Adams has never forgiven Noades

The Albion boss is more likely to shake the Brentford chairman by the throat!

Adams has never forgiven Noades for kicking him out of Griffin Park and not having the guts to tell him to his face.

Brentford were in deep trouble when Adams took charge in 1997. "I went in there at the end of November," he said.

"They were bottom of the Second Division and we eventually went down in the last game of the season.

"I took over from Clive Walker and Eddie May and I went in knowing the club was going to be sold. I lost my job when Mr Noades made himself owner, manager and chairman.

"That was in the June, as soon as he came in. He appointed Ray Lewington and I read about it in a newspaper when I was on holiday. That wasn't the nicest feeling I've ever had."

The timing was particularly cruel, just a matter of months after Adams had taken Fulham up and then lost his job when Mohamed Al Fayed took over and appointed Kevin Keegan.

"It was a massive kick in the teeth for me, one of the biggest disappointments of my life really," Adams admitted.

"I'd had all the success at Fulham. How unlucky can you be, two takeovers at two different clubs and I lost my job both times."

Adams can barely contain his annoyance at the mere mention of the man who ensured history repeated itself. When pressed further about Noades, he said: "I don't want to talk about him."

The feud resurfaced once Adams had taken charge of Albion. Noades nicked both Lorenzo Pinamonte and Carl Hutchings from under his nose after the former had been on loan and the latter was poised to join the Seagulls on loan from Bristol City.

In this respect at least Noades deserves a huge vote of thanks. If Albion had bought Pinamonte they would not have signed Bobby Zamora.

Half of the Albion camp have an extra incentive to beat Brentford. Danny Cullip, Charlie Oatway, Paul Watson and Adams' assistant Bob Booker all played for the Bees.

Cullip had just over 18 months there, but the majority of that time was spent recuperating from cruciate knee ligament damage.

Cullip has been a tower of strength in the centre of defence since his £50,000 switch to the Seagulls and it seems strange that other clubs have never made a move for him.

Adams, who also launched Cullip's career at Fulham, certainly thinks so.

"There has been no interest and that surprises me," he said. "If you want somebody who is going to defend properly he does. People sometimes look at him as a bit of a thug and they question his distribution, but not me. I'm pleased I've had no inquiries for him."

Cullip will be eager to erase the memory of Albion's last clash against Brentford. He was sent-off for elbowing early in the second half of the LDV Vans Trophy tie in January.

The Seagulls were 2-1 ahead at that stage but the match, switched to Griffin Park because of problems with the Withdean pitch, finished 2-2 after extra time and Brentford went through 4-2 on penalties.

Watson is another ex-Bee for whom that night had a nasty sting in the tale.

His spot-kick in the shoot-out was saved by Olafur Gottsskalksson and the rightback was promptly replaced by Zamora as Albion's recognised penalty taker.

Watson made 37 appearances for Brentford, Oatway 57 before they joined Albion for a joint fee of £30,000 in the summer of 1999.

Oatway was suspended for that unfortunate LDV Vans exit nine months ago, so he will be as keen as anyone to get stuck into his old club.

But tomorrow night's tussle between second and fourth will not mean more to anybody than Booker.

Adams' No. 2 spent a total of 22 years at Brentford, the last seven as youth team coach, before he was appointed as the successor to Cardiff-bound Alan Cork.

The showdown against the Bees marks Booker's first anniversary with Albion and there is no doubt where his loyalties lie.

"I had a lot of happy years there, but the last few weren't quite so happy," he said. "It was a bit of a relief to get away in the end. I have still got some good friends there, but Brentford has gone and I am Brighton now."