I bought these boots back in April, and have yet to wear them in the summer months. Fracap are handmade in Italy, and until recently solely for the Japanese market. They are remarkably light, and unlike most hiking boots don’t need breaking in. I’ll not be hiking much in them though, they’re far too smart for that.

Tonights match sponsors

I only went along tonight because this Paint Pot nonsense was just £10 a ticket, and I was mildly intrigued to see Russell Slade, Dean Cox, and Alex Revell back in Brighton. Of course, like most people I’d guess, I fully expected Cox at least to score against us, and the little man didn’t disappoint.

We were poor tonight. We started well, but Cox’s wildly deflected goal was the undoing of us. Gus poyet put out more or less his strongest team, Liam Bridcutt debuted and was sloppy, giving the ball away endlessly. We finished the game at a canter, but were out of it even before they scored a second soft goal from a set piece. Murray missed another penalty, finally killing the game off.

Man of the match? Only Tommy Elphick didn’t embarrass himself out there, so he wins it. It was only the Johnstone’s Tin Pot, no great loss. Now the focus is very much on the league, but if we can’t beat a team like Orient with our best assets playing then our season won’t be as rewarding as I first thought. Time will tell.

The Hovian’s Team performance :  4 out 10

The Hovian’s Man of the Match :  Tommy Elphick

Murray and Barnes were superb yesterday up front, Murray should have scored a few, but crossing for Barnes’ goal was consolation of sorts. After that the Albion dominated, and even more so when a red card was shown at Withdean which wasn’t aimed at one of our players! Nice one. Marcos Painter scored an easy header to make it two and notch up his first competitive goal.

It was downhill all the way after that, although the ref felt guilty enough about sending their player off that he intercepted a pass between our back line and played Walsall through for a late consolation goal in injury time.

Best performances: Elphick was superb at the back. Barnes tried hard and deserved his goal, sheer effort making up for his poor touch and turkey-style running. Calderon was busy down the right wing. Murray gave a masterclass in leading the line, deserving a goal or two as well. But I’m giving man of the match to Painter, he really enjoyed himself and was running the Walsall right flank ragged.

The Hovian’s Team performance :  6 out 10

The Hovian’s Man of the Match :  Marcos Painter

A lightweight rain mac from Penfield. I really like this brand, from its truly iconic Sanford bobble hat, to the 60/40 Vassan parka. A US brand established in Massachusetts in 1975, Penfield is popular with all sorts of people - outdoors types, preppy students, and of course match-going lads. An everyman label.

Lightweight nylon with an inner mesh lining, this coat is light enough for warm and wet Autumn weather, and looks great worn unzipped over a smart button down check shirt, an instantly classic look.

A long  journey yesterday, ultimately unsatisfactory. It started well enough on the train up – plenty of Guinness, and after a swift pint near Sheffield station, then a couple more in the away-fan friendly Horse and Jockey, into the Leppings Lane stand for 2.30pm.

The crowd of 18,674, including about 1500 Albionites, wasn’t the loudest, with our lot very subdued. But Hillsborough is a lovely old ground, even when half-full. I only managed these four pictures, after an over-zealous clem of a steward threatened to get me evicted when he saw my camera – citing copyright laws.

Wednesday are a better side than us, and it showed for large parts of this match. They are strong, fast and attack using the full width of the park; have no doubt – this team will be thereabouts next May, top three, possibly Champions. That’s not to say we were poor, because being ever so slightly outclassed we still battled well, even after the home side should have seen red twice.

Albion did enough to earn a point, but we were never going to beat Wednesday. Angerken had a good afternoon – he needed one – but wasn’t close to their well taken goal. The back four were edgy, especially El-Abd, who was visibly unnerved after fatboy Mellor floored him early on and walked away without even mild rebuke from the ref. Captaincy has improved Inigo Calderon’s game, but he still doesn’t look like the flying full back of last season.

It was in another battling midfield display that our best players were – Smith, Dicker, and Kishishev, the latter being my man of the match again. Murray and Barnes had a tough time against a very solid Sheffield back four, the most impressive part of a very good side.

I was lucky getting home – leaving just before the 90 was up I walked past the lines of coppers and only just caught the eye of a speeding Hackney cab driver. He got me to Sheffield station in time for the 1725 to St. Pancras, the tubes were kind and after getting a bottle of plonk at Victoria I was back in the house drinking it by 9:30pm, result.

The Hovian’s Team performance :  6 out 10

The Hovian’s Man of the Match :  Radostin Kishishev

I got my hair cut today, a smart 1950s short back ‘n’ sides at Gwydyr Hairdressers in Church Road, Hove. The oldest barbershop in Brighton and Hove (est. 1890), a visit to the lower ground floor premises are a short descent into the past.

