' ANOTHER CHAMPIONSHIP MANAGER SACKED '

Brighton & Hove Albion
Sami Hyypia resigns as Brighton manager
• Ex-Liverpool defender leaves with club in Championship bottom three

Sami Hyypia has left Brighton after an unsuccessful six-month stint in charge.

Monday 22 December 2014


Sami Hyypia’s troubled six-month tenure at Brighton and Hove Albion is over after the Finn tendered his resignation and departed with the club languishing in the Championship relegation zone.

The former Liverpool defender has overseen a solitary win from 18 league games, the last of which proving to be a commendable 1-1 draw at Wolverhampton Wanderers with 10 men on Saturday. Yet there had been discontent expressed by home supporters at Brighton’s last game at the Amex Stadium, a damaging televised 1-0 loss to Millwall, the side immediately above them in the table, after which Hyypia had suggested he was considering his future.

The ex-Bayer Leverkusen manager attended a Christmas event at the club’s stadium on Sunday and was at the training ground in Lancing on Monday morning, but subsequently indicated his intention to resign in a meeting with the club’s hierarchy. His offer was initially rejected by the chairman, Tony Bloom, who had hoped to persuade him to remain in charge, though Hyypia reiterated his desire to leave. His departure was eventually sanctioned, albeit reluctantly, by the owner.

“Sami offered his resignation, and we reluctantly accepted earlier today,” said Bloom. “Sami has worked extremely hard since joining the club last summer. Despite some good performances, including most recently at Wolves, results haven’t gone as well as we all had hoped and expected.

“Sami is an incredibly honourable man. He remains a hugely respected and very popular figure at our club. He has decided to step down for the benefit of the team and the club. We are all very disappointed, but we respect Sami’s decision and we all wish him well for the future.”

Brighton, an upwardly mobile club under the ownership of Bloom and in their plush new home in Falmer, have reached the play-off semi-finals in each of the last two seasons – losing to Crystal Palace and Derby County under Gus Poyet and Oscar García respectively – but have moved to comply with the Football League’s recently adopted financial fair play regulations. There have been a number of high-profile departures, the likes of Leonardo Ulloa, Matthew Upson and Will Buckley following Liam Bridcutt by seeking opportunities in the Premier League.

Hyypia, who had signed a three-year contract in June to replace García, had attempted to reshape the playing squad working within a stricter budget but his team have failed to gel despite the high-profile arrival of loanees such as Elliott Bennett, Gary Gardner, Darren Bent, João Teixeira and Greg Halford. The 41-year-old won two of his first four fixtures, but had secured only one more victory – against Wigan in the first week of November – in the period since to leave the team 22nd in the division and four points from safety.

The former Tottenham Hotspur manager, Tim Sherwood, is likely to be sounded out over succeeding the Finn and the likes of Chris Hughton, Brian McDermott and Nigel Adkins may also be considered. In the interim, the long-serving assistant manager Nathan Jones will oversee the Boxing Day home fixture against Reading.

You could see it coming really. Not many great footballers have gone on to be great managers. Ole for us is another good example.

Inevitable but fair play they did give him time just didn't work out.

' ANOTHER CHAMPIONSHIP MANAGER SACKED '

"Sami Hyypia resigns as Brighton manager"

hmm

Having tendered his resignation and seen it accepted by the club earlier today, now former manager Sami Hyypia made sure he thanked the fans for their support of him and the team during this awful run of form before he departed the training ground.

Speaking to the Official Site he said.

'I would like to thank the fans who have shown me their support during my time here. This is a wonderful club, and the fans are a big, big part of that. It's been frustrating for us all, and me more than anyone, but I think the support I have had has been tremendous. I am just very sorry I haven't been able to give them the results I hoped I could.'

Hyypia goes on to say that he said recently that the fans 'are the soul' of any club, and that has never been more obviously true for him than here at Brighton.

'The fans have played a massive part in making the club what it is today.'

Having praised the fans for their backing of him during this difficult period, he also wanted to place on record his thanks for the coaching team, Nathan Jones, Joaquin Gomez and Antti Niemi, as he says they gave him absolutely everything during his time with us in order to try and be successful and whilst this didn't work out, he's convinced they'll have great success in the future in their coaching careers.

'I would also like the thank the club for the opportunity they gave me in the summer, particularly the chairman and chief executive, who have continued to support me during the past few difficult weeks, and also the many staff who gave me their support during my time as manager. There are a lot of good people at the club and I genuinely wish them all the very best for the future. I am sorry things haven't worked out as we all wanted.'

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