Albion manager Martin Hinshelwood is clinging to his job by his fingertips after this grim defeat.

Indeed, chairman Dick Knight is probably at this very moment considering how he can make another change at the top without losing face.

How he can get away with sacking the man HE appointed just 11 weeks ago.

Hinshelwood has been in the game long enough to adopt a philosophical approach. "Sometimes things are out of your hands and if the chairman decides it needs a change then fine.

"If he changes it and things turn around then he has made the right decision hasn't he?"

Those words strike right at the heart of the conundrum facing Knight and they should also act as a wake-up call to fans naively calling for Hinshelwood to be chopped.

Will things really get that much better by simply changing the manager?

Okay, there might be the initial reaction so often produced by a new appointment. The type of reaction, in fact, which Hinshelwood inspired when Albion took four points from the opening two games.

But the problem would still be the same for his successor, unless money then mysteriously appeared from somewhere.

Peter Taylor hit the nail on the head on his departure when he said the budget wasn't big enough to survive in the First Division and he needed five or six new players.

Knight would have to come up with a convincing replacement for Hinshelwood to protect his credibility, already eroded by his handling of the managerial vacancy during the summer.

If he makes another change and Albion still end up going down this season it would surely spell the end for him as well.

Hinshelwood is not about to make the decision for him. "I am no different from the first game when we won at Burnley," he said. "I have been in the game since I was a kid. This is my life and I am not going to buckle under.

"I have been there before as a player and a coach, losing games. I was in the side at Palace that went from the First Division to the Third in consecutive seasons.

"A few years ago here with Barry Lloyd we got promotion, lost our first eight games and then bought a player (Larry May) for £200,000.

"I believe in these players, given the opportunity. I know people keep saying you have lost another one and your job is on the line, which it is, but we will just keep working at it.

"When the job of director of youth came up it was a job for life, but I have always wanted to do this. I believe I have got the ability to do it.

"I will not go home and cry if I get the sack, I will just get on with my life. I am a positive person and if it happens it happens. The first thing you would do is apply for jobs again."

It is difficult to glean any encouragement from Saturday's result. Grimsby won their first match of the season without two of their most influential players (Steve Kabba and Steve Chettle).

Yet in Albion's darkest hour there is a glimmer of light. Bobby Zamora is back and Graham Barrett made an encouraging home debut. Now what Hinshelwood needs is for Paul Kitson to overcome his recurring back trouble.

If he could have that trio all fully fit and firing on all cylinders at the same time they could just be his saviours.

No manager could do anything about the succession of mini-mistakes which led to Albion conceding an early goal for an incredible fifth home game on the trot. Less than two minutes had elapsed when Kerry Mayo misplaced a header, Paul Watson missed a tackle and Darren Barnard beat the fit-again Michel Kuipers at his near post.

Teenager Darren Mansaram, making his full debut for the Mariners, hit a post before Albion pulled themselves together.

Paul Brooker missed the target twice when well placed in the first half and Watson, Richard Carpenter and Gary Hart were all denied by the visitors' athletic Welsh keeper Danny Coyne.

Albion huffed and puffed without really suggesting they would find a way through. Zamora looked understandably rusty after his nine-match absence, but he still did what he does best with 19 minutes left. Charlie Oatway picked out his run inside the area with a precision pass and the ball was duly despatched left-footed past Coyne from close range.

Justice, however, was done when Alan Pouton finished a strong run through the middle with a powerful low drive ten minutes from time.

Three minutes earlier, Pouton had a fierce free-kick from the edge of the area into the roof of the net controversially disallowed by referee Mark Warren.

The Walsall official simultaneoulsy blew his whistle to book Oatway for breaking too quickly from the defensive wall. Paul Wilkinson, the Grimsby coach, was banished from the dug-out for protesting.

Pouton said: "Everyone was wound up by the ref's decision and that spurred us on."

Hinshelwood admitted: "As soon as the ref disallowed that free-kick I thought I was having a bit of luck for a change, but we got sucked out and the winning goal was too easy again.

"We've had a lot of success over the last couple of years and perhaps we have just forgotten how to battle and scrap. We are waiting for things to happen rather than making them happen.

"You can make excuses, but we have been beaten again and it's very disappointing.

"The one thing we are probably not doing at the moment is believing we are good enough to play at this level. If you are not winning matches it doesn't matter how confident you are, that is always there in the background."

  • Albion (4-4-2): Kuipers (gk) 6, Watson (rb) 6, Mayo (lb) 6, Cullip (cd) 7, Hart (rw) 7, Oatway (cm) 6, Brooker (lw) 6, Carpenter (cm) 6, Virgo (cd) 7, Zamora (f) 7, Barrett (f) 7. Subs: Rogers, Marney for Zamora (withdrawn 83), Melton, Hammond for Oatway (withdrawn 85), Petterson.
  • Scorer: Zamora (71).
  • Bookings: Cullip (34) foul, Carpenter (40) unsporting behaviour, Oatway (77) unsporting behaviour.
  • Half-Time: Albion 0 Grimsby 1.
  • Attendance: 6,547.
  • Pitch conditions: Excellent.
  • Weather: Sunny.
  • Referee: M. Warren (W Midlands).
  • Fan's View, by Sid Seacombe: "Everybody connected with the club knew we needed to strengthen during the summer but we have failed to do so.

"With our run of injuries and lack of depth, I therefore cannot accept some fans' view that the blame should lie solely at the door of Martin Hinshlewood.

"Dick Knight was told by an ex-England manager that no less than five or six quality players needed to be brought in but did not act on it, saying the money was not there.

"Perhaps it's time for Dick Knight to publicly encourage others to come forward who can put money into the club.

"Dick has done a lot for this club but needs to start talking openly about finances because I can see the tide turning against him. It's tough but that's the way it works."