Chelsea
have sacked Graham Potter as their head coach.
Julian Nagelsmann, sacked a week ago as Bayern Munich boss, has been
installed as the favourite to replace Potter.
Potter was appointed on September 8 on a five-year deal, but has left the
club just seven months into that contract, after winning seven of his 22
Premier League games in charge.
"I feel for Graham Potter, but it was inevitable," summarised Sky Sports
pundit Jamie Carragher. "You don't change Tuchel for Potter. Ridiculous
decision to start with."
Chelsea face Real Madrid in the Champions League quarter-finals later this
month but Potter's departure follows Chelsea's 2-0 defeat at home to Aston
Villa, a result which left the Blues 11th in the Premier League table, 12
points behind fourth-placed Manchester United. During the Stamford Bridge
defeat, a section of Chelsea supporters sang: "you don't know what you're
doing" at Potter.
Who will be the next Chelsea boss?
According to Chelsea, Potter 'has agreed to collaborate with the Club to
facilitate a smooth transition.'
Former Brighton defender Bruno Saltor has been appointed as interim head
coach, with his first game coming at home to Liverpool on Tuesday, live on
Sky Sports.
But Nagelsmann has already emerged as a frontrunner to be Potter's long-term
successor.
"For all Chelsea's insistence that they were investing in a process manager
and his "innovative coaching" - plus their continued claims of backing his
vision - the club's approach, especially recruitment-wise, was in contrast
to Graham Potter's entire career," reflected Sky Sports' Melissa Reddy.
"Chelsea have twice before tried to tempt Mauricio Pochettino. They are one
of three known Premier League clubs making a long play for [Brighton boss
and Potter successor] Roberto De Zerbi. But the timing of this Potter
decision, with Nagelsmann freshly available and Spurs circling, is
instructive."
However, there are doubts that the 35-year-old German is prepared to move to
London.
"Chelsea will have been doing their homework in the background, trying to
set up a replacement. At the moment, we don't know who that person will be.
What we do know is that they want Julian Nagelsmann and and he is available
at the moment," explained Sky Sports News' chief reporter Kaveh Solhekol.
"The latest information we have coming out from Sky Germany is that they're
not convinced that he's going to want to move from Germany and take another
job straightaway. Maybe he's going to want to wait until the summer to give
him a little bit of a chance to recharge his batteries after leaving Bayern
Munich."
How Chelsea called time on Potter
Sky
Sports News has been told that while results were a huge factor in Potter's
sacking, they were not the only reason.
It is thought the Stamford Bridge board, who approved a £300m spending spree
in the January transfer window, no longer saw the progress they wanted to
see and "couldn't sustain the lack of progress anymore".
Potter's sacking was a unanimous decision following the defeat to Villa.
Speaking about Potter's sacking, a statement from Chelsea co-owners Todd
Boehly and Behdad Eghbali said: "On behalf of everyone at the club, we want
to thank Graham sincerely for his contribution to Chelsea.
"We have the highest degree of respect for Graham as a coach and as a
person. He has always conducted himself with professionalism and integrity
and we are all disappointed in this outcome.
"Along with our incredible fans, we will all be getting behind Bruno and the
team as we focus on the rest of the season.
"We have 10 Premier League games remaining and a Champions League
quarter-final ahead. We will put every effort and commitment into every one
of those games so that we can end the season on a high."
Potter's final words as Chelsea manager
Former Chelsea manager Graham Potter after his side's 2-0 loss to Aston
Villa on Saturday:
"We came in September, there's a lot of games, a lot of injuries. It's
difficult to have consistency you want as you're playing a lot of matches.
Today is a bit of a setback, of course it is, we're disappointed to lose. At
home, we can feel pain of supporters. We have to dust ourselves down and go
again for Tuesday.
"I understand when you lose at home, the emotions of the game is such that
people are going to be disappointed, frustrated. angry. We're not happy with
where we are in the table. Whatever criticism comes, we have to accept.
"They [the players] are professional footballers, they play for Chelsea.
They understand demands, they're not stupid. They accept responsibility, are
honest and want to do better. They are fighting for each other and fighting
together."
'You can't spend £550m and be 11th in the
Premier League'
Sky Sports News' chief reporter Kaveh Solhekol:
"Todd Bohely was instrumental in appointing Potter - he's the one that has
been backing him and keeping him in the job. Other senior people at Chelsea
wanted to make this change earlier but ultimately they weren't able to make
that decision until now. Under the previous owner Roman Abramovich he would
have been sacked three or four times.
