Brighton chief Paul Barber outlines time frame for appointing Graham Potter successor

Potter became Chelsea manager on Thursday, having worked at Brighton for three years, replacing the sacked Thomas Tuchel at Stamford Bridge.

Barber, Albion’s chief executive since 2012, said the club was in fortunate position to take their time on the decision, due to not having a league game until October 1.

Barber said: “It’s really important to put in place plans for succession in every area and that’s no different with the head coach and the staff.

"So we are working through our list, we’re not in a huge rush, one of the fortunate positions we find ourselves in is the break, that gives us a little bit more time after six or seven games of the season.

"So that in itself is a small advantage, but it’s not something that means we will take our foot off the gas, it means we will work hard on the processes we follow."

Due to the passing of Queen Elizabeth II, upcoming rail strikes and international break – Brighton will not play in the league for three weeks – when they travel to Anfield to play Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool.

Barber said the extra time given to the board to find a new manager was ‘valuable’.

The chief executive continued: “Sadly we’re in a position where we had an enforced absence and a different kind of absence for next weekend with the Crystal Palace game, then we’ve got the international break, so we’ve got this very unusual combination of circumstances that have given us that little bit of extra time, which is valuable, but it’s not something that makes us complacent about the process, we’re still working as hard as we can to follow it and to complete it.”

According to The Athletic – the club had reportedly drawn together a list of four candidates for the vacant head coach role.

Kjetil Knutsen, Russell Martin, Nathan Jones and Steve Cooper were said to be on a shortlist of potential names on Friday afternoon.

Barber did not disclosure if anyone had been contacted about the role, but did confirm the next manager would fit a similar profile to that of Potters.

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Barber said: “Graham was an exceptional coach that we kept tabs on for some time before we appointed him, finding somebody of a similar ilk with the same attributes – tactical, communication, personality and fit with the club are all going to very important and parts of the process.

"It’s just started, we’re working through it and we will see where we end up."