Me and my big mouth! I said that Lincoln City away was a winnable tie for the Albion.

I also suggested that perhaps this was the year when the Seagulls would have that long overdue lucrative cup run.

Wrong on both counts then!

Thankfully, circumstances dictated that I never made it to Sincil Bank last Saturday, hosting my BBC SCR phone-in show from the warmth of the studio instead. And, as Hawesy pointed out at 5pm, I was certainly in the better place.

Talking to a number of fans who did make it to Lincolnshire, it's the manner of the Albion's cup exit which appears to have upset the overwhelming majority of the legendary Brighton away support.

There is no shame in losing, even to lesser opposition, but it is how you lose.

Eye-witnesses suggest that Albion were second best in every department, bereft of any attacking ideas and sadly lacking in the team spirit and never-say-die attitude that has been of hallmark of the team in the last few years.

Perhaps the signs were already there?

A regular HOTM reader and Withdean season ticket holder Mr C. Maskell (Not Craig), of Lancing, told me at the Boston game that the inept performance in the previous home match against Stockport had forced him to leave an Albion game early for the first time since the Goldstone FA cup defeat against Leatherhead in 1974-75!

So just what has gone wrong with Albion?

It's easy to say that Steve Coppell's departure knocked the stuffing and confidence out of the squad and to a certain degree I think that is the case, but how long can this be a legitimate excuse?

With regard to Mark McGhee, as far as I'm concerned the jury is back and he is the man for the job. He has certainly got a touch of the Alex Ferguson about him. Just one listen to his media interviews confirms this. He won't beat around the bush and it will be a case of shape up or ship out for a number of players.

There is a saying that every cloud has a silver lining and as much as I wanted a cup run this exit can serve as a wake-up call to both the squad and the board.

I still believe that this squad, with perhaps a couple of additions, is good enough to mount a successful promotion challenge in Division Two this season.

At the start of the season the fixtures against Bristol City would have been viewed by both clubs and their supporters as promotion six-pointers. What better way for Albion to pay their public back by turning in a classic performance this Saturday, getting all three points and putting the wheels back on the promotion bandwagon.

For all the wrong reasons Dwaine Chambers now finds himself forever written in British athletics history.

His second drug test failure and subsequent ban is very sad, but it is certainly a step in the right direction.

As much as I enjoy watching athletics, and particularly British athletes, doing well, I'd rather have no representation in the finals of big events than have blatant cheats wearing our national vest.

One look at a photo of Chambers three years ago and the change in his physical appearance since then should have set the alarm bells ringing. If it was all natural he won't need running to make a fortune because he can go and advertise for Charles Atlas!

The strict new IAAF policy will only be good for the sport which over a period of years has become something of a farce.

Chambers, like Ben Johnson before him, will protest his innocence but in this day and age these tests are so thorough that I see very little margin for error, if any.

Ironically he was probably advised to go down the path of getting extra help, but sadly it won't be the people who put him up to this who will be forever branded a cheat.