Matt Pole is joined by Sam Morton, who covers both Albion and the Reds, and Crawley Town expert Mark Dunford.
Both the Seagulls and the Reds have been busy in the transfer market. We’ll bring you all the latest ins and outs from the Amex and Broadfield Stadium, plus we’ll take a brief look at England’s Euro 2024 semi-final win over the Netherlands
You can read all the stories we are talking about with videos and pictures online at SussexWorld.co.uk/sport
Both the Seagulls and the Reds have been busy in the transfer market. We’ll bring you all the latest ins and outs from the Amex and Broadfield Stadium, plus we’ll take a brief look at England’s Euro 2024 semi-final win over the Netherlands
You can read all the stories we are talking about with videos and pictures online at SussexWorld.co.uk/sport
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SportsTranscript
00:00Welcome to another episode of the Goldmouth Action Podcast, where we take a look at all the latest goings on at Brighton & Hove, Abbey and Crawley Town.
00:07I'm Matt Pole and I'm joined by Sam Morton, who covers both Abbey and Reds, as well as Crawley Town expert Mark Dunford.
00:13Both the Seagulls and the Reds have been busy in the transfer market.
00:17We'll bring you all the latest ins and outs from the Amex and Broadfield staging.
00:20Plus, we'll take a brief look at England's Euro 2024 semifinal win over the Netherlands.
00:25You can read all the stories we are talking about with videos and pictures online at sussexworld.co.uk forward slash sport.
00:31And you can check out other great videos on shotstv.com and Freeview channel 276.
00:36You may also be watching on later TV. So thank you very much for tuning in.
00:39But first, this week, we saw Albion announce the signing of Netherlands international Mats Vyfer from Feyenoord.
00:47The midfielder has signed a contract until 2029.
00:49And what do you make of the signing, Sam? It's one that's been in the pipeline for a while.
00:53What will he add to the Seagulls squad, do you reckon?
00:56Yeah, and I'm very excited by this signing, Matt, really.
01:00I think, and as you can see from social media, a lot of Brighton fans are too.
01:03It seems like a bit of a statement signing going into the new season.
01:08He's been described by The Athletic as the missing link and an all-rounder to boost a post-Caisedo and McAllister midfield.
01:15So it seems he is the man that they've been dying for.
01:18Hopefully, anyway, because obviously, if you saw last season with Carlos Baleba, improving as the season went on,
01:25but he's still still got a lot of improvement to do.
01:28Obviously, Dehoed was a bit of a failure of a signing in the end.
01:32So that midfield has been a bit of a problem since Caisedo and McAllister left.
01:36So now they've managed to bring in Vyfer from Feyenoord.
01:40Hopefully he can be the man because if it wasn't for a thigh injury,
01:43he would have been one of the first names in the team sheet for the Netherlands.
01:46It's such a good season.
01:48And Brighton's technical director, David Beer, claimed the club have landed one of the best deep-lying midfielders in Europe in Wycliffe for £25 million.
01:59So definitely exciting one there, really.
02:02And in an interview with the club, he said his best position is to play as a number six.
02:07But you can also play box to box. He refers to enjoying the build-up, to play a lot of balls forward, one-touch passing, which is perfect for Brighton.
02:16And he was used 26 times in the building role by Arne Slott at Feyenoord.
02:21And he contributed to four goals and two assists.
02:24So I think there's definitely a player there that Brighton can develop and really look to build their team around, hopefully as well.
02:34And obviously, there's a Dutch connection with the Bruggen as well. So hopefully he can help himself out quickly.
02:39Can I remember that Sam was excited about Antsy Fatty, though, so we've done it right.
02:43Yeah, that's true.
02:46Do we call David Weir David Veer now, like Matt's wife?
02:51Sorry, I'll go and mix up all the Weifers. David Weir, yeah, sorry.
02:58I think we all quite understandably got swept up in the Antsy Fatty thing.
03:02I think we've all very much learned our lesson.
03:06Although, Abbey have also made another signing, although not quite as high profile, still just exciting.
03:10They brought in attacking wide midfielder Amario Cozier-Dubree from Arsenal on a four-year deal.
