Soaring with the Seagulls

[MWEST94]

Soaring with the Seagulls
Reason why I chose them: I live in Brighton and supported them since a young age ,going to matches at the Withdean and now The Amex. I also work part time at the Amex as Kiosk staff; the only downside being I can't watch the match!

Database:
I'm using the normal 13.3.0 database, the only change being I added myself as a youngster at Brighton who has got high potential. I will load England up to League 2 and the top divisions from Spain, Italy, France, Holland, Portugal and Germany.

So here we go, if anyone can recommend any signings let me know...


Brighton History

Season	Championship	Premier League	League Cup	FA Cup	Euro Cup	Champions League	Community Shield	World Club Championships	Other
1st	4th	-	W	4th R	-	-	-	-	-
2nd	-	11th	W	4th R	1st R	-	-	-	-
3rd	-	6th	4th R	5th R	SF	-	-	-	-
4th	-	8th	3rd R	SF	QF	-	-	-	-
5th	-	4th	F	3rd R	-	-	-	-	-
6th
7th
8th
9th
10th

Key:
W – winners, SF – semi-final, QF – quarter final, 4th R – 4th round, 3rd R – 3rd round, 2nd R – 2nd round, 1st r – 1st round
​

 

[iamauser]

Good luck with this buddy. Im just down the road from you in Worthing

Hope you can get to the prem quickly!

 

[MaximumPower]

Working at a football stadium would be my dream job! Shame about not being able to see matches.

You are really going to Brighton up the Prem

 

[stourbridge]

I will follow.. the reason why?? one of my fav authors writes crime stories based on a copper in brighton!!!

 

[MWEST94]

Arrogant Poyet leaves Brighton
In a dramatic turn Gus Poyet has left Brighton stating he was too good for them and has higher ambitions. Brighton have quickly replaced him with youth coach Matt West. West has worked his way from the depths of the club; starting out as a kiosk worker, earning his coaching badges and finally becoming the youth coach. West knows the setup of the club, is respected by the players and wants to encourage youth and attractive football.

Squad (Key players):
Ulloa
Ulloa was a good signing by Poyet in real life, contributing 8 goals in 14 appearances. Will be my main striker and will hopefully contribute the goals, if not there is always Mackail-Smith!

Gordon Greer
Greer is the rock at the back and will make sure we do not concede the goals. Will play alongside Upson or Dunk.

Wayne Bridge
Bridge is on loan from Man City and will provide us with experience and width down the left side, especially with inside forwards playing.

Tactics:
View attachment 330873
My own tactics I created which is a fast possession based tactic. The defence will be Greer alongside another defender where the attack will begin. The anchorman and dlp (usually Bridcutt) will provide me with defensive stability but also a place to start the attack. I like wingbacks and fortunately Brighton have players who can play that role, but possibly might look for competition on the right side. They will provide width attacking but offer help defensively. Then there are the trio in the middle, two inside forwards who will support the loan poacher and advanced playmaker (Vicente/ West) who will provide the creativity for the poacher.

Objectives:
Achieve over 51% + possession in every match
Finish in the top four of the Championship
Reach the quarter finals in either cup
Play fast, attractive football encouraging youth
​

 

[MWEST94]

Pre-season:
Brighton 1 v 1 RC Lens
Dag & Red 0 v 0 Brighton
Alfreton 0 v 3 Brighton
Brighton 0 v 0 Osasuna
Bristol Rovers 0 v 3 Brighton
Brighton 2 v 0 Fiorentina

"A great unbeaten pre-season with a fantastic win against Fiorentina. My possession tactic is working with 55+ possession in all the matches. Dalla Valle particularly impressed! The only downside is Bridge, Lopez and Dunk got injured but should be back by the start of the season."

Transfers:
In:
Lauri Dalla Valle - loan (short term)
Shaun Cummings - loan

Out:
Calderon - £350k

"Dalla Valle came in short term as a back up to Ulloa with Mackail-Smith and Hoskins being injured. If he impresses I might think about extending it. Shaun Cummings is on loan as Bruno is not naturally a wingback which I use in my tactic. Calderon has left with Cummings coming in."
​

 

[MWEST94]

August Summary:
Torquay in first round of cup
Good win against our rivals
Unbeaten start to the League

Torquay 1 v 3 Brighton (LC)
Orlandi, Lopez, Dunk
Possession 63%

"A good start in the League Cup, but it took till extra time to get the win. Lopez particurly impressed down the right hand side."

