\u2018We don\u2019t want to damage him\u2019: Why Australian football\u2019s teenage sensation was snubbed<\/a><\/b><\/p>\nHOW PL VETERAN HELPED AUSSIE SURVIVE LOAN DISASTER<\/b><\/p>\n
As deadline day in the summer window neared, Peupion knew he needed game time at a senior level and the only way to get that was by going out on loan.<\/p>\n
A host of clubs interested in the right winger\u2019s services, but Brighton decided to send Peupion on loan to Cheltenham Town, a club that had returned to English football\u2019s third tier for the first time in 12 years just two seasons ago.<\/p>\n
Peupion himself was excited to join the Robins after a positive phone call with the manager Wade Elliott.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe manager was calling me before and telling me he really wanted me in and that I was going to be a big part of his team, so I thought it was an exciting place to go and play football,\u201d Peupion told foxsports.com.au.<\/i><\/p>\n
By the time Peupion joined on August 29, Cheltenham had lost four of its first five games and pressure had rapidly mounted on Elliott.<\/p>\n
Peupion made two substitute appearances for a total of 17 minutes in his first two league game after moving, both of which were defeats.<\/p>\n
The losses to Barnsley and Exeter City also spelt the end for Elliott\u2019s time in charge, a fate that Peupion understands is \u201cpart of football\u201d.<\/p>\n
In came Darrell Clarke, who had previously spent time with the likes of Walsall, Port Vale and Bristol Rovers.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately for Peupion, Clarke\u2019s arrival heralded major changes that cruelled his hopes for game time.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe completely changed the formation, changed the way we wanted to play,\u201d Peupion said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe went completely for long balls, try to play for corners and throw ins.<\/p>\n<\/amp-img>Cheltenham boss Darrell Clarke couldn’t find a way to fit Peupion into his team. (Photo by Pete Norton\/Getty Images)<\/span>Source: Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\u201cFor a technical player like me, there just wasn\u2019t a spot for me in the team, no matter what I did in training. It was just wing backs.\u201d<\/p>\n
Clarke even made the startling admission to Peupion that he\u2019d rather use the Aussie \u201cas an impact sub if we were losing, just because I didn\u2019t fit into his team and his style of play\u201d.<\/p>\n
Even though Peupion knew he could do little to force his way into Clarke\u2019s plans, he never downed tools in training and, if anything, earned the respect of Cheltenham\u2019s veterans for his attitude.<\/p>\n
One of which was Curtis Davies, a centre back with 173 Premier League and 314 Championship appearances to his name.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe (Davies) was really good to me, he gave me a lot of advice,\u201d Peupion said.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe could see that I was struggling because I wasn\u2019t playing and he\u2019d been through similar things in his career.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe pulled me to the side many times and just said, \u2018Look, keep training really hard, your attitude is spot on, if you keep doing this you\u2019ll get a shot here or it\u2019s going to help you in the future.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
With Peupion battling for game time and Brighton dealing with an injury crisis and the looming departures of Kaoru Mitoma and Simon Adingra to the Asian Cup and African Cup of Nations respectively, it made perfect sense for the Seagulls to cut his loan short on December 20.<\/p>\n
It took less than a month for the Aussie youngster to make a major impression upon his return.<\/p>\n<\/amp-img>Cheltenham’s Curtis Davies was a fan of Peupion during his time with the League One outfit. (Photo by Pete Norton\/Getty Images)<\/span>Source: Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\nTHE MID-SEASON MOMENT THAT PROVED OLYROOS GUN IS UP FOR BRIGHTON FIGHT<\/b><\/p>\n
During the Premier League\u2019s winter break, several clubs will jet off to warmer climates for a mid-season training camp.<\/p>\n
Like they did when the Premier League stopped for the 2022 World Cup, Brighton\u2019s squad returned to Dubai, with Peupion among the travelling party.<\/p>\n
According to a source close to Brighton\u2019s first team, who spoke to this publication on the condition of anonymity, the players were granted a team bonding evening during the trip, with staff making training the following morning optional.<\/p>\n
The next day, only three players attended training: James Milner, Evan Ferguson and Peupion.<\/p>\n
It is this attitude from Peupion that caught the eye of Brighton\u2019s seasoned professionals like Milner, Danny Welbeck, Adam Lallana and Lewis Dunk in training.<\/p>\n
Lallana is the one who has grown closest to Peupion and has taken the Olyroos star under his wing.<\/p>\n
\u201cAds has been a super big help for me,\u201d Peupion said.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s doing his coaching licenses at the moment, so he\u2019s constantly in training pushing me as hard as he can.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen off the pitch, he\u2019ll pull me aside and show me things on his laptop about where I could press better.\u201d<\/p>\n
