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Keith Andrews blogs on Brighton's future and the unpredictability of the Championship

Seagulls 'try to do things in the right manner for the club to evolve'

Image: Keith Andrews spent one season at Brighton

skysports.com will be getting inside the minds of the players this season.

Watford midfielder Keith Andrews reflects on revisiting an old club that gave him great memories.

He also discusses the unpredictability of the Championship and credits Blackpool's fighting spirit.

We could have gone top of the league on Saturday if we had held out after taking the lead against my old side Brighton - who are in somewhat of a transition under new boss Sami Hyypia.

In truth a draw was probably a fair result, although Brighton did look dangerous in the closing stages when they introduced Kazenga LuaLua.

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Watford climbed to second in the Sky Bet Championship despite being held to a 1-1 draw by struggling Brighton & Hove Albion at Vicarage Road.

Although I was only at the Amex for one season I have a lot of affection for the club as I think they try to do things in the right manner for the club to evolve with real sustainability for years to come.

There are good people involved behind the scenes there, none more so than in the academy. Last season I worked closely with the Academy manager John Morling and the development coach Ian Buckman as I was in the middle of my UEFA ‘A’ Licence and they couldn't have done anymore to help me.

It was a great experience to work with them as they prepared weekly and monthly schedules with the rest of the coaches and sports scientists to ensure the young lads had the best chance of developing their games, both technically and physically. I was amazed at the schedule a 14-year-old at the club had and a little envious to be honest as it certainly wasn't like that in my day!

I do think that Brighton have appointed a very good manager that hopefully stays there for a number of years now as there has been a little upheaval on the managerial side in the last couple of seasons.

It's a fantastic club for a young manager like Hyypia to really put his stamp on and build his reputation within the game.

Although I was only at the Amex for one season I have a lot of affection for the club as I think they try to do things in the right manner for the club to evolve with real sustainability for years to come.
Keith Andrews

Tight at the top

Like I've previously said, we could have gone top of the league on Saturday, but so too could Forest if they had beaten Ipswich on Sunday. It's commonly said that anyone can beat anyone in the Championship but it's so true. You only have to look at the league table now to see how close it is as only two points separate Norwich at the summit down to Wolverhampton Wanderers down in eight place.

Often in recent seasons we have seen one if not two sides push away from the rest but I don't envisage that happening this season as I feel it's a very even league that a dozen sides will feel they can achieve promotion from.

As we enter the international break with only 11 games played of a mammoth 46, it's still too early to read into the league positions but you can see which sides are playing with confidence and a little swagger.

If you look at the contrast of Derby and Wigan, for instance, after their play-off misery then it's very clear to see that Derby have dealt with it very well and are determined to go one better this time around. Steve McClaren has done a superb job and has been backed very well by the chairman Sam Rush, as I'm sure there were bids for the prodigious young talent they have in their squad in the summer but Derby held strong and kept the squad together.

Their start to the season was key for me to see how they reacted to the play-off agony and they've certainly silenced any doubters. They will be there or thereabouts come May.

Spirit

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A Francois Zoko goal was enough to give Blackpool their first Sky Bet Championship win of the season as they beat Cardiff 1-0 on Friday.

It was nice to see Blackpool get their first win in the league this season on Friday evening as they beat Cardiff City. There are obviously huge off-field issues at Bloomfield Road but I think Jose Riga has held himself with great dignity throughout the whole ordeal and has used the whole upheaval to galvanise the squad.

There's no doubting their fighting spirit. He has organised them very well into a good unit that is hard to break down. I do hope matters sort themselves out off the pitch as it's a great little club with huge tradition and the fans deserve better.

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