The rumor mill has been spinning with multiple inside reports explaining some of the reasons why Chelsea decided to sack Graham Potter as their manager despite the new bosses having acted on the contrary all this while to show open backing publicly for him even though the results on the pitch have been appalling since he assumed the reins from Thomas Tuchel.
The Blues sacking the former Brighton manager had always been a foregone conclusion way before the act happened, only that the news of his sudden sacking broke out most unexpectedly as it happened at a crucial juncture when most clubs wouldn’t have dared chance making such a decision with the end of the campaign already in sight. Besides, the poor bloke had only been there less than seven months. Looks like the ghost of Abramomich is haunting the corridors of the club.
Additionally, reports from The Evening Standard, The Independent, and The Telegraph have have furnished various reasons why Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali finally decided to pull the plug on him after having handed him an attractive five-year contract back in September in the aftermath of Thomas Tuchel’s totally unexpected sacking. Unfortunately, as the entire football world was witness to, the former Brighton man just couldn’t cut it and failed dismally to live up to expectations when push came to shove.
Despite £600 million being spent on new players this season, the Blues find themselves 11th in the league and in the bottom half of the table.
The toxicity was noticeably pervasive in the atmosphere at Stamford Bridge in recent weeks, and Chelsea fans made known their displeasure after the 2-0 slap in the face by Aston Villa on Saturday.
This being invariably Potter’s 11th defeat in 31 games in charge of Chelsea, not to mention heavy defeats to Manchester City in the FA Cup and especially to his former club Brighton back in October, the death knell was sounded for the gaffer.
However, new reports now reveal that there is more than meets the eye and that the reasons for sacking him go beyond the dismal results on the pitch.
Apparently the tide had begun to turn against Potter much earlier after a disappointing 1-0 loss to Southampton in February. Then, The Telegraph reported that while Chelsea’s owners were still standing staunchly behind Potter at the time, desirous of seeing progress after that game.
Suffice it to say that not only was this made increasingly difficult to see as some of Potter’s decisions reportedly made his position almost untenable.
Like the decision to start Hakim Ziyech against Tottenham was highlighted in particular because the Moroccan had nearly joined Paris Saint-Germain in the January transfer window.
That aside, various reports also detailed the escalating discontent within the dressing room, with Potter said to be disrespected by his squad.
The Evening Standard then reported that although Potter was liked, the squad kept alluding to Harry Potter and even showed a clear lack of respect at times, with references to the popular series of films also reported by The Independent, with comments about Quidditch liberally tossed around, and they add that the comments apparently had more “bite” when things were not going so well.
That lack of respect had purportedly stemmed from the gaffer’s supposed lack of a reputable CV, as reports also suggested that some players who no idea at all know who he was, which clearly didn’t augur well for Potter.
Chelsea was the former Brighton boss’ first big break, after stints at Brighton, Swansea City, and Ostersunds. Admittedlly these were hardly positions that would make anyone sit up and take notice of, and The Independent wrote that some players had to actually look up his career and that transfer targets were also unfamiliar with who Potter was.
All this added up to make it immensely difficult for Potter to win the respect of his players, let alone hope to control them, a situation which was hampered even further by a lack of belief from dressing room leaders that he could lead to the Holy Grail.
Analysis meetings were said to be especially, and unusually, quiet according to The Evening Standard, who said that leaders within the dressing room were not as vocal as one might expect and, as a consequence, failed to rally those around them, with one source describing that “everything felt wrong”.
Another crucial factor that played a key part was the addition of £600 million worth of new players and the fact that Chelsea’s bloated squad was both a blessing and a curse for Potter as he did not fare well with his team selections.
Chelsea’s owners can surely be forgiven for being baffled by the clear lack of progress, as The Evening Standard reports that Potter persisted in obdurately choosing new signings over experienced, homegrown players, which left the involved parties frustrated.
That frustration inevitably grew, leading to greater discord as the new players continued to perform poorly.
The Blues will now begin their earnest, possibly desperate, hunt for a third manager in less than a year, with former Bayern Munich boss Julian Nagelsmann reported to be hot in the running.