Brighton & Hove Albion chairman Tony Bloom says the club are fortunate to have Chris Hughton as the new manager – and he is confident for the future with his new man at the helm.Bloom says Hughton’s initial task is to lift Albion away from the Championship relegation zone. He said, “There are two stages, obviously Chris has got to ensure we get out of the predicament we’re in.
“Then we’ll be looking further ahead. We see Chris being here for a long time, we don’t appoint managers just for the short term.
“In time, we’ll be looking ahead to push for the Premier League, which we always try and do and which we tried to do at the start of this season.
“It hasn’t worked out for one reason or another, but that’s football and the Championship is a tough division and one season you can do really well and the next you can do badly.”
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Bloom, who confirmed he and Hughton have ambitions to strengthen the squad this January, said the new man’s experience was a major factor.“Chris has huge experience of playing at the highest level of English football and being assistant at Spurs for so long and then managing in the Premier League and Championship, and that is massive.
“He’s a hugely respected figure in the game and his record in management is superb and we’re really fortunate to have him and I’m hopeful for the future with Chris as the manager of Brighton.
“The whole of the footballing world would have said he was an obvious candidate, but we had to go through everything, it’s such an important decision, it’s always an important decision as to who’s going to be the new manager and we didn’t leave any stone unturned.
“Obviously it had to be done quickly, in the middle of the season we’re not going to leave things hanging, but I was always confident with Nathan in interim charge.
“Nathan did a superb job and he will a very good manager in due course and was certainly considered as well. He’s excellent to have at the club.”
Hughton is Bloom’s first British appointment, having previously opted for foreign managers, but the Albion chairman says nationality isn’t a factor – although experience of the English game and the Championship always will be a consideration.
“Whether they are English, Scottish or foreign is irrelevant to me. What is relevant is the experience they’ve got, particularly in British football.
“For sure, Oscar hadn’t managed in England and neither had Sami, but Sami had experience playing in England.
“These things are factors; but it’s not like it’s a big surprise and it was always going to be that the experience from the first season would stand them in good stead. For whatever reasons, neither lasted more than a season.”
[h=3]ALBION V brentford
[/h]saturday 17th january, KICK-OFF 3PM
[h=3]Albion v ipswich
[/h]SATURDAY 24TH JANUARY, kick-off 3pm
[h=3]Albion v nottingham forest
[/h]SATURDAY 7TH februARY, kick-off 3pm
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