At times the Sussex football administrators are their own worst enemies.

The latest craze is fining clubs for having too many people in the dugout, sorry technical area, during matches.

Instead of commonsense prevailing and the referee mentioning during the match that there are one of two people over the allotted number on the bench, the whole process is carried out in an underhand way.

Referees, already struggling for credibility and respect, make a mental note in their heads, then report the offending clubs who get fined a couple of weeks later.

As one County League manager commented, how are clubs expected to remember who was actually on the bench nearly a month after the game when the fine finally drops on the mat?

Meanwhile, the format for the county's premier knockout competition, the Senior Cup, has become a little tired.

With the the likes of Bognor, Worthing, Crawley, Eastbourne Borough, Lewes, Burgess Hill, not to mention Albion Reserves, all competing, the Senior Cup, could and should be an exciting and vibrant competition.

Next season why don't the County FA abandon the pre-drawing idea and do it round by round, as they do from the first round of the FA Cup?

I would be more than happy to let them draw live on the BBC SCR phone-in.

Various managers could join us on the phone for reaction and I'd wager that if the draw was on the radio live, it would listened to in the bars of many clubs. That has got to be better than having this almost freemason-like pre-draw behind closed doors in the middle of the summer.

I'd really would be interested to hear from the senior clubs in the county as to whether they think it's a good idea.

Courtesy of the Albion, I took a squad of boys from Worthing United under-sevens, along with their parents, to the LDV game against Wycombe Wanderers.

A poignant moment, for me at least, came during the game when one of the youngsters, who I know to be a supposed Manchester United addict courtesy of the couch, turned to his Dad and said: "This is much better than watching on the TV, can we come again?"

What do they say about out of the mouths of babes?

His comments regarding football on TV are in my opinion quite ironic because I feel that although the TV bubble has not quite burst, it is not far away.

Time was when the football-loving TV viewer lived for the two hours a week of soccer on the box, ie Match of the Day and The Big Match.

Had anyone said that around 25 years later there would be live football on various channels seven days a week, supporters would have been turning cartwheels. But in 2001 that is exactly what is on offer and, more to the point, the figures which the TV companies have budgeted for are clearly not tuning in.

The Premiership is supposedly the best league in the world but apparently less attractive in TV terms than Blind Date, a tired old vehicle for Cilla Black about five years past its sell by date.

I reckon the real pinch point will come when the next TV deal is negotiated. The majority of the clubs in this country, after jumping into bed with television, have spent money they would not have without TV on transfers and wages.

What happens to them, and in fact most of the clubs, if Sky or whoever turns round and says something along the lines of: "We can't attract the audiences we had hoped for so therefore we can only give you 35 per cent of what we paid last time."

How many of the overstretched clubs will go to the wall without the all-important TV money?