Former Albion manager Micky Adams has backed his successor Peter Taylor to keep the Seagulls in the promotion picture.

The new Leicester No. 2 has hailed Taylor as a "good appointment" after he guided Gillingham to Division One two seasons ago.

Taylor consulted Adams about his move in the opposite direction from Filbert Street to Withdean.

"He spoke to me on Monday," Adams revealed. "I genuinely believe it is a good football club with a tremendous set of players and fans, even though I am receiving a bit of hate mail at the moment.

"I always had a good relationship with them, the Board of Directors give you as much backing as they possibly can and the chairman nine times out of ten delivers what he says.

"There weren't as far as I was concerned too many negative things to talk to Peter about.

"I think it's a good appointment, somebody with a proven track record at that level in getting a team promoted at Gillingham.

"It shows me what a good job I did that the club attracted a high profile manager.

"I don't think when Jeff Wood was sacked they got many high profile people who wanted the job, but that is the progress we made.

"I don't think they have got anything to worry about in terms of other teams. Peter has a great squad of players who work hard and a great backroom staff, all the ingredients to be successful.

"They have got themselves in a great position to progress and I wish the club well. Every time I have been in a job it's because someone has been sacked.

"The club received good compensation for me and hopefully that will give Peter some money to strengthen the squad."

The estimated £300,000 pay-out Albion landed from Leicester for Adams will not, it seems, be available to Taylor to tinker with the line-up.

Asked if funds are available to him, he revealed: "I don't think so, which was explained to me when I had the interview with Dick (Knight).

"They've got a good squad here in numbers and ability, so I am looking to give everyone a chance and have a good look at everybody.

"The chairman is very enthusiastic. I had a four hour interview with him and I said a couple of words!"

Taylor's sacking from Leicester has not shaken his self-belief. "I honestly feel a lot of things were happening that I could do nothing about," he said.

"It wasn't because I was doing loads wrong. I have never lost faith.

"Everywhere you go you pick up certain things and I am sure that has happened to me. There are certain things I may be doing slightly different on or off the pitch, but I'll keep them to myself.

"I like to set players targets in training and over a season. My training will be certain things to test their ability to the maximum."

Taylor, married with two daughters and currently based in Thorpe Bay, Essex, already has plans to relocate closer to the Brighton area.

"I wanted to stay down south," he said. "It enables me to live maybe halfway between Brighton and Southend, which is nice for my family. That was one of the reasons that made up my mind."

Eight topsy-turvy years in Football League management have done nothing to dampen the snappy humour of a man renowned in his Crystal Palace days for his impression of veteran comic and former Albion director Norman Wisdom.

Asked why he had plumped for the Seagulls other than the fact that it is the nearest club to Europe, Taylor quipped: "I worked at Dover don't forget!"

He is not anticipating any hangover from Albion fans as an ex-player with arch-rivals Palace. "We used to have some fantastic ding-dongs, but my mind is totally focused on Brighton," he said. "I have not thought about Palace at all."

Another former Albion manager, Jimmy Case, believes resolving the Falmer stadium issue is the key to Taylor being able to take the club forward.

"Brighton are playing good football and I think they have made a good appointment, but the problem is the ground," Case said. "They need to get that sorted out or else Peter will have his work cut out to take them higher than they are."

Gillingham boss Andy Hessenthaler was Taylor's assistant before taking charge at the Priestfield Stadium. He reckons the Seagulls are heading for Division One under the ex-England coach.

"He's a fantastic manager and I did not think it would be very long before he was back," Hessenthaler declared. "It was very difficult for him at Leicester after the success of Martin O'Neill, but it's a fantastic appointment for Brighton.

"We played them pre-season and thought they were a great side and a club with a really good chance of promotion. If he can keep Zamora, which I'm sure he will try to, then they've got every chance."