5 hours ago, ozboy said:

Basically I agree with this. It was at least from the public view a poor process. Should have been 2-3 candidates with 2,3 interviews for each. And his cv was not so good that process could be ignored. 

Exactly. That's the type of recruitment you'd expect a Pep to go through or even Mourunho because one could say he's done it all before. Current active manager after Pep with most PL wins so let's fast track the appointment. Not for Graham bleeping Potter of famed Ostersund warriors, Wigan conquerors and Brighton killers. FFS. 

The more I think of it, I'm enraged more. 

Not saying Mou should have been appointed, just drawing a comparison and in what situation such a sh*te recruitment could have been excused. 

 

4 hours ago, Spiller86 said:

Surely we have won more than four games since he started? If this is right we have only beaten English opposition twice in his time as manager. 21 goals against and 12 for. I'm actually stunned if that is true.

Why are you stunned though? 

Is it not reflective of a Brighton manager? Todd had a massive Brighton hard on. Well he's getting Brightonesq results. No surprises. 

Keep it moving nothing to see here. 

1 hour ago, ducavis said:

I reckon that silly 5yr contract will prevent them from sacking him at the end of this season. It’s either a £40m or £50m payoff which is a one time hit on our books, & equivalent to spending £200m-£250m in the transfer market with the normal 5yr contract. 
He is certainly not the right man but we need to mindful of the fact that we are in a rebuilding process. We are still a Goalie, Forward, and a CM short, and still need to clear out the dross signed by Tuchel last summer. Whenever you are rebuilding a team, you don’t need to have your ideal manager in place. Since we have a proper recruitment in place now I would let them sign the 2-3 players needed in the summer, and get rid of the players that need to be sold in the summer. I would also give him till Dec to see if he can have us in the top 6, and close to 4th position before considering his position.

You pull the pin now and you risk employing someone who might halt the rebuilding process because he has other ideas on how to use players on the scraphead. 

Unless that becomes a fundamental part of the job description.  If our new recruitment team are able to source exciting players that fit our model, why can't they identify a similar style of coach that firs in with the overall plan.

Despite the media naysayers and the twitter hecklers, if we realise now that we have the right course but the wrong horse, then let's make the change for someone that fits the established objective.

Unless of course if we are backed into a corner financially,  which may mean we are well and truly up sh*t creek.

He just has to go. This is wrong from all viewpoints. 

We have just invested huge sums in players with long term contracts, if the players with such high prospects don't feel they are being managed well, it will hinder their progress thus killing us in more than one way. 

(I) Stalled development and poor performance leading to poor results for a club that will comfortably rank as a mid table club and (ii) huge drop in their value or appeal to other clubs for their services bar one or two which would mean we lock a loss in for a long time (iii) we lose the opportunity to mold the winning mentality into a squad that's currently got few leaders and decreasing number of winners in the squad. 

In the famed words of Claude, bless his soul, He has to go!! 

36 minutes ago, Sexyfootball said:

This is the league table since we beat Aston Villa on 16th October : 

All the teams below us have matches in hand. At that rate we wouldn’t reach the 40. Shocking form.

9 minutes ago, abister1 said:

Why are you stunned though? 

Is it not reflective of a Brighton manager? Todd had a massive Brighton hard on. Well he's getting Brightonesq results. No surprises. 

Keep it moving nothing to see here. 

For some reason they thought Potter's tenure at Brighton was a "winning brand of football". Winning must mean something different in Boehly world.

I saw so many red flags in the original announcement on the CFC web site when they hired him, which was all full of touchy feely corporate HR babble, and waffle to try and justify their decision to the fans.

I've bolded below all the bits of the announcement that had me reaching for the sick bucket at the time. I saw all this woke HR bull sh*t nonsense infiltrate the corporate I worked at, and it became sadly an unstoppable juggernaut on the road to mediocrity and loss of common sense. We see it in so many walks of life these days, with the UK government being another obvious example. 

