Chelsea Sack Graham Potter

[Mark Kelly]

Just now, asvaberg said:

You're memory is fine:

Oct 31 1981 - League division two - Rotherham - Chelsea 6-0

Our team, then:

 

Enjoy:

 

Yes, not easily forgotten , I remember at the time thinking their number 10 looked ancient , but it didn't stop him scoring.

We literally made them look like prime Arsenal .

[Holymoly]

11 hours ago, Max Fowler said:

Potter seems unable to get the players to perform at "110%"

I know you're being sarcastic but 100% seems way over the hoizon. I'd be quite happy to see us approach 10% at the moment.

[Mark Kelly]

Just now, Holymoly said:

It's interesting to see Hoddle so low down too as my memory of the time was that we were a tad gutted when England came a knocking. It was the turning point for me. It led to the likes of Ruud and Luca joining the club, getting into the Champions League and attracting Roman. Funny how subsequent events alter our perspective of the past.

I think it's because he was the start of the resurgence and the start of glamourous foreign players coming to our little club.

From memory the ever scathing Ken Bates said something along the lines of us not missing him as we were eleventh when he joined and eleventh when he left.

[xceleryx]

2 hours ago, Thiago97 said:

Whilst Spalleti has been a top manager in Serie A for a number of years now. I just don’t see him as a Chelsea manager. I would also say that majority of his competitors have been bang average in Italy this season, which probably makes the current divide , by which advertises his achievements in a somewhat unrealistic light.

Napoli have been consistently good, whilst the rest have been consistently inconsistent.

Spalletti's win ratio is pretty high across all his jobs since his first spell at Roma, the lowest I believe was his Inter Milan spell which still had him sit at 50%. While his competition this season has been lacklustre, he does have a good record across all his jobs. I don't think he'd be a poor manager by any means and was many years ago high on him being a manager here. However, I just think that ship has sailed now given the stage he's at in his career and where we are as a club. 

[Holymoly]

9 hours ago, chara said:

From the start I didn't think GP was the right fit for the job but was prepared to be proved wrong and wanted to be proved wrong.

I vaguely thought he would be ok but not the one to lead Chelsea onward and upward,

At the beginning I had no idea that we would be where we are at this time.

It's the horrendous injury list, it's a new style, It's a rebuild with players needing to adjust, it's El Nino, it's that sun strange thingy, it's the unrest in Parliament, it's the moon,,, what it isn't is a coach who can't do the job at Chelsea.

What do we know?

A top club (one of those clubs we used to be, remember?) needs a manager with a ruthless streak. At the top you can't afford to have "friends" among the players. You need to be able to stand apart so that you can make the objective decisions. Graeme Potter is far too nice a guy to be a winner, nice guys finish last. It would be great if he had succeeded as he would probably have been the best bet for developing academy players. As we stand today however there is no hint of an improvement since November and indeed we are now going backwards. We are a joke and evey other club is lining up to take the 3 points off us.

That said, what's the point of sacking him until we have a potentially long term replacement ready to take the reins?

[Thiago97]

7 minutes ago, Holymoly said:

It's interesting to see Hoddle so low down too as my memory of the time was that we were a tad gutted when England came a knocking. It was the turning point for me. It led to the likes of Ruud and Luca joining the club, getting into the Champions League and attracting Roman. Funny how subsequent events alter our perspective of the past.

It was gutting when Hoddle left. It didnt really hurt us too much with hindsight, but it did feel as if something was building under Hoddle, and then he was gone not long into his reign.

Jeez we were a small team back then........Wise, Peacock, Spencer, Stein, Fleck, Stuart I think was still there.......all our best attacking options were about 5ft 8in!

[Holymoly]

34 minutes ago, Mark Kelly said:

I think the most damning thing about Potter's tenure here is that I don't think any of us can say what exactly it is he's trying to do .

Is he setting us up to play possession football?

Is he favouring counter attacking ?

Is he playing the percentages ? 

None of us know as it's a complete disasterclass out there.

Did you see the stats yesterday though? The bald data suggested that we should have shaded the game whereas in reality we may as well not have been on the pitch. I'd have been interested to see Droy explain xG vs reality yesterday. It just goes to show that statistics mean nothing. We have technically gifted players underperforming massively, mainly due to their collectively weak moral character. They're basically a bunch of "nice boys" and any amount of tactical perfection from the sidelines isn't going to change that.

[Holymoly]

Chelsea to play Wrexham pre-season in North Carolina on July 19th. The year following we may be meeting them in the First Division.

