Fabian Hurzeler has just one complaint about Albion’s team-building bingo night.
And that was that he could not cross just one more number off his card.
The head coach was part of a social gathering for non-playing staff as he got to know those around him at Lancing.
His assistant Jonas Scheuermann planned a big night which gave employees a great chance to get to know the football boss a little better.
And it appears to have gone down well around the club.
Hurzeler sees such moments as key to encouraging a togetherness and sense of unity - and not just among the players.
So great team building.
But he would have loved to have won.
Asked whether bingo is big in Germany, he said: “I never played it before so it was really interesting to play it.
“I am very competitive.
“I was close, I missed one number so I was angry with him (Scheuermann) that he didn’t mention the number and someone else won.
“We have to play it again and hopefully then I have a chance to win.”
While the bingo night has been linked to Albion’s win over Manchester City which soon followed, it was actually not for players.
About 25 staff members from all departments stayed behind after hours to enjoy the evening.
Hurzeler said: “For me in general it is very important that I spend an amount of time with my coaching team, with Crofty (coach Andrew Crofts), with Jonas, with the analysts, with the goalkeeper coaches.
“But it is also very important to spend time with my kitman, with my chef, with my physio, with my doctors because we need to have a sense of community.
“We need to have a sense of building a culture where everyone buys in.
“Where everyone is on the same page.
“That is crucial for being successful.
“I always say that everyone has to be emotionally satisfied.
“If you are emotionally satisfied, then you are really buying into it.
“I also try to create these nights or these things where we get together, where we meet each other, where we talk about private things, where I get to know more about the person behind the role he has here.
“So it’s not only a physio, it’s a person who has like me who has needs, who has wishes, who has family background, who might suffer at home, who maybe is moving house or has a new baby.
“These are all things that matter.
“Especially on these nights you get to know them more and more.
“In general it is always a very tough business, a very busy business and sometimes we miss talking to each other. We only focus on the task. We only focus on ‘We have to be successful’.
“Yes. We have to be successful but you are successful if everyone is on the same page and if everyone feels valued.
“I think that is the most important, by having these nights.
“It shouldn’t happen artificially, it should happen in a natural way.
“That is why I am a big fan of these nights.”
Hurzeler joked that Scheuermann might now have a sideline to add to his coaching skills.
He said: “Jonas organised it and I am very pleased with him, how he organised it.
“He is a master of bingo, I didn’t know that, so if you need to book him, let me know!
“He will cost a lot but he is a great master of the bingo!”
Hurzeler enjoys Scheuermann’s contribution to the set-up.
He said: “Jonas brings amazing energy to the whole club, the whole environment, the whole atmosphere.
“He is full of positivity. He’s an energiser for the whole club and that’s what makes him so special.
“I’ve never met a person with this energy, not only to do it for ten minutes or 20 minutes.
“He is doing it consistently every day and I think the environment where you are working is so important.”
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