----------------------------------

Chelsea Football Club is delighted to welcome Graham Potter as our new Head Coach, joining us on a five-year contract to bring his progressive football and innovative coaching to the Club.

Potter is one of the most exciting coaches in the game, starting his journey in Sweden before bringing his talents to the English game over the past four seasons. The 47-year-old is educated to degree level in disciplines beyond sport and has combined these experiences to forge a collaborative, forward-thinking approach while developing attacking and winning football.

That has been in evidence during his time at Brighton & Hove Albion, where he achieved that club’s highest-ever league finish last season. Along the way, he earned praise for his winning brand of football on the south coast, while proving flexible in tactics and formations to be a step ahead of opponents.

On making the move to Stamford Bridge, Potter said: ‘I am incredibly proud and excited to represent Chelsea FC, this fantastic football club. I am very excited to partner with Chelsea’s new ownership group and look forward to meeting and working with the exciting group of players and to develop a team and culture that our amazing fans can be proud of. I would also like to place my sincere thanks to Brighton & Hove Albion for allowing me this opportunity and in particular Tony Bloom and all the players, staff and supporters for their continued support during my time at the club.’

Todd Boehly, chairman, said: ‘We are thrilled to bring Graham to Chelsea. He is a proven coach and an innovator in the Premier League who fits our vision for the Club. Not only is he extremely talented on the pitch, he has skills and capabilities that extend beyond the pitch which will make Chelsea a more successful Club. He has had a major impact at his previous Clubs and we look forward to his positive impact at Chelsea. We look forward to supporting him, his coaching team and the squad in realising their full potential in the coming months and years.’

Behdad Eghbali and José E. Feliciano, co-controlling owners, said: ‘Graham is a football innovator and winner on the pitch and a leader off the pitch. He has deeply impressed us with his ideas and approach to football. We are thrilled to partner with Graham to build a winning team, one that embodies the culture of collaboration, innovation, teamwork, player development, and a commitment to excellence on and off the pitch. We are fortunate to have Graham and his team as our partners in that journey.’

Potter will take charge of the team immediately.

It was a very poor appointment and I admit this is my first time I ever read the club statement. Even now I have only skimmed through it, that's how disappointed I was and still am in the appointment. 

Todd approached it like an American sports model that doesn't do relegations and have huge media and sponsorship budgets, its ok for a team to just tick along and reap huge spoils from the sport, which is really just entertainment. I bet you if he had to make the decision again, 101 times out a 100 he doesn't appoint Potter. 

Hopefully he changes course before more damage is done because already we are getting damaged, and not just from results on the pitch. 

Just watched MOTD 

how are we to ( rightfully) expect the players to play with passion and fire in there belly when they are being led by this empty sack with no passion in him at all. He is an empty vessel. After that shocking decision he should be creating a siege mentality around the club but all we get is “it is what it is “ FFS man  grow some balls. 
the removal of tuchel and getting this fraud in place looks like utter madness 

12 minutes ago, Andy2461 said:

Just watched MOTD 

how are we to ( rightfully) expect the players to play with passion and fire in there belly when they are being led by this empty sack with no passion in him at all. He is an empty vessel. After that shocking decision he should be creating a siege mentality around the club but all we get is “it is what it is “ FFS man  grow some balls. 
the removal of tuchel and getting this fraud in place looks like utter madness 

Going to be interesting to see what impact the New Zealand guy has, as it seems highly unlikely that we are going to see any sort of "winning mentality" benefit coming from Potter.

1 hour ago, charierre said:

All the teams below us have matches in hand. At that rate we wouldn’t reach the 40. Shocking form.

Before this game I extrapolated 52 points over the season based on current performances and results. That's below 7th finish and bottom half more times than not in all but two seasons of the last 12 seasons. 

