I'VE always considered myself a person whose glass is half full rather than half empty. On the face of it, the Albion's season isn't yet panning-out as planned, but I still see no reason for panic.
Whilst a large number of fans share my view, there is also a seemingly growing section of support who see fit to knock manager Micky Adams at every available opportunity.
I have to warn those fans to be careful. Not in a sinister way – I mean the
pro-Adams faction aren't going to start duffing people up – but as the situation appears to intensify after every match, I firmly believe that it could reach a point where this minority of Albion supporters, and it is a minority, will drive Adams out of the Albion.
Then I believe the club could be in its biggest crisis since they left the Goldstone.
Bringing Adams back at the expense of previous manager Dean Wilkins was a bold step by Dick Knight but also an essential one.
I have no personal axe to grind with Dean. I liked him as a person, and still do, for that matter, but there's more to a football club than what goes on the pitch for 90 minutes on a Saturday, and clearly for Dick Knight and the rest of the Albion board to act in this way, something was not right.
Supporters, and even the media, be it full-time or parttime, don't know the full story of what goes on at a club.
My critics can brand me an Adams apologist, but I firmly believe he is the man for the job, but I don't think some supporters realise how big that job is.
If you have the facility look at his interview on Seagulls World after last Saturday's defeat against Carlisle, because there I saw a man who I have the utmost respect for almost on the edge.
If he is forced out, I believe the club could go into freefall, perhaps even resulting in relegation, and with the credit crunch the Albion back in the bottom division could see the whole Falmer project put in jeopardy.
Dick Knight will not sack Adams, of that I am convinced, not because he doesn't have the courage to do that, a number of former managers can testify to that, but because he knows he's there for the long haul.
But what I'm not convinced about is how long Micky Adams can put up with this negative attitude from a number of supporters, and like I said, if he does decide he's had enough it could be one of the blackest days for the club.
We've had more than our fair share of those, so do we really need to bring another one ON ourselves?
- I haven't got a problem with England playing Germany in a friendly this week. In fact, all of the numerous drop-outs from senior players is possibly a blessing in disguise as it gave the manager a chance to field some of the younger up- and-coming players.
But what I would have been happier with is, given the significance of the time of year and the vast amount of money washing around in the international associations, that the German and English football authorities split all the profit from the game, tickets, TV, concessions etc, and then divided the amount equally between the two respective servicemen's charities from each country.
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