Crystal Palace 1 v 2 Brighton (L)
Ulloa, Hammond
Possession 51%

"A great win against our rivals and Murray didn't come back to haunt us. The first goal by Ulloa was reminescance of the Argentina 23 pass goal. Hammond scored the second then Palace pulled a goal back, with 10 minutes to spare, but we held on."

Brighton 2 v 0 Hull (L)
Vicente, Buckley
Possession 52%

"A good win with the second being some grest interchange down the left between West, Vicente and Buckley."

Watford 1 v 3 Brighton (L)
Ulloa (2), Mackail-Smith
Possession 53%

"A good result with Ulloa contributing some classy finishes against promotion chasing Watford, look out Hinguin and Tevez! We're flying up the table, promise these bird puns will get better."

Nottm Forest 2 v 3 Brighton (LC)
Barnes, Upson, Ulloa
Possession 58%

"A great win in the cup against a strong Forest team with Carew bullying our defence. But we just kept pecking away and Ulloa scored, again, in the last minute of extra time."

Player of the month:

Ulloa - has been scoring for fun this month - may give Messi a run for top Argentina scorer!

League Position:
2nd - surprising leaders are Huddersfield
​

 

[MWEST94]

September Summary
First defeat in the league
Good progress in the cup
Bridcutt is the Xavi of Brighton

Sheff Wed 2 v 1 Brighton (L)
Vicente
Possession 59%

"A disappointing match in a game we dominated and just didn't take our chances. To be fair to Sheff Wed they did miss a penalty."

Brighton 0 v 1 Bolton (L)
Possession 55%

"Another loss, we dominated from start to finish but a 93rd winner by Bolton killed us."

Brighton 1 v 0 Millwall (LC)
Barnes
Possession 55%

"Good to get back to winning ways with a Barnes 20 yarder. But Bridge got sent off and Buckley got injured too."

Brighton 0 v 2 Peterborough (L)
Possession 63%

"We just weren't good enough!"

Ipswich 0 v 1 Brighton (LC)
LuaLua
Possession 59%

"A hard fought victory with a great goal and through to next round of the cup against the mighty Brentford!"

Leeds 0 v 1 Brighton (L)
Dalla Valle
Possession 55%

"A hard fought victory and a good win against top opposition. Dalla Valle also scored in his last game."

Player of the month:

Bridcutt - has been great this month in the dlp role, providing assists and he has got the highest passing rate in the league (89%)

League Position:
6th
​

 

[MWEST94]

October Summary
Good form in the league
Scare in the cup
62% average possession

Brighton 1 v 0 Middlesbrough (L)
Barnes
Possession 62%

"A good win! Slowly flying up the table."

Nottm Forest 1 v 1 Brighton (L)
West
Possession 57%

"A great game with West scoring a Messi-esque goal Both teams missed penalties and Forest had a man sent off, so could have gone either way."

Brighton 0 v 2 Bristol City (L)
Possession 62%

"Just awful! Someone obviously went seagull shooting this week."

Leicester 1 v 2 Brighton (L)
Ulloa, Mackail-Smith
Possession 57%

"A good victory, and happy both strikers are back on the goals."

Brighton 2 v 0 Ipswich (L)
Orlandi, Barnes
Possession 68%

"A good victory with 2 great goals, one a great team goal and the other a piece of individual magic. Premiership here we come!"

Brighton 2 v 1 Brentford (LC)
Dunk, Ulloa
Possession 63%

"They gave us an early scare but we kept going and scored 2 goals. Not the best performance but through to the next round with a tasy quarter final tie."

Player of the month:

Barnes - has not been playing his natural striker role as he has been used as an inside forward, but he is still scoring and assisting and has managed to get a cap for Austria for his performances.

League Position:
4th
​

 

[MWEST94]

November Summary
Poyet goes to MK Dons
Buckley out for months
Battle of the B’s this month

Blackpool 0 v 1 Brighton (L)
Vicente
Possession 53%

“An early goal from Vicente gave us a good lead. Blackpool deserved more from the game, in the words of Mourinho ‘The best team lost’. Both Barnes and Buckley got injured as well!”

Brighton 0 v 0 Blackburn (L)
Possession 56%

“A boring game that could have gone either way.”

