Brighton chief Barber explains De Zerbi split

Brighton and their former head coach Roberto De Zerbi were right to make the decision they eventually did.

The Italian did not want to remain in charge at the Albion beyond this season.

Brighton have agreed to let him go and have begun their search for a new head coach.

Speaking about De Zerbi, Albion's deputy chairman and chief executive Paul Barber told The Argus: We have kept an open mind.

We didn't come to any conclusions too early. We wanted to make sure we all had plenty of opportunities to talk about how we wanted to work going forward and what it might look like.

In the end, we couldn't reach an agreement that worked for both sides.

I think you have to be grown-up in conversations like that and realize, if you can't reach the perfect agreement or one that is going to work for both sides, it is better to stay friendly, be sensible, be grown-up and bring the situation to an amicable conclusion.

So many times in relationships, if they start to fracture a little bit because people have different ideas, it can become acrimonious.

We didn't ever want it to get like that. It didn't get like that.

Roberto was of the same mindset. We talked and talked and talked and we just didn't get there.

There's still plenty of love for him from the club, from the fans, the staff and everybody. We really wish him well. He is a top coach and a really good person to work with."