Graham Potter: ‘Try and win the f***ing Champions League!’

Carlo Garganese

• 5 Apr 2023 15:20 BST
• 3 min read

One of the reasons Chelsea decided to sack Graham Potter was because they became concerned by some of his behaviour which was deemed unbefitting of a top-class manager.

The Athletic has detailed a number of incidents that painted the picture of Potter as someone who did not have the character, winning mentality and personality to succeed at Chelsea.

Potter once asked a member of the Chelsea team “what do the players think of me?”, which was considered as beta behaviour.

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His press conferences also irked the Chelsea hierarchy when he referenced the time given to Jurgen Klopp and Mikel Arteta when they struggled at the beginning of their reigns at Liverpool and Arsenal, respectively.

But the comment that concerned directors most about his personality was a strange proclamation at a fans’ forum when Potter said Chelsea would “try and win the f****** Champions League”.

This was seen as a truly bizarre thing to say and it’s delivery even more bizarre.

This behaviour eventually convinced owner Todd Boehly and the directors to wield the axe and sack Potter.

Potter sacked by Chelsea

Potter was sacked by Chelsea on Sunday after a disastrous seven month spell at Stamford Bridge.

Chelsea find themselves down in 11th position in the Premier League, 11 points from a Champions League place with nine games to go.

Their only hope of qualifying for the Champions League is to win this year’s edition, with Real Madrid facing them in the quarter finals.

The last straw for Potter came on Saturday when Chelsea lost 2-0 at home to Aston Villa.

Julian Nagelsmann and Luis Enrique are in the race to succeed Potter as manager.

Mauricio Pochettino is also being considered, with a new manager expected to be appointed before the first leg against Real Madrid next week.