Behind the scenes details reveal the story behind Graham Potter’s demise

Chelsea had won just three league games in 14 since the World Cup.

Todd Boehly had promised his version of Chelsea would be different, however, having sacked Graham Potter on Sunday evening, the London club are now in search of their third manager of the season.

Champions League winning manager Thomas Tuchel was sacked to much surprise in September, with Todd Boehly paying £20 million to secure Graham Potter’s services from Brighton.

Potter, who had overseen Brighton’s rise from relegation candidates to one of the Premier League’s most free-flowing attacking sides, had been linked with a host of jobs such as Tottenham Hotspur prior to joining Chelsea.

With Chelsea having a well-earned hire-and-fire reputation during Roman Abramovich’s reign, Potter was handed a five year deal with the aim of establishing a new era of stability at Stamford Bridge.

Results wavered at first, as many theorised the 47-year-old needed time to implement his own playing style on his newly-received squad.

However, their league form under Potter never reached any level of consistency, with their erratic performances leaving the club languishing in 11th place.

Despite managing to overcome Bundesliga giants Borussia Dortmund to reach the Champions League quarter finals, Saturday’s defeat at the hands of Unai Emery’s was the final straw for Graham Potter.

As the search for a new manager lingers on, details have begun to emerge about just how comical proceedings at Chelsea got under the former Brighton manager.

The inside details behind Graham Potter’s sacking:

According to the Athletic, the relationship between Potter and the player’s never became toxic. Although, many senior players were becoming increasingly skeptical regarding his ability to turn things around at Stamford Bridge, with some feeling he was “out of his depth”.

In another revelation, it has emerged that some of the playing squad referred to Potter as “Harry” or “Hogwarts” behind his back, as players grew increasingly frustrated with his constant tinkering of squad selection.

Given the sheer size of the Chelsea squad, the facilities at both Stamford Bridge and their Cobham training base were becoming unsuitable for housing such a bloated squad.

The problem manifested itself in players having to get changed in corridors and with players sitting on the floor during team meetings, with scenes resembling Sunday league football.

Others found the constant presence of Chelsea owner Todd Boehly at the training ground unnerving, although Potter himself was unfazed by the attention.

Potter’s recent statement in which he declared he would try and win the “f****** Champions League” at a supporters meeting, was also met with confusion by staff and players, who find his brashness out of character.

https://twitter.com/FansArena4/status/1642619381942214656

Already, Potter has seen interest from prospective employers with Leicester muted as a possible destination. However, the 47-year-old reportedly favours a short break away from the game.

For Chelsea, Julian Nagelsmann has emerged has the early favourite, with the young German coach becoming available last month following his own surprise dismissal from Bayern Munich.

With winning the Champions League now Chelsea’s only prize left to play for this season, the London club will hope to have their preferred candidate in situ prior to their quarter final clash with Real Madrid next week.

Related Articles:

• “He couldn’t contain himself” – Rio Ferdinand weighs in on Pep Guardiola celebrations
• We came to see the future but Chris Forrester showed us the present ain’t half bad
• Shane Long speaks about ’embarrassing and degrading’ moment under Stephen Kenny
• Ian Harte on why his free-kick record doesn’t get same credit as David Beckham’s

The FootballJOE quiz: Were you paying attention? – episode 10