Mark McGhee today admitted he should have ended his love affair with Albion before he was forced out.
But the man sacked as Seagulls manager in the early weeks of 2006/07 insists there will be no hard feelings when he returns to Withdean as Aberdeen boss tomorrow The former Newcastle, Celtic and Aberdeen goalgetter was harshly dubbed Mid-Table McGhee by some fans when he arrived as Albion boss early in 2003/04.
He answered that by leading them to promotion via the play-offs on the back of a rock solid defence built around Guy Butters and Danny Cullip.
The Seagulls then achieved an even greater feat by staying in the Championship for a year.
However key man Adam Virgo was sold to Celtic for £1.5million in the summer of 2005 and Albion went down without too much resistance a year later.
The manager survived calls for his dismissal in the summer of 2006 but Dean Wilkins was promoted to be his assistant.
After opening the League One season with two wins, McGhee saw his tenure ended on the back of three straight defeats with Wilkins taking over, initially as caretaker.
Now, as he brings his current side south, McGhee said: “Brighton were tenth in their division when I joined them in the October (2003).
“My brief was to rebuild the team and keep them up but we got promoted, via the play-offs, instead.
“We took 30,000 fans to Cardiff for the play-off and beat Bristol City 1-0, so everyone was delighted with that.
“It meant going from playing in front of 6,000 fans some weeks to going to places like Leeds and West Ham and the big crowds they attract.
“We knew it would be tough the following season. Against all the odds we managed to stay up but then I was told I had to sell my best players.
“Brighton needed the money to help fund plans to build a new stadium and pay the higher wages the players got because we had been promoted.
“I probably should have left the club then but I was persuaded to stay because they weren’t worried if we slipped back, they had a long term plan and saw me as part of it.
“Then there was a change on the board and my relationship with the directors wasn’t so good so I felt it was best to leave.”
But the man sacked as Seagulls manager in the early weeks of 2006/07 insists there will be no hard feelings when he returns to Withdean as Aberdeen boss tomorrow The former Newcastle, Celtic and Aberdeen goalgetter was harshly dubbed Mid-Table McGhee by some fans when he arrived as Albion boss early in 2003/04.
He answered that by leading them to promotion via the play-offs on the back of a rock solid defence built around Guy Butters and Danny Cullip.
The Seagulls then achieved an even greater feat by staying in the Championship for a year.
However key man Adam Virgo was sold to Celtic for £1.5million in the summer of 2005 and Albion went down without too much resistance a year later.
The manager survived calls for his dismissal in the summer of 2006 but Dean Wilkins was promoted to be his assistant.
After opening the League One season with two wins, McGhee saw his tenure ended on the back of three straight defeats with Wilkins taking over, initially as caretaker.
Now, as he brings his current side south, McGhee said: “Brighton were tenth in their division when I joined them in the October (2003).
“My brief was to rebuild the team and keep them up but we got promoted, via the play-offs, instead.
“We took 30,000 fans to Cardiff for the play-off and beat Bristol City 1-0, so everyone was delighted with that.
“It meant going from playing in front of 6,000 fans some weeks to going to places like Leeds and West Ham and the big crowds they attract.
“We knew it would be tough the following season. Against all the odds we managed to stay up but then I was told I had to sell my best players.
“Brighton needed the money to help fund plans to build a new stadium and pay the higher wages the players got because we had been promoted.
“I probably should have left the club then but I was persuaded to stay because they weren’t worried if we slipped back, they had a long term plan and saw me as part of it.
“Then there was a change on the board and my relationship with the directors wasn’t so good so I felt it was best to leave.”