[Mark Kelly]

15 minutes ago, Holymoly said:

Did you see the stats yesterday though? The bald data suggested that we should have shaded the game whereas in reality we may as well not have been on the pitch. I'd have been interested to see Droy explain xG vs reality yesterday. It just goes to show that statistics mean nothing. We have technically gifted players underperforming massively, mainly due to their collectively weak moral character. They're basically a bunch of "nice boys" and any amount of tactical perfection from the sidelines isn't going to change that.

They're wetter than Margate in March 

[flllerywhereru2]

24 minutes ago, Thiago97 said:

It was gutting when Hoddle left. It didnt really hurt us too much with hindsight, but it did feel as if something was building under Hoddle, and then he was gone not long into his reign.

Jeez we were a small team back then........Wise, Peacock, Spencer, Stein, Fleck, Stuart I think was still there.......all our best attacking options were about 5ft 8in!

I always thought Hoddles actual coaching achievements were over stated, what he did do was bring some class players to Chelsea. His teams used to do lots of passing then get out powered by the better teams, they did however grab a few notable wins in between V United twice and i think a home win v arsenal and the 1-0 v title chasing newcastle. But i remember the likes of Leeds and Blackburn brushing us aside relatively easily. The real steps up came under Gullit then Vialli

[asvaberg]

6 minutes ago, Mark Kelly said:

They're wetter than Margate in March 

I had to check. Never heard this oneliner before.

It's just brilliant, when I read: "Rainfall is quite low, making Margate one of the driest towns in Kent."

[Box of Tricks]

Why hasn't he been sacked yet? Do they need help scheduling a Microsoft Teams meeting?

[Bert19]

He's got to go hasn't he.  The numbers are so damning and the form is relegation form in almost any circumstance.  

No plan, individual and collective form of the players plummeting with each passing week, trust with them eroding with each passing day and absolutely nothing in his public persona or our on-pitch efforts to suggest there are any glimmers of hope we should be clinging to.  

 

My guess is we'll get more of last week's pretty underwhelming briefings again today and then once they see how the crowd will inevitably react to more dropped points against Leeds at the weekend, they'll panic and sack him this time next week.  Just do it now.  Put everyone out of their misery.  

 

[Thiago97]

54 minutes ago, Holymoly said:

Did you see the stats yesterday though? The bald data suggested that we should have shaded the game whereas in reality we may as well not have been on the pitch. I'd have been interested to see Droy explain xG vs reality yesterday. It just goes to show that statistics mean nothing. We have technically gifted players underperforming massively, mainly due to their collectively weak moral character. They're basically a bunch of "nice boys" and any amount of tactical perfection from the sidelines isn't going to change that.

They shouldn’t be used in isolation, but these stats are what drives many successful clubs recruitment. I would imagine our xG came from that positive first 20 mins, which started well again, but if we don’t score early, it just seems to trail off very quickly.

Let’s be clear though. It’s things such as xG that are major drivers behind Brighton, Brentford recruitment and behind huge syndication betting, where both Brighton and Brentford owners made their money.

These stats don’t mean nothing and are hugely influential now, as they will have been with the players we have purchased recently. But they are also not a 100% reliable source of data either. 

[martin1905]

If we get rid now we have half a chance of winning the champions League. 

Can't see how they don't see that.

[thevelourfog]

Great, another weak of "honest assessments". 

[Mark Kelly]

9 minutes ago, martin1905 said:

If we get rid now we have half a chance of winning the champions League. 

Can't see how they don't see that.

I actually don't believe they fully grasp the situation , they think everything will work out well in the end but they haven't factored in that getting relegated under Potter then winning promotion after a time in the doldrums would not be success. 

[FrankLampard8]

2 hours ago, Thiago97 said:

I wouldn’t have any issues with Enrique. I think Enrique , Poch have to be towards the top of the pecking order. I would throw Deschamps in there as another option. Two of those three are out of work though, so easier deals to make happen.

I like Thomas Frank, but his chances all but gone really after the Potter experiment not working. It needs to someone with gravitas and respect for what they have done as a player and manager. For those reasons , Conte also has to enter the equation as he will likely be available in the summer.

Though the job spec will need to be blatantly and clearly detailed out with Conte. If he not interested in working in that, then don’t take the job. The thought of watching his counter attack give up possession on a weekly basis does not excite me though. He can be one dimensional. 