03:16The 19-year-old scored 13 goals and provided five assists last season for the Gunners under-21s and has also represented England at all age groups from under-16s to under-19s.
03:25And on that alone, Sam, the Seagulls could have a gem on their hands, couldn't they?
03:30100%. Yeah, he's actually been dubbed by Jack Wilshere as the next Bukayo Saka.
03:34So that can't be a bad comparison.
03:37And he reportedly turned down interest from a host of other Premier League clubs and sides around Europe to join Brighton after leaving Arsenal.
03:45Yeah, apparently his interest from Aston Villa and West Ham, whilst Ajax, British Dortmund, Celtic and Rangers were all tracking him.
03:51So he's opted for Brighton out of some big names there, which is really promising.
03:56And just shows the reputation, really, that Brighton have built in being able to develop these young players and to mould the talent to the standards of the Premier League.
04:06And obviously, that's what they just made the name of themselves of doing, really.
04:10And obviously, it's hoped that Cozier-Dubree could be the next one to make his name for himself at Brighton.
04:18And that is understood to be a significant reason why he did choose Brighton out of all those clubs he could have gone to.
04:24And Arsenal did actually want him to stay and offered him a new deal with the view to sending him on loan in January.
04:30But I think he wanted to get that permanent move, where he's going to get more regular football.
04:35Fair play to him, really, and I hope he can make a name for himself at Brighton and settle down really quickly.
04:40And obviously, under the leadership of Fabian Herzog, they're coming in.
04:44I think it's an exciting one. So, yeah, fingers crossed it'll be a positive move.
04:49Well, it's not just Brighton's men who have been busy in the transfer market.
04:52Albion's women have so far brought in five new faces in the summer transfer window and have also hired ex-Australia international Dario Vidovic as their new head coach.
05:01But among those five new faces, no doubt, the standout signing for the women has been England international Fran Kirby on a free from Chelsea.
05:08That is, quite simply saying, an incredible piece of business from Brighton.
05:12How much of a coup is Kirby for the club? It's a massive, massive name, isn't it?
05:17It's incredible. I couldn't believe it when I saw it pop up on the news the other day. It's huge news.
05:22Yeah, it's incredible. Obviously, she's widely regarded as one of England's greatest female players ever, winning five successive WSL titles with Chelsea before her departure.
05:32But it's understood she's moving to Brighton to be closer to home and obviously will continue to play in the women's Super League.
05:39So I think that's brilliant for Brighton.
05:41And I think Tony Bloom has spoken in the past about his ambitions for the women's team to be up there with the best and to keep improving.
05:48Obviously, they have been lingering down the bottom of the table for a few seasons.
05:52So I think signing someone of Kirby's calibre can only help to improve that and to get them further up the table.
05:58And it can even encourage players to make that same move.
06:02So I think it's great for the women's and the men's team to be able to encourage players of the calibre of that, really.
06:09It's brilliant. So, yeah, I think fantastic for the club and great for women's football as well.
06:15And I really hope she can make a good impact at the club and get the club moving forward.
06:20It's an incredible sign. Just fingers crossed she just stays fixed.
06:23I know that she had a number of injury problems at Chelsea, but best of luck to her.
06:26It'll be good to see her play at Brighton.
06:28Meanwhile, Albion keeper Bart Verbruggen started for the Netherlands against England in Wednesday's Euro 2024 semi-final.
06:35If for some reason you don't know what happened in the game, and I don't quite know why you'd be listening to this if you didn't,
06:40Ollie Watkins late winner sparked joyous celebrations and sent the three Lions to Sunday's final in Berlin in a 2-1 victory.
06:47Obviously, this is probably the understatement of the century, but it was a quite simply fantastic result for England, Sam.
06:52But with your Brighton hat on, how did you rate Verbruggen's performance for the Dutch on Wednesday?
06:59Yeah, I think he had a decent game, to be honest. I don't think he kind of did anything wrong.
07:04I think he couldn't have saved the penalty, as that was perfect from Kane.
07:07Not that I think it should have been a penalty, but that's another matter entirely.
07:12Kane was assaulted. Assaulted by that, I thought he was.
07:17Yeah, it was a weird one. I think when I saw him go down, I thought, okay.
