Brighton and Hove Albion - Features

The Hunt For Gus Poyet

10th November 2009 - Mark Potter

It's not your every lunchtime visit to Wokmania that ends up finishing at a County League football ground in *shudder* Lancing, but Tuesday saw just that.

At 1.04pm, the official text came through. "POYET NEW ALBION" was the title. Typical bloody Albion, they can't even send a text message without cocking it up. "Get in!" was the immediate reaction, and a few text messages were fired back and forth. And that was that, now for a bit of Chinese grub.

However, after the meal (six quid for all-you-can-eat Chinese can't be, er, scoffed at, even if the quality isn't particularly immaculate) it seemed perfect sense to have a pint to wash it down with. Now, only an Albion sad case would be sat in the pub (The Wagon & Horses) checking out the supporters' reaction on an internet message via their mobile phone, but sure enough that's what I did. And it was then that I found out that our new South American boss was in fact sat only a few hundred yards away, at the Grand Hotel. "F*ck it, shall we go?" was the question, and we immediately set off on Poyet hunt.

A BBC Radio Sussex van waited outside the grounds, with one lonely looking Albion fan doing the same as us. Stalking. A quick check of the car park revealed absolutely bugger all, as it's all locked up. Our wild goose chase had ended as soon as it had begun I figured. How wrong I was.

Suddenly, there he was, on the sea front, complete with two tubs worth of hair gel, about 20 photographers/reporters, Tony Bloom and Ken Brown. Brilliant! And with the kind help of club press officer Paul Camillin and photographer Paul Hazlewood, we had our photo. A Wearebrighton exclusive - the first fans to be photographed with the new manager within hours of his confirmation as boss.

The reserve match that evening was slightly less glamorous. Further photo opportunities were going to be tricky, as a crowd of around 400 (boosted by Poyet and free admission) all tried to catch a glimpse of the new Albion boss, as the reserves comfortably beat Millwall 4-1 (even Craig Davies hit the back of the net!).

Even more of a surprise though was Ali Jenkins getting the ultimate snap - a picture of Bloom and Poyet , before the duo disappeared down the players tunnel, much to the disappointment of everyone else. Another exclusive!

Meanwhile, I had to settle for the 'flairness' of a photo with Colin Hawkins.

Doesn't quite compete, does it?