AFTER two quality league performances at Withdean against Leicester City and Millwall respectively, it was certainly back down to earth with a bump on Tuesday night as the Albion were, in places, outclassed by Championship Derby County in the Carling Cup.
Sky Sports called it a thrashing, which was a tad harsh; there were certainly pinch points in the game which possibly affected the result.
The Albion might have been two up, but for a linesman's flag and a goal-line clearance, before John Sullivan
had the ball clearly kicked out his hands for the Rams opener.
But, excuse the cliché, that's football, and if the Albion wish to aspire to Championship standard, there are obvious lessons to be learnt.
- What's your priority, League or Cup? That was the question I asked fans on a recent edition of "Hart of the Matter" on Seagulls World, and with a bigger margin than Barack Obama the answer was clearly "League".
Many have already written this season off but I'm not so sure. Believe it or not, Crystal Palace are an example to all, as when Ian Dowie arrived at Selhurst Park in November, 2003, they were in a far worse position in the Championship than the Albion are now in League One but still went on to beat West Ham in the play-off final at Cardiff.
Crystal Palace, trailblazers. A remark you never thought you'd see in this column.
- Lancing FC stalwart Tony Miles will have to wait another week before he chalks up his 300th appearance for the club after his landmark game at Old Barn Way against Southwick was abandoned at half time.
In this day and age of nomadic County League footballers, 300 games at any club is an amazing achievement, and hopefully the club are planning to mark this milestone in some way as I believe that, in the same as way as the likes of Kerry Mayo and Gary Hart staying at the Albion for over a decade is a rare thing, so is Tony's achievement.
The same could be said for the legendary Ron "Chopper" Harris, who played for Chelsea for 21 years, and I believe no-one will ever play for a top club for that period ever again.
I had the pleasure of compering Chopper at the annual Offington Park Club dinner at the Charmandean Centre on Friday night and as a result of an item he put up for auction, the club are going to provide a Christmas Party for the children at Chestnut Tree House.
And, congratulations also to Steve Porter of Mile Oak, who recently played his 400th game for the club.
- Congratulations to Lewis Hamilton on winning the Formula One Drivers' Championship. It was certainly edge of the seat stuff, but thoroughly deserved none the less.
I'm a little bit perturbed that the country that produced Pele can provide such racist "supporters" but then again, jealousy comes in many different forms.
I never made a secret of the fact that Hamilton's advisers' decisions to move him out of the British tax system disappointed me, but I still believe he is deserving of a victory parade in London. If the Mayor of Geneva wants to give him one as well, then go for it.
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