Sussex

Former Brighton & Hove Albion manager Barry Lloyd died at the age of 75 last week.

Lloyd, who managed the Seagulls between 1987-1993, would later return to the club as Chief Scout in 2007, a position he went on to hold for nearly 15 years.

Speaking on BBC Radio Sussex's Albion Unlimited podcast, former Brighton defender Guy Butters paid tribute to Lloyd.

"He was there for years, he was a great servant to the club and it's very sad news," he said.

"He was born in Hillingdon, as was I, and my dad played cricket with and against him when they were younger. Football was always his favourite sport and he excelled at that and he played for some great clubs.

"I always remember seeing clips of him against West Ham United when he was playing for Fulham in a cup final.

"I managed to work for the club in a little stage of my career and came across Barry when I was there. He was always approachable, always talkative and he will be a sad loss.

"I've spoken about him before with ex-players and everyone has really kind words to say about him, he gave a lot of them their chances when they were younger. It was at a time when they were really battling to stay in the Football League at one stage and he came in and stamped his name all over the football club."

Listen to the full episode on BBC Sounds

Pat Nevin
Former footballer and presenter

Image source, Getty Images

Sometimes you just have to scream that the Emperor’s new clothes are indeed just nakedness, or in this case brazen stupidity.

‌The goalkeeping and defensive blunder count at Stamford Bridge on Saturday was incredible. There was a point when Chelsea keeper Robert Sanchez was in line for the man-of-the-match award…for Brighton! He certainly provided an unmissable assist for Carlos Baleba’s goal that made it 3-2, as well as being at fault for their first.

‌He was not the only one defending terribly. The ultra-high defensive line by Brighton, away from home against lightning-quick attackers and clever players not being closed down in midfield, looked frankly embarrassing.

‌In times gone by, this would have been decried as monumental naivety, but the current Premier League groupthink has certain immutable tenets. One is that playing out from the keeper must be done even when he demonstrably cannot actually play outfield football at that level.

‌In my career - and that was not yesterday – as a midfield creative, I dreamed of playing against such a predictable and frankly quite sluggish high defensive line. It is incredibly easy to beat their offside trap with an average run from deep and a relatively simple well-timed pass or indeed just an unfocused hook over the top.

‌Forget the Emperor’s new clothes, Brighton were caught with their pants down time and again and they never thought to pull them back up again. Weird.

‌The Premier League can be great, but it can also be technically a bit rubbish sometimes too. Are you allowed to say that?

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The latest episode of the Albion Unlimited podcast has landed.

Former Brighton defender Guy Butters joins the BBC Radio Sussex podcast to discuss the Seagulls' defensive strategy and pay tribute to Barry Lloyd.

The Sun journalist Tom Barclay also checks in to help preview Tottenham's trip to Amex Stadium on Sunday.

Listen to the full episode on BBC Sounds

Scott McCarthy
Fan writer

Image source, Getty Images

Tin hat on... I like Adam Webster. An opinion which very much goes against the grain of most Brighton supporters after he was culpable for gifting Chelsea the first of their four goals at Stamford Bridge.

Since signing for the Albion in 2019, Webster has played a big part in helping establish the club in the Premier League. During the 2021-22 season, when Brighton finished top 10 for the first time in their history, his form was good enough to be in the conversation for an England call up. Unfortunately, injury ruined that.

However, time waits for no one.

Two-and-a-half years later and Brighton have moved on. Tony Bloom wants the Seagulls to become regular challengers for Europe - and it is fair to say Webster is no longer good enough to be playing for a club desiring a top-eight finish.

This is not his fault, which is the point a lot of his critics in the wake of what happened at Chelsea appear to be missing. After all, Brighton signed nearly £200m worth of new players in the summer.

It seems mad a club can be the biggest net spenders in world football, and yet not sign a new centre-back to leave themselves in a position where one injury or suspension means throwing Webster into the starting XI.

Making the situation stranger is that Brighton knew in the summer they were appointing a head coach who deploys a high line. They also knew their defensive options are somewhat lacking in pace. They needed a different profile of centre-back to suit the tactics of Fabian Hurzeler.

Webster has become the fall guy when he should never have been put in the position of playing against Chelsea in a system unsuited to him.

It all means defensive reinforcements must be a priority for Brighton over the next couple of transfer windows.

Find more from Scott McCarthy at We Are Brighton, external