The departure of Albion manager Micky Adams was not that much of a surprise.

I was not exactly emulating Nostradamus a few weeks ago when I predicted that Micky would almost certainly end up in a management position at a higher level, sooner rather than later.

Keeping Leicester in the Premiership is going to be huge task, but if anyone can do it the dynamic duo of Bassett and Adams can.

If they do not, and personally I hope they do, there will be no shortage of job offers for Micky when and if he eventually parts company with the Foxes.

Ironically, perhaps if he had stayed at Brighton for another week he might have walked in to the Birmingham City job. And how long before West Ham find themselves looking for a new manager?

I think Adams is the best Albion manager the club has had. Brian Clough's overall record at Derby and Nottingham Forest takes some beating but his time at the Goldstone was not part of the golden era.

Adams is the first manager since Clough to leave the Albion to immediately go on to better things.

As for his time with Brighton, Adams left the club in a better position than when he arrived, and that is all any supporter can really ask of any football manager.

I do not think there is a local media man he did not cross swords with, but every incident, including the one that might have had far reaching consequences, were soon forgotten and that is a testament to the character of the man.

But who follows him into the Albion hot seat?

The Argus again ran one of its legendary phone polls. The last one back in early 1999 saw Jeff Wood gain a narrow victory (and a huge phone bill!) followed by the sack on the Thursday before Easter.

I freely admit that I got well and truly sucked into the pro Jeff Wood lobby, the club was in a different situation then and I think to a certain extent even Dick Knight was swept along by public opinion.

That reason alone, ie the ghost of Jeff Wood, unfortunately knocks Bob Booker out of the frame.

Having said that, it must be rock solid in the terms and conditions for the new manager that Bob, whose part in Albion's success cannot be overstated, remains as No.2.

The poll winner, announed in The Argus yesterday, is Peter Taylor. He is a coach with a proven track record at this level. His England under-21 success shows he is very good with young players and he has a point to prove to the rest of football after his exit at Filbert Street. What better way to answer his critics than by taking the Albion up to Division One on a shoestring?

A recurring question from a very small minority of supporters is why should the Albion go for a man who was bottom of the Premiership?

Well, if Dick Knight works on that adage he will have trouble appointing anybody. All managers have bad times, in January 1990 Sir Alex Ferguson was 90 minutes away from getting the sack at Manchester United.

Whoever the new man is, he has the rare luxury of inheriting a very successful and organised team. Who was the last incoming Albion boss to have that?

Congratulations to Jimmy Quinn and his Lewes side for making it into the fourth qualifying round of the FA Cup.

The new sponsorship deal for the greatest cup competition in the world means the Dripping Pan outfit have already banked in excess of £25,000 prize money.

What is even more refreshing is that the board at Lewes are not going down the well trodden non-League path of frittering away the cash injection, but are going to use it to help pay for a new stand.

On the subject of all things non-league I was a little surprised to see former Stamco chairman Leon Sheperdson embarking on a RocknRoll career well into his sixties.

Down the years a small number of local non-league chairman have been on the fiddle but he's the first to ever end up on vocals!