Despite his spell in charge of Chelsea being nothing short of nightmarish, there was once a time when Graham Potter did merit a move to a bigger club. The 47-year-old once had suitors in every corner of England after the excellent job he did at Brighton Hove Albion between 2019 and 2022, but has found himself unemployed just seven months on from his decision to accept an approach from the Blues in the days that followed Thomas Tuchel's sacking in September last year. Fingers will be pointed at co-owner Todd Boehly and the manner in which the American has run the club since replacing Roman Abramovich, but this won't be a stumbling block Potter comes back from very easily, writes Soccer Laduma international journalist Kurt Buckerfield.
A tough job made harder?
The cut-throat nature of football was on full display on Sunday as Chelsea players arrived home from training – a light session for those who played in their 2-0 defeat to Aston Villa at Stamford Bridge and a normal session for those who didn't – to find out on social media that Graham Potter had been relieved of his duties as head coach. The Blues' form since the 47-yearold's arrival in September had been wildly inconsistent, but their loss at home to Villa after the international break proved to be the final straw. In a statement released on the club's website, Chelsea thanked Potter for his efforts and insisted their respect for the Eglishman still remained, but those words will likely mean little to the man whose already difficult job was made harder during the January transfer window. Chelsea's new ownership group, which Todd Boehly appears to very much be the face of, pulled the trigger on Potter after spending just short of £300 million (R6.6 billion) on eight new arrivals in January. Joao Felix (on loan), Enz Fernandez and Benoit Badiashile were among those to come in to try help bolster the team's chances of qualifying for a place in Europe, but in reality the club's unique splurge seemed to bloat the squad and leave Potter stuck between a rock and a hard place. However, while matters may have been made more complicated by Boehly and his advisors, their decision to call time on the ex-Brighton boss' tenure after seven months is perhaps justified when his record is compared to some of those who came before him as he leaves Chelsea with a points-per-game return of just 1.27 in the Premier League, making his record the joint-lowest of any manager to take charge of the team for more than 20 games in England's top division. He picked the team on matchdays and it was his instructions the players followed, and therefore it is he who was responsible for the way they performed.
Why sack him now?
Prior to their defeat this past weekend, the Blues had been on a four-match unbeaten run across all competitions after picking up three consecutive victories over Leeds United, Borussia Dortmund and Leicester City and then drawing to Everton at home before many of the players joined up with their national teams for the break. The painful result on Saturday forced the club's hand, but it could be fair to suggest that Boehly and those working closely with him will have been deeply concerned by how some of their January investments have got on since joining the team. Ukraine international Mykhailo Mudryk, signed for £61 million (R1.3 billion) following a public jousting with Arsenal for his signature, has registered just a single assist in his eight appearances in blue so far, while 21-year-old English winger Noni Madueke, who was lured from PSV Eindhoven for £30 million (R660 million), has seen just 215 minutes of game-time. From the outside, it often appeared as if Potter had little influence over who the club recruited, but the responsibility to get those new signings to perform ultimately lay with him. Furthermore, with 10 league games remaining until the end of the season and a UEFA Champions League quarter-final tie with Real Madrid looming, reports claim that Boehly Co. believe a fresh face in the dugout might improve their chances of salvaging something from the campaign.
Has Potter's reputation taken a knock?
Once a highly sought-after, promising English manager praised for his teams' ability to move the ball around in an attractive manner, it's difficult to imagine another top club coming in for Potter right away and if they did, there will be concerns among those who might have believed the Chelsea job was too big for him. While acknowledging his obvious shortcomings in London, however, there weren't many who believed Chelsea's January spending would result in anything but this. The general consensus appears to be that the pressure on Potter to succeed unfairly increased at the turn of the year as he was made to work with a squad he did not shape himself, but that doesn't mean there won't be fair reservations held against him. As a by-product of his career path so far, Potter did not join Chelsea with an impressive track record of working with high-profile footballers, so shaking off the inevitable narrative that he can't work with players on a higher pay grade will be far from easy. Furthermore, his arrival in September last year meant that he had no pre-season to aid his moulding of the side. Though nobody can be sure thing things would have gone smoother for the former Ostersund and Swansea City head coach had that been the case, it has often been proven that managers need time to implement their ideas. Potter had no such luck and paid the price, and it is likely that club owners and sporting directors with skin in the game will assess his time at Stamford Bridge in that context.
His replacement?
Former Brighton defender Bruno Saltor, who was on Potter's coaching staff, will work as interim manager while the club works on finding his long-term replacement. Ex-Bayern Munich manager Julian Nagelsmann is hotly tipped as the favourite. The German tactician recently parted ways with the Bavarian giants, three years before the end of the contract he agreed to at the Bundesliga champions, and has reportedly been appreciated by Chelsea's board for some time. Boehly is believed to have already established a relationship with Nagelsmann's representatives, who also look after Timo Werner, the striker whose sale was sanctioned by the American last year. Mauricio Pochettino has also been linked with the vacant position, although there is a belief that he could be tempted to make himself available to Tottenham Hotspur following Antonio Conte's departure last month.
