Graham Potter: Where He Lost It at Chelsea and Why It Is Difficult to Turn It Around

Graham Potter: Where He Lost It at Chelsea and Why It Is Difficult to Turn It Around

Elijah Odetokun
updated at April 12, 2023 at 8:26 PM
  • Chelsea lost 2-0 to Tottenham on Sunday in another disappointing result for the Blues
  • Graham Potter has now lost the confidence of the majority of the fans who are calling for his sack
  • A petition on change.org to sack him has garnered over 36,000 signatures but where did he lose it?

Graham Potter is the captain of Chelsea's sinking ship right now, and an end is not in sight for the turbulence, despite starting relatively strong at Chelsea and impressing the fans in his first few games in charge.

It was hard for the fans to accept the departure of their beloved Thomas Tuchel, who was sacked on September 7, 2022, after losing their UEFA Champions League opener to Croatian opponents Dinamo Zagreb a day before.

The best way to win over the fans after his departure was to hire another elite manager, and not many were without a job then. Todd Boehly went for the former Brighton manager intending to build something long-term.

Graham Potter, Chelsea, Premier League.
Graham Potter looking defeated during the match against Tottenham Hotspur. Photo by Robbie Jay Barratt.
Source: Getty Images

As reported by Metro UK, Chelsea paid a release clause of £16m to Brighton and handed a five-year contract worth £12m per year to the Solihull-born manager to replace a Champions League winner and lead the blues into the next era.

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Where Potter lost it

Potter started relatively strong at Chelsea. His first game was a draw against RB Salzburg in the Champions League, followed by a series of wins against Crystal Palace, AC Milan, Wolves and Aston Villa.

The honeymoon ended with draws against Brentford and Manchester United, which began trouble for Graham Potter. His comments after the draw reeked of mid-table mentality and not one built at Chelsea over the years.

''I thought over the course of the game, a point was fair. They had chances, and we had chances. We pushed and pushed at the end. Probably, more likely at the end to score, but at the same time, over the course of the game, a point was about right, he said after the Brentford match,'' as quoted by Football London.

Barring the Champions League wins against RB Salzburg and Dinamo Zagreb, the Blues lost four straight domestic games to Brighton, Arsenal, Manchester City and Newcastle before the World Cup break.

The form has failed to recover after the World Cup, with two wins in 12 games since then, and the team is on the verge of Champions League elimination, despite spending over £300m in January.

Why Chelsea fans want Potter out

In the words of Nigerian media personality Biola Kazeem, the club under former owner Roman Abramovich drew the majority of its mentality from the Russian's manic desire to win and intolerance for failure.

As reported by SB Nation, Frank Lampard faced the sack precisely a month after he said the team was not ready to compete for titles, months after spending over £200m.

Fans have been used to this, and beyond the poor results on the pitch, Potter's words exhibit a weak mentality, and his presence on the pitch lacks fighting spirit, which is why fans want him out.

Fans start petition against Potter

Sports Brief earlier reported that fans have started a petition calling for the immediate sack of the former Swansea manager, and it has garnered over 35,000 signatures.

The campaign against the 47-year-old first started with a PotterOut trend on Twitter and has now graduated to a petition on change.org.

It looks very unlikely Todd Boehly will sack the manager he trusted and spent huge to equip in January, but how long can he withstand the poor results?

Authors
Elijah Odetokun photo
Elijah Odetokun
Elijah Odetokun is Reuters-trained journalist with three years of experience having previously worked at Daily Times Nigeria, OmaSports and El Futbolero.
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