07:22I saw the replay and I thought, that's never a penalty. And when he went to check it, I thought, that's mental.
07:26Absolutely mental. But yeah, obviously not complaining.
07:29And yeah, Verbruggen, he dived the right way, in fairness to him, but I think he was never going to get to the bottom corner.
07:36It was a great penalty. For Watkins' goal, you can't say anything about the goalkeeper, really.
07:41It was just quality, centre-forward play. He's put it through De Vrij's legs.
07:47Yeah, I didn't see it coming. I definitely didn't see what the goalkeeper did.
07:51And it's such a typical Watkins finish. And it's quite funny.
07:53I saw a post going around today, actually, from an earlier interview or clip from Sky Sports,
07:59where Verbruggen named Watkins as the second most dangerous striker in the Premier League.
08:04It's probably from a personal point of view where he loves a goal against Brighton, Watkins.
08:11And I think he's scored a lot of them against Brighton in the last few years.
08:15And Watkins has been one to get a lot of those goals.
08:18And he is such a great striker. And he's had, obviously, the season of his life.
08:22But obviously, the moment of his career, probably, last night.
08:26But I think from Verbruggen's point of view, he couldn't have done much more.
08:29And he had a really good tournament, actually, and probably the standout Brighton player in the tournament.
08:34He obviously made some key stops against Poland in the group stage.
08:38He had clean sheets against France and Romania as well.
08:42There's a bit of a blip against Austria when they conceded three goals, of course.
08:45But I think the whole team were pretty awful that day, all at sea.
08:50So, yeah, I think he had a really positive tournament and cemented himself again
08:54as one of the Europeans' most talented young goalkeepers.
08:57And hopefully, he can continue that next season when I'm sure he will be the main keeper.
09:03He's only 21 still, isn't he?
09:05Yes, yeah.
09:0621? Yeah, yeah, crazy.
09:08Best yet to come, I think. But England will now meet Spain in the final.
09:12And they've quite simply been superb this tournament.
09:14The Spanish beat France 2-1 in the semis to make it six wins and six in Germany.
09:19How do you see the final going, Sam? Tough to call, I think.
09:24Yeah, yeah, very, very tough one.
09:26I'm confident because it's nice to see England playing well now,
09:30because I think after some really dodgy performances, they scraped their way through.
09:33And, yeah, obviously somehow got through against Slovakia again and improved against them,
09:37switched to them, but still needed penalties.
09:39But to have that confident performance last night, I think, is really good going into that final.
09:44And they've now got the belief, not that they didn't have belief before,
09:47but even more belief now that they can really put Spain to the sword.
09:50Because obviously Spain have been exceptional.
09:52They've not won every game. That's all there is to it, really.
09:57Spain are the team to beat in this competition.
09:59They've been the most exciting to watch.
10:01And they've got the meany mouth 16-year-old that seemingly can do what he wants as well.
10:05But England have got Kobe Meunier, their own teenager, that's a bit of a well beater as well.
10:09So I'm really hoping that Meunier overshadows Yamal on the day and England come out on top.
10:15But it could really go anyway. I think it starts the game.
10:18I think it worked in our favour that we're the underdogs going into it, I think, Matt.
10:22Yeah, I think so. I think so, yeah.
10:24Obviously, there is always going to be expectation with England.
10:26I think if they were to lose in the final again,
10:29it would be heartbreaking after what happened against Sicily last time out.
10:34But, yeah, I'm more confident this time.
10:36I think the players England have got, they will start to improve their own individual performances against the Netherlands.
10:42And I'm confident they'll continue that against Spain.
10:45But it should be a brilliant game either way.
10:47Two good teams, two teams full of talent.
10:50So, yeah, I'm really looking forward to that.
10:52Come on, England. We're going to take a quick break.
10:55And when we come back, we'll be talking all things Crawley Town.
10:59Welcome back to part two, where we'll discuss all things Crawley Town.
11:03And there's been plenty going on at the Reds since the last podcast, both on and off the pitch.
11:08And we'll start with, unfortunately, another major departure.
11:11Liam Kelly has left the Reds to join MK Dons.