Why would Conte possibly be in the equation? I don't think he would want the job and neither should we want him. He is he a problem waiting to happen with his spikey, sulky and combative demeanour often towards his own club and board - literally the last thing this club needs right now. We have just bought a host of young talents which he will have no interest in working with and he will want to rebuild the squad again to fit his 3-5-2 formation which arguably we have just made a huge effort to move away from. Throw in turgid football, arguably he has been pretty ineffective at Spurs so far, the fact he likely has a bad taste in his mouth about how it ended at Chelsea and the fact that he is apparently pining for a move back to Italy to be with his family. Other than that? Top appointment.

1 hour ago, Max Fowler said:

Just get an interim. Stops the slump and we can start again in the summer.

I think this needs to happen. If we can't get the right manager for our "project" right now, it is definitely worth waiting until the summer. However, there is absolutely nothing to be gained by keeping Potter in charge at this point unfortunately. Get someone in to freshen things up and hopefully get the feel good factor back.

Edited February 27, 2023 by FrankLampard8

[Thiago97]

7 minutes ago, FrankLampard8 said:

Why would Conte possibly be in the equation? I don't think he would want the job and neither should we want him. He is he a problem waiting to happen with his spikey, sulky and combative demeanour often towards his own club and board - literally the last thing this club needs right now. We have just bought a host of young talents which he will have no interest in working with and he will want to rebuild the squad again to fit his 3-5-2 formation which arguably we have just made a huge effort to move away from. Throw in turgid football, arguably he has been pretty ineffective at Spurs so far, the fact he likely has a bad taste in his mouth about how it ended at Chelsea and the fact that he is apparently pining for a move back to Italy to be with his family. Other than that? Top appointment.

I think this needs to happen. If we can't get the right manager for our "project" right now, it is definitely worth waiting until the summer. However, there is absolutely nothing to be gained by keeping Potter in charge at this point unfortunately. Get someone in to freshen things up and hopefully get the feel good factor back.

I get what you are saying and don’t disagree. He is also a winning manager who sets a winning mentality, and likely to be available in the summer.

I wouldn’t really want him personally, but I accept that he could be someone who the club look at.

[Holymoly]

1 hour ago, Mark Kelly said:

They're wetter than Margate in March 

I always preferred "wetter than an otter's pocket"

1 hour ago, Bert19 said:

they'll panic and sack him this time next week

If the owners were ones to panic he'd have been gone before this

18 minutes ago, Mark Kelly said:

I actually don't believe they fully grasp the situation , they think everything will work out well in the end

Maybe they assume that rather like American sports everyone starts from square one again in August with the weaker teams getting first dibs at the emerging talent when in reality the good get better, the bad get relegated and replaced by better teams. Usually those that just miss out on relegation end up being the whipping boys the next season while the top teams stretch away. It takes an enormous amount of work to get into the top four and once you drop out there are another three or four clubs ready to take your place. We could end up being the next Leeds or Blackburn at the rate we're going.

[Holymoly]

9 minutes ago, Thiago97 said:

I wouldn’t really want him personally, but I accept that he could be someone who the club look at.

I'd expect our next manager to have a fully functioning gall bladder to be honest.

[FrankLampard8]

3 minutes ago, Thiago97 said:

I get what you are saying and don’t disagree. He is also a winning manager who sets a winning mentality, and likely to be available in the summer.

I wouldn’t really want him personally, but I accept that he could be someone who the club look at.

He hasn't looked like much of a winner at Spurs so far.

I think his title winning season here was the perfect storm which is partially why the wheels came off in his second season. I don't say that to undermine it (it was miraculous and wonderful) but I don't think he could repeat the trick.

I also think football at the top level has moved on a bit from his style of play - you might nick a cup here or there but I can't see a manager like him winning the league any time soon. We need someone a bit more progressive in my opinion. 

[exiledblue]

Leeds will be the next better organised team we play. Its a dumb excuse he keeps rolling out as it means he cant organise a team as well as teams, with or without coaches (permanant, temporary or stand in).

 

[Blue Moon]

2 hours ago, east lower said:

I'd take Sam Allardyce right now..............at least we'd be organised and avoid relegation 🤪

Blimey, I'd take Ian Holloway - at least we'd have a good laugh going down!

[Holymoly]

Media getting ready to say same old Chelsea, hiring and firing. Thing is that any club in the league after this period of failure would be changing manager.

Is it just me but when you watch the training sessions on the club website it's like watching a bunch of kids messing around. There's no Terry, no Drogba, no Ballack, no Desailly with auras aroound them leading training with purpose. No coaches instructing tactics. All you see is players practicing one touch passing (which you never see in a game incidentally) laughing and joking, wearing snoods and gloves (don't get a sweat up ffs guys).

We need someone to go in and kick some arses. No wonder the players say they like Potter, he's everyones' friend and they are taking advantage of it.