Jules Breach on why Tariq Lamptey is her new favourite and offers bold Brighton vs Chelsea prediction
BT Sport and Football Ramble podcast presenter Jules Breach was born in Brighton, studied media just across the road from the Amex Stadium and even worked as a hostess at the club for two seasons.
But from handing out matchday programmes and showing fans to their seats at Albion's 1901 Club, Breach is now a popular and leading figure in sports broadcasting.
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Hide AdHer affinity for her hometown team remains strong and she talks with passion and optimism about the campaign ahead and the progress made under Graham Potter.
"I loved it," said Breach after a first season of Potter-ball. "I know it was nail biting towards the end but unless you are an Albion fan that watched their games, you wouldn't have seen the improvements.
"I spent half of last season just telling people to chill-out and stop criticising. From what I've seen from Potter, it's only onwards and upwards.
"I interviewed him (Potter) for BT Sport and he's a really intelligent manager. He knows what he's doing and he would have authority in the dressing room.
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Hide Ad"I think he's a perfect fit for the club and I'm so excited for this season."
Brighton's first match of the new Premier League campaign is against Frank Lampard's Chelsea at the Amex Stadium on Monday night.
The Blues have spent upwards of £200m this transfer window so far on Hakim Ziyech, Timo Werner, Kai Havertz, Thiago Silva, Ben Chilwell and Malang Sarr.
Brighton, by comparison, signed Adam Lallana, 32, on a free from Liverpool and Dutch international defender Joel Veltman for £900,000 from Ajax.
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Hide Ad"Lampard's signings are ridiculous," said Breach. "The squad they have and the depth in every position is immense. They are making up for lost time after their embargo but some of their signings are shrewd moves, like getting Thiago Silva on a free.
"The one benefit of playing them on the opening day is they will not have too much time together and they won't know their best 11, that's what I'm hoping anyway.
"My heart says 1-1 but my head thinks a 2-1 win for Chelsea."
Breach does however have reason for optimism and believes keeping club captain Lewis Dunk, plus fending off three bids from Leeds United for Ben White, is a huge statement of intent.
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Hide AdThe 31-year-old Football Ramble presenter also has high hopes for her new favourite Tariq Lamptey. The 19 year-old full back joined Brighton for £3m from Chelsea last January and was one of Albion's best performers after lockdown.
"At £3m he's an absolute steal," Breach said. "My Chelsea friends were pretty gutted to lose him and said, 'you have got a real player on your hands.'
"It'd like to see him start every game. We need his pace and we need a player like him that will drive the ball forward.
"When people do their predictions, I wouldn't be surprised to see us in a lot of people's bottom three.
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Hide Ad"I think we will survive but I'm quietly confident we can do a little better than that."
The new-look Football Ramble airs from Monday – Friday and is known for personable and engaging analysis. It has more than 2.5 million listens a month and Breach has helped the podcast enjoy some of its biggest weeks.
"It is completely different from the TV work I do. On TV I am purely there as a host, so my opinion is not wanted or required," she said with a chuckle. "I'm there to guide and drive a conversation and get the best out of the guests and pundits.
"The podcast is a free-for-all. I am able to have my opinion, I'm able to have a bit more fun. There is more room to get your personality out there.
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Hide Ad"On TV, the show is not about you, it's about the guests. Whereas a podcast is about the relationship between the people in the room."
Breach, whose mum is from the Philippines, was born in Brighton but moved to Jamaica until she was 15.
She admitted finding a path into TV presenting was tricky and hopes her position can now help inspire more women to the football industry.
"When I was growing up, I wanted to work in sport media but there wasn't anyone I could identify with, especially as a female of mixed race as well.
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Hide Ad"There was nobody that looked like me and it's hard to imagine yourself having that career if nobody like you does it.
"Now there are more females, more diversity on screen. Hopefully it will inspire other females, young girls and boys to take up a career in journalism.
"The more diversity we see in broadcasting, it will lead to more people believing they can have a career."
A new episode of Football Ramble is released each weekday. Listen here: stakhanov.studio/shows/the-football-ramble/