You know it’s desperate times when you’re considering writing to the Football Association to plead with them to hand Southampton even more points deductions, merely to save the Albion from being pulled right to the foot of the table, despite currently only being one place above! Okay, I exaggerate slightly, but the start to the new season has left many people puzzled and confused as to what could possibly be going wrong. On the positive side, there’s still plenty of football left to be played this season, it’s only August after all. However, on paper the Albion should be at least flirting with the play offs in the top half of the table, certainly not being spared their blushes just outside the relegation zone by a team that were deducted ten points at the beginning of the year.

So why isn’t it working out? Well, in fairness to the players, the first five games have been littered with freakish incidents, such as Andy Whing’s own goal on the opening day and the red cards received by Michel Kuipers, Tommy Elphick and most memorably Colin Hawkins, whose comeback in an Albion shirt lasted a mere 2 minutes and 12 seconds, as timed by the BBC, before he was given his marching orders. These have all contributed to a staggering fifteen goals shipped by the Seagulls in just five games including the Carling Cup exit at Swansea, which means that twelve of those goals have been conceded in the league. The question that remains is ‘who is to blame?’.

The most obvious answer to that question would be Russell Slade, as it seems it is an unwritten rule that it is always customary to ask questions of the manager when something goes wrong. Slade has been criticised for his adoption of the 4-5-1 formation due to a shortage of fit strikers. Some believe that the formation is too negative and reduces the chance of goals, as proven by the fact that the Albion have only netted three times this term. I think to call for Slade’s head is very harsh indeed, as after his heroics last season he certainly deserves to be given a chance.

This brings us to another possible response to the query, which could be that the trouble lies in the hands of new chairman Tony Bloom. In spite of the fact that he has invested large amounts of money at the club over the summer, for the construction of Falmer Stadium as well as transfer funds, rumours are beginning to circulate that he may be about to part company with Slade and bring in Dennis Wise, with whom he is believed to be close. Again it would be harsh to place the blame solely on the wings of a rumour, but should it come true, it could have the potential to unsettle the squad and backroom staff alike.

So, it would be too harsh to blame it on anyone directly involved at the club day in day out in my opinion, and I imagine a lot of people will disagree with my theory that simply bad luck has cursed the Albion at the beginning of this season and things will get better by themselves. My message to fellow Albion fans would be to keep the faith and not make any rash decisions about the poor start – and the same goes for Mr Bloom!