Inigo Calderon tweeted his sadness on the day Sami Hyypia resigned as Albion manager.
But he is still glad the club have deserted their taste for foreign bosses.
Calderon is looking forward to widening his education under Chris Hughton.
The defender from the Basque Country in Spain has bought into English football in a big way since joining the Seagulls five years ago.
A staunch supporter of the club's charitable arm, Albion In The Community, he was named PFA Player In The Community in 2013.
The 33-year-old is the first to volunteer his services, putting his teacher qualification and master's degree in sports psychology to good use at talks and seminars.
He still speaks at an electric pace but his English has improved immeasurably during his time on the South Coast.
For Calderon, his career in English football would have felt incomplete without playing under a manager like Hughton.
He told The Argus: "I like the experience. I have been here with good managers but not one was a proper Englishman and now we have one. I think it was important for my career, otherwise I would go back to Spain having played in English football without an English manager.
"I am going to learn from him like I did with all the other managers."
Calderon is already enjoying Hughton's hands-on approach to training.
"I like it, because he is always involved in the sessions," revealed the 33-year-old right-back. "I like managers when they are involved in the sessions. I know in England the manager style is to sometimes be in the office and they are not doing the session.
"For me that doesn't work. When you are a player you are going to listen more to the manager than a coach. I love the coaches here but I think it's better when the manager is saying something to you.
"Maybe because he has been a coach for a long time during his career you can feel that, so I'm more than happy with that.
"He's trying to build the team from the back. I think that's quite important when you are in a bad situation like we were - and still are.
"We are winning games. That is the most important thing. When a manager comes and you get the three points you trust more in him. It's easier for him to sell his product, because he's getting the results.
"I think he is trying to build the team from the back and from there, if we get some points, maybe we can start to play a bit prettier. At the moment it's just about getting the results. Hopefully we can get them and move forward."
Hughton's first home game in charge against Brentford today, following back-to-back clean sheet wins away to the Bees in the FA Cup and at Charlton in the league, will overshadow Calderon's 100th Championship appearance for Albion.
Calderon's role in the Christmas and New Year recovery has been pivotal, contributing defensively to a hat-trick of shut-outs and also grabbing a vital late equaliser last time out at the Amex to rescue a 2-2 draw against Reading on Boxing Day under caretaker Nathan Jones.
That goal, his 16th in 192 appearances, saved a sequence as well as a point. Albion have never lost when he has scored.
More importantly, following the 1-1 draw at Wolves in Hyypia's final game in charge, it helped lay the foundations for a momentum-building five-match unbeaten run.
"Maybe it was easier to win the game at Fulham after that goal, so it was important," Calderon said.
"We were in a really bad moment and sometimes you need that bit of luck, that someone is there to put the ball in the net.
"It was important, because now everything looks a bit easier. But we are still in a bad situation, because we are too close to the bottom three and I don't want to be there any more.
"But the good thing is we have been there already and we know how to play when you are there. I think that is an extra point for us, we have to learn from that."
It has been a learning experience for Calderon from the moment he stepped off the ferry at Portsmouth to launch his love affair with Albion.
He has become a dad during his time at the club. Yesterday marked the fifth anniversary of his debut, a wintry win at Walsall.
"It's been five years and it feels longer than that, because there have been a lot of emotions and feelings during that process," Calderon said.
"I can remember everything. From the beginning of my career here we were at the bottom of League One and now everybody expects us to be fighting to be in the top six in the Championship.
"When I got here there we didn't have our own training ground or stadium, so I think everything has changed for the better and I am glad to still be here."
Original article
But he is still glad the club have deserted their taste for foreign bosses.
Calderon is looking forward to widening his education under Chris Hughton.
The defender from the Basque Country in Spain has bought into English football in a big way since joining the Seagulls five years ago.
A staunch supporter of the club's charitable arm, Albion In The Community, he was named PFA Player In The Community in 2013.
The 33-year-old is the first to volunteer his services, putting his teacher qualification and master's degree in sports psychology to good use at talks and seminars.
He still speaks at an electric pace but his English has improved immeasurably during his time on the South Coast.
For Calderon, his career in English football would have felt incomplete without playing under a manager like Hughton.
He told The Argus: "I like the experience. I have been here with good managers but not one was a proper Englishman and now we have one. I think it was important for my career, otherwise I would go back to Spain having played in English football without an English manager.
"I am going to learn from him like I did with all the other managers."
Calderon is already enjoying Hughton's hands-on approach to training.
"I like it, because he is always involved in the sessions," revealed the 33-year-old right-back. "I like managers when they are involved in the sessions. I know in England the manager style is to sometimes be in the office and they are not doing the session.
"For me that doesn't work. When you are a player you are going to listen more to the manager than a coach. I love the coaches here but I think it's better when the manager is saying something to you.
"Maybe because he has been a coach for a long time during his career you can feel that, so I'm more than happy with that.
"He's trying to build the team from the back. I think that's quite important when you are in a bad situation like we were - and still are.
"We are winning games. That is the most important thing. When a manager comes and you get the three points you trust more in him. It's easier for him to sell his product, because he's getting the results.
"I think he is trying to build the team from the back and from there, if we get some points, maybe we can start to play a bit prettier. At the moment it's just about getting the results. Hopefully we can get them and move forward."
Hughton's first home game in charge against Brentford today, following back-to-back clean sheet wins away to the Bees in the FA Cup and at Charlton in the league, will overshadow Calderon's 100th Championship appearance for Albion.
Calderon's role in the Christmas and New Year recovery has been pivotal, contributing defensively to a hat-trick of shut-outs and also grabbing a vital late equaliser last time out at the Amex to rescue a 2-2 draw against Reading on Boxing Day under caretaker Nathan Jones.
That goal, his 16th in 192 appearances, saved a sequence as well as a point. Albion have never lost when he has scored.
More importantly, following the 1-1 draw at Wolves in Hyypia's final game in charge, it helped lay the foundations for a momentum-building five-match unbeaten run.
"Maybe it was easier to win the game at Fulham after that goal, so it was important," Calderon said.
"We were in a really bad moment and sometimes you need that bit of luck, that someone is there to put the ball in the net.
"It was important, because now everything looks a bit easier. But we are still in a bad situation, because we are too close to the bottom three and I don't want to be there any more.
"But the good thing is we have been there already and we know how to play when you are there. I think that is an extra point for us, we have to learn from that."
It has been a learning experience for Calderon from the moment he stepped off the ferry at Portsmouth to launch his love affair with Albion.
He has become a dad during his time at the club. Yesterday marked the fifth anniversary of his debut, a wintry win at Walsall.
"It's been five years and it feels longer than that, because there have been a lot of emotions and feelings during that process," Calderon said.
"I can remember everything. From the beginning of my career here we were at the bottom of League One and now everybody expects us to be fighting to be in the top six in the Championship.
"When I got here there we didn't have our own training ground or stadium, so I think everything has changed for the better and I am glad to still be here."
Original article