"It's going to be a long, hard season."
That was the half time opinion of the Longside cognoscenti, gloomy under the stand, avoiding the tat of the Clarets Foundation presentation. 45 minutes gone, 45 and a half games to go, and already that was how it felt. It's sad, really. I don't know about you, but after such a long break, I was really looking forward to the start of the season. Even after the summer's financial gloom, I took comfort in the fact that we have a good team and a decent manager. A good start to the season, and who knows?
Ah well, 45 minutes in, it felt like we'd never been away. We might as well have been back in April. It was as though the summer had never happened. We had the same players, and we were playing as badly as we did at the end of last season. This is a real worry, as we finished the season badly, and must not start this one the same.
What a deflating start to the season this was! It's all very well to say you want to begin the season at home, but it's bloody depressing when you get beat. You expect, in the first match, for the team to be ready to play. You count on them to be eager and prepared, particularly as, with no new players, this lot know each other. You want to hit the ground running. But they were so half-hearted that only the size of the crowd would have told you this wasn't a pre-season friendly. The most disturbing thing about the day was the sheer lack of fight the team showed. A couple of seasons ago they'd have rolled up their sleeves in response to adversity and got stuck in. Here, the reaction to King Arthur's sending off was surrender.
Sadly, we got another tactical mish mash from Stan too. How many people, Stan apart, believe that Lee Briscoe's a midfielder? Probably about the same number of people who think Di Branchio is a left back. I know we've got no money, but isn't it better to play a left back at left back and a midfielder in midfield? Of course Branch has no confidence and the crowd is on his back, but how do you remedy that by playing him out of position and then taking him off at half time? Here, the manager has to make his mind up - and then stick to his decision and back his player.
So, all in all, it was pretty bad. Although we began quite brightly, we quickly went downhill. We started with Taylor, Ian Moore and Blake all on the pitch, so along with Little, this was ostensibly an attacking line up. Unfortunately we didn't attack much. Blake, Moore and Little kept shuffling about, so there was usually someone out of position - don't fancy Moore at right midfield much - and Taylor was isolated up front. As a percentage player, the light-haired one gamely went for headers, flick ons and knock downs, and he duly won most of them, but if it's going to work you need players making runs in the box. With Blake doing nothing and Little and Moore often in the wrong place, you look to your midfielders, but that isn't Briscoe's game, while Tony Grant put in his usual Micky Mellon impersonation. We didn't have a midfield as such, and it cost us here. We didn't support attacks, didn't pick up the loose ball and didn't protect the defence. Again, I know we're short of money, but we do have a player called Paul Cook who pulled the strings when we played well last season.
Brighton were undoubtedly a club on a roll, having experienced successive promotions from the depths, but we should remember that most of their team have come from the third division. At home, as a club which now thinks of itself as belonging in Division One, we should not have lost in this way. Perhaps we were complacent?
Brighton quickly got on top and stayed there. They had the ball in the net from a header - apparently Zamora, although some said it was Steve Davis - early on, but fortunately it was called offside. It was a warning that we didn't heed, and their goal when it came was a nice easy one - player in space, plenty of the goal to aim at, 1-0. What did we do in response? We might have huffed and puffed a bit, but you must always ask yourself how much work the opposition keeper has to do. Not much here, other than waste a bit of time, which served to wind up the home support. It wasn't their keeper's fault that we were playing badly. During the first half we had one good run from Moore, before he remembered that he doesn't like to get too close to the goal, at which point he lost it.
Unbelievably, people booed Barry Kilby at half time. Tossers. Meanwhile, back on planet earth, Barry Kilby is one of the main reasons why we are a First Division club.
We did have a bit of a go at the start of the second half, presumably after the usual paint-stripping job in the dressing room. Cox came in alongside Davis and Arthur took Branch's place. The goalkeeper even had to do something, with Moore getting a shot in. Sadly, we were then derailed by Arthur's sending-off. I suppose we always knew this might happen sometime, but it was unjust. Arthur was clattered by Brighton's number 9, Gary Hart. He got up, and in anger, leaned his head towards his assailant. Hart instantly went down as though expertly snipered. The referee, Bates of Stoke (with previous form, including the Bradford home match last season), jumped to the obvious wrong conclusion and immediately waved a red. Disbelief rippled around the ground. Now clearly, Arthur was foolish to think of retaliation. But ask yourself here: who's the cheat? Who's more wrong, Arthur for being angry at being fouled, or Hart for cheating and getting a fellow professional sent off? Either it's okay to cheat or it isn't, a point that seemed to be lost on many Brighton fans. You can blame the ref for over-reacting, but his job isn't made easier when players cheat.
