The divorce between Chelsea and Graham Potter has been completed. Six months is all it took for Chelsea co-owner Todd Boehly to pull the trigger for the second time since acquiring the club in the summer and the Blues’ 2-0 defeat to Aston Villa on Saturday was the final straw.
It comes from a marriage that was destined to fail. Potter and Boehly were not right for one another. The American owner wanted a coach to come in and immediately deliver silverware for the Blues whereas Potter would’ve wanted to build a project similar to what he oversaw at Brighton & Hove Albion over three-and-a-half years.
In essence, the rush from both parties to make this deal happen in the first place was like when Ross and Rachel got drunkenly married in Las Vegas in Friends. There was no real thought process in place from either and it was inevitably going to lead to a huge falling out.
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Potter has been under intense pressure from the fans since the beginning of his reign because they didn’t feel that he had the experience to lead Chelsea to more glory. The football hadn’t improved from the sour end of Thomas Tuchel’s stint in the hot seat and the club are at risk of finishing outside the top ten of the Premier League for the first time since 1996.
The onus wasn’t just on Potter, however. There have been far too many passengers in this Chelsea squad for a long time and they never seem to get as much criticism from the supporters. And on top of that, Boehly thought the best way to help his coach was just overwhelm him with an even bigger squad that we don’t even know if Potter wanted.
As soon as he acquired Chelsea, Boehly made it clear that he wanted his leadership to be different from that of former owner Roman Abramovich but so far we’ve seen few differences. He has now sacked two managers and also spent millions of pounds on 17 signings - it's like Abramovich never left.
He has entered football with a sense of arrogance and naivety that he has obviously picked up from his experience as co-owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers in MLB. The rash decisions he has made in the hiring and firing departments has led Chelsea precisely to where they are right now, and thanks to his influx of flashy new players, it is likely going to take a while for this group of players to become a team again.
Potter tried his best but the magic that saw him lay the foundations for top six-chasing Brighton was ineffective in west London. Pundits and some of the press are being unnecessarily critical of his skills after his failed Chelsea stint, but we all know there is a top level coach in the making there.
When the Chelsea position was presented to him, it was exciting and fresh. Most managers looking to take the next step in their career would’ve taken it just as Potter did. Given the weight of expectation at a club like Chelsea it always felt like it was going to be a premature step for the Solihull-born manager in his coaching journey.
If there was a club that would’ve been the perfect next step up for him from Brighton, it would’ve been Tottenham Hotspur. They are a big club but they are not considered one of the elite because they have not won a major trophy in 15 years. Spurs chairman Daniel Levy hasn’t had the best record for sacking managers in recent years, with Antonio Conte being the latest casualty in north London.
They need stability and a long-term project, something which would’ve suited Potter perfectly. If he had turned down the Chelsea role back in September and waited for the inevitable departure of Conte, there is a good chance he would’ve been a top candidate for the job - hindsight is a wonderful thing.
Given all the variables that he had to deal with at Stamford Bridge, his stock won’t have taken too much of a hit and it won’t be long until we see him on the touchline again.
As for Boehly, he is under a lot of pressure from supporters now to get the next managerial appointment right. Whoever comes in has got their work cut out for them to build an elite team and it won’t happen overnight - and that all comes down on Boehly’s shoulders.
