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'Authentic Hurzeler looks beyond the player'

Fabian Hurzeler
[PA Media]

It is evidence of the way football has changed that there was no mention of hairdryers in Fabian Hurzeler's Brighton unveiling news conference on Tuesday.

The only temper he referenced was to do with the number of yellow cards he has picked up in Germany after accepting he had developed a reputation as a 'hot-head'.

Hurzeler prefers to get under the skin of his players, to learn what makes them tick, rather than screaming at them to improve performance.

"In my experience, when you really value the player and give him the feeling you really want to improve him, then he follows," he said.

"It is important to see the person behind the player. It is important you give him time, talk to him, listen to him and see where he wants to improve.

"All these things make it easy for me. I don’t have to be artificial. I can be authentic with them.

"On top of that, it is about giving the team a vision for where we want to go so that we have a clear orientation, we know our targets for what we want to achieve, so every day they bring high standards onto the pitch.

"It is a lot of hard work in the beginning but the main point is if you can build a culture, it is easy for me as a coach."