11:13He was quite simply superb during the playoffs, picking up three Man of the Match awards across both legs of the semis and the final.
11:19It's another major blow, Mark, isn't it?
11:22How disappointed were you to see him go?
11:25Yeah, I was.
11:26Mainly because I said on last week's podcast that he wasn't going anywhere.
11:30And I've got a bit of stick for that.
11:32And, yes, sometimes things in football change.
11:34So I accept I was wrong.
11:36I was misinformed, shall we say.
11:38But, yeah, it is a huge blow because, just simply because of how good he was last year.
11:44And it was, yes, those three playoff games highlighted how good he was.
11:48But he was brilliant all season as well.
11:51And he could play anywhere in that midfield.
11:54He'd be defensively tracking back, doing last-ditch tackles, then playing a world-class through ball for an assist for Orsi to go on onto and score.
12:02He just had everything.
12:04And he was such an engine in that midfield.
12:06And arguably the main reason they got promoted, especially with those three Man of the Match performances in the playoffs.
12:13But, I mean, it's a huge blow.
12:15But after what we'd seen with Orsi going, Adai going, Nick Sarula going and all that, I think people had just sort of accepted that, yeah, a lot of the star players from last year are going.
12:26So although I'm disappointed he's gone and I won't be watching him again next year, I'm not surprised, I don't think, in the end.
12:33Because, yeah, I imagine MK Dons weren't the only club who were going to be after him.
12:38But, yeah, you just hope Crawley have got some good money for him.
12:43You hope that they've now got a lovely transfer pot.
12:45I mean, they've already made some signings, which we'll try to come on to.
12:48But, yeah, it'll be good if they can add three or four more really good quality players into the squad to replace him.
12:56Before we move on to the new faces, there has been another departure, although, yeah, kind of enforced, I suppose.
13:02Crawley captain Ben Gladwin has announced his retirement from football, but the midfielder will join Scott Lindsay's coaching staff.
13:10Not as much of a shock from what I understand, Mark, but no doubt he will probably be missed.
13:14Yeah, he will be on the playing side because when he did play and he played in the early part of the season, he did.
13:20He is like Scott Lindsay's general in the middle of the pitch.
13:23He just sort of led the team so well.
13:25He had everyone's back and he still had a touch of quality about him.
13:29But you could tell he did struggle.
13:32He's had injury problems, I think, throughout most of his career.
13:36So it's no surprise that he has retired, but he's going to be such an asset to Crawley.
13:42And he was. He was on the sidelines helping Lindsay.
13:45He was holding player meetings last year when he was injured, running coaching sessions and that.
13:49So the players really respect him.
13:52And, yeah, no, I think he'll be a real asset to Scott Lindsay's coaching team, added to Jamie Day, Carl Larriman, Steve Howe, the goalkeeping coach.
14:00So, yeah, no, Scott Lindsay's got a good team behind him there.
14:04And like I say, what you want from your coaching staff is that the players respect you.
14:07And Ben Gladwin's been there, done it as a player.
14:10And it's a shame he wasn't involved as much at the end of last season when Crawley had all their success.
14:17But Scott Lindsay will say he was so integral off the pitch.
14:20So, yeah, no, sad to see him have to retire, but he'll be a big asset going forward.
14:26Now, a triple shot of good news.
14:28Despite these departures, Crawley have been very proactive in the transfer window, bringing in three new faces this week.
14:33Centre-back Toby Malarkey, and as Sam Morton said, the headlines write themselves, was first through the door on Tuesday.
14:40The 28-year-old joined some Grimsby Town on a two-year deal.
14:43And what do you make of the signing market?
14:45Looks like Lindsay has added a bit of experience to his backline.
14:49Yeah, that's what you want.
14:50I think he naturally will slip into the right side of the back three where Will Wright was playing most of last season.
14:57So, and that's what you want in defence.
14:59I mean, we've got Joy McKenna, who played there a couple of times last year, played in the centre of the back three as well.
15:06But he's still inexperienced.
15:08He's one of those players that Lindsay brought in from non-league last season.
15:12But he played really well.
15:13But I think you do want that league experience in there.
15:15And Malarkey looks like he's got that experience.
