For the second of our 25 best players in the Championship as voted for by you, we’re off to the sunny south coast and the story of a Scottish international who made a surprise move to the Seagulls in the summer - over to John Verrall. Craig Mackail-Smith (Brighton and Hove Albion) “I tackled Dani Alves, it was my only touch but at least I got to play against Brazil.” He’s done more than tackle Dani Alves now. Craig Mackail-Smith has caused problems for Gerard Pique, he has made a £3million transfer and he has an international goal to his…
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Gus Poyet: the story of the Seagulls’ saviour
“This is another challenge for me to take the club where everybody in Brighton wants to be and that’s in the Championship. Being realistic I think 18 months is possible. If that is the goal of the club it’s no problem.” Gus Poyet - 10th November 2009 It had been a gamble, writes John Verrall. When Tony Bloom announced that Gus Poyet would take over as Brighton manager, replacing Russell Slade, he came with no past experience in the role before. Brighton were hardly in a stable position either, sitting in 20th position in League One. With the threat of…
Championship league ladder: Brighton up, Blackpool down
The Seventy Two’s Championship league ladder continues with the thoughts of John Verrall. In brief, the idea will be that the table begins in the order that the Championship finished at the end of the 2010/11 season and a series of bloggers and journalists will each re-position one team further up and one team further down based on their thoughts over the summer. By the end, we will have a predicted Championship table for which we can all take some part of the blame… Over to John… Making predictions is never easy. Making predictions at this stage of the season,…
League One play-off final preview: Huddersfield Town v Peterborough United
The play-off system is oft-criticised, writes John Verrall. Few can argue that it offers drama in abundance, but it also regularly stops the most deserving team, by league position, from getting promoted. Should a team that finished 6th in the league table really get promoted ahead of the team that finished 3rd? Despite creating fairytales – take Blackpool and Dagenham from last season – they can also create a feeling of injustice. This season, though, the play-off final reflects the league table. 3rd versus 4th will meet at Old Trafford in a battle for promotion. Huddersfield Town and Peterborough United…
Bluffer’s guide to the play-offs: Peterborough United
The Posh recovered from an inconsistent start to the season by piling the pressure onto Brighton, Southampton and Huddersfield during a strong New Year in League One. John Verrall assesses Darren Ferguson’s chances of a third promotion at London Road. Feeling confident? How’s your form? I don’t know about confident. I’m fairly optimistic. I believe we have the ability to win these playoffs. We can outscore every team in this division, however, our season has been plagued with inconsistency and our defensive record is very poor – even if we were to win the first leg 3-0 you wouldn’t feel…
David Fellerath: Sounds awful, but why would the Nottingham Forest men's club pull the ...
Ben: They certainly impressed against Newcastle, eventually running out of ...
Lanterne Rouge: I think the principle that football fans should be treated equally is ...
Lloyd: Great piece, Tom, which comes just days after my dad lamented the chan...
Steve: I would also point out that in my seat I have little elbow and leg roo...
