Brighton manager Graham Potter
According to the Daily Mail, Brighton have set their sights on Swansea City boss Graham Potter as the No.1 candidate to take over the reins from departed Chris Hughton.
Brighton hierarchy pulled the trigger on Hughton on Monday in wake of the club’s 4-1 defeat to Man City in their final Premier League game of the season.
Hughton’s future was always going to be up in the air following a string of unimpressive results this season and the Seagulls decided that the time was right to bid farewell to the Irishman.
The Daily Mail understands that Swansea are keen to keep hold of Potter, who is under contract until 2021, and have reminded Brighton that they would need to pay a £2million compensation to lure the 43-year-old away from the club.
Brighton, on the other hand, are reportedly desperate to appoint a new permanent manager as soon as possible and are pushing hard for a replacement following Hughton’s dismissal on Monday. (h/t Daily Mail)
Brighton were never considered as realistic relegation contenders before the start of the season, and given that the Seagulls showed plenty of promise in their first season in the Premier League under the stewardship of Hughton, few would have expected them to struggle the way they did this time around.
The Seagulls failed to conjure any sort of consistency throughout the campaign and they should consider themselves lucky in the end that the likes of Cardiff City, Fulham and Huddersfield Town didn’t do enough to escape relegation. To sum it up, Brighton could easily have been relegated to the Championship after a horrible Premier League campaign where they looked totally listless and disjointed for large quarters.
Hence, it would be fair to say that they have done the right thing by pulling the trigger on Hughton. He did a wonderful job in getting the club promoted to the Premier League and deserves credit for the team’s performance in the Premier League last season but this season has clearly been a step backwards for the Seagulls. The decision to sack Hughton is a clear indication of the board’s ambitions and their long-term plans to strive for better things in the Premier League.
To put things into perspective, Swansea manager Graham Potter should be an ideal candidate for the job if the Seagulls are really serious about building a strong platform for the future. Potter is someone who likes to take up long-term projects and he has shown in the past that he is very much capable of working under financial constraints. Potter can definitely help Brighton consolidate their Premier League status and eventually build a team which would be capable of challenging for a top-ten finish.
Potter took charge of Swansea City last summer following their relegation from the Premier League and did a good job to guide the club to a 10th-place finish in the Championship this term.
The Swans failed to challenge for promotion this season but one should keep in mind that Potter has been forced to cope with difficult situations and financial troubles, with the departure of 16 players balanced only by 5 arrivals last summer. Still, Swansea have looked good in their first season under Potter and have earned plaudits for their attractive possession-based football in the second-tier.
The 43-year-old rose to prominence as a manager with Swedish club Ostersunds. Potter took charge of Ostersunds back in 2010 when they were languishing in the fourth tier of Swedish football and did a remarkable job to guide the club to three promotions in a spell of five years.
Ostersund progressed by leaps and bounds to make it to the Swedish top-flight for the first time in their history under Potter and they also won the domestic cup to make it to the UEFA Europe League qualifying stages, and eventually to the group stages. It was under Potter’s charismatic stewardship that Ostersund made it to the knockout rounds of the competition and beat Arsenal at the Emirates.
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Ostersunds’ metaphoric rise from the fourth-tier of Swedish football to the Europa League is a clear testament of Potter’s credentials as a manager. Regarded as a modern-day manager, who believes in tactical flexibility and progressive and unconventional coaching methods, Potter would undoubtedly be a wonderful choice for Brighton and Swansea holding up for compensation should not stop the Seagulls from looking at him as a long-term solution.