15:17He looks like he's the right fit to go onto the right side of that back three alongside Dion Conroy and probably Josh Flint,
15:24one of the other new signings, as the left-sided centre-back.
15:28So, but yeah, that's what I think that's what Crawley fans were worried about,
15:32is that they were losing all these players like Will Wright, Liam Kelly, Danny Lo Orsi, the more experienced members of the team.
15:39But he has brought in a couple of really experienced and that will be key to Crawley holding more than trying to hold their own this year.
15:47I mean, nobody's expecting them to go playoffs.
15:50I'm sure Scott Lindsay is.
15:52But I don't think they will struggle.
15:55I think they will be. They will shock a few teams and players like bringing Malarkey in will help with that experience
16:01and getting some of the younger players through games at big stadiums.
16:06Well, veteran midfielder Gavin Hollihan was next through the door at the Ballfield Stadium just hours after Malarkey.
16:12And like Malarkey, the Irishman joins the Reds from Grimsby.
16:15It looks like Lindsay has targeted the more experienced players, as you mentioned there in this transfer window.
16:20But how vital will Hollihan's Nelson know-how be to Crawley's midfield this season?
16:25I think he is who comes in and replaces Liam Kelly to some extent because you've got Jay Williams in there.
16:33But again, he's another one who's still relatively inexperienced at this level.
16:36Well, certainly at League One level, but in football league level.
16:39So you want those experienced heads around him.
16:41And Hollihan is, yeah, he's a player that we've seen.
16:47When Grimsby had their FA Cup run, he scored, I think it was two penalties against Southampton.
16:52Would have played at Brighton when they got absolutely hammered.
16:56But yeah, no, he's 32. Grimsby fans absolutely love him and they've been full of praise for him.
17:06So you're hoping that he comes in and just gives that steadiness in the midfield to sort of assist Jay Williams.
17:13And you've got the Harry Forster, et cetera, on the wings and that.
17:17So I think he'll be a really key signing and to some extent will be helping replace Ben Gladwin on the pitch as well.
17:26Because he will be that natural leader, I imagine, given his age and experience.
17:31As someone who is also 32, I would like to retract the veteran bit from veteran midfielder Gavin Hollihan.
17:38Best years are still ahead of him, and I'm sure he can still run and run and run at his brightly young age.
17:44But finally on the player front, just yesterday, the Reds announced a loan signing of teenage winger Michael Da Costa Gonzalez from Bournemouth on Wednesday.
17:53It's another move that has long been rumoured, hasn't it, Mark?
17:56How excited should Crawley supporters be about this young lad?
17:59I read that he's been capped for Spain under 21. Is that correct?
18:03Yeah, I think somebody said this morning he was under 19, I think.
18:06Under 19.
18:07But, yeah, I mean, obviously he's at a Premier League club. He's had international experience at age group level and that.
18:14I think fans should be excited. He sounds like a proper sort of Scott Lindsay player, someone he can get and fit into his system and coach.
18:23And, yeah, I think he's predominantly a winger, but he'll certainly be in midfield.
18:28And you've got the likes of Jeremy Kelly and Addy Adeyemo, Harry Forster, who are going to be vying for those wings.
18:34But if he can come in, show his quality, which he clearly has to be at a Premier League club, I think he seems like the kind of player,
18:42from what I've seen little clips of here and there, that is going to get fans off their seat when he gets the ball kind of thing, running at players.
18:48So, no, it's a really exciting signing. And I mean, yeah, if you can get a Spaniard running down the wings for Crawley, what more could you want?
18:56It's going to be very, very, very exciting.
18:59Fingers crossed for him. And lastly, Matt is off the pitch. Crawley have made major moves with Preston Johnson returning as chairman and also resuming the role of CEO.
19:10Meanwhile, Eben Smith has stepped down as co-chairman and Ben Levin has been named vice chair.
19:15There's a lot of movement going on there, Mark. With all that said, how will this affect the day to day running of the Reds?
19:22And does it kind of make things more streamlined that you've got one person doing two jobs, if that makes sense?
19:29Yeah, I know what you're trying to say. I mean, from the outside looking in, it looks like a really positive move because the fans are funny, as we know,
19:40because they'll want Wagmey to communicate with them, but then they don't want Wagmey to be involved and blah, blah, blah.
