Sussex World reporters Sam Morton and Henry Bryant discuss Brighton's search for a new manager with Derren Howard
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00:00 Okay, good morning and thanks for joining us today. We're going to be discussing all
00:04 things Brighton and Hove Albion and their search for a replacement for Roberto Di Zerbi.
00:11 There's been numerous speculation, there's been links with Ipswich town boss Kieran McKenna,
00:17 also a potential return for Graham Potter as well. It seems to be that Kieran McKenna
00:22 is going to be staying at Ipswich, Sam. It looks as though a deal is going to be made
00:28 where he's going to sign an improved contract at Portmanteau Road. And that leaves Brighton
00:32 potentially looking at Graham Potter. He's the bookmaker's favourite, a clear favourite.
00:38 What would you make of a potential return? It could potentially divide the fan base,
00:42 couldn't it? Absolutely, yeah. You just have to look on
00:45 Twitter or Exeter, I should say, and see the reaction from Brighton fans to the news that
00:51 Graham Potter could be on his way back. And it would be a sensational return, really,
00:56 wouldn't it? But it's one that you could see happening because at the end of the day, he's
01:01 been out of work since leaving Chelsea. He seems to be obviously just waiting for the
01:06 right job to come up that suits him. And he may look at that Brighton job and think he's
01:12 got unfinished business there. He obviously left very abruptly and obviously that did
01:17 upset the fans and felt like he just jumped ship at the first opportunity, obviously when
01:23 that Chelsea job came up. So he might look at that and think he wants to go and make
01:27 it up to the fans and maybe, as I say, complete the business that he hadn't finished already.
01:35 So it's definitely an interesting one. And I think from the club's point of view, he
01:40 knows the club, he knows the set-up, he's been successful there before. So it could
01:44 be an option which they could go to that wouldn't be very risky in that sense. But as we know
01:51 with Brighton, they usually do go with the more riskier options and things that maybe
01:55 the people are not necessarily tried and tested, but they are superb in the job and they become
02:02 a huge name in their own right as a result of doing well at Brighton. So it would be
02:06 a bit of a change in the game plan from Brighton, really. I think Bloom and Barber would definitely
02:14 be going down different routes of what they've done before. But it would be an interesting
02:18 one and I would be definitely interested to see the reaction from the fans and how many
02:23 people are actually on board with it because there was so much kind of anger and disappointment
02:27 at the time of him leaving that it would probably anger a few fans if he was to come back soon.
02:35 In terms of coaching ability, Henry, he's right up there and he'd be the perfect fit
02:41 for Brighton. He's proven in the past with the likes of Alexis McAllister, Moises Caicedo,
02:46 Alassad, how he's developed those players when he was at Brighton. He would be a great
02:51 candidate but there is that element of it has to be considered, doesn't it, what atmosphere
02:57 it would create at the Amex. I remember when he came back for the Chelsea game, he had
03:03 a pretty tough time, didn't he, in that one. I don't know, that has to be a factor, doesn't
03:07 it, in Brighton's decision, how the fans are going to react to this.
03:12 Absolutely, and echoing Sam's point about how the fans have reacted to these initial
03:18 reports and being at the stadium for that game when Graham Potter was in charge of Chelsea
03:23 and Roberto De Zerbi was the Brighton manager. It almost feels like a famous win for the
03:30 Albion because it shows that you could take our coaches, you could take our players but
03:35 you can't take the spirit of what Brighton have got. As an Albion fan watching in the
03:39 stands that was quality and one of the first times I saw the raw passion that Brighton
03:45 manager, or the former Brighton manager, I should say, Roberto De Zerbi had for the game.
03:52 It just made me think, wow, we've got a manager that really cares here, we've made the right
03:57 decision.
03:58 I think that he would be a great candidate, Graham Potter, but it would be, in my opinion,
04:06 one of Tony Bloom's biggest risks that he would have taken in recent times for Brighton
04:11 if this was to come through because you will have a divide of fans that are Potter in,
04:15 Potter out from the very first kick of the ball. I feel like if results don't go Brighton's
04:22 way in the first few games then it could cause a lot of uproar.
04:26 In terms of how he did for Brighton when he was appointed in May of 2019, he led us to
04:32 15th, 16th and 9th place finishes with three seasons in charge. I think that 9th place
04:39 finish obviously finished a little higher this season but it does make you wonder if
04:45 Brighton will be going in a step forward or a step back, especially with the attacking
04:49 football that we've been used to seeing at the Amex. I feel like we might not be able
04:54 to experience that as much as we had under De Zerbi, really.