Barnsley 1 v 1 Brighton (L)
Upson
Possession 58%

“Greer got sent off early on and with Jason Scotland scoring made things worse. We were lucky to get a point with Scotland and Boyd plucking our defence and they had three disallowed goals. Vicente also got injured!”

Wolves 0 v 0 Brighton (L)
Possession 56%

“With the injuries I had to give young Forster-Caskey a role in the AMC position. Disappointed in the draw considering Wolves had a man sent off.”

Brighton 1 v 0 Charlton (L)
LuaLua
Possession 64%

“An 87th​ minute winner for LuaLua gave us an overdue win and a clean sheet again. The Amex is becoming a stable nest!”

Brighton 1 v 1 Birmingham (L)
Hammond
Possession 65%

“Great, Birmingham take the lead then Bruno gets sent off. Hammond equalised with some good play down the left.”

Player of the month:

Upson – has been great this month, averaging 7.5 and making sure we hardly concede. He also contributed the equiliser in the Blackpool game.

League position:
3rd​ ​

 

[iamauser]

Going well so far mate. Wonder if you can grab 2nd at the end of the season

 

[MWEST94]

Going well so far mate. Wonder if you can grab 2nd at the end of the season

Hopefully we can mate. Just need to improve our scoring, we are creating a lot of chances but not taking them!

 

[iamauser]

Hopefully we can mate. Just need to improve our scoring, we are creating a lot of chances but not taking them!

Yeah I was thinking that. Looking pretty solid at the back. Only conceding 1 every few matches

 

[MWEST94]

December Summary
Shocker in the cup
Unbeaten run comes to an end
Boxing day drama

Brighton 1 v 0 Burnley (L)
Greer
Possession 62%

“Started well with Greer scoring a header. We should have scored more with the chances we had, but a win is a win. It also takes our unbeaten run to nine games.”

Sunderland 1 v 3 Brighton (LC)
Ulloa (2), Upson
Possession 51%

“Decided to tweak my tactics to counter and play wider. It worked well especially with Johnson and Billy Knott not tracking back. Ulloa gave us a surprising lead but Sessegnon equalised at the end of the first half. Upson and Ulloa scored early in the second half to give us the win. Into the semis!”

Cardiff 0 v 2 Brighton (L)
Ulloa (2)
Possession 62%

“Ulloa converted a penalty and scored early in the second half. Another win and still unbeaten!”

Huddersfield 2 v 1 Brighton (L)
Cummings
Possession 58%

“Novak was on fire this match and scored an 87th​ minute winner which means our unbeaten run comes to an end.”

Brighton 2 v 0 Derby (L)
Upson, El-Abd
Possession 67%

“Upson and El-Abd scored cracking headers and it is good to get back to winning ways.”

Hull 0 v 2 Brighton (L)
Greer, West
Possession 53%

“The sixth time this month a defender has scored. Another win and we’re top of the table. Feels like we are on the clouds and all the teams below are like ants!”

Brighton 2 v 3 Crystal Palace (L)
Hammond, Ulloa
Possession 60%

“The battle of the seagulls and the eagles. Hammond scored early for us and Ulloa scored the second with a classy passing moves. Unfortunately Palace pulled three goals back. Even with our position in the league and performance in the cup, this is hard to take!”

Brighton 0 v 0 Watford (L)
Possession 58%

“First versus second in the table and it ends with a stalemate. Could have gone either way but we still remain at the top of the table.”

Player of the month:

Ulloa – could have been a number of players with Greer and Upson up for this. However, choose Ulloa for his goals and performance against Sunderland was a particular highlight.

League position:
1st​ – by 2 points​

 

[MWEST94]

January Summary
Progression in the cups
Shaky form in the league
Youngsters sign for Brighton

Bolton 1 v 0 Brighton (L)
Possession 62%

“Bolton just played better than us!”

Charlton 0 v 2 Brighton (FAC)
Lopez, Cummings
Possession 62%

“We took an early lead through a Lopez header and dominated throughout with Cummings getting a late goal. Through to the next round of the cup.”

Brighton 1 v 1 Huddersfield (LC)
Lopez
Possession 70%

“Lopez again scored an early goal but Huddersfield equalised. Was hoping for a win in the first leg but we will have to take the game to Huddersfield. We dominated with possession and shots and Bridcutt made 175 passes.”
[Insert stat]

Brighton 2 v 3 Sheff Wednesday (L)
Barnes (2)
Possession 65%

“A good display from our side but couldn’t get the points. We hit the bar, the post and they missed a penalty.”

