It strikes me that unlike many other clubs, Brighton make calculated and educated decisions rather than scribbling them down on the back of a fag packet.
I’m sure they did a lot of significant thinking before appointing 31-year-old Fabian Hurzeler as their new manager this summer so his early success and ability to lead players older than himself, like James Milner and Danny Welbeck, hasn’t surprised me.
As someone who owned a Championship club Crystal Palace at the same young age, I don’t think it really matters. If you’re good enough, you’re old enough.
You can’t buy, borrow or pretend to have experience, often considered a much-needed factor in manager selection, but in this society managing footballers needs to some extent an element of relatability alongside leadership.
If Hurzeler was able to display communication and command during his interview with Tony Bloom, a seasoned and successful owner who know what good looks like, I’m pretty sure there is a possibility he might be able to hold his own in the dressing-room.
I’m sure Brighton did a lot of significant thinking before appointing 31-year-old Fabian Hurzeler as their new manager this summer, writes SIMON JORDAN
It was a strong decision by Brighton to appoint the young German, one I assume that also focussed on the ‘growing together mentality’
As someone who owned a Championship club Crystal Palace at the same young age, I don’t think it really matters. If you’re good enough, you’re old enough
I didn’t feel age was an unovercomable obstacle or barrier to entry in running a top-flight club. I signed players and hired managers older than me at Palace. I had the tools to convey leadership. I didn’t even consider it to be an issue.
We know how diligent Brighton are in recruiting players. Why would it apply any differently to finding a manager who has to lead rather significant assets, the players, who cost far more than he does.
Hurzeler’s relative youth supposedly challenges the football orthodoxy but all the myths and ideals of how football is held together by its previous institutionalised thinking are being challenged.
The world evolves, society changes, football changes. It’s not good enough to say ‘..but we’ve always done it this way.’
Footballers are no longer as controllable at the higher end of the pyramid as they once were. Because they are independent economic islands, a manager has to think about the way they interact with players differently than was typically the case.
The whole landscape has altered. I even find it hard to imagine someone like Bob Paisley, the great Liverpool manager of the 70’s early 80’s, in the dug-out now – as brilliant and capable a football man as he was.
The profile around what a manager looks like in this day and age alongside how they have to communicate in the media is very different to 40 or 50 years ago.
It was a strong decision by Brighton to appoint the young German, one I assume that also focussed on the ‘growing together mentality’, but I would wager informed and educated too.
His ability to lead players older than himself, like James Milner, hasn’t surprised me
If he was able to display communication and command during his interview with Tony Bloom, I’m pretty sure there is a possibility he might be able to hold his own in the dressing-room
The whole landscape has altered. I even find it hard to imagine someone like Bob Paisley, the great Liverpool manager of the 70’s early 80’s, in the dug-out now
Educated because Brighton plan for what they do. They have a significant degree control of what they do and the likely outcomes. You can’t eliminate risk in life but you can minimise.
I suspect Bloom and his chief executive Paul Barber spent an inordinate amount of time making sure this guy had the chops to do the task in hand so his age only becomes a concern for others who don’t know him.
If you present yourself as a studious, considered, thoughtful individual, people won’t look at your birthdate for very long.
The birth certificate might be a handle for lazy people to hang their coat on but won’t really be much of a benchmark on your accomplishments. You can be a 50-year-old who is bloody useless!
The infrastructure at Brighton that Hurzeler inherits gives him every chance of continuing his fine start, unbeaten so far and facing another young manager, Ipswich’s Kieran McKenna, on Saturday.
This club has recognised its place in the food chain. The club can’t go toe-to-toe economically to finish at the top end of the Premier League, they don’t have the budget, so they work on a different premise.
The man at the top (Bloom) is an expert in data and probabilities. You’d not be surprised if he deploys the same methods over potential outcomes with footballing assets, players and managers.
The one caveat with Hurzeler being so young is that we have to wait and see what happens when he doesn’t get something he wants. A lot of managers, and I’m not saying him, can build up a sense of entitlement. Immature ones can have delusions of grandeur.
I suspect Bloom and his chief executive Paul Barber (pictured) spent an inordinate amount of time making sure this guy had the chops to do the task in hand
The infrastructure at Brighton that Hurzeler inherits gives him every chance of continuing his fine start, facing another young manager, Ipswich’s Kieran McKenna, on Saturday
For young managers, it’s all about having a focussed and communicative, supportive chairman alongside them.
Brighton have an environment where recruitment is correctly deployed, the youth system is motivated and energised, and the owner and chief executive makes sure every aspect of the operation works to the highest order.
It means an average manager can look good. And a good manager, as they expect Hurzeler to be, can come in and fly. So as much as it pains me as a former Crystal Palace owner, Brighton is a blueprint for how a club can be run.