05:01 Yeah, well it leads to the question, if not Potter then who, Sam? It's a fairly short
05:10 list isn't it? When you look down the list of possible candidates, unless Brighton have
05:14 got someone in left field that's gone under the radar. But from what we can see, you've
05:22 got Russell Martin, you've got potentially Steve Cooper and names of that. I saw Brendan
05:28 Rogers was mentioned the other day. He hasn't really featured in the bookmakers but who
05:36 do you think could be a good fit if it wasn't Potter?
05:39 I'm a big advocate for Thomas Frank. I think he's not necessarily in the running at the
05:44 moment, he doesn't seem to be, but he's done an outstanding job with Brentford and I think
05:49 would be a natural fit at Brighton really. I think he would really slot in nicely. He
05:54 seems to have the right kind of mind for football and the way that Brighton likes to play, he's
06:02 an attractive brand of football, obviously very solid at the back. I think he would be
06:07 a good option. I'm sure Brighton probably would have sounded him out as an option. But
06:13 I've seen there's also talk of the current Malmo manager, Henrik Rijstrom, being linked.
06:19 He only joined Malmo in 2023 but he's already steered them towards a league title win and
06:23 a cup win too. So yeah, various different names. Obviously we spoke about Russell Martin,
06:28 he's got Brighton at his heart, obviously being a Brighton boy. He's another one and
06:32 he's obviously just got Southampton promoted. But it's an interesting one, isn't it? Because
06:36 obviously with Kieran McKenna, I think lots of people just assumed that he would go down
06:40 the natural route of when everyone wants him and he's obviously didn't talk of the town,
06:45 he would just take that opportunity and move on. But he seemingly has taken the respectable
06:51 kind of option of staying put and trying to finish the job that he's doing at the moment
06:56 and to see how he gets on with Ipswich in the Premier League. And Russell Martin might
06:59 say the same thing with Southampton and see how he can get on with the team that he's
07:03 got promoted and to kind of complete that job. So I definitely respect that kind of
07:09 decision from them. And despite all the talk of Kieran McKenna going to Chelsea, Man United,
07:14 Brighton, for him to say no, he'd rather stay at Ipswich, yeah, good for him. But obviously
07:19 it does leave Brighton in a bit of a tricky situation and who are they going to go for
07:24 him? I think, yeah, it's a difficult one because obviously when Graham Potter left,
07:29 De Servi seemingly was lined up straight away. The father had done their homework and had
07:33 him lined up to move in straight away. But it does seem a little bit different this time
07:37 and Brighton are scrambling around trying to, I think they tried to get Kieran McKenna
07:41 to come and now he didn't. I think there might have been a little bit of a tricky situation
07:45 trying to convince someone else to come in. So, yeah, it'll be interesting to see who
07:50 does come in. Obviously time will tell who they go for.
07:53 Yeah, yeah. Do you think Brighton have someone up their sleeve, Henry? Or would you think
07:58 Thomas Frank would also be a good appointment as well?
08:01 I think in an ideal world, without the sort of rivalry of the chairmen of both clubs,
08:07 with Brentford and Brighton, I think that it would be great to have Thomas Frank in.
08:12 I think that he wouldn't do that to Brentford and I think we'd have to get him on a free
08:18 agent or, you know, we'd have to catch him at a different time in his career to sort
08:23 of have him as our manager. And I think he would be a perfect manager for Brighton in
08:27 the future if he was available. And we had a similar situation where we've had another
08:33 manager that's done too well. But I think Russell Martin seems quite a likely option
08:41 just from a few murmurs I've heard. And it is, as Sam said, it's such a shame that Kieran
08:48 McKenna won't be joining Brighton. But you can respect it because I think if you've got
08:53 the promotion from the Championship to the Premier League, it seems silly not to see
08:58 it out and experience that Premier League season with your club, even if it's for, you
09:03 know, another team that may perform higher in the table. There's every chance they could
09:07 sort of build something there. And I think the risk for, you know, the Southampton boss
09:13 as well, you know, he might see that same situation and think maybe it's not worth me
09:18 leaving my club and going to Brighton, especially with the likes of quite a few quality players
09:24 Brighton have lost in the few seasons. And it's an interesting one because it's hard
09:30 to go to a manager with the model that Brighton have, you know, because of the ambition that
09:36 a lot of managers have these days. And that's sort of the reason we lost Roberto Deserbi
09:40 really it seemed like with that sort of argument with the managers. But yeah, it's a real tricky
09:47 one. I hope they've got someone up their sleeves. I hope they've got another Roberto Deserbi
09:50 because when he came in, you know, no Brighton fan had really heard about him before. And
09:58 we got to know very quickly. So Brighton are very good at doing that and making people
10:03 that have, you know, maybe come up from sort of the unknown and making them a bit more
10:08 known. So we shall see.
