First he lost coach Nathan Jones to Luton, then his assistant Colin Calderwood to Aston Villa.

Now Albion's European scout Jamie Johnson is jumping ship to join Rotherham.

And yet, despite persistent upheavals amongst his support staff, the Seagulls continue to thrive under Chris Hughton's leadership.

What are the secrets to the success of the manager who won the Championship with Newcastle, took tomorrow's opponents Birmingham into the play-offs, kept Norwich in the Premier League for a year and now has Albion eight points clear in second place after missing out on promotion so narrowly last season?

Nobody is better equipped to provide the answers than perhaps the biggest loss of all to Hughton (below) in recent months.

The Argus: He has known Ewan Chester for 20 years, since the days when the Scot was watching matches in England on behalf of Glasgow Rangers and Hughton was moving into coaching at Spurs.

They would regularly bump into each other, have a chat over a coffee. They shared similar views about how the game should be played. It was only a matter of time before they worked together.

They first linked up at Birmingham. Chester became Hughton's chief scout at St Andrew's, again at Norwich and at Albion shortly after he was appointed manager at the Amex almost two years ago.

 

 Chester left to go back to Birmingham in the summer under the title of 'football consultant', a move motivated in part by a clash of recruitment styles.

The 'old school' scout, who served Rangers for two decades before moving south of the border, has revealed to The Argus the reason behind Hughton's enduring ability to succeed in a cut-throat industry where the reign expectancy of managers reduces by the day.

Chester, 56, told The Argus: "I've worked closely with him at three clubs. He's a good man as well as being a good manager.

"He is very organised, a top coach, and part of our success last year was if we couldn't win we didn't lose. We were resilient.

"In terms of setting up and the shape of the team, it is always really well structured. That is one of his strengths.

"Another thing is the quality of his man management. He treats people the right way and players want to play for him.

"What he did exceptionally well at Brighton last year was the No.12 to No.25. He deals with them extremely well. The spirit of the 25-man squad was outstanding. If we had to call on a player they were very committed and ready to slot in."

Chester left Albion at the beginning of June. he had an offer from a Premier League club but headed back to Birmingham instead to work with their now ex-manager Gary Rowett.

"I went with Chris's blessing," he said. "I still speak to him on a weekly basis. I am going to ask him what his team is!

"I had two offers to be a football consultant. I deal with the manager and chief executive.

"At Brighton what the owner (Tony Bloom) has done is outstanding. His philosophy on recruitment is based on technology. I was used to working more closely with Chris as manager/chief scout."

Chester's departure from the recruitment team, headed by Paul Winstanley, has not affected Albion's progress. He did not anticipate it would with Hughton still at the helm after last season's near-miss.

The Argus: "I am not surprised," Chester said. "I expected an initial reaction and possibly there was a little flattening in the early games. Significant in the success this season is they have brought a really good Championship spine - Shane Duffy, Steve Sidwell, Oliver Norwood (above) and particularly Glenn Murray.

"Chris wanted Glenn from day one in January 2015. If you have got somebody who more or less guarantees you 20 goals, that is a tremendous boost.

"If you fall behind in a game and have got goals in the team, that is key."

Birmingham, meanwhile, are on the fringes of the promotion race themselves. It is unclear what impact, if any, Rowett's controversial departure 48 hours ago and the appointment of Gianfranco Zola by the club's Chinese owners will have on Chester's position.

He said: "We've had a good season so far and been in the top six. We hope to get back into the top six around Christmas, that's our target.

"We brought in six players in the summer, so it was quite a turnaround. We want to be active in January as well. We've had the takeover, there are a lot of positives around the club."

Chester's future may suddenly be a little uncertain - but he is pretty sure what the future holds for Albion with Hughton in charge.

"It is such a strong division," he said. "Several are trading as if they are Premier League clubs. The competition is intense.

"Objectively, there is a strong case for Newcastle and Brighton finishing as the top two."