Noone makes all the difference

WHEN, rather than if, Albion make it to the Championship we should be toasting not just a team effort but a squad effort.

The success of Gus Poyet’s side has been built on 18 players, not just 11.

The manager has a plan A, a plan B, even a plan C.

Elliott Bennett began on the right wing against Tranmere. Albion could not get their most influential player on the ball so they switched him to the left wing.

He saw more of the ball on the opposite flank but, with nearly an hour played, Poyet’s runaway League One leaders were struggling to break down hard-working and well-organised opponents.

Enter plan C, better known as Craig Noone. The livewire winger inspired both his colleagues and the crowd as Albion eventually ran out comfortable winners.

It is no coincidence that Albion’s dodgiest spell of the season, from mid-November through to the end of December, was the period when they had neither Kazenga LuaLua or Noone.

Both are game-changers, whether they are in the starting line-up or on the bench.

If, in the crazily hectic English football calendar, you are only as good as your 18th man then it is no wonder the Seagulls are leaving their League One rivals trailing.

Consider the wealth of options Poyet had at his disposal against Rovers. Peter Brezovan and Tommy Elphick would walk into most back fives in the division, while Poyet’s assistant Mauricio Taricco, even at the age of 38, is still an accomplished performer.

Midfield back-up was provided by Noone and the rested Liam Bridcutt, who has been in outstanding form and, of course, scored that memorable last-gasp winner in the previous home game against Carlisle.

The spare strikers this time were 14-goal Ashley Barnes and Fran Sandaza, the Spaniard with a knack of scoring. Remember, it was Sandaza’s late winner against this Saturday’s hosts Oldham which first elevated Albion to the top of the table back in September.

It is comforting for Poyet to have so many options and it must be a nightmare for opposing managers trying to plot a way of getting a result at Withdean.

You just sense that some when, some how, the Seagulls will find an answer in the end.

Les Parry’s Tranmere certainly made it difficult for them with a variation on the theme of how to combat the pass-it-from-the-back style of Poyet’s side.

They did not try to press high up the pitch. In fact, they were quite content to let the central defenders carry the ball forward to a few yards inside their half.

From there Albion encountered a barrier of white shirts denying them width and congesting the midfield Poyet said: “The two wide players never really tried to attack. They were just defending our full-backs so it became ten behind the ball.

“The longer that goes on the more difficult it becomes. People get frustrated, the crowd were quiet, there was no quality in there and things were missing. If you open that up in the first ten minutes or with the first chance you get then the game changes.”

Albion customarily create, and spurn, several opportunities but they manufactured only one in the first half. A clever pass by Gary Dicker released Matt Sparrow for a shot which keeper Tony Warner blocked and Glenn Murray could not quite convert an awkwardly bouncing rebound.

If that had gone in it would, as Poyet suggested, have been a different game. Instead Albion were frustrated, the fans muted, until the introduction of Noone in tandem with Bridcutt injected a greater tempo and threat.

It is not easy when teams ‘park the bus’. Poyet said: “Remember, we are in League One. There are Premiership teams that are not able to do it, that only play one way.

“The players need to see it, have a look around, what they are doing, where is the space, who is doing well.

“We started with Elliott on the right. He couldn’t get on the ball so he went to the left and started creating half chances, then you go on and on.

“Then you analyse what they are doing and you think it’s a day for Nooney. You put him there, give him the ball and that brought the crowd into the game and everything started working well.

“The fans were just waiting maybe for something to happen and that’s the way we need to play as well. It’s a matter of time before we get going or we have a chance, then you need to take it.” Or be handed it. Ian Goodison, Tranmere’s Jamaican centre-half, obliged by sticking out an arm to block Elliott Bennett’s attempt to set up Chris Wood.

Poyet could not bear to watch after six penalty misses out of ten, one of them by Wood at Southampton in November after the young Kiwi had scored from the spot on his debut at home to Bristol Rovers.

His manager need not have fretted. Wood calmly sent Warner the wrong way and Murray made sure of the points with an exquisite strike, curled into the far corner after turning to create just enough space for himself to get the shot away.

Wood said: “It was very nice to be back in the starting line-up. I want to be there every week but Barnesy and Muzza are on fire as well in the goals department at the moment so we have to rotate throughout these games coming quickly.

“If we can all pick up goals over these next three or four weeks then by May we will be champions.”

By April more like, with such strength in depth for Poyet to call upon.

Albion (4-1-2-3): Ankergren; Calderon, Greer, El-Abd, Painter; Kishishev (Noone 59); Sparrow (Bridcutt 59), Dicker; Bennett, Murray, Wood (Barnes 77). Subs not used: Brezovan, Elphick, Sandaza, Taricco.

Goals: Wood (63) penalty, Murray (72).

Red cards: None.

Yellow cards: Greer (41) foul, Barnes (80) unsporting behaviour.

Tranmere Rovers (4-4-1-1): Warner; Kay, Goodison, McChrystal, Cresswell; Akins (Taykor 81), Weir, Welsh, Bakayogo (McGurk 71); Robinson, Showunmi. Subs not used: Cathalina, Collister, Wood, Blanchard, Labadie.

Goals: None.

Red cards: None.

Yellow cards: Showunmi (45) foul, Weir (70) foul, Cresswell (80) unsporting behaviour.