10:11 Yeah. Yeah. Do you agree with that, Sam? Do you think you just have to trust with Brighton's
10:16 model? They've got a track record of, you know, picking good managers in the past. Graham
10:22 Potter went from Swansea, had three good seasons at Brighton, then on to Chelsea, Deserbi now
10:29 his stock, his profile has raised. Do you think Bloom and Barber, their model that they
10:36 have, we have to sort of, the fans have to sort of trust by that?
10:40 I think so. I think they've earned the trust and respect and they've earned the right for
10:43 their fans to say that they're the best people for the job, the best people to make this
10:48 decision. I think we've heard obviously Paul Barber speak before candidly about kind of
10:53 what goes into search for managers and it's got to be the right type of person as well.
10:57 And they've got to have the right mentality. I think he made a very big point that when
11:03 Potter came in, he kind of shared all of the same values and kind of expectations of where
11:10 Brighton can go. He really saw it as a thing where Brighton can only improve. It wasn't
11:15 just a case of keeping them in the Premier League and avoiding relegation. It was to
11:18 go on better and to go and get obviously into the European places. And Deserbi just, he
11:24 took that one step further and Europe wasn't even enough for Deserbi. I think he wanted
11:28 top four, top three. I think Barber made that point as well that he's never had that before
11:33 where he was kind of told off by Deserbi a few times where he wanted Brighton to do more
11:39 and expect more from the team. So it's got to be that kind of person as well. I think
11:45 that's going to be going into the thinking. It's got to be someone that expects the very
11:48 best out of Brighton and can take them to the next level. And they won't want someone
11:52 that can just keep Brighton where they are right now or just a bit stagnant. Maybe keep
11:58 the club in a similar position kind of thing where they're not going to improve too much.
12:02 So it's got to be the right person for the job. And that's why I think Potter could come
12:06 back because they've already known that he's the right man for the job before. So it could
12:10 be again and he could be the man to pick up where he left off. Because obviously his last
12:16 game was that 5-2 win over Leicester where everything just clicked into place. And obviously
12:21 I know the team was very different now than it did then. But yeah, it definitely could
12:25 feel like Potter could come in and finish where he left off.
12:29 Yeah, yeah. No, it's an interesting time. But I think whichever manager does come in,
12:34 the squad is there, isn't it? The players are going to, I think other than Estupinian
12:39 and Soli March, everybody's going to be fit for the new season. So the manager coming
12:44 in with hopefully a couple of additions is still a really strong Premier League squad,
12:49 Henry, that they've got to work with.
12:52 Definitely. I think if you just look at the talent that we've had coming through this
12:55 season, especially because of injuries with the likes of Jack Hinchlewood, Jean-Paul Van
13:00 Heck as well, just to even just speaking about that defence, the quality of the youth talent
13:06 that we have has been immeasurable really. And the fact that they've been able to just
13:10 slot in and actually even Jack Hinchlewood getting a few goals as well in quite big games
13:16 for Brighton when he came in, it just proved sort of our model yet again to everyone that
13:22 may have thought, oh, they have got quite a few injuries here. They've let go of quite
13:26 a few key players. I think in midfield as well, you've got the likes of Billy Gilmore,
13:31 who's only 22 years old and he's been quite a big asset to Brighton. Even in those sort
13:37 of European games, he did play some really good football for us and helped us get up
13:41 the pitch and create attacking moves that maybe we wouldn't have had. Pascal Grosz as
13:45 well was another one if he was to stay with us next season, because I know that there's
13:50 been reports of him being a little bit homesick. He might be going back to Germany at some
13:55 point and playing there. But if we're able to keep sort of that foundation of young players
14:01 that we have and maybe get a few other signings, because I know that we want Dewsbury Hall
14:07 potentially and there was a lot of shouts for him to sign for Brighton in the January
14:11 transfer window. If we were able to get the likes of those players with him only being
14:15 25 years old as well, it would just be a strong base for the next manager to come in and hopefully
14:22 play some really nice attacking football and just keep that sort of momentum going for
14:27 Brighton. Because I think now Brighton fans, after the succession of managers that we've
14:32 had, we've gone from defensive with the likes of Chris Hewton and now we've gone all the
14:36 way up to wanting the ball all the time, possession-based football attacking all the time. It's really
14:43 a 0-100 change in how we're looking at the Premier League table. And I think that if
14:49 we're able to sort of keep with our young players and build on that as well with a few
14:55 key positions, especially in the midfield, I think Brighton need to invest a bit of money
14:59 in there. I think we'll be golden.