Peterborough 2 v 1 Brighton (L)
Hammond
Possession 58%

“Took the lead but they scored two easy goals. Our form is starting to dip.”

Huddersfield 0 v 1 Brighton (LC)
Orlandi
Possession 70%

“An 82nd​ minute winner from Orlandi has set up a cup final against Chelsea with the possibility of Europe next season. Huddersfield really don’t like possession!”

Brighton 0 v 1 Stoke (FAC)
Possession 59%

“We played well, Stoke allowed us to have possession and the result could have gone either way.”

Millwall 1 v 2 Brighton (L)
Lopez, Forde (OG)
Possession 53%

“A good win against promotion Millwall and good to get back to winning ways in the league.”

Player of the month:

Bridcutt – has been playing well in the Xavi role this month.

League position:
4th​

Transfers in:
Dalle Valle £100k
Tom Lawrence £300k

“Both are young players with potential. Dalle Valle was nearly out of contract so picked him up cheaply. My director recommended youngster Lawrence so signed him up as well.”​

 

[MWEST94]

February Summary
Shocker in league cup
Poor form in the league
Possession game continues

Brighton 0 v 3 Leeds (L)
Possession 60%

“One of the worst displays I’ve seen as manager against a team sitting at the foot of the table.”

Middlesbrough 3 v 5 Brighton (L)
West (2), Ulloa (2), Orlandi
Possession 60%

“After our awful display against Leeds who at the time were bottom of the table we now face bottom place Middlesbrough. We started well with West converting a penalty but they soon equalised. West, Ulloa and Orlandi added further goals. They scored two late goals which made the game look closer than it was!”

Bristol City 0 v 0 Brighton (L)
Possession 57%

“A hard fought point but really need the win for the push for automatic promotion.”

League Cup final:
Chelsea 0 v 4 Brighton (LC)
Upson, Ulloa (2), West
Possession 52%

Line up: Chelsea – Beeney, Azpilicueta, Bertrand, Christensen, Terry, Baker, Marin, Romeu, Oscar, Hazard, Feruz (4-2-3-1)
Brighton – Kuszczak, Upson, El-Abd, Cummings, Bridcutt, Crofts, Bridge, Barnes, West, Orlandi, Ulloa (2-4-3-1)

“Looking at the line ups it is a fairly even match up. Hopefully can make Chelsea pay for players I’ve never heard of.

Started well with Orlandi and Ulloa squandering chances. Upson put us in the lead in the 19th​ minute with a header. Ulloa doubled our lead in the 29th​ minute with a route one ball to Cummings who squared it to the goalscorer. Hazard almost pulled one back then we countered and West scored the third. 3-0 up and cruising in the 39th​ minute. Ulloa added a fourth just before half time.

The second half. We began brightly with Ulloa heading over. Chelsea finally brought on a quality striker Demba Ba. They also brought on Torres. They threatened throughout and Torres almost scored. But we held on against a poor Chelsea side. Playing in Europe next season, regardless of our division!”

Brighton 1 v 1 Nottm Forest (L)
Barnes
Possession 67%

“Carew put Forest ahead just before half time but Barnes equalised in the second half. Disappointed as a win could have moved us second.”

Player of the month:
West – has been great this month, scoring and assisting and providing a mature display against Chelsea. No bias here!

League position:
5th​​

 

[iamauser]

Superb result against chelsea in the final! Europe next season

 

[MWEST94]

Superb result against chelsea in the final! Europe next season

Cheers mate! Brighton in Europe next season will be fun. Don't know what Chelsea were playing at, either not taking the cup seriously or underestimating us. Hopefully can get promotion as well!

 

[f00tiemad]

just read this thread and ur doing great ive just took over brighton after gus got sacked for poor form n took them from 17th to 4th in 5 games scoring 11 n only conceding 2 ulloa is imence

 

[MWEST94]

just read this thread and ur doing great ive just took over brighton after gus got sacked for poor form n took them from 17th to 4th in 5 games scoring 11 n only conceding 2 ulloa is imence

Yeah Ulloa is great, keeping Mackail-Smith out of the side. He has been in great form in real life. Hopefully he will be the same in the Premier League if I get promoted!