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Brighton manager Graham Potter views being linked with the England job as ‘an incredible honour’ but has rebuffed any immediate suggestion that he could be Gareth Southgate’s eventual successor.
Potter’s attractive style of football, realistic approach to football, and hard-fought success at Brighton has seen him long linked with the top national job, with some fans feeling he is the man to lead England to long-awaited glory.
His stock was further elevated after Brighton claimed their first-ever win against Manchester United at Old Trafford, as his budget side of nurtured talent spoiled Erik ten Hag’s Premier League debut as the new Red’s boss.
The 47-year-old is seen as a nailed-on future England manager. But his views on negative press treatment suffered by national team managers, and his unwavering support of Southgate means Potter is currently not looking at the role.
Brighton manager Graham Potter is one of the favourites to become the next England boss
But the Englishman played down any suggestions that he wants to become England manager
Speaking on BT Sport Podcast Michael Calvin’s Football People, Potter outlined his position on the currently occupied England job, saying:
‘I haven’t given it a massive amount of thought because of the situation I’m in here. And I think the situation that we have in England with a very, very good England manager, one that I support a lot,’ he said.
‘I think he’s done a fantastic job, Gareth. I think that job, when I look back as a kid, is an incredibly challenging job.
‘When I consider the press treatment of Bobby Robson, of Graham Taylor, Steve McClaren, Kevin Keegan, some top names and the treatment they got…as a young person you understand quickly how things are.
Potter (right) admits he is a huge admirer of current England manager Gareth Southgate (right)
‘It’s an incredible honour. Of course, because you’re representing your country. And fundamentally, it would be in a very exciting role. And I’m sure Gareth thinks that, I’m sure he would say the same.
The current Brighton boss however does feel taking the hot seat at England is an ‘exciting’ position as he refused to completely distance himself from any association with the job.
‘It’s a very exciting role, because you get the intensity of international tournaments, of competing, of trying to qualify and then trying to compete.
‘But it’s, you know, you lose the day to day, you lose the constant interaction with players and the people and, and really, the thing that I like a lot about it is the challenge of the daily work, which is the interactions, how people work with each other, sometimes against each other.
‘How do you deal with those things? So they’re a fascinating part of the job for me that I think you’d probably lose, because you don’t see the players as much.
‘So I think it’s it’s, as I’ve said, lots of things challenging, but very exciting,’ he added.
Potter took over the reigns at the coastal club in 2019 and has helped transform the club
Brighton recently claimed their first-ever victory over Manchester United at Old Trafford
The Englishman was lured to the Brighton dugout in 2019, leaving Swansea to fill the void left by a sacked Chris Hughton. The Seagulls had only picked up two top-flight wins in 2019 and were one of the favourites for relegation.
Since then, Potter has led Brighton to a top-half Premier League finish, but more impressively has taken the club to new heights, helping to redesign their approach to recruitment and building a side that plays some of the league’s most attractive football.
Brighton have been able to build a self-sustaining transfer policy of buying players at relatively low-cost before improving them and then selling them on for huge profits.
Marc Cucurella for example was bought for £15million in 2021. A year later and he has been sold to Chelsea for over £55million.
Whereas some clubs in the division build a future plan of success based on paying record-breaking transfer fees, Potter and his staff have a different approach to the transfer market.
Potter spoke in-depth about Brighton’s highly-applauded player-focused transfer strategy
‘You can see there’s clubs out there that have spent a lot of money, you know, we’re talking hundreds of millions, but haven’t quite got it, right.
‘So it can’t just be about how much money you spend. That would be quite depressing. And I think eventually people would fall out of football if that was just the case.
‘I think you always have to provide something beyond that, for it to be of any interest, for it to be anything really important.
‘If it’s just a transaction, if it’s just about money, and everybody’s league table is determined by that, then clearly, we’re not understanding football, because again, it’s about people,’ he added.
‘If you get the wrong people, you get the wrong environment, you don’t appreciate how recruitment, aligning the resources with the academy, with who you’re bringing in, how much that can damage your X’s and O’s, your starting 11, then you can burn through a lot of money.
Brighton started the new Premier League season with a shock 2-1 win over Manchester United
‘Of course, there are examples of football clubs that are run incredibly well, let’s spend money wisely and do it really well.
‘But as I’ve said previously, we can’t necessarily worry about the others. We have to just stick to our own idea and try and make our own idea better.
‘We’re not saying it’s the right idea for everyone. But for us, it’s important. And we try and do it as best we can,’ he said.
Brighton have managed to work wonders in recent times, rarely looking like a team working on one of the league’s smallest budgets, despite having his squad ravaged in recent seasons with Ben White, Yves Bissouma, and Cucurella the most prominent of names to swap the coast for London’s biggest clubs.
They followed their previous win up with a goalless draw at home to Newcastle United
Potter reveals that as much as the club wants to keep its biggest stars, the ability to balance the aims of the football club in line with his own aims as Brighton manager has allowed him to keep improving his squad.
‘We have a responsibility as well to manage the football club in line with the aims of the football club.
‘It would be easy for me to turn around and say ‘No, I need to keep Ben White and I need to keep Yves Bissouma and I need to keep Marc Cucurella, need to keep Dan Burn, because then we’ll have more chance of winning,’ well yeah… but I know the repercussions.
‘I know the consequences for that. And I support those decisions. I support that, and I’m okay with it. My job is to try to keep us improving,’ he said.
The Graham Potter interview is available in full on ‘Michael Calvin’s Football People’ from tomorrow (18 August). ‘Michael Calvin’s Football People’ is part of a brand new line-up of free podcasts, BT Sport Pods. Calvin and guests discuss the biggest issues in the game and explore leading personalities. For more info visit btsport.com/pods.