Gull-Mouth Action podcast special - Brighton in Rome for Europa League round of 16 - video Dailymotion

SussexWorld

Sussex World reporters Mark Dunford and Sam Morton are in Rome ahead of Brighton's Europa League round of 16 first leg clash with Roma at the Stadio Olimpico.

Transcript

00:00 We're delighted to be joined today by Sussex World reporters Mark Dunford and Sam Morton

00:06 who are in Rome ahead of Brighton's Europa League round of 16 clash against Roma at the

00:13 Stadio Olimpico. Mark, can you give us a flavour of how the atmosphere is over there and how

00:21 it's building up?

00:22 Yes, we're currently on the Spanish steps as you can see. It's a great atmosphere here

00:28 but it's funny because we've bumped into quite a few Brighton supporters but they've been

00:37 advised by police not to wear colours and stuff so they don't draw attention. We've

00:43 managed to spot a couple, they're wearing their football shirts just coming out of their

00:47 hoodies a little bit at the bottom, untucked. So we've managed to follow them and track

00:51 them down. So there isn't that sort of group, you can't hear groups of fans cheering for

00:56 Brighton at the moment. There's supposed to be 3,500 coming here. On our live blog we've

01:04 been sharing tweets of fans on their way, fans in Rome and that. So there's plenty about

01:10 but we're going to try and hunt some more down later aren't we Sam?

01:12 Yes, absolutely. As Mark was saying, it's quite funny really. At the Coliseum earlier

01:16 trying to see if we can spot some fans and it really was a case of seeing if you can

01:19 hear an English accent and just guess that they might be Brighton fans. We have pretty

01:23 much struck gold every time we try haven't we? So we've had some good interviews with

01:28 them and they're all really excited. It's just a real sense of, as it has been in all

01:34 of the trips to Europe, a sense of belief that they're even here. I think there's not

01:40 so much confidence they're going to get a result as there has been, especially when

01:43 I was in Amsterdam there was a lot of confidence that Brighton were going to win on the day

01:46 and obviously they did. This time around there's some nervous fans around wondering what the

01:52 results will be but I think there definitely has been a sense of people not being too worried

01:57 about the result and just enjoying the experience of being in Rome and really just savouring

02:01 that opportunity that they have. I think that's fantastic that that's the kind of attitude

02:08 they've got. So I think that's definitely a plus.

02:12 Brilliant. I saw on the Sussex World website some of your videos with the fans and you're

02:19 right, they are a bit cautious. Do you think that is down to their iffy results lately

02:24 or because Roma are such a strong team under De Rossi?

02:28 Yeah I think it's a bit of both. I think Brighton obviously haven't been in the best of form

02:31 of late, most recently losing 3-0 at Fulham. So they really are struggling for consistency

02:38 really. I think they have a good result, then they lose, then they win again, then they

02:42 lose again. So they haven't been able to put a run of form together but that's no surprise

02:46 when you consider the players they have unavailable. None more so than obviously Karim Atoma and

02:50 João Pedro, they are just two such influential players. Especially Pedro in Europe, who is

02:55 obviously the top scorer and it really is gutting that he's not here for this one. That's

02:59 one question I've been asking fans really is what player needs to step up in João Pedro's

03:03 absence and Evan Ferguson and Danny Woelbeck have been mentioned. There's some hope that

03:08 Valentin Barco as well could maybe come in, although he's obviously quite early in his

03:12 Barca career, he's still a young lad as well. So yeah, I think obviously Ante Fatih, from

03:16 my opinion, I think Ante Fatih really needs to step up. He has been probably better in

03:20 Europe than in the league, so hopefully we can see more of that from him and really show

03:25 why he was so highly rated at Barcelona. There would be no better occasion to do it than

03:31 in Rome.

03:32 Roma are a strong side, they've had some good results now with Daniel De Rossi, Lukaku,

03:51 we're going there later for the press conference with De Serbi. It will be interesting to see

04:08 what he's got to say about coming back to his home country.

04:19 I think all the clubs who are reportedly interested in him will be interested to see how they

04:24 do get on. If he can beat Roma over two legs, get a result here, a draw would be a good

04:30 result here, wouldn't it Sam? Get a draw here with a little bit of a tactical masterclass,

04:35 as it were, then that just puts his stock even higher, doesn't it? I know the reports

04:39 are all about Man United today, aren't they? We've heard lots of different, Real Madrid,

04:44 we've heard lots of different rumours with De Serbi. This is a real test for him, given

04:50 how bad it's been, well not how bad it's been, but the last result, the last performance.

04:54 Has he put all his eggs in one basket with this game, picking a slightly weaker side

04:58 for Fulham? It's a real test for him. If he can get a result here, obviously, like you

05:06 say, his stock gets higher. Even bigger clubs will become interested. We'll see.

05:11 What sort of sense did you get from the fans with their travel, Sam? Was it an easy trip

05:21 over? I know you flew into Milan and then got the train down to Rome. How have some

05:27 of the other Brighton fans tackled their journeys?

05:30 It definitely sounds like we had one of the longest trips over here, didn't it? I think

05:35 they've come over in the last few days. Someone came over on Monday, they've really made a

05:39 week out of it. So that's good to hear. But I think there have been some delays from Gatwick

05:43 Airport. Mark, first thing in the morning, was doing his daily Gatwick flight update.

