Fabian Hurzeler would no longer be Brighton & Hove’s head coach if Evangelos Marinakis was running the club. Fortunately for Hurzeler, owner-chairman Tony Bloom has always had his back.
Hurzeler’s side completed consecutive Premier League victories for only the second time this season with Sunday’s 2-1 win against Nottingham Forest at the Amex Stadium.
It was a triumph for stable leadership, as much as anything. Bloom’s faith never wavered despite a downturn which saw Hurzeler’s side win once in 13 league games to drop from fifth to 14th in the table, all after winning 2-1 at home to Brentford then 2-0 at Forest at the end of November.
That decline prompted sections of the fanbase to call for Hurzeler to be sacked but, internally, the metrics showed that performances were pretty good. They were losing out by fine margins and lapses in game management.
Now they have climbed back up to 11th, 10 points clear of Forest who are looking nervously over their shoulders in 17th, two points above the relegation zone. In contrast to Hurzeler, Vitor Pereira might already be fearing for his future after a third defeat in four matches for Forest’s fourth manager of the season.
There had been calls from fans for Fabian Hurzeler to be dismissed, but he retained the support of the ownership (Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)
Sean Dyche, Pereira’s predecessor, was in charge when Brighton visited the City Ground earlier in the season. Dyche won six, drew four and lost eight of 18 league matches at the helm to secure a tally of 22 points between his appointment in October and his February sacking.
Over the corresponding period, Brighton won four times under Hurzeler, losing seven games and drawing seven to accrue a total of 19 points — three points fewer than Dyche. But there was never a hint of panic or fury from Bloom.
The former Forest boss’s cause was not helped by complaints from players to owner Marinakis about the amount of running they were being asked to do in training. The dressing room at Brighton remained contrastingly behind Hurzeler.
“The boys have stuck together,” James Milner told The Athletic after breaking Gareth Barry’s Premier League appearances record with his 654th outing in the 2-0 win at Brentford. His 655th followed in Sunday’s success. “It’s a great group of lads. It’s a strange atmosphere at the moment really because the team’s pretty incredible, incredible in the togetherness — not like a team that’s been struggling.”
Ange Postecoglou, Forest’s second manager of the season after succeeding Nuno Espirito Santo, lasted 38 days with no wins in eight matches prompting Marinakis to pull the plug on the adventurous former Tottenham manager and opt for a dramatic shift in playing style with the pragmatism of Dyche.
Brighton’s run under Hurzeler was almost as bad — no win in six league matches until the Brentford victory.
But the minor differences in philosophy between Hurzeler and former head coach Roberto De Zerbi exhibit a level of joined-up thinking by Bloom to continue a change to a more progressive style of football, based on a combination of control in possession and intensity without the ball, which began under Graham Potter six years ago.
Lewis Dunk hugs team-mate Joel Veltman after the final whistle (Steve Bardens/Getty Images)
“Stability is always important for a process to progress,” Hurzeler said during his media briefing before Forest’s visit. “I wouldn’t be sitting here if we hadn’t shown performances that might deserve more.
“Also, for this club in general, it is important to emphasise the performance and individual development. Although we have been through highs and lows this season, the style of play is still clear, we have a clear identity on the pitch, we always seem to be very competitive in games with every opponent in the league.
“Therefore, it’s important to not always look at results. I know results in the end are important, but really focusing as well on performances. We look quite good. Now it’s about getting out of these performances the results in the final part of the season. Stability definitely helps. The support, trust and belief the board and the owner have in me is a very important part for me.”
The stabilising aspect of the win over Forest was accentuated by Hurzeler naming an unchanged starting line-up in the league for only the second time in his reign — the only other time it has happened was for a 0-0 draw away to rivals Crystal Palace in November. Injuries have persistently hampered Hurzeler’s selection choices.
“The atmosphere is changing in the locker room and the training ground,” Hurzeler told Premier League Productions before the Forest game. “It is crucial we build on a stable foundation. Overall, we are looking for a good and stable starting 11 — that is why we choose this starting 11 again.”
James Milner was named in an unchanged Brighton lineup (Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)
Pereira, on the other hand, made seven changes to the Forest side to cope with a busy schedule following their 2-1 home defeat by Fenerbahce in the second leg of the Europa League play-offs on Thursday.
They are playing European football for the first time in 30 years and through to the last 16 of the competition and a tie against Danish club FC Midtjylland, having won the first leg against Fenerbahce 3-0 in Turkey in Pereira’s first game to go through 4-2 on aggregate.
Brighton were beaten 4-1 on aggregate by Roma in the last 16 of the Europa League under De Zerbi in 2023-24, the club’s first taste of UEFA competition. Forest may better that performance, but the calm and steady leadership of Bloom is more likely to yield success in the long run.