Graham Potter Thread

[DDA 9,924]

What exactly did Potter do at Brighton ?? I mean their football was OK but nothing out of the ordinary right? Somebody please tell me he was producing something special!?

 

I'm confused because what I'm seeing him do here so far is fucking tragic. Haha 

 

It's soo bad I laughed for a good full 5 minutes to myself like a madman... 

Hes acting very strange.

 

[Fulham Broadway 17,299]

1 hour ago, Laylabelle said:

See it looked like he had a clue when sacking Tuchel even if seemed rash..and now who knows maybe it was just a moment.

Think it was -Tuchels head was all over the shop apparently with his long marriage breakdown - should have been given some time out

[Vytis33 1,261]

Wasn't Tuchel fairly clear that he didn't wanna be in charge of transfers and just wanted to manage a team?  So then Clearlake sacks him and ultimately hires an entire staff to do the things Tuchel didn't wanna do from the start?

 

[Vegetable 830]

Boehly and Potter seem to share the same, corporate mode of operation when they reassure each other with buzzowords like vision, plan, long term process etc and this reassurance is far more important, than the material reality. Plus Potter seem to be very confident of his position in the club, so as long as we favor facts over pr statements, we are doomed.

[Blue Armour 4,436]

1 hour ago, whats happening said:

now, that would be a plot twist, to call back tuchel...

What is there's an even bigger twist and we call back Mourinho 3.0

[Superblue 6,372]

10 minutes ago, DDA said:

What exactly did Potter do at Brighton ?? I mean their football was OK but nothing out of the ordinary right? Somebody please tell me he was producing something special!?

In fairness the difference between Brighton pre and post Potter is night and day.

Under Chris Hughton, they were just about keeping their neck above water in the league whilst playing turgid football.

Under Potter, it wasn't so much a sense of them playing this out of the world total football, but they dominated possession, territory and the majority of games regardless of opposition. Given the resources available at Brighton, it takes a team with real belief and courage to stand up and fight the likes of Man City and Liverpool for possession and control, and to go into game after game with that mindsight. 

The jury is still very much out on Potter. There are some managers who thrive in an underdog capacity, there are also others that just enjoy the right "fit". This job might be too big for him. However it should be noted that what he had above with Brighton wasn't immediate - they only just stayed up in his first season, but over the last couple of seasons he's got that team into an extremely comfortable position in the league where you wouldn't have them anywhere near a conversation for a relegation battle. Can he convert that into challenging for trophies here with bigger resources on hand? 

The one thing I do think he has is time and I think in the current position Chelsea are in it makes sense. I would have given Tuchel more time and opportunity to work with the team and try to find solutions but the ownership made their decision and I do believe now they should and will show some patience. This club hasn't bought a midfielder since Sarri was in charge - that's 4 managers later with a midfield that has been allowed to decline with age and injuries, whilst leaving the same vulnerability issues in the middle of the park. We're 3 managers into a reliance on a 38 year old defender to anchor the team. We're 5 managers into lacking a 20 goal a season striker.

The old ownership had their own way which ultimately worked more often than it didn't, but left a situation where a number of players were allowed to decline in time here, and transfer decisions were made which left an unbalanced squad. We've got progressively further away from a title challenge over the last 6 years as a result. 

At some point that band aid has to be fully ripped off instead of short term fixes. We've been heading a way that the likes of United and Liverpool suffered, only for cracks to be papered over by developing a niche as a cup team who could raise our game when needed but not consistently. 

The one thing I would like to see from Potter is a ruthless streak this coming month and for the rest of the season. If he has the patience and full backing from higher ups, and this season is heading into a position where it's becoming a bit of a free hit, then make use of that. He's being let down by some senior players who are either playing poorly, or simply aren't good enough anymore. Starting to make some big calls on them could go a long way to fans being willing to give him time. It was clear as day in the last half hour against Bournemouth and again today, that Azpi and Koulibaly looked a struggle on the right hand side of that defence. Going into the City game with that again feels like a disaster waiting to happen and Potter needs to find an alternative solution, even if it means turning to a younger, less experienced option and placing trust and faith in that.

