Brighton need to make right rather than quick manager appointment

Are you panicking yet? The calendar ticks past the two week mark since Brighton announced Roberto De Zerbi would be leaving and his replacement as manager is still yet to be found.

A quick scroll through social media and you will see Albion fans using words like ‘concerning’, ‘shambles’ and ‘seriously embarrassing’ that the hunt for a new head coach is ongoing.

But to paraphrase the great Taylor Swift, do we all need to calm down? The timing of De Zerbi’s departure has given the club over six weeks between the popular Italian clearing out of his office and the players returning for pre-season training.

Better Tony Bloom makes the right appointment rather than a quick one – especially as whoever replaces De Zerbi has a hell of a job on their hands.

Brighton succession planning

The Albion are often hailed as the model club when it comes to succession planning. It is a praise they are happy to bask in and a reputation they like to entrench.

Chief executive and deputy chairman Paul Barber OBE has frequently appeared across radio, TV and print since De Zerbi so successfully replaced Graham Potter explaining how the Albion do it.

Brighton have an ever-changing list of managerial candidates to replace the current incumbent. This means as soon as a vacancy opens up, the Albion know who they want. They can act then act swiftly to get their man (or woman).

Normally, it works. Since data and algorithms began to underpin everything Brighton do in the Premier League Era, Potter arrived within seven days of Chris Hughton being sacked. The gap between Potter slithering off to Chelsea and De Zerbi being appointed was 10 days.

But the problem of talking about how prepared you are and clever at succession planning is it creates a rod for your back when things take time.

That is what we are potentially seeing here. The club have spent the past 18 months banging this drum. Fans believe it.

And so when an appointment takes more than 14 days – nothing unusual in the close season – the natural conclusion to jump to is that something has gone terribly wrong and the top six on Brighton’s famous list must all have rejected the Albion.

Kieran McKenna

Which may well be what happened with Kieran McKenna. Brighton were so strongly linked with the Ipswich Town boss that there must have been something in it.

The Albion were probably reasonably confident of getting their man too at the point they decided to part company with De Zerbi.

But then the Chelsea job came up. Manchester United were said to be interested. With many vultures circling, Ipswich acted and offered to make McKenna one of the highest paid managers in the Premier League.

He has subsequently signed a new four-year deal to remain at Portman Road. Fair play to him. Money obviously talks, but it is still refreshing to see a manager show a bit of loyalty to the club who gave him a chance.

This is what Bloom’s list and all the data and algorithms in the world cannot take into account. Money, interest from other clubs and the decision making of the individuals involved.

Timeframes between Bloom’s previous managerial appointments

The speed with which Brighton moved from Hughton to Potter and Potter to De Zerbi has been cited as a reason for concern over the current search for the next Albion manager.

Both those appointments took place during the season, however. Managerial changes mid-campaign demand swiftness to ensure a state of flux does not endure.

Bloom acted similarly swiftly when sacking Russell Slade and bringing in Gus Poyet. There were nine days between the Master of the Great Escape being fired and He Who Must Not Be Named arriving. Nine days was again the timeframe for Hughton to replace Sami Hyypia.

It is more relevant to look at how long Bloom’s two previous summer appointments took. Poyet was suspended on May 16th with his sacking confirmed on June 23rd.

Oscar Garcia arrived on June 30th. A gap of three days if you think the club only began their search once firing Poyet. Or a gap of 45 days if you believe the wheels may have been in motion from the moment Poyet was suspended.

The following year saw Oscar resign on 12th May. Hyypia was announced 25 days later on June 6th. Given the total cock up that was Hyypia’s Reign of Terror, it might not be the best example to cite.

But it shows when there is time to make a decision without the pressure of games being played on points on the line, Bloom is more willing to take things slowly.

Brighton can afford to take their time appointing their next manager

And taking things slowly makes total sense. The next Brighton manager will not have access to his players on the training ground until at least the start of July. Those involved in Euro 2024 will be back even later.

Nor is a quick appointment necessary for him (or her) to go about building their squad. The 78 days between Peter Taylor resigning in 2002 and Dick Knight promoting Martin Hinshelwood was so damaging because Brighton lost an entire summer of recruitment.

It meant the Albion going into their first campaign as a second tier club for a decade with striker options of Bobby Zamora, Daniel Marney and Shaun Wilkinson.

When Zamora picked up an early season injury, Brighton were left up a famous brown creek without an instrument to steer their boat.

De Zerbi’s replacement will have little say over the transfer business the Albion do this summer. A desire to keep the manager away from recruitment is part of the reason why Brighton are looking for another head coach in the first place.

Any new manager worth their salt will already be well versed in this Brighton squad and how they played under De Zerbi. There is still ample time before the squad report back for pre-season to make an appointment.

Replacing De Zerbi a difficult job

The overriding reason for Bloom to take his time is because replacing De Zerbi looks such a difficult job. There is a lot of pressure to get the decision right and so selecting the correct man (or woman) is paramount.

De Zerbi raised expectation levels and transformed mentality from mere Premier League survival. He told Albion supporters to dream of the top six and winning trophies. And then he delivered European football.

Success on the pitch was matched by a unique connection off it. From his first game in charge at Liverpool, De Zerbi clicked with the Brighton fanbase. It was a love which endured until the end and his emotional farewell following the final game of the season.

“Roberto De Zerbi, we want you to stay” echoed around the Amex as he addressed the crowd. There are plenty of Brighton supporters who think the club have made a mistake in losing De Zerbi.

Whoever comes next has the challenging task of proving the Albion made the right decision to part ways with the head coach who took the Seagulls soaring to their greatest ever heights.

With so much riding on it, Bloom and Brighton are justified in taking as long as they need to find the right man (or woman). There is no need to panic… yet.