Harty on the Albion boo boys and the FA Cup

However, a situation could be developing at the Albion which, if it were to escalate, could see, potentially, one of the club’s most talented managers walk away from the club.

Four points clear at the top of the league and a “classic” cup tie against non-league opposition which ended in a draw although, on another day, the Albion could have won by a country mile, but sections of the home fans boo at both half-time and full-time.

Are these people new to the Albion experience?

I’m old enough to remember a 4-0 home defeat to Walton & Hersham, a humbling at the Goldstone by the Leatherhead lip, Chris Kelly, then lowly Oxford beating arguably the best-ever Albion side 3-0 at the Goldstone, away defeats by Kingstonian, before the, pièce de résistance, a penalty shoot-out defeat at home to Sudbury.

In short, FA Cup calamity is no stranger to the Albion faithful. And, the last time I looked, the Seagulls were still in the competition with the prospect of a sell-out third-round tie against Portsmouth on the agenda after victory in a very winnable replay next Wednesday.

The crux of the issue is that Gus Poyet is part of a new breed of football managers. He does it because he wants to, not because he has to.

His earnings as a player at the top of our domestic game have made him financially secure for life. Couple that with his potential earnings in the media mean that, if the booing reaches a point where he’s not prepared to put up with it, he will walk away, Amex stadium or not.

And what’s more, with what he has already achieved in his time in management, he would probably walk into another job, of a similar ilk to Brighton, almost immediately

So a few disgruntled supporters could be putting the whole long-term development of the club at risk.

I cannot sit here and say I’ve never booed an Albion side because I have. But as Inspector Clouseau once said to Kato “There is a time and a place”, and I don’t think the jeering on Saturday was necessary.

Hopefully, Poyet’s threat to play a full reserve team next Wednesday in Manchester is little bit of bravado.

The home tie against Pompey is something that will kick start a momentous year for all Albion fans, so a win against FC United next week is really a pre-requisite.

I’m a big non-league fan, and what they’ve done in protest at the way Manchester United is run is superb. Their fans on Saturday sang for almost two hours, non stop, but with a second bite at the cherry I still think we will be too strong for them next Wednesday (subject to the weather).

l And, finally, also snow permitting, good luck to Lancing in the FA Vase on Saturday. Hopefully, the weather will clear and the local support will get behind Martin Gander and Jason Rutherford and their team.