How Brighton boss Graham Potter went from bossing player who served sushi to taking on Premier League’s big fish

GRAHAM POTTER bossed a bloke who delivered sushi for a living during his early days in Sweden — now he is managing against all the big fish in the Premier League.

Brighton’s new chief earned his stripes with Ostersund, taking a team of part- timers — also including a travel agent and supermarket shelf-stackers — from the fourth tier to a European win over Arsenal.

That led to last summer’s move to the Swans, where he unearthed Manchester United new-boy Daniel James, before Albion poached Potter in May.

But while the wages of his current squad are incomparable to the side he had in Scandinavia, the 44-year-old still sees some parallels between the two jobs.

Potter said: “Whenever you start a new job, it’s always a bit daunting, the unknown.

“The pressure of the Premier League is huge but so is moving your family across the world to a club where they had sacked the manager every year for the last five.

“Players are fundamentally the same — regardless of what they earn. They want to improve and want to be part of something.

“As the level increases, so does the quality, but there are always challenges.

“At Ostersunds, we had half the players who were part-time and working and the other half were full-time.

“If one is getting paid to be there and one is getting half-paid to be there, there can be some dynamics you need to solve.

Potter’s Ostersunds transformation captured attention when his side faced Arsenal in the Europa League last 32 two seasons ago.

The Gunners went through 4-2 on aggregate — but the plucky Swedes stunned them 2-1 at the Emirates.

Yet by then the former West Brom left-back was already seven years into his story in the freezing north of Sweden. Thanks to close pal and now Luton boss Graeme Jones, Potter met Ostersunds chairman Daniel Kindberg — and the pair hit it off.

The tales of Potter’s zany team-bonding at the club became legendary, with players learning reindeer husbandry, putting on an art exhibition and performing a production of ballet Swan Lake.

But that outside-the-box approach was the brainchild of Kindberg rather than the manager, who bought into the concept of ‘holistic development’.

Potter, who has a degree in leadership and emotional intelligence, added: “I would never say to a coach, ‘Go to a club and put on a ballet show’.

“But if the chairman is saying, ‘This is what we’re doing, this is part of our club’, then do it.

“You have to understand that and support it as well as you can — and I did.

“It was a fantastic experience. It was a tie between Swan Lake and the concert for what I liked most.

“I’m a horrific dancer and a horrific singer, so I don’t know why I enjoyed it.

“But to be in a theatre in front of 500 people was an amazing feeling, even though I was terrible!”

REID ALL ABOUT IT

Unlike his Ostersunds charges, Potter’s new players can likely leave their plimsolls in the cupboard. Yet the fun continued after the hard work was done at their pre-season base in the tiny town of Aigen im Ennstal, 90 minutes south-east of Salzburg.

Potter and his players even got to know each other better with some karaoke, adventure activities and a quiz.

Billy Reid, Potter’s No 2 and former Hamilton Accies manager, allegedly showed an impressive range behind the mic, belting out Drifters, Killers and Slade tunes.

Reid is one of three staff members Potter has taken to Brighton from Ostersunds via Swansea, along with first-team coach Bjorn Hamberg and his transfer guru Kyle Macaulay.

Reid and Hamberg point to Potter’s adaptability, tactically and culturally, and attention to detail as his great strengths.

Hamberg was mightily impressed by Potter knowing the names of every single Ostersunds player in his first training session ­— including identical twins.

Potter viewed being able to distinguish Christoffer and Robin Fryklund from each other as “just common sense”, especially for an unknown foreigner aiming to win over a new squad.

Clearly, his and his inner circle’s big asset is improving players, as they notably did at Swansea with James.

On United’s £15million signing, Potter said: “Dan epitomises the beauty of football.

“He was on loan at Shrewsbury two years ago, didn’t play for them, and they were going to send him home. We had quite a few wingers at the time — but there was this guy who just kept on sprinting and sprinting and sprinting. Wow.

“His ability and desire to run without the ball was at a high level.

“He didn’t start in the league until September because he was a young lad in the Under-23s.

“But he keeps going and keeps going and keeps going, he had a period from December to March when he was unplayable. Lads were getting sent off to stop him.

“Now it’s Manchester United for him. That’s how football can change.

“He’s a young player at 21, so needs to develop certain things in his game, but he’s got the right qualities.”

Some Swansea supporters felt betrayed following Potter’s exit one season into a three-year deal — and he admits he was conflicted about it.

But if it were not for Potter’s faith and development of young players, the hard-up Welsh side would not have been able to ease their financial woes with the sale of James, which could rise to £18m.

Potter quit with a heavy heart but — knowing Swans’ cash problems would likely continue — the chance to take Albion to the next level was “too good to turn down”.

Brighton fans raised eyebrows at his appointment after the ruthless sacking of Chris Hughton, whom Potter is yet to speak to since taking over.

Some may have concerns his progressive style of play may still be too risky for a club in its Premier League infancy — while others supporters may not have even known who he was.

But the doubters can all take heart from Potters’ trusted lieutenant Hamberg, who had similar fears before agreeing to work with him at Ostersunds.

Hamberg, 34, explained: “I remember I said to the chairman when he offered me the job, ‘I don’t even know the guy’.

“If I’m going to be the assistant to a random guy from England, it’s hard to say ‘Yeah, I’ll sign the contract’. The chairman laughed and said, ‘You will love him’. We’ve worked together ever since.”