Although Lallana spends time with Peupion talking about areas for improvement or sharing experiences from his professional career that began in 2006, he and Brighton\u2019s other senior stars are as ruthless as it gets during training.<\/p>\n<\/amp-img>Lallana has taken Peupion under his wing. (Photo by Eddie Keogh\/Getty Images)<\/span>Source: Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\u201cWhen you\u2019re in an environment like that, whether it comes from the manager or the players, if you\u2019re a young player you\u2019re going to get pushed,\u201d Peupion said.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I think you realise quite early that it\u2019s not personal, they just do it to try and make you a better player. <\/p>\n
\u201cFor sure, there will be moments where they\u2019ll push you and if you do something that\u2019s not quite right, because you\u2019re learning and you\u2019re young, they\u2019ll tell you.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s competitive, it\u2019s fiery, but I love being part of it. Off the pitch, they put their arm around you and they\u2019re just trying to make you the best player you can be.\u201d<\/p>\n
As Peupion mentioned, Brighton gaffer De Zerbi is driving the sky-high standards as much as the Seagulls\u2019 biggest names are.<\/p>\n
The Italian took over after Graham Potter\u2019s departure to Chelsea in 2022 and his stock has continued to rise after guiding the Seagulls to the Europa League last season.<\/p>\n
So, what makes the enigmatic Italian such a gifted coach?<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve never seen anyone so passionate about football and so passionate in general,\u201d Peupion said.<\/p>\n
He wants the best out of every single player that he works with and he pushes them to the highest level.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s the finer details that you wouldn\u2019t even think about and think highly of that makes you a better player.\u201d<\/p>\n
Peupion revealed those \u201cfiner details\u201d are all to do with where players are positioned on the pitch and how they follow the pressure.<\/p>\n<\/amp-img>Brighton boss Roberto De Zerbi is one of Europe\u2019s most highly-rated managers. (Photo by Mike Hewitt\/Getty Images)<\/span>Source: Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\nDe Zerbi is also \u201crelentless\u201d with players only using two touches during passing drills.<\/p>\n
\u201cEverything has to be perfect, because when it comes to a game, if you can pass with precision and be perfect and be in the right position that he wants you to be in, then he believes that you can beat and play out from the back and score easily,\u201d Peupion said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s that detail that comes into it that makes him brilliant to work under.\u201d<\/p>\n
Although the Brighton boss has proven himself to possess one of the shrewdest tactical minds in football, he makes his points in rather unique ways.<\/p>\n
Peupion provided the example of when De Zerbi informed him he\u2019d be coming off the bench away to Newcastle last season to make his Premier League debut.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe pulled his pants down and just said, \u2018I want you to play like you\u2019ve got your pants down, no stresses in the world, no problems,\u2019\u201d Peupion laughed.<\/p>\n
Such is De Zerbi\u2019s faith in Peupion, he handed the Aussie his first start for the Seagulls in the club\u2019s fifth round FA Cup clash against Wolves in late February.<\/p>\n
Sadly, the moment the Italian informed Peupion wasn\u2019t quite as vivid as when he found out he\u2019d be making his Premier League debut.<\/p>\n
\u201cI remember he pulled me into his office the day before and sat me down and told me, \u2018Do you think you\u2019re ready to play with the first team and start a game?\u2019\u201d Peupion said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI told him, \u2018Yeah, that\u2019s the dream I want to do, that\u2019s what I\u2019ve been working towards.\u2019<\/p>\n
\u201cSo he said, \u2018Yeah, you\u2019re starting tomorrow.\u2019<\/p>\n
\u201cHe told me the day before, put his arm around me and said, \u2018Whatever happens, it\u2019s on me. Just go out there and do what you\u2019d normally do. There\u2019s no consequences.\u2019\u2028<\/p>\n
Peupion\u2019s teammates were ecstatic for the youngster.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll of the senior players were coming up to me saying, \u2018Look, you\u2019ve got nothing to lose, just play your normal game, you\u2019ve been training really well, you deserve a start,\u2019\u201d Peupion said.<\/p>\n<\/amp-img>Peupion (right) made his first senior start for Brighton in the FA Cup against Wolves. (Photo by David Rogers\/Getty Images)<\/span>Source: Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\nPeupion only played the first half in a 1-0 defeat to Wolves, but he received plenty of positive feedback from his teammates and manager.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe gaffer came up to me afterwards and said I played really well and was really impressed with me,\u201d Peupion said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll of the boys were buzzing and said I did really well. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt just means that when I\u2019m in and around the group and training with them every day, you get a bit more respect and trust from the boys because if you get put out there, they can trust that you can deliver a performance and be a player that they can play with.\u201d<\/p>\n
De Zerbi\u2019s trust in Peupion was also evident when he named the young Aussie on the bench in both legs of Brighton\u2019s Round of 16 Europa League clash against Italian giants Roma.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately for the Seagulls they were beaten 4-1 on aggregate, but the experience of being in the Italian capital made Peupion realise he\u2019s finally doing what he\u2019s \u201calways dreamed of doing\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cEven leading up to the game and getting the police escort through Rome towards the game, the whole city stops to shout abuse at you,\u201d Peupion said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s an experience I hadn\u2019t really had before, but it was something special. <\/p>\n
