It was a very quiet start to 2009 for Brighton and it was not until the 17th January that they got their first taste of league action,sadly it ended in another poor defeat again as the Seagulls went down timidly to promotion chasing Leeds United.
Already under fire manager Micky Adams infuriated fans even further in a post match interview by claiming that the players ‘needed a cuddle’!
The rest of January saw results improving with credible away draws at Cheltenham and league leaders Leicester, followed by a last gasp win against Hartlepool at the Withdean which saw debutant loan striker Calvin Andrew net the winner for the home side.
There was also still the strong possibility of a trip to Wembley as the side had reached the Southern Area final of the Johnstons Paint Trophy..the leagues bottom side Luton Town looked to be very beatable on paper but showed resilience to easily hold a spineless looking Albion to a goaless draw at the Withdean. The Seagulls would have to up their game in the second leg at Kenilworth Road if they were to give the fans a day to remember, and quite possibly save their managers job too.
Febuary saw them sliding deeper and deeper into the relegation zone with a poor home defeat against Peterborough United followed by yet another reverse at Carlisle.
The Wembley dream was cruelly dashed as they went down on penalties to Luton in the second leg of the Johnstons Paint Trophy southern final after a 1-1 draw in normal time. Although the Albion can count themselves a bit unfortunate not to have reached the final, they only really had themselves to blame for not being able to overcome lower league opposition, who conincidentally, went on to triumph in the final.
This was the last straw for many and by now, the majority of fans were calling for a change in management as Micky Adams had failed to reproduce the magic of his first stint with the club.
Chairman Dick Knight had stood by Adams until this point but in a meeting between the two a couple of days after the Luton match, it was agreed that Adams could take the club no further and he promptly resigned.
Assistant manager Dean White and reserve team coach Bob Booker took temporary charge and their first game in charge saw an upturn in fortunes in a 1-0 victory at Millwall, this was followed by a 1-1 draw at Northampton and a dreadful 4-0 home defeat against relegation rivals Crewe. As a reaction to this, 5 further new loan signings were bought in taking the tally used to date into double figures.
As February came to a close and the club still deep in the mire and low on confidence, it was patently obvious that a new manager needed to be installed and very quickly.
Various names were thrown in to the hat such as Paul Ince, Alan Pardew and Jim Gannon…but the job of trying to keep the Seagulls airborne in League 1 would eventually go to someone else with a proven track record
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