So Thursday then ...

New Brighton & Hove Albion boss Sami Hyypia will be introduced to the club's Amex staff and unveiled to the media later this week when he flies in from Finland.

The former Liverpool, Bayer Leverkusen and Finnish international defender, and Leverkusen head coach, was announced as the club's manager on Friday evening, after extensive evaluation of all candidates.

Fans will also hear directly from chairman Tony Bloom and chief executive Paul Barber when they introduce Hyypia to the media for the first time this coming Thursday.

Barber explained, "It's been an extremely busy time for all concerned with the managerial appointment. It's obviously been our number one priority, but Tony and I also attended the annual Football League meeting in Portugal – a gathering of club chairmen and chief executives from the 72 league clubs, as well as League executives, sponsors, and special guests such as The FA's chairman Greg Dyke.

"We flew back to England this weekend and while our main priority is completed, there is obviously still much work to be done in preparation for pre-season and the new season ahead - not least the opening of our new training ground."

Barber also confirmed Hyypia has wasted no time getting stuck in to his new role, adding, “Sami has already looked at videos of our matches from last season and over the next few days, with the support of Nathan Jones and David Burke, will evaluate the current squad, its strengths and weaknesses, and from that identify the key areas he wants to improve.

“Working closely with the chairman and our scouting team, Sami will narrow the work the team has already been doing, and identify those specific players he wants to bring in. Providing those players are available and within our budget, we will do our best to get them.

"The scouting and recruitment department, led by David, are there to assist the manager; highlighting which players are available and by providing analysis and background information on all the various options.

“Another of Sami's initial tasks as our new manager is to recruit the remainder of his coaching staff. Like any new manager at any club, it’s crucial for Sami to establish the structure of his immediate back room staff.

"He was keen to retain Nathan Jones as part of this team; he feels it is very important to have a coach with existing knowledge of the club and of our squad as part of his group. We will of course keep supporters informed of any other additions to Sami's staff as they are made."

Barber continued, "We are delighted with Sami's appointment. We’re very pleased that we had time to follow a carefully constructed and private process.

"As ever, the chairman has been incredibly diligent on behalf of the club. The timing of the managerial change has allowed us to be very thorough and to analyse a number of high calibre applicants.

“In addition to our own meetings with the candidates, we were able to use the time available to speak to various people within the game - including players, coaches and administrators - who'd worked with each candidate to build up extensive profiles - and it was Sami who came out on top.

"He has already been shown around the Amex and our new training ground, and he has met a number of our key staff; he will fly in to the UK on Thursday and meet the rest of the club's football and administration staff.

"The media will also have the opportunity to speak to Sami - alongside the chairman and myself. His first press conference as Albion manager will be on Thursday when fans will also be able to hear directly from Sami via a special video on the club’s website."

Meanwhile Barber says he will update fans on the Football League AGM in the coming week.

"Plenty of Football League business was discussed there - including the much publicised wholesale rejection of the notion of a B-league - and we will provide fans with some proper feedback in the next few days.

“Of course we also know that another another burning issue for fans is the launch of our new Nike shirt. We promised supporters that we will launch the kit in time for the summer holidays and this remains the case.

"As with all World Cup or European Championship summers, clubs and kit manufacturers tend to launch new kits prior to the tournament and its build up - or wait until after the tournament so the launch isn’t lost in the inevitable focus on international football.

"When clubs change kit manufacturers it’s invariably the latter of these timings as previous contractual commitments must of course be honoured leaving no time to launch a new kit before the international tournament build up begins.

"We’re very excited to be working with Nike and fans can expect to start to hear more details about our new kit very soon."

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seagullsovergrimsby said:

Is he arriving by tram ?

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