\u201cI was just smiling on the bus thinking this was one of the moments where I realised how far I\u2019d come, from being a kid on the northern beaches dreaming about being a professional footballer to being on a bus for the Europa League and going through Rome and everyone\u2019s stopping, staring and shouting at you.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/amp-img>Roma got the better of Brighton in a hotly-contested Europa League Round of 16 clash. (Photo by Steve Bardens\/Getty Images)<\/span>Source: Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\nWHY BRUTAL BRIGHTON SNUB LEFT AUSSIE \u2018GUTTED\u2019<\/b><\/p>\n
With eight games remaining in Brighton\u2019s season, Peupion is hoping for more appearances off the bench or, in a dream scenario, a potential Premier League start.<\/p>\n
He also might\u2019ve enjoyed regular time had he been released by Brighton for Olyroos duty as they seek to qualify for the Paris Olympics, an event Peupion has been \u201cdreaming about\u201d for some time.<\/p>\n
However, the club refused to let Peupion link up with the Olyroos for the AFC under-23 Asian Cup, a decision that left Peupion \u201cgutted\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was (desperate to join), to be fair,\u201d Peupion revealed.<\/p>\n
\u201cI sat down with Brighton and they explained their reasons for not wanting me to go to the Asian Cup. <\/p>\n
\u201cI understand it\u2019s a business at the end of the day. They see me as someone that could potentially help them in the last part of the Premier League season. So from that point of view, I do understand.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was gutted though, because it was something I was looking forward to, being part of the Asian Cup squad and trying to qualify for the Olympics.\u201d<\/p>\n
Should the Olyroos qualify for Paris and Peupion earn a call-up, who knows what it could lead to in the summer.<\/p>\n
But, with the faith of De Zerbi and his senior Brighton teammates, it feels like Peupion\u2019s European dream is truly starting to begin.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It was only a handful of months ago Cam Peupion checked off the likes of Bristol Rovers\u2019 Memorial Stadium and Exeter City\u2019s St James Park from his career away days list. Combined, the two grounds have a collective capacity of just over 20,500. Get on board Kayo and watch every game of every round of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":105965,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6807],"tags":[30721,1416,41077,1641,5440,83,1736,7632,99,45713,25571,45707,1192,45696,45698,12276,45699,6798,2073,45709,19575,13217,85,145,4399,1429,45705,12893,6799,45702,7715,1425,45692,398,20072,17014,42868,21307,2458,5215,4179,3050,45701,45700,2232,45711,9800,1626,1830,10894,45695,1427,44219,1728,45712,45697,45710,8205,8894,4097,994,21674,45703,1455,7564,4846,26715,24857,2457,45714,1019,29842,45708,3497,45706,26002,1856,45704,1847,32041,2256,5622],"class_list":{"0":"post-105964","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-leagues-cups","8":"tag-adam-lallana","9":"tag-alex-conrad","10":"tag-almighty-scare","11":"tag-asia","12":"tag-august","13":"tag-australia","14":"tag-australia-and-new-zealand","15":"tag-australian-football","16":"tag-brighton","17":"tag-brighton-fight","18":"tag-bristol-rovers-football-club","19":"tag-cameron-howard","20":"tag-champions-league","21":"tag-coaching-licenses","22":"tag-curtis-davies","23":"tag-danny-welbeck","24":"tag-darrell-clarke","25":"tag-david-rogers","26":"tag-deadline-day","27":"tag-dream-scenario","28":"tag-dubai","29":"tag-eddie-keogh","30":"tag-england","31":"tag-english-football","32":"tag-europa-league","33":"tag-europe","34":"tag-european-dream","35":"tag-european-nights","36":"tag-evan-ferguson","37":"tag-exeter-city-football-club","38":"tag-game-time","39":"tag-getty-images-inc","40":"tag-goal-game","41":"tag-graham-potter","42":"tag-impact-sub","43":"tag-injury-crisis","44":"tag-italian-capital","45":"tag-italian-giants","46":"tag-italy","47":"tag-james-milner","48":"tag-league-game","49":"tag-league-one","50":"tag-loan-disaster","51":"tag-looming-departures","52":"tag-manchester-united-football-club","53":"tag-mid-season-moment","54":"tag-mike-hewitt","55":"tag-new-south-wales","56":"tag-newcastle","57":"tag-northern-beaches","58":"tag-northern-beaches-dreaming","59":"tag-northern-europe","60":"tag-nrl-afl-seasons","61":"tag-oceania","62":"tag-police-escort","63":"tag-positive-feedback","64":"tag-positive-phone","65":"tag-professional-career","66":"tag-professional-footballer","67":"tag-regular-time","68":"tag-roberto-de-zerbi","70":"tag-rowdy-streets","71":"tag-senior-level","72":"tag-senior-players","73":"tag-senior-stars","74":"tag-simon-adingra","75":"tag-single-player","76":"tag-southern-europe","77":"tag-spends-time","78":"tag-sydney","79":"tag-talented-youngsters","80":"tag-team-bonding-evening","82":"tag-throw-ins","83":"tag-travelling-party","84":"tag-united-kingdom","85":"tag-wade-elliott","86":"tag-western-asia","87":"tag-young-boy","88":"tag-young-gun","89":"tag-young-player"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105964","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=105964"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105964\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/105965"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=105964"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=105964"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=105964"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}