Sol Campbell's move across North London rocked the soccer world and after what I witnessed last weekend I find it even harder to fathom out.

I totally agree that he had to leave Tottenham, they are going nowhere and given a straight choice between them and Arsenal he took the only option and plumped for the Gunners. But was it the only option? A friend's forthcoming nuptials dictated a trip to Barcelona (it's a hard life, isn't it?) and amongst our packed itinerary was a tour of the Nou Camp Stadium.

Well, after nearly two hours of looking round the home of Barcelona, all I can think is that Arsne Wenger procured the services of hypnotist Paul McKenna during the transfer negotiations, because for Campbell to choose Highbury over Barcelona I can only think he was in some sort of trance. The Catalan club flew him out in mid-June for their last home game. Bearing in mind the hatred he has brought on himself in half of North London, I would have thought getting off the plane and sampling the climate would have been enough, let alone walking into the 100,000 capacity stadium with the 92,000 fanatical season ticket holders.

Barca were apparently prepared to meet his 100k a week wage demands, had qualified for the Champions League the night he was there and given him the sort of lifestyle he can only dream about whilst he's running the gauntlet of every Tottenham supporter in this country.

As for Barcelona, they will sign other players and still remain in Europe's elite for a long as the game is played. During the guided tour I wore my Albion centenary shirt and when we were all sitting in the directors' box looking over the impressive stadium, our tour guide Marco, who we had been talking to on the way round, brought the Albion into his tour.

"I have some bad news for my friend from Brighton here," he said. "When his team come and play Barca because of all the club members (season ticket holders) he and his fellow supporters must sit right up in the third tier next to the electronic scoreboard."

When the tour was over I thanked him for a great afternoon and told him that if Brighton ever got the chance to play in the Nou Camp, I'd sit on top of the scoreboard!

Almost two years after the Bears left the Worthing basketballing folk in the lurch by upping sticks and returning to Brighton, the whole long-term existence of the Bears is apparently being brought into question. In quitting Worthing in 1999 they left behind a loyal fan base and a club built on firm foundations, and for what?

Attendances at the Brighton Centre have been poor whilst the team's on court form has been, to put it nicely, patchy.

In short the move to Brighton has gone horribly wrong and just when the Bears thought it couldn't get any worse it has. The paymasters at Sky TV have decreed that basketball is not the TV spectator sport they thought it was and promptly dropped it from the schedules.

Can Bears survive without the all-important handout from Murdoch TV? Somehow I doubt it, but as the saying goes, it's never too late. Why don't they swallow their pride and meet up with the owners of Worthing Thunder, merge both clubs and bring top flight basketball back to Worthing where it was appreciated and ultimately belongs.

After the battle of Longford perhaps now is the time for Albion to have a re-think next summer's pre-season preparations.

After years of having to watch numerous underachievers and handbag merchants, I am more than happy to at last have an Albion side with a bit of fight and spirit. But now we have a side to be proud of, do the club really need to risk serious injuries to the players by pitting their wits against a succession of Irish teams trying to prove a point? Why not stay at home and have some sort of four-team tournament at Withdean involving two visiting foreign teams, a London side and perhaps Portsmouth or Gillingham?