Brighton visit the Vic - will Pools avoid defeat?

By Albatross
September 26 2003

If Hartlepool United get at least a draw tomorrow, we can celebrate a calender year since the last time we suffered a league defeat. Brighton and Hove Albion are the opponents, and they'll have other ideas of course....

Relegated last season, Brighton are expecting to do well in Division 2 and come to the Vic sitting in second place, two points behind leaders Port Vale and the same number ahead of Pools. The South Coast club will be hoping to continue the form that has seen them win their last two league games and push Middlesbrough to extra time in Wednesday's Carling Cup game.

The Seagulls got off to a flying start, winning away at Oldham and following that up with a defeat of Bristol Rovers in the Carling Cup and victory over QPR at Withdean. Defeat followed at Barnsley, and although they beat Luton a couple of draws and another defeat - this time at the hands of Colchester - followed before wins over Chesterfield and then last weekend against Sheffield Wednesday lifted them back into the top two.

Their away form though has not been too hot of late. After that opening day victory, Brighton have suffered two defeats and a draw away from Withdean, and have had to rely on their home form (the best in the division) to gain points. When you bear in mind that Oldham were in complete disarray, with no pre-season to speak of when they faced Brighton, it raises a number of questions about how well Coppell's team can play away from home.

That doesn't mean that Albion won't provide a stern test though. After losing Bobby Zamora over the Summer, Coppell reacted by bringing in Leon Knight - initially on loan, but now permanently - and the former Chelsea forward has so far hit seven goals. With Darius Henderson (on loan from Reading) most likely to be partnering him up front, the Pools defence will have to be on their guard.

Likely to be in goal for Brighton is Dutchman Michael Kuipers. He started the season out on loan at Hull, but has returned to take his place in the starting eleven and was especially impressive at the Riverside according to my parents (Smoggy Season Ticket holders). In front of him will be a central defensive partnership of Danny Cullip and the experienced Guy Butters. Against Middlesbrough, Brighton were a solid, well-organised unit but offered little going forward; they will no doubt be looking to be a bit more attack-minded against Pools. However, with both Simon Rodger and Charlie Oatway picking up injuries, Coppell will have to shuffle his pack a little.

For Pools, Tuesday Night's game in some ways raised more questions than it answered. With Humphreys and Eifion Williams playing very deep and out of position to differering degrees, they didn't have the impact on the game we would have liked to see. Was it just a one-off to counter West Brom's Wing-back system? Will Cooper revert to some more conventional positioning now it's back to the bread and butter of the league? More than anything it highlights the problems on the left side; Robson is slowly gaining experience, Jordan looks better in the middle, Brackstone is waiting for his chance, while Mark Robinson played in midfield for the reserves at Boston. Could it be time for him to make a return? One thing is certain though - if even experienced Pools Watchers aren't sure what Cooper is going to do, Coppell has no chance!

For what it's worth, I suspect that Cooper will revert to 4-3-3, with Robson coming back into the side at the expense of Clarke. And having made that prediction, here's another: Pools to win 1-0 with a Robinson goal. We may only have beaten the Seagulls once in more than 20 attempts, but we're unbeaten at home in the league in almost a year and are facing a side with a less than impressive away record; it's time to put one over on another of the division's promotion favourites.