Entertaining but ultimately miserable and frustrating would be one succinct way of describing the 2-2 draw with Crewe.

The game is all about opinions and McGhee made it clear in a post-match radio interview that the fans should trust him to make the right decisions.
We do Mark - most of the time - but, sorry if it offends, the Crewe game turned on the substitutions - Dario Gradi got his right; you got yours wrong.

For all that Albion's passing game in the first half was amongst the best football the Withdean faithful have seen from the Stripes in many a long year, being only one goal to the good was always going to be precarious.

As the Albion's short-passing game gave way to longer, less accurate upfield punts, Gradi introduced Rivers and Higdon and before long each had helped themselves to openings in what had previously looked a solid Seagulls defence.

Albion's first substitution saw the withdrawal of the exciting-looking debutant Sebastien Carole, who was showing all the signs of creativity and skill we've been craving, to be replaced by Alexis Nicolas, who, most observers agreed, would have been better off replacing the injured Oatway or the tiring Carpenter.
Turienzo made his second appearance from the bench to replace the Coca Cola Kid and didn't get into the game in the same way as in his more encouraging debut against Reading. Jake Robinson wasn't introduced to the fray until the last five minutes - but even in his short time on the park, did enough to light the spark which ultimately brought the late equaliser from Hammond.

So, relief that we'd salvaged a point, but by then we had all had a thorough soaking from the overhead cloudburst - which sort of summed up what Crewe had just done to our initially-sunny afternoon!

But let's look at some positives: Paul Reid stepped in at left back for the injured Mayo and turned in a more than useful performance which will increase McGhee's options for that problem position. Paul McShane was outstanding yet again - this time demonstrating his talent further up the pitch as well as at the back, and, for we older followers, almost re-igniting memories of the way Lawrenson used to perform for the Albion.

That was typified by him setting up Leon Knight's near-post stab-in for the opening goal. But we also saw a flash of temper which led to him picking up a yellow card for a reckless lunge in the centre of the pitch, which was all a bit unnecessary.

Leon put in a disciplined performance in a slightly withdrawn role, and he was at the centre of plenty of inventive play, often also involving Carole, who had a very encouraging debut on the right of midfield. Carole showed pace and skill together with a willingness to support the team effort both going forward and defending.

Dean Hammond, apart from coming to the rescue with the late equaliser, is growing in stature with every game but really looks like he needs to be doing that from one of the central midfield positions allowing someone with genuine pace to operate wider.

Jason Dodd was back to his 'steady Eddy' best at right back and also proved an entertainer in joining in the crowd's frustration with the quirky match officials, but stopping short of getting himself booked.

On the down side? I think we may well see Florent Chaigneau between the posts against Hull because Wayne Henderson fails to convince, even though he had little to do.

Charlie picked up an injury in the first half that seemed to be restricting his movement and Chippy, for the second game running, misplaced a few too many passes.

CK-R is obviously a willing workhorse, but he looked like he was struggling a bit up front on his own. He is only 18 and it might just be best to give him a couple of games coming on from the bench. Maybe that would create the opportunity for Robinson to start.

Finally, to quote one of the few callers to the laughable post-match SCR 'phone-in, we should see two points gained against Derby and Crewe as two points we didn't manage to get last season (and we lost home and away to Reading then, anyway) - so we're already two points better off! Mmm, I think I know what he means!

Nick Turrell