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It's hard to make the case that Potter is doing a good job, or has done a good job, so far. But anyone who uses a win percentage to argue this provides conclusive evidence that a manager is: A) doing a better or worse job than they were at another time or club Or B) someone else is a better manager Is embarrassing themselves.

I don't find this plausible. If he said he wasn't fit to start that would have been (rightly) accepted. I can't think of one occasion ever where a manager hasn't started a player due to illness and received criticism for not starting him. It isn't a case of damned if you do and damned if you don't. In hindsight he probably shouldn't have started him. In isolation it isn't a huge deal, but it does go down as another small mistake made. The problem is they are adding up.

My third ex wife's favourite comedian was Eddie Murphy, and we used to travel, her and I, to America to see him all over. Harlem, New Orleans, Georgia, we saw him. Huge black audiences. And by huge I mean in number, rather than their size. Though compared to me, they're all big if you know what I mean? What? It's a compliment! Anyway, did I mention we've been to the USA three times? Samuel's nephew they call me. So you'll never guess how they refer to one another. Then one day, cos I know the culture, I used the same term. You know, cos I have a masters in the theory of cultural relativity studies. Long story short, it was a big misunderstanding, and I eventually had that cap surgically removed from my 'ass". Shame that I'm not allowed to travel anymore though.

Chatgpt, you really are something.

I have absolutely no memory of this, but I really don't think he should have defended him under these circumstances.

A leader and a good player who has served us well and made a pretty strong contribution to the trophies we've won in his time here. That said he was obviously never in the class of a fabregas or a verratti, and it's clear his time had been probably rightly coming to an end at Chelsea. Bit of a shame that he's been lately such a lightening rod for criticism, or treated as emblematic of larger failings of the team or the club IMO, as I don't think that's justified, but that's how it goes sometimes.

The way some people talk about him now really annoys me - he's given absolutely everything for the shirt for a decade, been fantastic in a number of positions, has won everything, never complained, and has been an absolute model representative for the club. Yes his legs have gone now, but when I see his name on the team sheet I know there's at least one player who won't accept he's beaten until the game is done. Put him on the pitch against mbappe today and you can guarantee he'll strain every sinew to make the game as hard is it possibly could be for him. Great teams don't exist without players and characters like azpilicueta, it's that simple.

Still no for the same reasons. The results are not defendable, obviously, but whether he 'should' be sacked should not be decided by: -whether we can reach our initial objectives for the season (all managers fail to in some seasons, and most fans surely want us to move away from chopping and changing for short term impetus) -whether other chelsea managers have been sacked under similar or even less bad circumstances (irrelevant, this isn't a moral issue or case of crime and punishment) -whether you think tuchel was wrongly sacked (I do, but it can't and won't be undone) If you want Potter out (immediately) you have to have a clear idea of who you want in, and believe we can get them in now. We're probably then talking about Zidane and pochettino and while those both offer some upsides in terms of their experience, I'm not totally convinced either are better coaches. Add to that we've just recruited various backroom people with Potter in mind, and you're talking about a very messy, expensive situation without any guarantee that things will be better for it. Obviously if he loses the players then it's all moot, as at that point the situation is irretrievable. So, no, I don't want him out, though that shouldn't be seen as an endorsement of his start. The best thing for the club is probably to keep him, conclude their crazy recruitment and restructuring, and hope that performances and results improve enough to give us confidence in going into the next season with Potter still in place.

He's got great talent and works hard, but it really is hard to see it coming together for him at Chelsea. I can't think of one player ever who has gone from inconsistent to reliable in their fourth season at a football club. It's a shame because he is potentially the best player at the club, but at the moment he looks further away from realising that than ever.

Absolutely terrible news. A true legend.

And likewise with you, moi!

Very sorry to read this - RIP and best wishes to those close to him on here and of course beyond.

