What is the collective noun for a gathering of egos?

Perhaps that thought crossed Dick Knight's mind when he sat down at the League chairmen's meeting last week with some self-important football bosses.

With salary-capping top of the agenda, whispers about the formation of a Premiership 2 and the possible appointment of a new, all-dancing chief executive, there must have been enough hot air in that room to get Richard Branson around the globe in his balloon.

Before Albion's blue rinse militia string me up for treason, can I state that I do not include Knight among those responsible for domestic football's apparent slide towards oblivion. But there were several people in that room who are the architects of their own misfortune.

Knight has his critics, including me on occasions. But the one thing he cannot be faulted on is running a tight ship. Albion's chairman attended the meeting knowing whatever money was forthcoming from TV deals and other sponsorship, Albion will still be trading as a solvent company in 12 months time.

The club will not call in an administrator to sell players and lay off office staff, there won't be player wage cuts or PFA loans. How many other chairmen can say that?

I'm getting tired with just about everyone else connected with the Football League blaming the collapse of the ITV digital deal for the current financial mess.

Watford, for example, moaned about ITV but were £9million in debt anyway, so the lost TV money represents only a fraction of what they owe.

Last season, with the team going well in Division Two, Albion chief executive Martin Perry came on Southern Counties radio and said the proposed TV money was not in the playing budget for this season because of the uncertainty about the television deal.

Albion haven't lost £2.5 million because they never had it and, to their credit, they were wise enough to have seen the iceberg coming.

The proposed wage-capping policy is not nuclear physics, it's common sense, which is something that has been thin on the ground in various boardrooms around the country.

At Selhurst Park, Mark Goldberg paid Ron Noades more than £20million for what amounted to the Crystal Palace name and a lease on the ground.

That ranks with the bloke who turned down The Beatles.

If all clubs adhere to these rules and start operating within their means, then a few years down the line football will be in a far healthier position than it is now. Frankly, it couldn't be much worse.

I doubt anyone would have dared think when travelling home from Selhurst Park less than a month ago that Steve Coppell would be a candidate for the November Division One manager of the month award.

The management team and playing staff have transformed this campaign from a nightmare to what could become one of those unforgettable Albion seasons.

Even if Coppell does not win and, regardless of tonight's result at Nottingham Forest, one thing is for sure. When November started, the situation was desperate. But when we open our first advent window on Sunday there's a fair chance Albion won't be propping up the rest of Division One. That will be better than any award.