15:01 Do you agree with that, Sam? Do you think the squad is in good shape? I did a piece
15:06 yesterday on Sussex World just saying that potentially three senior players in Jason
15:12 Steele, Joel Veltman and Pascal Grosz, they might be moving on this summer. With Jason
15:19 Steele, you've got Karl Rushworth behind him, obviously, but Bruggen did well. Joel Veltman,
15:24 Jack Hinshelwood, Tarek Lamptey, James Milner can play right back and Pascal Grosz could
15:29 give it if he moves on, which would be a big blow. But it would allow Carlos Bolivar to
15:34 perhaps have more game time as well and potential another new signing. How do you see that situation?
15:42 It's a tough situation. I think, yeah, I definitely agree that Brighton are in a great position
15:46 with the players they have. They've got a real nice mix of experience and youth players
15:49 for any new manager to come in and work with and to put his stamp on things and hopefully
15:55 add players to as well. But yeah, players like Pascal Grosz have become so vital in
16:01 how well Brighton have done in the Premier League. Grosz was the first signing they made
16:06 for £4.5 million and he's just absolutely just shone in this team really. He's barely
16:13 ever injured. He's always there. He can play any position on the pitch. And I think out
16:17 of all the players to have left, I mean, you talk about McAllister and Caicedo as being
16:22 the two biggest so far, but I think for his own reason, Grosz could be the biggest loss
16:27 I think if he was to go, just because of the number of positions he can play and just how
16:31 reliable he is. The goals and assists that he chips in with. It could be really damaging
16:38 if he was to go. So I hope they get at least another season out of him and to hopefully
16:44 start a bit of a new generation for Brighton again. Obviously, he has been the standout
16:49 player again, obviously, over the last season and there's nothing to suggest that he won't
16:53 be able to perform to that level again. So I think whilst he's still performing at such
16:58 a good level and I think he's trying to keep him on board. But obviously, there's the human
17:03 side to him as well. And if he wants to go about family reasons and you completely understand
17:07 that and he's completely earned the right to do that for how well he's done for Brighton.
17:12 So it'd be interesting to see what happens to him. But yeah, when you look at the team
17:17 around him, and obviously you've mentioned Carlos Boliva, you've got Valentin Barco just
17:21 starting to show up. He's a really good player. So yeah, it's definitely exciting. And we've
17:29 seen obviously that the Brighton can attract some big names as we saw with Ansi Fati. Obviously,
17:33 no, that didn't really work out. But hopefully, Brighton still are an attractive option and
17:39 they've got to bring in a manager that does bring in talent and people can look at Brighton
17:43 and think that's a good place to go because that really has been the staple for them the
17:48 last couple of years is it's really becoming a team that players want to play for. And
17:52 De Serby definitely was looked at as a manager that players wanted to play under. So I think
17:56 it's important that they get another manager of that mould in that can bring in some exciting
18:01 young talent and keep Brighton improving and hopefully they'll get back into Europe again.
18:07 Yeah. So Henry Graham Potter, yes or no?
18:14 I wish it was that easy. In the current situation, yes. I'm going to say yes.
18:21 You would say so?
18:22 Yeah, I think so. I think in the current situation you would. I think I completely understand
18:26 why some fans wouldn't.
18:27 Yeah. You can take all emotions out of it. He's a great man for the job, isn't he?
18:34 Yeah, emotions aside, absolutely he is. Yeah, it's a tricky one, isn't it? But I think football
18:41 fans are very fickle.
18:42 You can't take emotions out of football, though, can you?
18:45 No, that's the thing. I think if he comes back in and gets a few wins and get Brighton
18:49 off to a really good start, I think fans will quickly forget that he ever left, I think.
18:56 Yeah. Interesting. Oh, well, we'll keep up to date with all that. Hopefully there'll
19:00 be an announcement soon and we'll be covering it all on Sussex World. But for now, thanks,
19:06 Henry, for joining us. And thanks also to Sam as well for coming on.
19:11 Thanks, Darren.
19:12 Cheers.
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