To me it's obvious that tuchel should never have been sacked, and that we've replaced him with someone inferior (which, tbf most are). But that's done now, and Potter can't be blamed for it. The teams he's produced in the past do show he's a good coach and they suggest he could produce a very good, attractive team here. At the moment the form is poor, the football is poor, and his line ups and subs appear questionable and contradictory at times. But I think we should avoid getting too granular with these types of criticisms, he obviously sees himself as someone who builds a team and style of play over a longer period, and I think his past does bear that out. We'll be successful under him only if that happens, but I don't think we can hope for success through incredible tactical ideas for one-off games, or audacious game changing substitions. But honestly I'm pretty worried for him. I'm not convinced that boehly really knows what he's doing, and nor can we be confident he's likely to stick with a manager in such a poor run of form. But it isn't losing the owner, or losing the fans even that poses his biggest threat. At the moment he has the look and sound of a person who doesn't realise where he is, or the expectations of the players he has. If your players have worked with people like Mourinho, guardiola or tuchel, you can't sound like a PE teacher in a poor catchment area 12 years into a tory government. You can't say 'the lads gave everything' after huffing and puffing to a barely deserved draw against a side assembled for a fraction of the cost of the team you coached.

Sadly he's never been the same since his injury. He had robben levels of pace and confidence as a teenager. I can't see the former coming back, but maybe playing every week the latter might. There's no way he'll have the chance to play himself into whatever constitutes his best form at Chelsea though.

Mount is a very good player and he's improved under tuchel's management. For my money tuchel is the best asset we've got. Not perfect, sure, but there isn't such a thing. Two trophies including the champions league, a further two cup finals, and two top four finishes in his season and a half. Football style is subjective, but I like his approach personally. Where we are now vs the shambles we were under Lamps are poles apart.

No, that isn't it. If we can cut our losses on him this season we should jump at the chance.

What point do you think I'm making?

Yeah I think he's capable of being that important and making a huge contribution over the course of a season. Obviously getting ahead of both City and Liverpool is a massive, massive ask, but were it not for the fact he's lost the trust of his manager (and that there is very little chemistry between him and his teammates), I wouldn't look at out squad and pick him out as a player that needs improving upon / replacing. I think the Liverpool / City thing needs to be put I some historical perspective too. We could have a great side, coached by our fantastic manager, and still finish third next season. Realistically, we're losing some hugely important players concentrated in one or two positions, how we move forward with lukaku is unclear, and we have no idea how much money there will be to address these challenges (but we an safely assume less). It will be almost impossible to win the league from next season, a really good summer window could only go some way to addressing the issues with the squad with a view to a stronger challenge the season after next I reckon.

I don't really understand how the words 'reverse' or 'card' it into that as a term. What I would say to your point here is that yes, intent is a consideration, but impact is also important. If someone likens a black person to an elephant, that is very likely to be racist even if they don't understand or consciously intend this. It comes from the dehumanisation of black people associated with slavery, and with seeing them as 'less than' white people. It doesn't have any place here. On lukaku. It does look like we're stuck with him. On the plus side he's well capable of being a decisive title winning player. On the down side, it is hard to see how that happens given how the season has gone, his relationship with tuchel, and the way we play. He is responsible above anyone else in finding a way to change this.

What's a 'reverse racism card'?

Not yours coco, I know what a white elephant means. What I'm saying is that likening a black person to an animal, particularly one associated with Africa, is racist. You see it on twitter, in the wider world, and on here too, unfortunately. I won't resile from that view, and suggest others consider not being racist.

I read this thread and wonder how many white players get likened to elephants...

Agree that it is interesting analysis but we lost both of these shoot outs by incredibly narrow margins, so I have to say that it does feel a bit like being smart after the fact. If we won this one you could reverse engineer a narrative where klopp is over emotional and tuchel's coolness won the day. There are criticisms to make of the fact that we haven't closed the gap in the league like we had hoped, but in general I feel about tuchel what I felt about Jose and conte - this guy knows what he's doing and we're lucky to have him. On a personal note I also love his style of football and consider it very attractive and attacking, but then I like patterned, precise play, and control in midfield. It's a totally subjective thing really, impossible to measure in the end.

We suffer from having (and let's take lukaku out of consideration given how things have gone for a moment) a lot of good forward players but no great ones. Often this is portrayed as us having lots of depth and options, which is true, but it also means that none can be sure of a long run in the team to really hit their best form.

Been a really draining season but in the end he's our biggest asset and hopefully is backed in the summer. The squad needs some refreshing and I bet he himself needs that too.