Albion chairman Dick Knight has given a clear indication that manager Mark McGhee will be staying with the Seagulls after all.

An upbeat statement issued by Knight suggests he and chief executive Martin Perry have now persuaded major investor Tony Bloom that retaining McGhee is in the best interests of the club.

Knight has also praised the "valuable contribution" made by Bloom in keeping Albion alive while the money-draining fight for a new stadium at Falmer continues.

The chairman said: "My long experience of running the club and that of Martin Perry has led us to the same conclusion on what is best for the club in its current situation.

"The board with the help of Tony will continue to work together to take the Albion forward to Falmer.

"At the end of a disappointing season, there have been differences of opinion at board and investor level on the manager issue, but we are now making good progress and I'm confident of a strategic solution within days.

"What has never been in dispute is the role Tony Bloom has played in recent months.

"He has made a valuable contribution in helping to keep the club alive and kicking while we await the stadium go-ahead. He loves the Albion, and in the final analysis that is what is important."

Knight's declaration follows a series of Argus revelations about McGhee's future after Albion's relegation from the Championship.

On Monday, 24 hours after a closing 5-1 defeat for the Seagulls by Stoke at Withdean, we exposed a boardroom split over whether McGhee should stay or go.

On Wednesday we revealed McGhee, caught up in a power struggle, was on the brink of parting company with the club.

Knight and Perry were solidly behind him but Ray Bloom and fellow director Derek Chapman were siding with a major investor who wanted McGhee out.

On Thursday we unmasked Tony Bloom, Ray's nephew and a football betting expert and top poker player, as the investor in question.

Gary Hart, one of Albion's nine out-of-contract players, spoke out in yesterday's Argus about the unsettling effect of the crisis.

Knight says the players' contracts will be sorted out within the next fortnight.