19:48But having someone from Wagmey who is now a CEO, and actually that's the most important bit because Crawley haven't had a CEO in the last couple of years.
19:58So it's great that they've got someone now who is in charge with the day to day running of Crawley Town because you have people who are doing an incredible job,
20:06like Tom Allman, who is general manager, Harry Maynard, who was head of football operations and that.
20:11Now they've got someone there day to day that they can make decisions with instantly because I think there may have been some issues communication wise.
20:22Yes, during the season and that because obviously these people are in America and obviously time zones, et cetera, and all that.
20:27So, but to have Preston and he's bringing his family over here, I mean, which is incredible that he's made that commitment.
20:34And I mean, I think that must show Crawley fans that he really does mean this.
20:38He really wants this to work and be successful.
20:41I mean, the fact the guy had threats, his wife got threats and now he's bringing them over here, which is an incredible and fair play to him.
20:47And he is, he's the one who's always been the most sort of the face of Wagmey as it were.
20:54And the fan, the one who seemed to be most personable with the fans and that.
20:57So I think they've chosen the right person.
20:59I mean, it might not work.
21:01It might, it might, it might backfire somehow.
21:04They might not like it or whatever, but to have someone there day to day.
21:08And Ben Levin as well as someone who was always around last year, but nobody really knew who he was or what he did.
21:15I met him at a couple of games.
21:16I think we met him at Sutton, Sam, didn't we?
21:18Yes.
21:19Ben Levin at one of the games.
21:20And he's a really nice guy.
21:22He's vice-chair.
21:23I was chatting to him this morning, actually, because I bumped into him and he, yeah, he really, I think he's in charge of making the club grow.
21:30And that's looking at revenue opportunities, commercial opportunities, reputation, exposure, et cetera.
21:37So he's got a really important role as well.
21:39So it's going to be, I think it's really good that they're going to have those people there day to day.
21:43So it can all be like you said, more streamlined rather than making a phone call to America.
21:48And it's not the right time and things like that.
21:51I mean, I might be misreading that, but yeah, it looks, it sounds, I think it will be really positive.
21:57And yeah, and hopefully the club will move forward.
22:00And I mean, I saw there was an interview Preston did with The Athletic about the stadium saying they're in really positive talk with the council and they're moving forward.
22:11So hopefully at some point we'll have some news about the ground and the club actually owning it.
22:16And that will be a huge step forward for the club and what they can then do to help make the club bigger in that sense as well.
22:24It's also interesting they've sold out their pre-season friendly against Crystal Palace as well, haven't they? I saw that come up today.
22:30Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's going to be exciting because last year you went Sam and Eze played, didn't he?
22:35And yeah, they had some good, yeah, they brought a big strong side.
22:38And I think it's just before they're going on their pre-season tour.
22:41I think they're going to America, Crystal Palace.
22:44So hopefully you'd like to think that they're going to bring some big names.
22:48Obviously, they've lost Michael Alisse, haven't they? But yeah, it'd be great to see Eze.
22:52I'm sure Eze won't be playing this time, but you never know.
22:55Well, he's been to England, hasn't he? Yeah, he's gone from playing at Bournemouth Stadium to the Euros with England.
22:59So I know which is better. I know which I'd rather do.
23:04And very quickly, Mark, as we're running out of time, Crawley kick off pre-season when?
23:09Tuesday, they got Lewis away and then they've got East Grinstead on the Saturday.
23:14Yeah, and when I was at the club earlier, they were saying all suddenly it's back to Tuesday, Saturday, Tuesday, Saturday now.
23:22And depending on kickoff fixture times and changes of the TV and stuff, there's no Saturdays off now until May next year.
23:30So that's crazy, isn't it?
23:32As if it's never stopped, is it?
23:35Well, anyway, thank you very much, chaps.
23:37You can catch up with all the latest sports news covering everything we've talked about today at sussexworld.co.uk.
23:42And you can watch more excellent videos on ShotsTV.com and Freeview channel 276.
23:46Thank you very much for listening and watching.
23:49And, yeah, we will see you all next week.