Graham Potter And Ostersunds Exit Europa League With Their Reputations Enhanced

Graham Potter And Ostersunds Exit Europa League With Their Reputations Enhanced
20:07, 23 Feb 2018

In the end, a courageous and unexpected win at the Emirates wasn't quite enough for Ostersunds FK. The Swedish club played with spirit and verve, scoring twice in a little over a minute against a shell-shocked Arsenal, to briefly revive a tie that many assumed was all but over after the first leg.

Regardless of the final outcome – bowing out in the last 32 with a 4-2 defeat on aggregate – their impressive Europa League run has provided a huge financial and reputational boost, and brought Ostersunds’ unique methods to a wider audience. 

When facing a side as well-resourced and comfortable in possession as Arsenal, many are cowed into submission before the game even starts. This decidedly wasn’t the case. Ostersunds carried the fight to their far more illustrious opponents and became just the second team to beat Arsenal on home turf in 28 matches. They were bold and purposeful on the ball, unafraid of making mistakes on such a big stage. This will be the biggest crowd that most have ever played in front of, a stark contrast to the 9,000 capacity Jamtkraft Arena. 

From their culture academy, to their transfer policy of re-energising other club's cast-offs, Ostersunds pride themselves on doing things differently. They've enjoyed great success on their own terms and found a way to continue upsetting the odds. Their story has been told countless times this season, but doesn’t become any less remarkable for the repetition.

One of the biggest beneficiaries of Ostersunds’ success has been Graham Potter. Unable to secure a role in professional football back in England, his decision to move to Sweden eight years ago was a bold one, which he regularly questioned in the early days there. Living in a freezing cold part of an unfamiliar country, with his wife and young child, but no wider support network, was brave bordering on foolhardy.

There were some difficult moments when uprooting everything for the sake of a shot at first team management in a forgotten backwater of Swedish football didn’t seem like the smartest move he’d ever made. Yet with a chairman who shared his vision, and belief in how to make the best of what they had, Potter was able to turn the club around. His stock has risen exponentially.

A well-educated and unassuming figure, Potter doesn’t quite fit the old-fashioned football manager stereotype. He’s a different kind of leader, who exerts a quiet and respectful authority over his players. To some extent, many who have been on this journey for a while owe their careers to him. He’s turned a host of spare parts into a fluid and cohesive unit. It’s an outstanding achievement and the Europa League run has deservedly raised his profile.

Potter has been linked with a couple of Premier League vacancies this season on the strength of his work in taking unfashionable Ostersunds from the fourth tier through to the top flight, and on into Europe. Last night's trip to North London was the culmination of an extraordinary journey, and surely it won't be long before he's back in England on a permanent basis.

The reservation that many clubs have is Potter’s perceived lack of star quality, and no experience of managing back home. If anything, this could be seen as a strength. He isn’t hidebound by convention. So many mid-ranking clubs keep trying the same things with the same uninspiring cast of managers and wonder why nothing ever changes. In doing so, they impose their own ceilings on what can be achieved. 

Potter has demonstrated the value of challenging some of English football’s time-worn traditions. Not everything has to be loud, brash and combative. He’s shown that, both on the pitch, and off it, there might be another way after all.

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