Like most blokes, I spend a good part of my life walking the streets looking for that perfect barber – I had one in my youth, but he hung up his white coat, steel comb and Brylcreem when I was still in my teens. Since then I have been cropped by lazy disinterested YTS trollops, peroxide Bonnie Tyler rip-offs, and all other types of ‘unisex’ wastrels, who wouldn’t know their number two clippers from their idle football chat.

But not Gwydyr, this really is a gem, as nowadays real barbers are dying out quicker than good pubs. It is not just a haircut I go for, but to bond and escape from listening to Chris Moyles gobbing off on an overloud radio while some dopey Doris murders my hairstyle. The Argus are visiting the old place today they tell me, to commemorate 120 years of doing it right. If you’re in the central Hove area, and in need of a good trim, then get yourself along to the little shop underneath Gwydyr Mansions, you won’t be disappointed.

Contact details:

Gwydyr Hairdressers
Gwydyr Mansions, Church Road, Hove, East Sussex, BN3 1JW
01273 732923

A guilty pleasure on this Monday’s playlist, ‘We Can’t Be Stopped’ by the Geto Boys. Forget your Fiddy Cent and all the other pseudo-rappers about nowadays, these boys from unfashionable Houston, Texas were the real deal, from a time when Rap was the real angry voice of young black America.

Along with LA’s NWA and New York’s Public Enemy, the Geto Boys had a hard-hitting message, and of the three were by far the most raw, and in my opinion, the most memorable. The fact they were from the heart of redneck Texas gave them a ring of authenticity that the other more popular acts – from the two cosmopolitan US coasts – could never match. I got into them in 1993 when I picked up a copy of their ‘Till Death Do Us Part’ LP. But the earlier tune here is probably their greatest, along with ‘G.E.T.O.’ (which I couldn’t find on YouTube).

Scarface, Big Mike, and the incomparable Bushwick Bill (the little fella on the hospital trolly above, see the wiki-link) – great music for when you need to let it all out, it sets you up for the week ahead, m*tha f*cka

So, the first game of the last Withdean season has been played. It pissed down as per the script, although the sun came out to recharge a crap Rochdale team in the second half. Albion’s indifferent form at Withdean was evident, along with our indiscipline, both a hangover from last season. I didn’t see Gordon Greer getting a straight red, but I was assured that the Rochdale sub ‘simulated’ an assault on his person. El-Abd was ample cover but Jamie Smith, who was very lively, had to make way.

We played just as well with ten men, Bennett scored his trademark net buster, and Murray worried and harried well, linking up nicely with Ash Barnes. But for a complete rick by Angerken this would have been a comfortable win. The silver lining is that we can play well even with ten, and the team spirit is just about right. We’ll beat these easy up there. Man of the match? Close between Murray, Painter, Kishishev and Gary Dicker, but the Bulgarian wins it for a fearless display in front of the back four that disguises the fact he’s an old fart of 36.

Game on next Saturday at Hillsborough (I’m there), should be a cracking game.

The Hovian’s Team performance :  7 out 10

The Hovian’s Man of the Match :  Radostin Kishishev

New season, new look ‘TSLR’. The Seagull Love Review has an improved format for the 2010-2011 Football League season. My only contribution to issue 21 is this cartoon commemorating the Albion’s turbulent pre-season trip to the Algarve, ‘chaps abroad’ and all that.

Still only priced at one golden nugget (£1), TSLR is one of the best value fanzines out there, and the only one loosely affiliated to Brighton and Hove Albion Football Club. If you haven’t picked one up at Swindon or you miss the sellers outside Withers on Saturday, then you can order a copy here, through the fanzine’s excellent blogsite.

I scoped out these Puma Whirlwind downtown, they were cheapish so I picked up a pair although I certainly don’t need more trainers. That’s what happens when you head to the shops for a nose when you’re working shifts and have a spare mid-week day to arse about in. I came, I saw, I bought – another shoe box to add to the fourth (cardboard) wall I’m forever building in the spare room at Hovian Mansions.

After the Bavarian Dassler brothers split acrimoniously in 1948, with Adi setting up ‘adidas’ one side of the river Aurach and Rudi on t’other, the older Rudi’s ‘Puma’ sportswear company has played second fiddle to the younger Dassler’s sporting empire. When I say second fiddle, that is the case in worldwide appeal, and of course among Britain’s terrace dressers.

The fact that Puma aren’t as popular as adidas has nothing to do with quality – Puma has always produced well-made and iconic footwear and sporting apparel; Puma have/had a certain appeal to casuals who have seen the three stripes adorned by all sorts of whoppers from every strata of modern society. If less is more then Puma is your trainer of choice. I like both, and probably prefer adidas, but I’m not a slavish collector of either.

My personal favourite Puma trainer is the Suede, a classic that will appeal to future lads as much as it has to previous generations of terrace tearaways. My trainer wall will now not be added to until next spring, I have to dig out the hiking boots and Clarks now that Winter is slowly approaching and the last piss-wet season at Withdean is upon us.