Official: Chelsea sack Graham Potter

The news has been confirmed by the official website. It’s over. Best laid plans and all. We are now looking for our third manager of the season.

Potter had enjoyed unprecedented support from the ownership group, but as it turns out, even they had a breaking point. It didn’t seem like they would have one, but then the deed was done, and Potter was gone. (I had written a draft of this post at least three times before, more in hope than anticipation.)

Potter’s assistant, Bruno Saltor will take interim charge. Expect links to Julian Nagelsmann and Mauricio Pochettino to follow in quick order however. In years past, Chelsea have usually acted very quickly to name successors though we may roll with an interim situation for a minute this time.

Chelsea pride stems from making history rather than reliving it, and Potter certainly left his mark on the record books during his six months at the club. Unfortunately, most of those are at the wrong end of the ledger.

Potter leaves with the second worst record of any Chelsea manager in the Premier League era (40% win percentage overall, barely 30% in the league). This weekend’s 2-0 defeat to Aston Villa at home, the final straw, was his 8th defeat in 22 Premier League games. At one point, we had gone without a win in six straight (longest in a decade) and an absolutely futile sequence from November to March saw us win just twice (2) from fifteen (15!) games — our worst run for three decades. Potter did eventually arrest the slide, but that turned out to be just a temporary reprieve. He could not find the solutions needed.

From just about day one, Potter seemed to be out of his depth, and he was unable to get a grip on things as the weeks and months passed. The dressing room and training ground may have been harmonious, and he may have been at the owners’ beck and call 24/7, but in terms of the actual football, in terms of the actual results, his appointment has been a massive failure.