Kjetil Knutsen on the shortlist for next Brighton manager

Two names are beginning to pop up frequently when it comes to who Tony Bloom wants to succeed Graham Potter as Brighton & Hove Albion manager – Roberto De Zerbi and Kjetil Knutsen.

When Italian media reported over the weekend that Brighton were set to open negotiations with De Zerbi, we took an in-depth look at his managerial style and career so far.

The feedback we got from those who read the piece was that De Zerbi was the ideal man for the job. “I will be genuinely disappointed if he isn’t unveiled as our new manager now,” said one WhatsApp message.

For the sake of balance, we thought that current Bodø/Glimt head coach Knutsen deserves a similar appraisal of his attributes. Turns out that he would be an equally exciting appointment.

If both want the job, then Bloom is going to have quite the decision on his hands deciding which one gets the gig. It is all a far cry from when Stockport County boss Jim Gannon was turning the Albion down in 2009 and Russell Slade ended up in the hot seat almost by default.

Knutsen began his coaching career as long ago as 1995 when taking over Norwegian fifth tier club TIL Hovding. He spent nine years with the Bergen-based outfit, taking them up two divisions in that time before being appointed head of first team development at top division side Brann.

In 2009, Knutsen took over as manager of Fyllingen in the fourth tier. 2011 saw Fyllingen merge with their local rivals Løv-Ham, just relegated from the second tier.

It was a controversial move which had been rejected several times in the past by members of both clubs. Now though it was seen as necessary to bring top flight football back to the Bergen borough of Fyllingsdalen, where Fyllingen and Løv-Ham were located.

The merger did not go particularly smoothly thanks to further complications over the name of the merged club. A vote saw members choose Fyllingsdalen, after the borough. The board though opted instead for Varden, after the stadium where the new club would play and for sponsorship reasons.

Following a public outcry and a significant amount of pressure from fans, the board relented and changed the name to Fyllingsdalen.

Whilst all this was going on, Knutsen had to effectively manage the merger of two squads of players and get Fyllingsdalen competing straight away for promotion out of the third tier.

There are not many managers in world football who have gone through such a difficult process. The lessons Knutsen learnt and the skills needed to navigate choppy waters caused by the merger have served him well in management ever since.

Knutsen left Fyllingsdalen in October 2013 with a 62.37 percent win rate from managing both the merged club and Fyllingen.

He took over Åsane ahead of the 2014 season, winning promotion to the second tier at the first time of asking. After being sacked by Åsane in December 2016, he moved to Bodø/Glimt as assistant to Aasmund Bjorkan.

And it is inside the arctic circle in a town with a population of only 55,759 where things start to get really interesting.

Knutsen helped Bjorkan lead Bodø/Glimt to the second tier title by 16 points in his first season at the club. When Bjorkan moved upstairs to become sports director before the 2018 campaign, Knutsen was appointed head coach.

Since then, Bodø/Glimt have enjoyed the most successful period in their history. They were favourites for relegation in 2019 having sold key players like captain Martin Bjørnbak and top scorer Kristian Fardal Opseth.

The Yellow Horde through surprised everyone by finishing runners up in the Eliteserien, their highest ever finish. It was enough to earn Knutsen the Coach of the Year award.

More important players were sold ahead of the 2020 campaign. Knutsen again lost a captain in Ricardo Friedrich and his talismanic young midfielder Håkon Evjen.

Bodø/Glimt made light work of those losses. They were defeated in just one league game all season, winning 26 of their 30 matches and scoring 103 goals on their way to a first ever Norwegian championship. Their nearest rivals were 19 points behind.

Can you guess what happened before the 2021 season? Bodø/Glimt sold their entire first choice strike force of Philip Zinckernagel, Jens Petter Hauge and Kasper Junker.

The trio had scored 60 goals and provided 35 assists in the title winning campaign. The Yellow Horde signed no obvious replacements for them and yet they retained their title on the final day of the campaign.

You can see why Kjetil Knutsen has caught the attentions of Bloom and Brighton. This is a head coach who is used to seeing his best players move onto bigger and better things and yet no sale of the family silver seems to have an impact.

Knutsen gets on with it, finds a way to replace the departed and continues to deliver results whilst evolving and improving his team.

It is similar to how Brighton under Potter not only survived the sales of Ben White, Yves Bissouma, Marc Cucurella and Neal Maupay, but have actually thrived.

Before Knutsen arrived at Bodø/Glimt, Evjen and Hague were young players who had progressed through the club’s academy and were considered pretty average.

Both were completely transformed following his appointment, earning moves to AZ Alkmaar and AC Milan respectively and big profits for The Yellow Horde.

Kjetil Knutsen is not afraid to give youth a chance. His track record suggests that up-and-coming players at Brighton would thrive and develop under his tutelage, in the same way that Potter improved the likes of White, Bissouma, Steve Alzate and Alexis Mac Allister.

The one question mark over Knutsen is that he is never managed outside of Norway. As impressive as his feats with Bodø/Glimt, can he repeat that success in a stronger European league?

Last season’s Europa Conference performances from The Yellow Horde go some way towards answering that. Knutsen oversaw a 6-1 home win over Roma in the group stage, inflicting on Jose Mourinho the heaviest defeat of The Special One’s managerial career.

Bodø/Glimt finished second in their group, behind Roma but ahead of CSKA Sofia and Zorya. They won both legs of their round of 32 match against Celtic, triumphing 3-1 at Parkhead and 2-0 at Aspmyra Stadion for a 5-1 aggregate victory.

Celtic boss Ange Postecoglou remains high in the betting for next Brighton manager, but he cannot hold a torch to Kjetil Knutsen based on those European performances.

AEK Athens were eliminated in the round of 16 before another meeting with Roma in the quarter finals. It was here that the dream died.

Bodø/Glimt won the first leg 2-1 at home. A 4-0 defeat at Stadio Olimpico put paid to their Europa Conference adventure, with Mourino and Roma going onto win the competition.

That run to the last eight however and the 6-1 win over Mourinho brought the feats and talents of Knutsen to a wider European audience.

There lies another comparison with Potter, who first gained notoriety when his Ostersunds side shocked Arsenal by winning 2-1 at the Emirates in 2018.

Just like Potter, Knutsen’s calling card is possession football, an aggressive press and getting the best out of players on a small budget.

His preferred formation is 4-3-3 and his style has been compared to Jurgen Klopp’s gegenpress. Knutsen wants his team to win the ball as quickly as possible, make the pitch wide and exploit spaces with lighting quick attacks.

You will not see many sideways or backwards passes from a Kjetil Knutsen led Brighton of the sort that would often frustrate the Amex crowd under Potter.

Knutsen places a strong emphasis on the metal side of the game. He appointed a former Norwegian air force pilot to his coaching staff at Bodø/Glimt with the job title of mental health coach.

Potter was always a strong believer in the importance of the brain and emotions when it came to forging a successful side. Knutsen would appear to take this onto another level. Group meditation before training is commonplace before Bodø/Glimt start kicking a football around.

In almost every area, Kjetil Knutsen looks the perfect fit for Brighton. His desire for fast, possession-based football suits the squad.

He finds the type of solutions needed to overcome players being sold. He develops young players. His teams overperform, competing and beating sides with far greater resources.

The Albion have gone down the root of appointing a manager who produced miracles with an unfashionable Scandanavian side in domestic football and then on the European stage before.

It did not work out too badly when Potter came to the Amex. Might history repeat itself if Knutsen is given an opportunity to prove himself in the Premier League?