It has been a depressing season for Albion but this is a time for cool heads, rather than panic measures.

The last thing they need while the fight for Falmer rumbles on is more managerial upheaval.

They already have a safe pair of hands in Mark McGhee and they should stick with him.

Relegation from the Championship is disappointing but hardly surprising. It is no coincidence that the clubs with the lowest crowds and therefore smallest revenues - Albion, Crewe and Millwall - have filled the bottom three places.

The Seagulls have been punching above their weight at Withdean, against much bigger and wealthier clubs like Leeds and Wolves, since McGhee steered them to promotion two seasons ago.

They survived by the skin of their teeth last season but the summer sale of goalscorer Adam Virgo to Celtic proved to be a knockout blow.

Albion can become a Leeds or Wolves, maybe even a Wigan or Charlton, in a new stadium.

Until then they are destined to be a yo-yo club like Crewe, getting by on modest crowds with no money to buy new players, relying instead on producing their own.

Albion are producing more of their own young players now than at any other time in the club's history.

Dean Wilkins' kids reached the quarter-finals of the FA Youth Cup, beating Chelsea and Blackburn before losing on penalties at Newcastle.

Three of that team, Joel Lynch , Joe Gatting and Tommy Elphick, have already been given a taste of first team action by McGhee.

Developing a young squad takes time and patience. It also requires the support and understanding of the fans in the stands and the boardroom.

Three managers before him - Micky Adams, Peter Taylor and Steve Coppell - were driven away by the intolerable wait for a stadium worthy of Championship and possibly Premiership, football, which is bleeding the club dry.

McGhee has been prepared to work within the restrictions, to do the best job he can in trying circumstances. Such loyalty deserves a degree of loyalty in return.

Of course, he has made mistakes - what manager doesn't? A blame culture is inevitable when a team gets relegated but changing the manager now would be a knee-jerk reaction, change for change's sake.

What then? A search would begin for somebody with the experience and track record to lift Albion back up from League One next season.

Somebody perhaps who both played and managed at the highest level and has won promotion from League One for three different clubs.

Funny that. His name is Mark McGhee.