Albion 5, Norwich 0

With the possible exception of Newcastle, Albion have spooked the rest of the Championship.

And even Rafa must have been taken aback when this result filtered through to Preston after another win for his leaders.

Albion dismantled the team who are favourites to finish above them in second place.

The spine-chilling message for Aston Villa, Huddersfield and Reading, Bristol City, Sheffield Wednesday, Birmingham, Leeds and any other side harbouring hopes of an automatic route to the Premier League is that they are much better equipped to make amends for last season's narrow miss.

Now they have Glenn Murray spearheading their attack, Anthony Knockaert and Jiri Skalak for ten months instead of five.

Steve Sidwell and Oliver Norwood bolstering the midfield options and, on the below-par days like at Wigan the week before, towering record buy Shane Duffy to help them to yet another clean sheet.

None of which takes account of retaining Burnley target Dale Stephens and Lewis Dunk, who was wanted by Crystal Palace. Or Beram Kayal, Liam Rosenior, Solly March and Kazenga LuaLua, all at various stages of comebacks from injury.

After one win from ten against other teams in the top six last season, Albion are delivering in the six-pointers.

First Huddersfield, then Sheffield Wednesday, now most significantly of all Norwich, to whom they may have inflicted lasting psychological damage.

Their Brighton-born captain Russell Martin called it "rubbish", "embarrassing" and said "too many lads gave up" during an alarming second half capitulation.

Tracksuited manager Alex Neil spent most of a humiliating afternoon in the technical area arms folded, shaking his head, as his pre-match assessment of the Seagulls came back to haunt him.

 

Using words like old-fashioned, predictable and direct in association with Chris Hughton's side was unwise.

His abject team suffered an old-fashioned thrashing which will prompt predictable headlines that his job is on the line.

The Scot may discover, like Walter Zenga at Wolves and Gary Caldwell at Wigan, that losing to Albion is a death sentence. Alternatively, a slump turning from four matches into five at home to Leeds on Saturday and Neil will be going direct to the dole queue.

The suited Hughton, standing a few yards away as his team ripped through Neil's, will derive no pleasure from that. He is too kind-hearted and too acutely aware of the difficulties of management.

Hughton plotted the downfall of the club that sacked him from the Premier League two-and-a-half years ago.

Albion pressed in considered rather than manic manner without the ball as Norwich dominated possession in the first half, refusing to be enticed out of position so the visitors could exploit pockets of space.

The result? Wes Hoolahan, Norwich's chief playmaker, was stifled and eventually substituted, strike threat Cameron Jerome starved of service.

The more they pushed as the game wore on, the more Albion punished them with a killer instinct often lacking in the past.

The signings this year were instrumental, none more so than Murray, as Norwich obligingly demonstrated why they have failed to keep a clean sheet for 12 league games.

The Argus: An awful match for Norwood's Northern Ireland colleague Michael McGovern in the Norwich goal began with poor control from a backpass. A legitimate shoulder barge from the hunting Murray (above) brushed him aside and stroked Albion into an early lead they never looked like relinquishing.

The run-up to Murray's killer second goal on the hour exhibited, in an attacking sense, everything good about Albion and everything bad about usually free-scoring Norwich's endeavours in the final third.

Alex Pritchard's free-kick on the edge of the area went straight into the defensive wall, a stray pass from Hoolahan in midfield went straight to Murray. From there it was ruthless.

Gaetan Bong, strong again in both directions, released Skalak for an inch-perfect cross which Murray (below) buried with his aerial power rising between two defenders.

The Argus: That was the cue for the Seagulls to rampage and the Canaries to capitulate. Dunk nodded the third from close range at the far post from Skalak's corner, with McGovern floundering.

The goal which clinched Murray's first hat-trick since one for Crystal Palace four years ago originated from shambolic Norwich defending.

McGovern miscued a clearance which Ryan Bennett failed to control. Murray pounced, powering goalwards to drill a shot through the hapless keeper.

More careless midfield play from the visitors allowed Skalak to free Knockaert for the fifth with a clever clip over the advancing McGovern (below).

The Argus: It was a chastening first away league start for Pritchard, who snubbed Albion at the eleventh hour during the summer transfer window. He was booed, booked and finally substituted after intermittent chants of "what a waste of money".

Hughton said: "A couple of moments changed the game. Glenn's opportunist first goal and more so the second goal. We were up against a very talented Norwich team that can score goals.

"They have to open up a bit more at 2-0 and then you either exploit the spaces or you don't. Fortunately for us we did."

Albion have opened up a three-point lead on Huddersfield - also humbled 5-0 at Fulham - with a far superior goal difference. More importantly, they have a four-point cushion over Norwich.

There is still a long way to go and they are bound to hit a rough patch or two. All the more reason then to enjoy moments like this. As Hughton remarked: "These days don't happen too often, not in this division."