And it all had started so well. Even before a ball was kicked in Norway, Lewis Dunk and the squad, as a goodwill gesture, decided to refund the travelling Albion fans their respective ticket money, although one wag in a pre-match Tromso bar did quip ‘Was it a pre-emptive strike with what was to come?!’.
In the end the Albion live to fight another day, specifically next Thursday in the second leg at the Amex, but there’s no way of dressing it up, the 400 or so fans who travelled and the thousands watching back home expected and deserved better.
Shades of the Johnny Nash 1970s hit There Are More Questions Than Answers.
Is the Albion squad still light for the demands of a Premier League and hopefully a European Conference campaign?
Albion fans prior to the UEFA Conference League Play Off First Leg match against Tromso (Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)placeholder image
Albion fans prior to the UEFA Conference League Play Off First Leg match against Tromso (Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)
If we are, as is strongly rumoured about to lose both Carlos Baleba and Yankuba Minteh in the next week, will the squad be even lighter?
And if we get in excess of a £100m for that duo, although we don’t want Tony Bloom spending money like a drunken sailor, will the Albion make significant purchases before the window shuts?
Is new Canadian striker Promise David, a traditional centre forward, the answer to Albion’s striking woes?
Earlier in the week I’d written about the Albion harbingers of doom, who are almost predicting a relegation battle for the club. And the 90 minutes at Tromso must have been like Pride weekend for them.
Diego Gomez under pressure from Alexander Warneryd and Mathias Tonnessen of Tromso (Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)placeholder image
Diego Gomez under pressure from Alexander Warneryd and Mathias Tonnessen of Tromso (Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)
But the whole Tromso experience was in itself a bit of curate’s egg.
Having followed Albion home and away for over half a century it is without doubt the nicest place I’ve ever watched the Seagulls play – beautiful scenery, nice people, clean streets, welcoming hotels, bars and restaurants. Even walking back to the hotel after midnight we felt totally safe, it could have been plucked from an episode of Heartbeat.
In the cold light of day, perhaps we shouldn’t be too harsh on the Albion. Yes it was disappointing not to come away with the win, but there are a number of factors we have to take into consideration.
The artificial pitch was one of the worst I’ve seen football played on – it would struggle to pass the Isthmian League criteria test, Tromso are three months into their domestic league and sit third, their support was superb from first whistle to last and it was ultimately their cup final.
So perhaps it could have been far worse.
The visit of Aston Villa on Sunday will perhaps be a better benchmark for Albion fans, although as a caveat to that: like the Albion, Villa’s first competitive game of the season was in Europe, but theirs was the Super Cup final where they gave a very good account of themselves against Paris St German, the best team in Europe.
Ultimately we did run out of ideas in Norway. We clearly miss Kaoru Mitoma, and he can’t come back soon enough, but we also have other players playing out of position. With the funds apparently available and with the level we find ourselves at, that really shouldn’t be the case.
I expect Promise David to start up top Sunday – let’s hope he’s more Mark Viduka than Mark Farrington.
Despite our disappointment over 90 minutes we enjoyed the bonhomie that Tromso had to offer, and in one of the bars who should we meet but good old Tony Bloom?
He’s convinced the Canadian lad is something special, and will score goals at this level, and plenty of them.
As a supped on my £11 bottle of Sol, I did think to myself, ‘it’s all about the process Harty’. In Tony we trust, and if it’s good enough for him it surely has to be for the rest of us...