On the day the Argus Appeal raised £57,000 for local charities Albion gifted Grimsby Town what could well be their only away win in the league this season.

Like thousands of other Albion fans, I found defeat against the Mariners hard to take.

Post-match emotions ran very high and a number of things were said in the heat of the moment. But, if expressing my opinion in The Argus and on Southern Counties Radio results in a ban and me having to broadcast from the nature reserve, then that is how it has got to be.

This is not Communist China, I'm not prepared to tow the party line in order to keep a few people happy and guarantee my seat and half-time cup of tea.

I must reiterate once again that I have nothing but respect for Dick Knight and all he has done for the Albion.

He has invested £1.4 million which is more than I ever could, unless I win the lottery and get Mrs Hart's permission to write a cheque.

I see his time at the helm as part of a journey.

Under Bill Archer, the Albion were shipwrecked. Just before the club sank without trace, Knight arrived in a rowing boat and picked it up.

Five years of hard rowing followed in choppy, sometimes shark-infested waters. There have been good times and bad but Knight eventually got the club to the safety of the shore.

Now it is time for the club to embark on another voyage but they need a much better and bigger vessel.

Knight can be a vital crew member in this new boat and even steer it. But if he attempts to continue in Division One in his rowing boat, he and the Albion will end up at the bottom of the ocean.

When Peter Taylor left, Knight said he would get a manager with Division One experience. But wouldn't it have been easier to hold onto the one he already had?

Barely days, if not hours after the Albion won Division Two, Taylor sat down with Knight and told him what was needed to survive in Division One.

The Albion were given a game plan in late April and had a whole summer to run with it. The architect was a manager with a proven track record in a division that Knight had no experience of, other than standing on the East Terrace at The Goldstone.

Would Knight, or anyone for that matter, buy an expensive flat-packed wardrobe, then throw away the plans and try to muddle through?

That, on the face of it, is what the Albion have done this season.

Taylor predicted Albion would struggle before a ball had been kicked. Whatever you think about Hinsh's managerial ability, the writing was on the wall before he was even given the job.

Why did Knight disregard the opinion of someone who had recent and relevant experience in this division?

Albion's wretched run with injuries has not helped but would things have been different with any of the other serious candidates ie Coppell, Burton, Schaffer (did I say serious?) and Wilson in charge?

I am not leading a Knight Out campaign. Anyone who wants to see the back of him is not a real Albion fan.

I hope, at the very least, that if he feels a change in the dugout will turn things around he thinks about the long term future of the club and moves Hinsh back to his director of youth role, a job at which he excelled.

As for the team, my heart says they can still get out of this mess with the current manager. My head knows major surgery is required but, like private health insurance, it costs money.

They say it is not over until the fat lady sings but with a quarter of the season gone, how long before she starts clearing her throat?