05:48 I think there were a few delays from Gatwick to Rome. So I think there may be some disruption

05:55 for fans. So hopefully they can get here on time for the match. But the ones we've spoken

05:59 to seem to have had a smooth journey, which is good. So yeah, hopefully more will continue

06:04 to arrive over the next few hours and into tomorrow.

06:06 Yeah, yeah. It looks a lovely, lovely day where you are at the moment. Can you give

06:11 us a little bit of a feel as to what's going on over there and what you've been up to?

06:17 Well, we have been to all the major attractions today. McDonald's, where we sat for two hours

06:23 and did some work. I mean, as you can see, I've got to bring you over here. It's quite

06:28 busy at the bottom of the Spanish Steps there. We've been to the Coliseum, we went to the

06:32 Trevi Fountain. Yeah, and it is a glorious day. There was a huge hailstorm first thing,

06:37 wasn't there? When we were in the hotel room, made a hell of a racket on the roof. But then,

06:42 yeah, it's been absolutely lovely. And I think tomorrow's forecast is really good as well.

06:46 So yeah, it's a really nice atmosphere. There's loads of school groups around, on tours, guided

06:51 tours, et cetera. Around the Coliseum was absolutely rammed, wasn't it? And the Trevi

06:55 Fountain. So yeah, we've seen a couple of Brighton fans in different places as well.

07:01 They're all obviously doing the same thing. But yeah, so we're hoping to catch up with

07:06 more Brighton fans later this evening after the press conference and have a catch up,

07:10 see where they're drinking. But like we say, it's not going to be like lots of blue and

07:14 white shirts singing Sussex by the Sea, because they don't want to be drawing their attention

07:19 to themselves. And then tomorrow, yeah, they've been, there's lots of travel advice. I put

07:24 it all on our live blog about how to get from the centre of Rome to the stadium. Because

07:30 yeah, there's like most major cities, there's pickpockets. There's obviously the Roma ultras

07:36 and that. I'm not saying they're going to do anything, but it could be quite intimidating.

07:39 So there's shuttle buses ready to go, free shuttle buses for the fans to go to the stadium.

07:44 And the fans are advised to follow the rules. Otherwise they could find themselves in a

07:48 bit of trouble.

07:49 Yeah. Yeah. But it's a magical moment for the fans, isn't it? Like you say, this season

07:54 they've been to Amsterdam, they've been to Athens and Marseille as well. And it's just

08:00 almost, it's such a journey that they've been on, Sam.

08:03 Yeah, it's incredible. I think what I've been speaking to the fans about today really is

08:07 just how lucky they've been to get such historical clubs, such huge names in European football.

08:15 I don't think you could, if you were to pick some of the teams at the beginning of the

08:18 competition you'd like to face, I think Ajax, Marseille, Athens and Rome would be right

08:25 up there, if not the top four. So it really is incredible how fortunate Brighton have

08:31 been to get some of these clubs. And yeah, long may it continue. Hopefully if they get

08:36 through this double leg tie, then maybe even another bigger team might be waiting around

08:41 the corner. So it really is brilliant. And if it is a one-off for Brighton, obviously

08:47 hopefully they get European football again next season. But if they don't, this is such

08:51 an amazing memory to have and they definitely will be relishing it for as long as it continues.

08:56 I hope they get to go to Karabag next round if they go through Azerbaijan. Fancy a trip

09:00 there.

09:01 I'll be ready for that one. I'll be ready for that one. But no, that sounds great. I'll

09:07 let you guys get on and head across to the press conference. But before you go, I'm just

09:12 going to have to ask you for a quick score prediction for tomorrow night, Mark.

09:17 Tough one. I'm going for a 2-1 win to Brighton. I said it earlier, so I'll stick with it.

09:24 I think there's some kind of, as I say, a bit of cautiousness about it. But I'm going

09:28 for the kill and say a 2-1 Brighton. And I think, I think he will score. I think Pascal

09:35 Brose will be on the score sheet and Idingra will get the other one. And Paulo Dybala will

09:40 score for Roma.

09:41 Fair enough. I am unfortunately going to go for a 0-0 draw. I think it's going to be,

09:46 yeah, they're going to try and shut him out. And I think they'll do a good job. Lewis Dunk

09:49 will be massive. I assume he's playing, is he, Dunk?

09:52 Yeah, yeah.

09:53 Yeah, Dunk's playing. Yeah, I think he's going to be massive for them tomorrow night, not

09:57 just as a defender, but as captain and leading them. So the real gladiatorial performance

10:02 from Lewis Dunk, I think. And I'm going to go for a 0-0, which I think will be an absolute

10:06 cracking result for Brighton.

10:07 I agree. Yeah, I think that would be a great result. I'm going to be, I'm going to go for

10:12 a 2-0 for Brighton. I think it's going to be one of the, one of the performances to,

10:17 to remember. So fingers crossed.

10:19 Good stuff.

10:20 But, but no, thanks. Thanks guys. Really appreciate your time over there. Thanks for joining us

10:26 and keep an eye on the Sussex World website and the live blog that Mark and Sam have got

10:31 running to keep up to date with everything that's going to go on with Brighton and all

10:35 the supporters over in Rome.

Gull-Mouth Action podcast special - Brighton in Rome for Europa League round of 16

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