Well, that didn’t take long, did it?
August not yet over, the transfer window not slammed shut, yet both the Albion in the Premier League and Worthing in the National League South already have sections of there support going into meltdown!
Granted, it is a results business, but it is also a marathon not a sprint.
Albion-wise it is all about very fine margins. Last week they could and should have put the game to bed against Fulham long before the Cottagers’ last gasp equaliser.
Worthing skipper Joel Colbran goes for goal at Chippenham, but it was not Worthing's day | Picture: Jay Wrighteplaceholder image
Worthing skipper Joel Colbran goes for goal at Chippenham, but it was not Worthing's day | Picture: Jay Wrighte
Then on Sunday they had ample opportunities to be the ultimate party-poopers at the opening of the new Everton stadium, but three gilt-edged opportunities and a missed penalty tell their own story.
The defeat on Merseyside was followed by an avalanche of comments on the internet, many questioning Fabian Hurzeler’s future at the club.
One wag (!) even put the odds for the next Albion manager up for everyone’s perusal, with such luminaries as Ange Postecoglou, Graham Potter and Sean Dyche listed. And people thought defeat at Everton was bad!
Looking at the doom and gloom merchants on social media, I do wonder what these supposed Albion-loving individuals were doing on Christmas Day 1996, when the Seagulls were rooted to the very bottom, ie 92nd, of the Football League, potentially 13 points adrift of safety, and facing the prospect of losing the Goldstone Ground?
Jordan Pickford saves a penalty from Danny Welbeck in Brighton's defeat at Everton (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images)placeholder image
Jordan Pickford saves a penalty from Danny Welbeck in Brighton's defeat at Everton (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images)
A number of them were probably still a glint in their dad’s eye!
But the point being, while the stakes 29 years on are obviously far higher, as supporters we’ve been through far worse.
The past 180 minutes haven’t suddenly turned Hurzeler into a bad manager: he remains a quality coach – granted the ‘goalscorer issue’ is a huge factor, but while I had been led to believe all the Albion’s transfer business had been done, never say never, I actually don’t think we are done.
Eleven miles down the road at Worthing, it’s been an indifferent start, other than all three points in a seven-goal thriller at Horsham, and it has seen many of the Woodside Road faithful getting restless.
It’s been compounded in the past three games, as the Rebels have failed to score in 270 minutes – that’s the first time that’s happened in eight years.
Like Hurzeler, Rebels boss Chris Agutter is being questioned in certain quarters, but like Fabian, Aggy doesn’t suddenly become a bad manager overnight.
Not just in life, but in football, opportunities present themselves.
On Saturday Worthing entertain Maidstone, the team that knocked them out of the play-offs last season, and while with the greatest respect Worthing’s previous five opponents have been among the unfancied clubs in NLS, this is the first real test against perceived ‘high end’ opposition.
With Brighton not playing until Sunday, a decent crowd will pack Woodside Road, hopefully waiting to see Agutter’s squad come good.
The same will be said for the Albion taking on Man City at the Amex on Sunday.
Despite what the harbingers of doom might say, both games are very winnable, and hopefully will kick-start both our local clubs’ respective seasons, who knows... Albion might have a debutant striker by then?
And finally, whatever the aforementioned doom and gloom merchants might think, in both Tony Bloom and Barry Hunter, respectively, you’ve got chairmen who don’t make kneejerk decisions.
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