MARRY in haste, repent at leisure. . . With the Albion's indifferent start to the season, culminating in Saturday's home defeat against nine-man Walsall, supporters are already starting to ask questions.
Obviously there is the usual fickle few who are questioning the capabilities of Albion boss Micky Adams, who returned to the club in the summer at the expense of former manager Dean Wilkins.
Some have already made the comparison between Adams' ret
urn and that of legendary Brighton manager Alan Mullery, who came back to the club in 1986 and then only lasted just over five months in a disastrous season which saw the Seagulls "win" the wooden spoon in the old Division 2.
To compare then and now almost smacks of selective memory syndrome. Back then, although Norman Wisdom was long gone from the Albion boardroom, the club was still being run by comedians.
Perhaps the more informed supporters are really asking if Dean Wilkins' seventh place finish, just outside the play–off positions, was merely papering over the cracks?
Having supported the club actively since 1973, I would have to say that Saturday's game will probably be one that I won't forget, but in the grand scheme of things it's only one game.
To put a bit of perspective on the whole issue, the club very kindly allowed me to take three avid football fans from Chestnut Tree House, and we were entertained with a meal in the boardroom before the game.
Regardless of the result, the boys and their respective dads had a lovely day.
Micky Adams understandably clearly didn't, and almost alluded to those "papered-over cracks." Despite a couple of signings, the squad is still what he inherited from Wilkins.
For example Jonny Dixon, signed from Aldershot on the transfer deadline day in January for a reported £55,000, has struggled to even get a game. Clearly he's not in the manager's plans, and has now joined Grays on loan, but there's an immediate example of a large sum of money in League One terms which Micky Adams could have used in the summer on players that would actually feature.
My email box will probably be littered with messages from Albion fans pointing out that Dixon came on for the last 20 minutes of Saturday's debacle, but if they get the chance I would ask them via the web to listen to Hawesy's BBC SCR commentary and see how many times he was
mentioned.
Ultimately, there will be the usual knee-jerk reactions. Sack the manager, sack the board etc, but to quote the words of Clive Dunn in his most famous role as Corporal Jones, "don't panic".
Along with Dixon, a number of players have left the club on loan this week. That, I believe, will free-up the budget to bring in some fresh faces, albeit on loan, and then the Albion can move forward.
Don't forget Adams once signed a young, untried player on loan from Bristol Rovers back in 2000. His name was Robert Lester Zamora, and as they say the rest is history.
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