Rainbow ball back in EFL anti-homophobia campaignpublished at 11:36 GMT
11:36 GMT
Image source, EFL
Image caption,
This is the third year the EFL have used the rainbow ball campaign
Puma's Rainbow ball will return to the English Football League as part of an on-going campaign against discrimination and homophobia.
The special edition rainbow ball was introduced in 2024 to mark LGBTQ+ History Month and will be used at every EFL game from 20 February until 1 March.
Manufacturers Puma will make a donation to Football v Homophobia for every goal scored with their rainbow ball across the Championship, League One and League Two.
The donations will help support education against homophobia and promote inclusion across the season.
The EFL have released a video, external to coincide with the campaign which features a Preston North End fan who was charged with a hate crime following homophobic chanting during an FA Cup fixture against Chelsea.
The rainbow ball will also feature in EFL partner EA Sports' FC 26 video game.
"The rainbow ball is a powerful symbol of the values we uphold across the EFL all season long," EFL chief executive officer Trevor Birch said.
"It not only reflects our longstanding commitment to ensuring the League is representative of all its diverse communities, but also reminds us that we all have a role to play in creating an environment in which everyone feels they truly belong."
🎧 'It's not the manager - it's the players' - Aspinall on form woespublished at 09:12 GMT 18 February
09:12 GMT 18 February
Former Brighton striker Warren Aspinall insists that "attitude problems" are more to blame for the Seagulls' current form than Fabian Hurzeler.
Defeat by Liverpool in the FA Cup extended Brighton's winless run to six games in all competitions.
If Hurzeler's side, who sit seven points above the relegation zone, want to secure Premier League survival, then Aspinall thinks that some of his players should shift their mentality and work harder.
"They think it's just easier to put their hand up and say 'yes, sorry, I've done it again.' It's like a lollipop lady, a lollipop man, crossing the road. It goes up three or four times a game, certain players.
"I won't dig him out because it's his second game, but Harry Howell reacted when the ball went past him and he just dangles his leg for the first goal for Liverpool on Sunday. You have to react quicker, you have to go with your runner.
"They'll punish you. They're running all the time, the opposition - especially the top teams. They never stop running. We need to run more than the opposition. We're not doing that at the moment.
"If they're running 90km, their team - my team, I want them to run 100km. So then we've got an extra man somewhere running, that'll create more problems for the opposition. I'm not seeing that at the moment."
Amid a raft of Premier League manager dismissals, Fabian Hurzeler has come under heat for Brighton's form, the Seagulls having won one Premier League game since November.
But Aspinall says that it is Hurzeler's players who should take responsibility for turning things around.
"People say, 'the manager this, the manager that'. No no - it's not the manager's fault, this, it's the players'," Aspinall said.
"He can take them out, change the formation, change the personnel, try to make it better because some players have the wrong attitude in training, so he's not going to pick them on Saturday, showing him shocking training all week.
"I can hold my hand up because I've been there - bad attitude, concentrating on other things. You don't expect to play.
"He can't make them run another five yards or react quicker. You keep doing that, you come out of the team. You can't carry players. If you start switching off at the wrong times, the good teams will punish you.
"That's what they did on Saturday. It was easy. Liverpool didn't work hard for their first goal."
Listen below or on BBC Sounds here - and don't forget to subscribe to get each episode into your My Sounds feed.
Listen to every Brighton game live on BBC Radio Sussex, with all the build-up and full commentary with Johnny Cantor and Warren Aspinall, and there is a full preview of all Seagulls' matches on Fridays at 18:00 in The Weekend Warm-up
Hurzeler seems likely candidate for next sacking - Nevinpublished at 08:35 GMT 18 February
08:35 GMT 18 February
Pat Nevin Former footballer and presenter
Image source, Getty Images
There is a feeling of panic coursing through the Premier League right now. Thomas Frank's departure from Spurs was obviously going to happen even if Nottingham Forest dumping Sean Dyche was a less clear call. Poor performances did it for both these bosses but it certainly doesn't help when the fans as a group have given up and let the owners know that they are next in the firing line if they don't act.
‌There is always the thought that this is simply rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic, particularly for Forest but now and again it works. It is a throw of the dice even if the dice is loaded.
‌The odds were very much against Nuno Espirito Santo when he took over from Graham Potter at West Ham, but now it seems to have had merit given the recent upturn in form built on some basic organisation. So it can work, but it is little more than a punt.
