Sami Hyypia’s troubled six-month tenure at Brighton & Hove Albion is over after the Finn tendered his resignation and departed with the club languishing in the Championship relegation zone.
The former Liverpool defender has overseen three wins from 22 league games, the last of which proved to be a commendable 1-1 draw at Wolverhampton Wanderers with 10 men on Saturday. Yet there was discontent expressed by home supporters at Brighton’s last game at the Amex Stadium, a damaging televised 1-0 loss to Millwall, the side immediately above them in the table, after which Hyypia had suggested he was considering his future.
The former Bayer Leverkusen manager attended a Christmas event at Brighton’s stadium on Sunday and was at the training ground in Lancing on Monday morning, but he subsequently indicated his intention to resign at a meeting with the club’s hierarchy. His offer was initially rejected by the chairman, Tony Bloom, who had hoped to persuade him to remain in charge, though Hyypia reiterated his desire to leave. His departure was eventually sanctioned, albeit reluctantly, by the owner.
“Sami offered his resignation and we reluctantly accepted earlier today,” Bloom said. “Sami has worked extremely hard since joining the club last summer. Despite some good performances, including most recently at Wolves, results haven’t gone as well as we all had hoped and expected.
“Sami is an incredibly honourable man. He remains a hugely respected and very popular figure at our club. He has decided to step down for the benefit of the team and the club. We are all very disappointed, but we respect Sami’s decision and we all wish him well for the future.”
Brighton, an upwardly mobile club under the ownership of Bloom and in a plush new home in Falmer, have reached the play-off semi-finals in each of the past two seasons – losing to Crystal Palace and Derby County under Gus Poyet and Oscar García respectively – but have moved to comply with the Football League’s recently adopted financial fair play regulations.
There have been a number of high-profile departures, the likes of Leonardo Ulloa, Matthew Upson and Will Buckley following Liam Bridcutt by seeking opportunities in the Premier League.
Hyypia, who signed a three-year contract in June to replace García, had attempted to reshape the playing squad working within a stricter budget but his team have failed to gel despite the arrival of high-profile loanees such as Elliott Bennett, Gary Gardner, Darren Bent, João Teixeira and Greg Halford.
The 41-year-old won two of his first four fixtures, but had secured only one more victory – against Wigan in the first week of November – in the period since to leave the team 22nd in the division and four points from safety.
The former Tottenham Hotspur manager Tim Sherwood is likely to be sounded out over succeeding the Finn while Chris Hughton, Brian McDermott, Uwe Rösler and Nigel Adkins may also be considered. In the interim, the long-serving assistant manager Nathan Jones will oversee the Boxing Day home fixture against Reading.
