Albion’s confidence. Back-to-back home games seemed to present a good opportunity to rebuild it and settle down to working once again as a team with the determination to stand their ground.
Since the Burnley game of course, war has begun in Europe and what is happening in Ukraine at present is a major worry for us all.
It serves as a reminder that a football result is an issue that in the grand scheme of things we should not really take too much heart.
If anything, it should boost the regard that we hold our team in. They deserve our support and we are lucky to be able to give it to them, whether they win or lose.
Some of us need reminding of this based on the reaction to Brighton 0-2 Aston Villa. Just because we lost against Villa, we should not be slagging off the squad on social media.
Watch back the highlights on Match of The Day and you will see that the Albion played a lot of good football. It was just one of those days when the chances that came Brighton’s way would not go in the back of the net.
Compare that to the clinical finishing Villa produced. Matty Cash hit a good shot off Robert Sanchez’s right-hand post for the opening goal on 17 minutes.
The defending might have been better as Cash appeared to have too much time and space. Even so, it was still a great strike that initially looked like it might be bending wide from the East Upper.
Cash stripped off his shirt in celebration and the usual yellow card took a little longer to come out from referee Jonathan Brooks.
The Villa man was eventually booked but the hesitancy from the referee became clear when watching the highlights. Cash had a message written to his friend Tomasz Kedzoria, who plays for Dynamo Kyiv. It said: “Stay strong bro”. A sentiment we can all agree with.
Ollie Watkins scored Villa’s second on 68 minutes. His was a fine finish too following a long ball over the top catching the Brighton defence out. It was Watkins’ first goal in seven matches.
Alexis Mac Allister had the best chance for Brighton but his shot kissed the top of the crossbar. There seemed to be a running set of disagreements between Cash and Emiliano Martinez all afternoon.
The Villa goalkeeper is a fine player and yet here he was being chastened on a number of occasions by his teammate. It was a shame Brighton could not test Martinez more to see if these arguments would impact on his game.
Nine yellow cards were shown throughout the 90 minutes, yes nine! It did get a little heated at times, leading to a feeling that the referee had lost control.
There was one shout in the second half from Tariq Lamptey that I felt really should have been looked at. This was not to be Brighton’s day though.
Not that there is any shame in losing to Villa. Steven Gerrard won four of his first six matches remember and has his side defensively organised and playing with the sort of combative spirit he was known for as a player.
They were also backed by complete and unequivocal support. The noise coming from the South Stand was incredible against the very poor support from our own North Stand.
My little voice on its own in the East Upper just does not cut it. Everyone needs to work harder to improve the atmosphere at the Amex.
We must all give the lads 120 percent support whether they are wining or losing. It must give them such a lift when they can hear us even when the game is not going well.
Why come to the Amex to slag the players off? All that does is lower the tone. As a club, Brighton are still on target to finish 10th in the Premier League. How can people complain about that?
Of course, to maintain that top 10 position then Brighton need to start picking up points again soon. We tend to be better away from home this season and so hopefully the trip to Newcastle United will provide a chance to triumph.
Newcastle are showing real signs of improvement, including when beating Brentford 2-0 at the weekend. 90 minutes at St James’ Park will not be easy, but Brighton have shown over most of this season what they can do. Up the Albion!
Tony Noble @Noble1844Tony
