Bloom praises former Brighton boss Hughton after appointment of 'outstanding candidate' Potter

Brighton & Hove Albion chairman Tony Bloom paid tribute to former boss Chris Hughton after ‘outstanding candidate’ Graham Potter was announced as the new head coach at the Amex.
Brighton & Hove Albion chairman Tony Bloom. Picture courtesy of Getty ImagesBrighton & Hove Albion chairman Tony Bloom. Picture courtesy of Getty Images
Brighton & Hove Albion chairman Tony Bloom. Picture courtesy of Getty Images

Potter joins from Championship club Swansea City, who he guided to a respectable tenth-placed amidst financial difficulties, on a four-year deal.

He will be joined by Billy Reid (assistant head coach), Bjorn Hamberg (first-team coach) and Kyle Macauley (assistant head of recruitment).

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Bloom thanked his predecessor Hughton for his ‘excellent’ four-and-a-half year stint at the south-coast outfit but felt new man Potter had the ‘right combination of coaching experience and man-management skills’ to take the club forward.

He said: “The season may be over, but it's obviously been a very busy week for us all following Chris Hughton's departure from the club on Monday

“I'd like to start by giving my thanks to Chris for four-and-a-half years he spent at the club and the excellent job he did as manager.

“I'd also like to wish Chris, (former assistant manager) Paul Trollope, and (ex-coach) Paul Nevin all the best for the future.

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“As is always the case, with the game as unpredictable as it is, as a club we constantly try to pick out potential head coaches. Even when a change does occur, we can act very quickly and narrow down our preferred candidates.

Graham Potter quickly stood out as the outstanding candidate. He is one coach we've been aware of for over four years now.

“We've been very impressed with the work he did at Ostersunds and, more recently, at Swansea where with limited resources Graham has produced teams with high performance levels, attractive playing style, and great spirit.

“We believe he and his team have the right combination of coaching experience and man-management skills to make the step up to the Premier League.

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“We were obviously very keen to ensure Graham and his team were here at the earliest opportunity to review and provide input to our player recruitment plans as well as to oversee from the outset our pre-season preparations.”