New stadium, new division, new players – but Gus Poyet is adamant some things will never change as long as he is at Brighton.His club are being transformed, and Saturday was a significant staging post on a journey they hope will take them to the Premier League. After 14 seasons without a home to call their own, Albion’s first league game in the Amex Stadium was always going to trigger a flood of emotions.Less predictable was that the most visible outburst would come from Poyet, who certainly produced a splash when he lost his rag with referee Eddie Ilderton and kicked out at a crate of water bottles.Twenty-seven minutes gone in a new home and Poyet had already been sent to his room – or at least to a seat in the stands. The incident added to a day of high drama that was capped with Albion substitute Will Buckley’s late double that clinched the win.Poyet, meanwhile, can expect a call from the FA. However, he remained unrepentant.He said: “I got sent off once as the Brighton manager, at Orient. They didn’t give me a suspension, no fine. I didn’t even have to pay the costs of the hearing.“Why? Because it was an unbelievable penalty that everybody saw and the referee was the only one who didn’t.“I am not going to change, the day I change and I don’t care, then I go home. I don’t know if I’ll appeal. We’ll see what happens. Maybe they will just put the referee in the fridge for two or three weeks. And I will get away with nothing.”Poyet’s post-match comments might not have been upbeat had his side not stirred themselves in the final half-hour to recover from Billy Sharp’s opening goal in the 39th minute.
Brighton’s recovery was set up in the 83rd minute by Buckley on his debut following his £1million move from Watford and clinched with a well-taken finish deep into added time.
No comments:
Post a Comment