"A Chelsea manager is usually someone with a massive personality, big ego
and a CV with lots of trophies on it. It was a shock when they sacked Tuchel
- he had won three trophies in 20 months including the Champions League.
They were fifth in the Premier League when Tuchel was sacked, it was seen as
a risk to sack a manager of the calibre of Tuchel and take a real risk with
Potter. He wouldn't have got the job under the previous owners.
"This is a manager that cost the club £21m to get him from Brighton so they
made a massive investment and gave him a five-year contract. But if you have
spent £550m in two transfer windows and are 11th in the Premier League then
if you are the manager you are going to pay for that with your job.
"A big issue is the fact Chelsea players have a lot of power and you need a
big personality to manage them and to work with them. Even Frank Lampard had
an aura about him and respect at the club. Potter is a very good coach but
the Chelsea job is one of the biggest jobs in world football and to do that
job you need to be of the stature of a Jose Mourinho, Antonio Conte or
Tuchel.
"I think it will damage Potter's reputation at the top level. He couldn't
have turned this job down - he did his best and carried himself impeccably
at all times, taking responsibility. He had to put up with a lot too about
people reporting that he may lose his job and it was well documented about
the threats sent to him and his family. It will have taken a lot out of him.
But I'm sure he will be back. Potter is a fabulous coach and manager. Maybe
Chelsea was one level too high for him at this point in his career."
Who is Bruno Saltor?
Sky Sports' Lewis Jones:
"With no managerial experience, Potter's first-team coach Bruno Saltor is
the unlikely man tasked with leading Chelsea until the end of the season,
including a Champions League quarter-final up against Carlo Ancelotti.
"He was a cult favourite as a player at Brighton, making 235 appearances for
the Seagulls before moving on to Potter's coaching staff as senior player
development coach in June 2019 at the south coast club.
"His playing status is immortalised with a mural in Brighton entitled 'El
Capitan' which was painted on the side of a building in the city's North
Laine area to mark their first season in the Premier League.
"Let's see where the future takes me and I will just try to be ready for
whatever comes up," Bruno said in an interview with Sky Sports in 2021.
"He is now - for time being - the manager of Chelsea. Let's see if he's
ready."
Opinion: Humiliation for Chelsea owners
Sky Sports' Adam Bate:
As weekends go, Todd Boehly and Chelsea could hardly have endured a more
humiliating one. Thomas Tuchel, freshly installed as Bayern Munich head
coach, takes his new team to the top of the Bundesliga with an emphatic win
over erstwhile leaders Borussia Dortmund.
Simultaneously, over at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea are succumbing to a 2-0
home defeat to Aston Villa that sees them drop into the bottom half of the
Premier League table. The next day, Graham Potter, the man chosen to replace
Tuchel at great expense, is dispensed with.
Though Chelsea remain in the Champions League, Potter can have few
complaints. Clearly, with so much change at the club, this has been a
difficult situation. But his job title was that of head coach not manager.
He had to be judged on the results on the pitch. They were miserable.
Potter was unable to establish a clear style, a cohesive pattern of play,
the sort of partnerships that might have hinted at better days ahead if only
he was afforded more time. Progress is more than a waiting game. It is a
living thing and Chelsea needed to see signs of it developing.
For Potter, these problems are now behind him. He will have opportunities
elsewhere. The vacancy at Leicester might well prove a good fit. For
Chelsea, the problems remain. They must find someone who can fashion
something from an oddly assembled squad that still requires surgery.
Several signings have struggled badly and may have to be moved on. Others
appear long-term projects that will need time and trust if they are to
succeed. Having sacked two coaches inside their first season, Chelsea's
owners have already demonstrated that will be in short supply.
Chelsea's remaining 2022/23 fixtures
April 4: Liverpool (H) - Premier League, kick-off 8pm, live on Sky Sports
April 8: Wolves (A) - Premier League, kick-off 3pm
April 12: Real Madrid (A), Champions League quarter-final, kick-off 8pm
April 15: Brighton (H) - Premier League, kick-off 3pm
April 18: Real Madrid (H), Champions League quarter-final, kick-off 8pm
April 26: Brentford (H) - Premier League, kick-off 7.45pm
April 29: Arsenal (A) - Premier League, kick-off 5.30pm, live on Sky Sports
May 6: Bournemouth (A) - Premier League, kick-off 3pm
May 13: Nottingham Forest (H) - Premier League, kick-off 3pm
May 20: Manchester City (A) - Premier League, kick-off 3pm
May 28: Newcastle (H) - Premier League, kick-off 4.30pm
TBA: Man Utd (A) - Premier League
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