‌So, who is the Premier League manager currently in most danger? Amazingly Oliver Glasner is still in situ at Crystal Palace after his previous outbursts, but that could change with a couple more bad results.
‌The big money seems to be on Brighton boss Fabian Hurzeler right now, but the style seems set. If you hover too close to the relegation spots, the board panics and the coach is discarded. It is a tough life, except for the small matter of millions of pounds into the manager's back pocket as he walks away, which does limit the sympathy just a little.
'Trust the process' or 'a serious reappraisal in the summer'?published at 08:12 GMT 18 February
08:12 GMT 18 February
Image source, Getty Images
We asked for your views on where you stand on Fabian Hurzeler's future at Brighton.
Here are some of your comments:
Chris: I am very strongly pro-Hurzeler. In fact, I believe he is the best manager we have ever had and I go back to Archie Macaulay. Some of the criticism is completely nuts. He is energetic, inventive, passionate, highly intelligent and articulate. I am very proud of his work and dedication. Like many of the players, he is very young (which is a plus) and we are in a highly competitive and highly invested league. Let's be realistic and get behind him and the players. He has my full support and gratitude for what he has achieved. Rome wasn't built in a day.
Frank: The manager has some very, very smart people around him. Younger people do make more mistakes on and off the pitch. Trust the process...
Tony: At the moment, the form is poor, the recruitment has failed, morale is low and the manager is struggling. It's hard to see where the next win, or even the next goal, is coming from, and there were worrying signs after the Crystal Palace game that the manager might have lost the dressing room. Performance levels have since lifted, but that hasn't resulted in a change of fortunes. Let's hope for a few wins soon, then a serious reappraisal of things in the summer.
Jake: There has always been resistance to Hurzeler among some fans, even considering a good season in his first year. What's concerning at present is a prolonged downturn in performances across pretty much the whole team, and a manager whose staple line of defence is to trust the process and just believe things will work out. Overall, I think translating the upcycling model of player recruitment to the manager - insofar as Hurzeler was comparatively unproven against Graham Potter or Roberto de Zerbi when respectively appointed - was perhaps a mistake.
Ian: The issue with Brighton isn't just a coach inexperienced in the Premier League. The main issue is how the club handles recruitment. Selling decent players or loaning them out to such an extent that we have no quality to even be a top 10 contender will not work. We need to retain some of those players and build a strong European football contending team.
🎧 Where have all the goals gone?published at 17:36 GMT 17 February
17:36 GMT 17 February
On the latest episode of BBC Radio Sussex's Albion Unlimited, Brighton defender Jan-Paul van Hecke reviews the FA Cup defeat at Liverpool and former captain Adam Virgo looks at the lack of goals and recent results, and previews the trip to Brentford.
Listen below or on BBC Sounds here - and don't forget to subscribe to get each episode into your My Sounds feed.
Listen to every Brighton game live on BBC Radio Sussex, with all the build-up and full commentary with Johnny Cantor and Warren Aspinall, and there is a full preview of all Seagulls' matches on Fridays at 18:00 in The Weekend Warm-up
'This club was built on patience and belief'published at 11:11 GMT 17 February
11:11 GMT 17 February
Joe Sayers Fan writer
Togetherness is something our football club has always championed, a value I truly believed ran through the heart of our fanbase.
Right now, though, things on the pitch are far from what we've come to expect in recent seasons, and frustration is growing by the day.
Last Wednesday, after our defeat by Aston Villa, I was asked live on BBC Radio Sussex whether I was among the fans who booed or chanted "sacked in the morning" at the end of the Crystal Palace game. The question stopped me in my tracks and made me think hard about where I really stood.
In that moment, I realised I was neither "Fabian in" nor "Fabian out". I was simply a Brighton fan who wants the best for the club I've loved for years. Managers change and players move on, but the one constant is us, the supporters who turn up, home and away, whatever the weather and whatever the form.
Frustration is understandable. We've been spoilt by brilliant football, smart recruitment and seasons that felt like dreams.
When standards dip, emotions will rightly follow. But turning on our own has never been what we're about. This club was built on patience and belief, and that approach has carried us further than any of us imagined.
There's still so much to play for. Nothing is decided in February and our team needs backing, not battle lines in the stands or on social media.
Our role is a simple one: to support Brighton & Hove Albion, especially when it's uncomfortable and uncertain.
So, I'll be there for the rest of the season and beyond, scarf held high, hoping the Amex can find its voice again.
Where do you stand on Hurzeler's future? And if you think it's time for a change, what direction do you think Albion should go in?
Image source, EFL
