On Saturday January 31, Fabian Hurzeler was being tipped as a future Germany head coach by Everton manager David Moyes. Just eight days later, after his Brighton team had lost 1-0 at home to bitter rivals Crystal Palace, he left the field at the Amex Stadium with cries of ‘You don’t know what you’re doing’ and ‘You’re getting sacked in the morning’ ringing in his ears.
Hurzeler, 32, admitted in the post-match press conference that it was the hardest moment of his 18 months at the club. But the good news – and the bad news for that vociferous section of the Amex crowd – is that the German will not be getting sacked any morning this week, or in the foreseeable future.
Since his first coaching appointment, of Gus Poyet in November 2009, Brighton owner Tony Bloom has never sacked a manager in mid-season, and was supportive of Hurzeler in the wake of the Palace game.
‘We see the situation and we spoke about the reality,’ Hurzeler said on Tuesday. ‘If you overreact now, if you panic, it’s one of the worst things you can do. I appreciate the honest conversations we have, the loyalty and the support. My responsibility is to give this trust back.’
There is also a recognition within the club – shared by a substantial, if silent, section of the fanbase, to judge by the message boards – that Hurzeler has been asked to challenge for a European place with a severely unbalanced squad. The club that was once a byword for clever recruitment seems temporarily to have seen the conveyor belt of talent stall.
To take the most glaring area of weakness in the team. Hurzeler had just two central strikers to choose from against Palace: 35-year-old Danny Welbeck, and 18-year-old Charalampos Kostoulas, a highly-promising Greece forward but hardly a replacement for Joao Pedro, sold to Chelsea for £60m.
Brighton fans have turned on manager Fabian Hurzeler in recent weeks, chanting ‘you’re getting sacked in the morning’ during the 1-0 defeat by rivals Crystal Palace last Sunday
After years of rising up the leagues and even breaking into Europe, the Seagulls have flatlined this season and have won only twice in 13 games since the start of December
It has not helped that Japan winger Kaoru Mitoma, who scored 10 goals last season, has only contributed two this time and still looks slowed by an ankle injury.
Right back was another obvious position that needed strengthening last summer but instead the position has rotated between £26m Holland central midfielder Mats Wieffer, £25m Turkey left back Ferdi Kadioglu and 34-year-old Joel Veltman, the squad’s only specialist in the position.
Brighton have the Premier League’s 14th-highest wage bill, and the Palace defeat left them 14th in the table, suggesting that they are where they should be. But several seasons of over-achievement based on stellar recruitment appear to have bred that most dangerous of reactions among some fans: a sense of entitlement.
In his programme notes for the Palace game, CEO and vice-chairman Paul Barber referenced: ‘Growing fan impatience across large parts of the football landscape’ and wrote that: ‘We are aware of fan criticism. We know the fans want to see us challenging for European places.’
Last season, Hurzeler’s first, they did, ending up in eighth place – the second-highest finish in the club’s history – and but for Palace winning the FA Cup, would have qualified for the UEFA Conference League. Looking to build on that, Hurzeler correctly identified that physicality would become a more important element in player recruitment.
He wanted more athletic players who could compete, for example, against Arsenal’s ‘meat wall’ of central defenders at setplays. With the exception of Italy central defender Diego Coppola, now loaned out to Paris FC in order to get game-time ahead of the World Cup, he did not get them.
Technical director David Weir’s departure in September to be replaced by his former assistant, the well-regarded Mike Cave, was seen by many as evidence that the club was unhappy with its summer transfer dealings, but that would be to misunderstand where player identification resides – more with the numbers, stats and algorithms generated by Bloom’s Jamestown Analytics business. However, one unintended consequence of Weir leaving was the loss of an experienced and respected former coach and manager for Hurzeler to consult and bounce ideas off.
Part of the problem for any Brighton head coach is that the club’s buy low, sell high recruitment model does not involve signing established, Premier-League-ready 26- and 27-year olds with the high wages and transfer fees that accompany them. Just ask Roberto De Zerbi.
Ismaila Sarr’s goal for Palace saw the Eagles leapfrog their rivals, who have slipped down to 14th
It has not helped that Japan winger Kaoru Mitoma, who scored 10 goals last season, has only contributed two this time and still looks slowed by an ankle injury
Senior figures such as James Milner (right) and Lewis Dunk are battling to keep the slide from becoming an extended slump but Dunk says the players are backing their manager
The extrovert Italian led the club to its highest finish, sixth in 2022-23, and a place in the Europa League. The more reserved Hurzeler is often compared unfavourably with the force of nature that was his predecessor. But De Zerbi was able to call on Alexis Mac Allister and Moises Caicedo to get Brighton into Europe, and Billy Gilmour and Joao Pedro once they were there.
And the RDZ loyalists sometimes forget that although there were thrilling victories and great European nights, there were also toys-out-of-the-pram team selections in heavy defeats at Bournemouth, Fulham and Luton, where the coach seemed more intent on making a point to Bloom about squad strength than on winning matches. He was never going to win those battles, and Hurzeler knows better than to try.
That is not to say that the head coach has no responsibility for what happens on the field. How could a team that began the New Year with a win at Old Trafford in the FA Cup and an entertaining draw away to Manchester City have lost form so dramatically?
Part of the reason is that, over many seasons and under at least the past three coaches, Brighton have thrived against teams like United and City who come out and attack but have struggled to break down defensive-minded outfits. Many fans, especially those with short memories, are puzzled by Hurzeler’s tactics in these games and dislike the slow build-up that seems to involve as many passes back and sideways as forward.
And even those who defend him were baffled by a strange team selection against Palace, with 19-year-old England youth international Harry Howell given his first Premier League start in the fixture that the Albion faithful want to win more than any other.
Substitutions, which have been seen as one of Hurzeler’s strengths up to now, came too late. Out-of-form record signing Georginio Rutter suffered for 82 minutes before being mercifully taken off, and Carlos Baleba, arguably the club’s most saleable asset until reported interest from Manchester United in the summer caused a collapse in his performance levels, was invisible for most of his 70 minutes on the pitch.
Instead of an increase in intensity after Palace scored of the sort that had rescued late points against West Ham and Bournemouth, the players began to hit aimless long balls, with nobody looking to drive forward or take on an opponent.
‘He’s lost the dressing room’ is the usual accusation flung at managers, but club insiders insist that the problem is rather a loss of confidence after two successive matches in which late goals had cost them a point at Fulham and victory at home to Everton.
The 34-year-old Joel Veltman (left) is Brighton’s only specialist right back in a squad that is unbalanced
Houston-born Hurzeler, 32, is the youngest manager in Premier League history but has a problem in his second season
Carlos Baleba’s performance levels have collapsed since the interest from Manchester United late last summer
The word from within the club is that the players are still behind Hurzeler, and captain Lewis Dunk, who rebuffed interest from Nottingham Forest last month, told Sky Sports that the players had not done enough for either the fans or the manager.
Those fans and that manager will now be looking for the sort of reaction that followed the 7-0 defeat at Forest last season, when Brighton went unbeaten in eight games, including back-to-back defeats of Chelsea in FA Cup and league.
‘We can’t be happy with the last game,’ Hurzeler said ahead of away matches at Aston Villa and Liverpool, which give Brighton the chance to recover with the backing of the intensely loyal travelling support. ‘We’ve spoken to each other, looked at the table and understand that we need to work hard, stick to our principles, show our togetherness. We expect a reaction.’
Good results will be welcome; but Hurzeler does not need them to save his job.