A more sensible reaction might have been yellow cards for both - Arthur for the reaction and Hart for the dive. Incidentally, Hart dived again about five minutes later. Still don't think he's a cheat? The referee told him to get up. No booking then?
Arthur was silly, but perhaps our still inexperienced player has learned a lesson harshly. And I can forgive him much for his reaction to the sending off. He was devastated. He stood dazed on the touchline, head buried in his shirt. This mattered to him, and he was distraught. Football is a sentimental game, and my heart went out to him. In the end it took Davis to persuade him to walk to the tunnel, to a great response from the crowd.
We never recovered from that. It's hard to guess if we might have gone on to get the equaliser if Arthur had stayed on the pitch. I think not, as it happens, although of course there are other games to come where Arthur's absence may cost us. Brighton were all round better than us throughout the game, and on that basis I would have expected them to win. They were better than us. They cheated. It's possible to maintain both those things. What disappointed me is that the righteous anger emanating from the stands towards Brighton's gamesmanship in general and Hart in particular wasn't shared by the team. It had got a bit heated around the sending off, but we didn't channel that. They decided the game was over.
Stan's reaction was to take off Blake for Weller. During the summer many people said that having a fit Blake would be like having a new player. After last season's frustrations here was his big chance, and I felt it was time for people like him to stand up and be counted. Still waiting.
In a final throw of the dice Papadopoulos replaced Moore, but before we'd had a chance to see if it might work, we'd finished. After what looked like a foul on Taylor everyone stopped - everyone but Brooker of Brighton, who had about half an unoccupied pitch to run about in. He casually advanced on goal and, in the absence of any sort of challenge, stuck it past our static keeper. I've always understood that the thing to do as a keeper in this kind of situation is to reduce the angle, occupy as much space as possible and make it hard for the attacker. Or you could always stand there and let him shoot, I suppose. All round, it was a Sunday park sort of goal to concede: an embarrassment in professional football.
It's often the case that when we concede a second the third follows shortly after, and so it came to pass again. Pure keeper's fault, this one, like so many goals before. Stan seems to be thinking he might have to get someone in on loan as cover if Michopoulos is injured or suspended. He should be thinking about getting a better keeper to take his place. Michopoulos prodded at a routine cross and delivered it direct to Zamora, who really couldn't miss. For god's sake, try catching it sometime.
And that's where we end, because that's when the Prince Albert Three Goal Rule came into play again. Christ, this was depressing. My aim every August is to get through the whole season without applying the Three Goal Rule. I generally hope to get past the first match. I've never left the first game prematurely before, but with a very heavy heart I slipped away, not uniquely. After looking forward to it, what a way for it to end.
It really was just like being back in April. It might have been the first match of the season, but it was the second Three Goal Rule in three games. Just like at Grimsby, Briscoe even grabbed a late non-consolation.
Stan said it was crap afterwards, so if it's okay for him to say it, then I can too. He said that Robbie Blake was 'hopeless' as well. Hmm, it's not going to work out, is it? Stan also said that players shouldn't think they're guaranteed a place because of the smaller squad, and he wouldn't be afraid of bringing young players in. So who's going to go in goal, Stan?
Oh well, at least Millwall lost 6-0, so there's always someone worse off, and I'm glad it was them. And after a year's delay, my Burnley balti pie was, finally, excellent. It isn't much of a bright side, but with Wolves looming, it will have to do.
Subs not used: Paul Cook and Andy Payton, interestingly enough.
Scorers: Briscoe (90) / Melton (29), Brooker (65), Zamora (68).
Attendance: 14,738, including a decent Brighton contingent.
Referee: The hapless Bates of Stokey.
Firmo's man of the match: Arthur Gnohere, so there.
Balti pie-ometer: Tasty pastry and a nice chicken filling. I'll give it 7/10.
Brighten the Corners