FOOTBALL
GUS POYET, BRIGHTON MANAGER, T-SHIRTS GIVEN AWAY AT FIRST MATCH
Gus Poyet, Brighton manager, saw fans don T-shirts baring his face
Thursday November 19,2009
GUS Poyet saw first home match in charge of Brighton marked with free Poyet T-shirts given away to home fans entering Withdean Stadium.
It bore the legend ‘Hola Gus’ and had his smiling face emblazoned across the front. And while the chilly South Coast surrounds and 3,383 crowd may have been light years away from the Nou Camp, Stamford Bridge or White Hart Lane, the welcome from the fans was warm and genuine.
Ambitious Albion aspire to bigger and better things, hence Poyet’s appointment, and a new 22,500-seater £93million stadium is under construction nearby, due for readiness by the 2011-12 season.
All Poyet, who signed a one-and-a-half year contract as boss here eight days ago, will be expected to do by then is deliver promotion and have a team in readiness for the Championship. Not much pressure there then. But that is something the popular Poyet has coped with well throughout his career. This first round FA Cup replay success clinched a home tie with Rushden and Diamonds, and it is now two victories out of two for Albion’s new boss.
And, after three stabs as assistant manager, twice under Dennis Wise at Swindon and Leeds, and most recently with the hapless Juande Ramos at Spurs, Poyet is intent on doing it his way.
He rested forward Glenn Murray, who scored the first two goals of Poyet’s reign in Sunday’s 3-1 League One win at Southampton, because he was one booking away from a suspension and is needed for Saturday’s upcoming fixture against Leeds United.
Fellow striker Nicky Forster, who scored a winner against Wycombe in early September, was on the substitutes’ bench, giving Poyet the opportunity to look at Liam Dickinson and Craig Davies as a forward partnership.
It took 38 minutes for Poyet’s side to take the lead after an Elliott Bennett cross caused trouble against League One’s bottom club. Initially, the crowd appealed for a penalty when Davies appeared to be shoved close to the goal line, but it did not matter as Andrew Crofts rammed the ball home from the left to prevent referee Andy D’Urso from being put on the spot.
And Bennett extended Albion’s lead on 61 minutes with a 25-yard right-footer to keep Poyet, who won the FA Cup with Chelsea in 2000, dreaming of an unlikely Wembley return.
