Adams leaves with a heavy heart

He paid tribute to the squad he has left behind, describing them as "the best set of players I have ever worked with".

And he has urged them to build on the foundations he has laid by finishing in the top six.

Albion start life without Adams at Huddersfield on Saturday. He launches his new career as Leicester's No. 2 alongside Dave Bassett against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, but he will be with the Seagulls in spirit at the McAlpine Stadium.

"I am devastated to go, because it is the best set of players I have ever worked with," Adams said. "Whoever takes over is going to be lucky, if they don't change things very quickly.

"Everything on the football side in terms of what we do on the pitch is set up. There are good, honest and hard-working people and when I say that I mean the backroom staff and players.

"The biggest testament to me would be for them to carry on with what they are doing and achieve the ambition. First of all that is to stay in the Second Division, but we showed in the first 12 games we are as good as anybody and can compete.

"I have never said this publicly before, but I think the play-offs or automatic promotion is not out of reach.

"Apart from Kerry Mayo and Gary Hart, who were left behind from another regime, it is my squad and if they weren't good enough they wouldn't be here."

Adams is leaving Albion with a "heavy heart".

He has settled in Burgess Hill with his partner and their baby son, but the lure of teaming up again with Bassett and the prospect of eventually taking over from him proved irresistible.

"I'm having a new kitchen built, so it's not something I have welcomed at this particular time," Adams revealed. "I haven't chased this.

"I enjoy the area and loved working down here, but maybe it is time for me to go and really test myself.

"That is not to say I haven't been tested at Brighton, but I could be accused of being in a safety zone. I have done exactly what I was brought in to do.

"It is not about money, that has never been a motivating factor for me. I didn't ask for this opportunity to come up, but the way it has been sold to me made it too good to turn down.

"I said in the summer I was disappointed not to get an opportunity to speak to Southampton and West Ham, two Premiership jobs available at that time.

"That told me people were not looking down in the lower Leagues for managers, so I realised the root I would probably have to take was to get into a Premiership club, learn to a certain degree and then hopefully be in a position to impress everybody and fulfill my ambitions.

"The fact that it's working with Dave Bassett is a big factor. He is somebody I admire and respect. I am not talking about the same role I had at Nottingham Forest, where I did very little.

"I have spoken to Dave about the job I am taking on and I am hopefully going to do a lot more work on the training pitch. You have got to have confidence in your own ability. I've always had that and I try to stress that to my players."

While Albion have continued to thrive on the field this season, Adams has been agitated by the training ground saga and slow progress on the Falmer Stadium plans.

He absolves chairman Dick Knight and the rest of the Board from any blame for that.

"Some of the things that have frustrated me this season are not Board of Director problems, they are problems other people have created," he said.

When Sheffield-born Adams arrived at Albion from Forest in April 1999 they were languishing in 15th place in the Third Division after a poor run of results under Jeff Wood.

During his two and a half years in charge he has totally transformed the playing staff and Albion's fortunes.

His 25 permanent signings, headed by Bobby Zamora, cost a grand total of just £315,000 and only goal difference is currently keeping the fourth-placed Seagulls off the top of the Second Division.

"This football club has been good for me and to me, but I think I have more than repaid the club," Adams said. "I am devastated because I was more than happy here.

"But I have left a great set of players and Bobby Zamora, who is worth millions, so I don't think I have anything to reproach myself about."

Mayo, who is scheduled to make his 200th appearance for the club at Huddersfield, is sorry to see Adams go.

"The gaffer never really hid the fact that he is ambitious and if a chance to go to a Premiership club comes up you have got to take it with both hands," he said.

"The same goes for all of the players here, especially if you have got a family to think about.

"He has done an awful lot for me football wise. He has made me more confident in my game and relaxed me. Being a leftback himself and having played at the top level I respected his opinions and took them on board.

"It has taken the shine off my 200th appearance. A lot of the talk is going to be about the gaffer not being there."

Mayo, who signed a new three-year contract in the summer, added: "He was good to play under. You never knew what the team was until you were in the dressing room, which kept everybody on their toes.

"He was very good on background work as well, knowing all about other teams, who you were meant to mark at corners and stuff like that."