[Blue Armour 4,436]

32 minutes ago, Fulham Broadway said:

Think it was -Tuchels head was all over the shop apparently with his long marriage breakdown - should have been given some time out

Agreed. I said at the time that even if it was an inevitable decision, they shouldn't have done it in such a rash manner.

Abramovich never intended to keep Ranieri for long, but at least he gave him a full season.

He even gave Di Matteo close to half a season

[Vesper 30,088]

26 minutes ago, Superblue said:

developing a niche as a cup team who could raise our game when needed

1 win, 6 losses

FA Cup

League Cup

 

Edited January 1, 2023 by Vesper

[Laylabelle 9,534]

39 minutes ago, Vesper said:

1 win, 6 losses

FA Cup

League Cup

 

Least we won't have that disappointment again this season!

Edited January 1, 2023 by Laylabelle

[Superblue 6,372]

16 minutes ago, Vesper said:

1 win, 6 losses

FA Cup

League Cup

 

Don't forget during this period we also won the Europa League, Champions League, Super Cup and Club World Cup too.

And in many of those cup runs they involved turning over all the other big 6 on a number of occasions. The point remains that we showed more than enough times we were capable of beating all the other 'big' sides and competing with them, but have failed to show that strength and consistency to compete week after week in the league.

[Vytis33 1,261]

Just watched his presser doesn't exactly inspire confidence...

 

[Vytis33 1,261]

And his answers were fine if he were still at Brighton.  But he just got the keys to a club who semi-recently won the Champions League and are currently 8th in the table. 

[Magic Lamps 11,692]

Forget it Potter is not going anywhere. They somehow came to the conclusion Potter was the man, gave him that stupid 5 year deal and now we are stuck with him for at least 3 more. In this case, I really think it is different with Boehly. Even if we at some point sack Potter we will not ring someone like Poch or Luis Enrique but rather Thomas Frank or Eddie Howe. They want to follow this American blueprint of building a squad and a coaching staff  from the ground up with their integrated model... no idea if it will work out long term but it sure as hell will produce terrible results in the short term.

[Superblue 6,372]

15 minutes ago, Magic Lamps said:

Forget it Potter is not going anywhere. They somehow came to the conclusion Potter was the man, gave him that stupid 5 year deal and now we are stuck with him for at least 3 more. In this case, I really think it is different with Boehly. Even if we at some point sack Potter we will not ring someone like Poch or Luis Enrique but rather Thomas Frank or Eddie Howe. They want to follow this American blueprint of building a squad and a coaching staff  from the ground up with their integrated model... no idea if it will work out long term but it sure as hell will produce terrible results in the short term.

Unless we nosedived into a relegation scrap, there's no chance he is being sacked this season. Given the investment made for him and the vibes they have given out that this is very much now a longer term approach to things compared to the boom and bust nature of the Abramovich years, they will not bite the bullet anytime soon.

Personally I think he'll be given this season and next in order to show and prove that the club is on an upward trajectory. 

In fairness the squad has needed a balanced approach to a rebuild for years, and at the very least the players we have been looking to move for fill me with confidence that this could be done over time. The issue is us fans haven't been used to a project like this for 20+ years and that's what Potter is fighting I think more than anything. 

[YorkshireBlue 3,264]

47 minutes ago, Magic Lamps said:

Forget it Potter is not going anywhere. They somehow came to the conclusion Potter was the man, gave him that stupid 5 year deal and now we are stuck with him for at least 3 more. In this case, I really think it is different with Boehly. Even if we at some point sack Potter we will not ring someone like Poch or Luis Enrique but rather Thomas Frank or Eddie Howe. They want to follow this American blueprint of building a squad and a coaching staff  from the ground up with their integrated model... no idea if it will work out long term but it sure as hell will produce terrible results in the short term.

That's always been Chelsea problem short term, and we moaned about that, now we are moaning because the club is taking a new direction! So we miss out on CL for a season, shit happens, I for one would rather see this club fix it's self properly over getting top 4, am not saying potter is the man or isn't, but regardless, short term will never do.