At 6.45pm this evening news broke online that Melissa Phillips had been relieved of her duties as head coach of Brighton & Hove Albion Women. The club have announced that men’s academy coach Mikey Harris, supported by Owen Fisher, will take charge of the team on an interim basis.

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To a lot of fans this will come as a shock, and many will question how and why this has happened. Per Brighton & Hove Albion Technical Director David Weir:

“We have invested heavily in the women’s squad and infrastructure going into this season, and results and performances have not been at the level we had expected, given that investment.”

This only tells part of the story however, as it would be fair to ask why this decision has been made now, the day after the transfer window closed for the remainder of the season. Was there disharmony between Phillips and the board as to how many players were needed, or who should be targeted?

I’m not going to create a story out of nothing or wildly speculate, but given the fact that new signing Taylor Smith said Phillips was influential in her joining the Albion just last night, it would be fair to assume this all unravelled rather quickly, probably earlier today.

If the club thinks she has taken the team as far as it can go under her leadership, they won’t hesitate to make a change. It’s a theme with Brighton, they don’t wait for the rot to set in, they move when there is a whiff of damp.

So let’s look at a few facts and figures to try and put things into perspective:

Attacking:

• Goals scored in total 13, second worst in the league.
• xG (expected goals) for is 10.7, second worst in the league.
• Goals per shot is 0.12, good for fourth in the league.
• Brighton have won 0 penalties this season.
• Shots per/90 is 9.42, third worst in the league.
• Shots on target per/90 is 3.58, third worst in the league.
• ‘Goal creating actions’ per/90 averages at 1.67, third worst in the league.
• ‘Shot creating actions’ per/90 averages at 15.00, third worst in the league.
• Touches in the attacking third total 1378, fourth worst in the league.
• Touches in the opposing penalty area total 176, second worst in the league.
• Successful ‘take-ons’ per/90 is 47.4%, good for 7th in the league.

Passing/Possession:

• Pass accuracy for is 70.3%, which is second worst in the league.
• Passes into the final third total 272, third worst in the league.
• Passes into the penalty area total 64, second worst in the league.
• ‘Progressive passes’ total 356, second worst in the league.
• Successful carries total 3270, second worst in the league.
• ‘Progressive carries’ total 143, fourth worst in the league.
• Total average possession is 41.7%, second worst in the league.
• Total miscontrols is 231, worst in the league.
• Dispossessed 155 times, third worst in the league.

Defending:

• Goals conceded in total 27, second worst in the league.
• xG against is 25.9 which is the worst in the league.
• Brighton’s pass accuracy allowed is 78.8%, fourth worst in the league.
• Total tackles won is 140, 4th worst in the league.
• Total number of blocks stands at 178, fourth best in the league.
• Total number of shots blocked is 74, best in the league!
• Total number of passes blocked is 104, second worst in the league.
• Total number of interceptions is 135, second best in the league.
• Total number of clearances is 260, third best in the league.

Source: FBREF

I think we can all see that in many of the major statistical categories, Brighton have been somewhere between average and poor, with a few exceptions. Even some of the defensive stats – whilst positive in theory – it would be fair to suggest that the reason we (for example) block so many shots is at least partially down to the increased volume of of shots we face.

I think this shows that essentially, despite the signings made over the summer, we haven’t really improved on last year – never mind the start of this year. We did indeed have excellent performances against Manchester City and Manchester United, but these have to be weighed against poor outings against West Ham, Spurs and Leicester at home, and Liverpool and Villa away.

Ultimately I think there’s more to this story than poor performance and lack of positive results. However, if that’s as much as we are to know, then the board had their ammunition – look at the table, look at the stats. That being said I think she should have had more time, perhaps use the Liverpool game as a yardstick, or as many have argued, let her see out this season. Alas, it was not to be and once again the Albion are looking for a new women’s team head coach…