Graham Potter has opened up on his ambitions as a manager and hopes he can achieve his aims with Brighton.
The 45-year-old coach has been strongly linked with the Tottenham job after steering Brighton to the brink of safety with an attractive brand of attacking football for the second straight season. One more win guarantees top-flight football for a club-record fifth straight term.
Potter does not want to be fighting fires every year and the man who made his managerial name with then-unknown Swedish side Ostersunds FK feels his time at the top will come.
'When I left England 15 years ago my ambition was to keep improving myself,' he said. 'I don't think it is necessarily the status, or the stadium or the level, or the training ground – even though we have all these facilities here now – but the people who I have worked with.
'You want to win football matches. We have had three promotions, we've had a major trophy, Europa League runs.
'They are winning experiences and you like those as part of the process, but the most important thing is the people you work with.
'If by doing that well you end up at a higher level or a better level then great, but never lose sight that the job is about players, building a team and building a club.'
Potter is under no illusions that it will be tough to take Brighton to a higher level on their limited budget, but he is up for the challenge and added: 'I'm a little bit of a romantic.
'I understand 95 per cent of leagues are determined by finance. But there's a 5 per cent that can affect that. And then it's about how you get into that 5 per cent and what you need to do with that 5 per cent.'
He almost makes it sound he relishes being an underdog – even if it could be out of respect for his Brighton bosses.
He said: 'I'm not disrespecting those [bigger] clubs. They are fantastic football clubs. But I'm proud of Brighton & Hove Albion. I'm proud to work for this club. I'm proud to work with these players.
'With this team we've got some room to improve, some room to develop. We are in a points and results business. When they're not so good, you can't really shout those things too often. I'm still happy with what we've done, but I know there's more to do as well.'
Source: m.allfootballapp.com