In hindsight, Graham Potter's leap from Brighton Hove Albion to the Chelsea helm was simply too high for the highly thought of manager.
Russia's invasion of the Ukraine in February 2022 has certainly been a huge political event, as the conflict remains ongoing. However, not many could have predicted that such a matter would have an huge impact on football as it evidently has had on Chelsea. In May 2022, American tycoon Todd Boehly and a consortium of investors completed their takeover of the club after the previous owner Roman Abramovich was forced into selling due to sanctions imposed on Russian oligarchs as the result of the war in his country. The deal became the most expensive club transaction in professional sports, with a reported total cost of £4.25 billion (R94 billion), according to Sporting News. This signaled a new era for the London outfit, as Abramovich had ended his almost 20-year-old reign at Stamford Bridge. Boehly's track record of running a football club was non-existent, as his only experience of managing a sports team was in other sports like baseball and basketball, where he owns the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Los Angeles Lakers, the Los Angeles Sparks, Cloud9, and DraftKings.
Read: Potter's final words to Chelsea stars 'revealed'
Since taking over almost a year ago, his tenure has been hugely eventful, with a defining moment being the sacking of Potter on Sunday night. For some, the decision comes as a serious surprise given the reports that the Englishman had the support of Boehly and that he would supposedly be given time to steer his project in an upward direction. Meanwhile, other Chelsea supporters have been calling for the billionaire to pull the trigger a lot sooner than he did. However, this now leads to a discussion about whether the 47-year-old was the right man for the job in the first place, given Chelsea's short-term approach of success.
Potter's stock heading into the job was quite high after having guided Brighton to a ninth-place finish in the 2021/22 Premier League season, which was the highest finish in the club's history. While doing so, the Seagulls played an attractive brand of football and this earned Potter significant praise from Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola, who admitted: "I am a big fan of Graham Potter. From the first time at Swansea, it was a joy to analyse his teams but also a concern when you play them," according to the Daily Mail in September last year. Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp shared similar sentiments about the former Ostersunds manager, who was also also linked with succeeding Gareth Southgate.
With such a glowing reputation, it was easy to see the direction in which Boehly was trying to take with Potter and it was clear that he had a lot of faith in him, as he handed the tactician a five-year deal after savagely sacking Thomas Tuchel just seven games into the current season. Boehly's faith in Potter seemingly climaxed when he spent £323 million (R7.1 billion) in the January transfer window on eight signings, including 2022 FIFA World Cup winner Enzo Fernandez, who broke the record for the most expensive transfer in England. With Chelsea having previously hired proven trophy-winning managers in Europe's elite leagues and competitions in the past like Jose Mourinho, Antonio Conte, and Carlo Ancelotti, Potter was an obvious step in a different direction as the now-departed Blues boss has no silverware except a Swedish Cup with Ostersunds. Frank Lampard was an exception in his regard, as his appointment came during a period where Chelsea were banned from making transfers and had to utilise youth players instead to add to his team.
Read: Chelsea's manager shortlist after Potter sacking 'revealed'
While the idea of building a project like how Arsenal undertook theirs looked very attractive, Mikel Arteta had the necessary experience of working in a dressing room littered with big-name players during his time as Guardiola's assistant coach at City, which is contrary to Potter, whose only experience in England was with Swansea and Brighton. Based on his preceding reputation, it was perhaps a sensible appointment for a new owner like Boehly, however, the odds were always stacked against Potter to fail given his glaring lack of expertise in managing a dressing room laden with stars who are used to competing at a high level.
During his 31 games in charge, he achieved a low win percentage of 38%, which is the second lowest by a Chelsea manager since Guus Hiddink's second spell at Stamford Bridge (37%) between 2015 and 2016, per Goal. It will be interesting who will be the next permanent coach at the club given Boehly's failed attempt at hiring a highly-rated unproven manager to steer a big club like Chelsea.
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