[Albion] To date, who is Brighton's greatest manager?

[WhingForPresident]

Hughton for me. Took us from absolute dogshit relegation fodder in the Championship up to the big leagues and gave us so many iconic moments along the way. I think some forget just how shit we were when he took over; we had a squad consisting of players like O'Grady, Gardner, McCourt, Colunga, Fenelon, Agustien, Chicksen, Best etc etc. Wasn't Dunky our top scorer with 5 f***ing goals that season?!

The time was right to part ways, but his achievements were monumental for the club. Poyet probably second, he was the catalyst for it all. Despite his personality flaws, he got the ball rolling on the rise of this club.

I should add that I wasn't born in Mullery's day!

 

[Albion in the north]

Russell Slade too, was an incredible, almost impossible great escape.... Lloyd Owesu

Thought Bloom firing him was as a bit harsh at the time, but then the Lizard went out and got Poyet who was also fantastic at first.

Who was there at the 3-0 away at Peterborough under Gus, it was unbelievable stuff, walked out of London road buzzing at my club playing like that!

What a season that was....... hey Nige!

This game? One of the better footy videos I managed to take.

 

[Mike Small]

Hughton. Every season was a success.
Season 1 - kept us up after being dreadful under Hyypia
Season 2 - one goal away from being promoted automatically with some fantastic football
Season 3 - didn't lose momentum and we won the league. At that level, Knockhart was the most exciting player I havee ever seen in the stripes.
Season 4 - kept us up with some solid performances and great wins (Arseanl and Man Utd)
Season 5 - yes football was poor but he'd run his course by then. It's notoriously hard to stay up a second season too particularly with the lack of attacking options he had (Jose getting injured was a problem and Ali J was well SHIT).

Him getting sacked for Potter was the right call and helped us to move on but I believe his 5 seasons were a better achievement than Gray-ham's 3 plus Potters second season was a horrendous watch for me. So frustrating and his post match nasal teeth sucking dross didn't help.

Gus and Gritt deserve special praise too.

 

[Flagship]

Barry Lloyd did so well with limited resources.

 

[Harry Wilson's tackle]

The ultimate question? The great question? The best manager....

Having thought about this a bit more...

What is the question?

It might be the mighty manager ....to come...a manager whose merest formational parameters I m not worthy......etc.

 

[Justice]

Maybe Potter will be too.

Don’t think that’s Bloom’s style he always wants to progress.

 

[Rdodge30]

I don’t know what to do - I voted for Gus but can’t see how to change it to Micky Adams, which is lucky because now I think about it Graham Potter stabilising us was even better but to be fair, I would have a sizeable bet RDZ is actually going to be the best.

Tough question

 

[Soton Seagull]

Not Jimmy Case then?!

 

[Sarisbury Seagull]

Potter.

Highest finish in our history with attractive and exciting football.

Yes, he’ll be superseded in a couple of months but let’s give him the title until our final league place and FA Cup fate is known.

Maybe not the best man manager but he is still a tactical genius.

This.

 

[Triggaaar]

Potter.

Highest finish in our history with attractive and exciting football.

Highest finish, but with our best ever squad. That one season, which could be eclipsed as soon as one year later, is not enough to make him our greatest manager.

 

[Robinjakarta]

Mullery. Fulfilled all of our dreams by taking us to the top division for the first time in our history and keeping us there. Similarities with Hughton there, but Mullery's teams played more entertaining football. Easily the best motivator and man manager and knew how to treat the fans. Hughton, Potter and many more were great for us, too, as were many others. RDZ could of course top the lot. Time will tell.

 

[NooBHA]

Obviously I ain't qualified to vote as I don't know the history of them all. Obviously I am 100% bias so I did vote for CH.

What I will say though is. Moving away from the football side of things. TV Monies for being in the PL and what that money has allowed the Club to do since they got there has totally changed the financial dynamics of the whole club for the better and that continues to this day.

 

[WhingForPresident]

Obviously I ain't qualified to vote as I don't know the history of them all. Obviously I am 100% bias so I did vote for CH.

What I will say though is. Moving away from the football side of things. TV Monies for being in the PL and what that money has allowed the Club to do since they got there has totally changed the financial dynamics of the whole club for the better and that continues to this day.

I'm sure and I hope he already knows, but please, next time you get chance, let Chris know that he is an absolute icon of this club and we will never forget his contribution. I really hope he comes back one day so we can give him the ovation he deserves.

Hope he does well with Ghana- really talented squad at his disposal and I think he will make them very hard to beat.

 

[NooBHA]

I'm sure and I hope he already knows, but please, next time you get chance, let Chris know that he is an absolute icon of this club and we will never forget his contribution. I really hope he comes back one day so we can give him the ovation he deserves.

Hope he does well with Ghana- really talented squad at his disposal and I think he will make them very hard to beat.

Thank you. Will probably see him mid April and pass your message on.

 

[OzMike]

Jimmy Melia.

 

[wellquickwoody]

Had to go for Gus.

Mullers close, but Gus took a shitbag team team and won two promotions.

 

[jcdenton08]

Hughton, solely for getting us into the PL.

 

[Brovion]

And 40 years with us if you include his time as a player.

Our first international player. Got banned by the FA for turning out with us while an amateur. Played every game when we won the Southern League. Scored the winner in the Charity Shield.

As a manager, got the club going again after the first world war (straight from being a POW). Helped rebuild the Goldstone, literally. Rebuilt the team from scratch into a pretty good team with basically 2 bob n six. Oh and kept the club alive through the whole second world war too.

Apparently he used to take the Saturday gate money home in an old tin so he could bank it on the Monday.

Albion legend.

Agreed, he gets my vote too.

This poll is a bit like reading a wikipedia fan-written entry on a small club. The years from formation until recent times are often summed up in a single paragraph, then you get an in-depth analysis of every season since about 2010. The past never seems to really matter, certainly not the past beyond living memory.

And for the record although I'm old I never saw Charles Webb! (Although I do remember his daughter being introduced to the Withdean crowd).

 

[Brovion]

Thank you. Will probably see him mid April and pass your message on.

I think @WhingForPresident speaks for all of us, even those who ultimately thought the club did the right thing in moving on.

And I would have voted for him if I hadn't gone for Charlie Webb. Potter did well, De Zerbi might turn out to be, in terms of position and trophies, our most successful manager, but they both built on what had been originally created by Hughton. Only Poyet comes close to Hughton as he also turned a rubbish team into one we all wanted to see. Even the great Alan Mullery, the first manager to get us into the top flight, built on the work of Peter Taylor. (Mark 1, we've had two).

 

[Nobby]

57 years a fan and counting so can’t judge before 1966.
Such a tough one this.
I think that it has to be ranked on a scale of how much you enjoyed watching the Albion live with each one
For me
1. Chris Hughton (saved us, got us up, kept us up twice)
2. Alan Mullery (part 1), (promotion and promotion)
3. Poyet (twat) (promotion and great football)
4. Micky Adams (part 1) (promotion and nearly another)
5. Pat Saward (promotion)

Honourable mentions for Peter Taylor (mark 1) and Steve Gritt

And De Zerbi has been the most exciting yet - ahead of all of the above in terms of edge of the seat football, but too soon to judge long term.