Brighton interim manager Mikey Harris believes the club is an attraction for any coach in the world.
In a fans forum this week, Brighton CEO Paul Barber said the club were on a global search for a new manager.
Even though they find themselves in mid-table, Harris believes any manager would want to manage Brighton, especially with the structure that they currently have in place.
“This is an incredibly attractive job for anyone. You look at the infrastructure of the club, I know personally from working with the staff that people here are amazing.
“We have the bulk of a really strong squad, and with a home stadium in the pipeline, coupled with a vision of being in the top four, it’s an attractive job for all the coaches across the world who are available at the moment.”
But could the new manager be Harris himself?
Since replacing Mel Phillips in February, the interim manager has brought stability to the club and steered them away from danger.
Harris says he is still the interim but would be happy to talk with the club if they wanted him to stay on for longer.
“We’ll have to wait and see what happens with me in the future in regard to the job. From my perspective, nothing has changed.
“When I came into this role, I said I’m happy to do it for as long as the club need me and want me to do it.
“If those discussions are to make my stint here longer, then we can sit down and talk about that.”
Next player up
This weekend we could see plenty of changes to the Albion lineup.
Top scorer Elisabeth Terland, along with Julia Zigiotti, haven’t been training this week due to illness.
This will open up spaces in the squad and is a potential opportunity for a younger player to make their mark in the WSL.
“It’s always an opportunity when someone misses a game, whether that’s through injuries, suspension, there’s always a chance for someone to come in.
“From my perspective, the message has always been that everyone’s involved, we’re all in this together.
“I trust everyone that sets foot on the pitch, and that goes from the senior team all the way down to the academy.
“I know that everyone’s ready, I know everyone’s committed to finishing the season as strongly as we can, and I’m confident that whoever plays tomorrow will put in a performance.”
If those players are looking for someone to take inspiration from, they don’t have to look further than Melina Loeck.
Signed in January, the German keeper has been second choice for much of the season but made her debut against Tottenham last week.
Harris was keen to give credit to both Loeck and Sophie Baggaley for making the goalkeeping department a very competitive one.
“I thought Melina was excellent. Given that it was her debut and the fact she’s hasn’t played a game for a long time, for her to come in and perform the way she did was a credit to her and the way she’s been training.
“Credit also has to be given to Sophie Baggaley, because they are two top goalkeepers that we’re very fortunate to have.
“Baggers’ performances this season have been outstanding, and we’re in a privileged position to have two keepers that will push each other to be the best versions of themselves.”
Facing Aston Villa
For their final home game of the season, the Seagulls will face off against Aston Villa.
Everyone is fully aware by now of the danger Rachel Daly causes, but Harris believes the Villains are strong in another area in particular.
“Villa are very good in wide areas. We need to be really strong in that, and you can see what Carla Ward is trying to do in terms of their in-possession strategy.
“Out of possession, they know that they can press, and can also be very difficult to break down. It’ll be interesting to see what their gameplan is on Saturday and how it fits with ours.
“We will have to be at our best to try and find solutions against them in both phases of the game.”
These two met in Harris’ second game in charge of Brighton, when Villa knocked the Albion out on penalties in the Conti Cup.
Three months have past since then, and Harris believes his team have come on leaps and bounds since that defeat.
“I’ve seen this group grow a huge amount since that cup game. They certainly seem really together, probably much more confident than they were in that moment in time; that’s been the biggest shift for me.
“You can see the belief in the players and how they’re playing with that. You see when we went away to Tottenham, some of our play was outstanding, and I wonder if they would have had the belief to play that way back then.
“We’ve used a lot of different players as well in different positions since that cup game, and everyone has contributed in a really positive fashion.
“We’re in a good place, we want to finish the season strongly, particularly at home, and hopefully we can bring our best selves and put on a performance the fans will be entertained by.”