Let's see if my prediction of 8th or 9th when he was appointed will be correct or not 

Edited February 12, 20233 yr by abister1

Just now, Sexyfootball said:

Going to be interesting to see what impact the New Zealand guy has, as it seems highly unlikely that we are going to see any sort of "winning mentality" benefit coming from Potter.

Hopefully his remit also includes the management staff and not just playing. 

33 minutes ago, Andy2461 said:

Just watched MOTD 

how are we to ( rightfully) expect the players to play with passion and fire in there belly when they are being led by this empty sack with no passion in him at all. He is an empty vessel. After that shocking decision he should be creating a siege mentality around the club but all we get is “it is what it is “ FFS man  grow some balls. 
the removal of tuchel and getting this fraud in place looks like utter madness 

Compare and contrast to Arteta ... 

Southampton have just sacked Jones, who has won 2 out of his last 13 PL games - the same as Potter LOL

Edited February 12, 20233 yr by Sexyfootball
got me facts wrong LOL

Could you imagine Jose after that decision OMG he would of been off the scale 

11 minutes ago, Sexyfootball said:

Southampton have just sacked Jones, who has won 2 out of his last 13 PL games - the same as Potter LOL

I mean to be fair he has lost 8 of the last 9...

1 hour ago, Sexyfootball said:

For some reason they thought Potter's tenure at Brighton was a "winning brand of football". Winning must mean something different in Boehly world.

I saw so many red flags in the original announcement on the CFC web site when they hired him, which was all full of touchy feely corporate HR babble, and waffle to try and justify their decision to the fans.

I've bolded below all the bits of the announcement that had me reaching for the sick bucket at the time. I saw all this woke HR bull sh*t nonsense infiltrate the corporate I worked at, and it became sadly an unstoppable juggernaut on the road to mediocrity and loss of common sense. We see it in so many walks of life these days, with the UK government being another obvious example. 

----------------------------------

Chelsea Football Club is delighted to welcome Graham Potter as our new Head Coach, joining us on a five-year contract to bring his progressive football and innovative coaching to the Club.

Potter is one of the most exciting coaches in the game, starting his journey in Sweden before bringing his talents to the English game over the past four seasons. The 47-year-old is educated to degree level in disciplines beyond sport and has combined these experiences to forge a collaborative, forward-thinking approach while developing attacking and winning football.

That has been in evidence during his time at Brighton & Hove Albion, where he achieved that club’s highest-ever league finish last season. Along the way, he earned praise for his winning brand of football on the south coast, while proving flexible in tactics and formations to be a step ahead of opponents.

On making the move to Stamford Bridge, Potter said: ‘I am incredibly proud and excited to represent Chelsea FC, this fantastic football club. I am very excited to partner with Chelsea’s new ownership group and look forward to meeting and working with the exciting group of players and to develop a team and culture that our amazing fans can be proud of. I would also like to place my sincere thanks to Brighton & Hove Albion for allowing me this opportunity and in particular Tony Bloom and all the players, staff and supporters for their continued support during my time at the club.’

Todd Boehly, chairman, said: ‘We are thrilled to bring Graham to Chelsea. He is a proven coach and an innovator in the Premier League who fits our vision for the Club. Not only is he extremely talented on the pitch, he has skills and capabilities that extend beyond the pitch which will make Chelsea a more successful Club. He has had a major impact at his previous Clubs and we look forward to his positive impact at Chelsea. We look forward to supporting him, his coaching team and the squad in realising their full potential in the coming months and years.’

Behdad Eghbali and José E. Feliciano, co-controlling owners, said: ‘Graham is a football innovator and winner on the pitch and a leader off the pitch. He has deeply impressed us with his ideas and approach to football. We are thrilled to partner with Graham to build a winning team, one that embodies the culture of collaboration, innovation, teamwork, player development, and a commitment to excellence on and off the pitch. We are fortunate to have Graham and his team as our partners in that journey.’

Potter will take charge of the team immediately.

1 hour ago, abister1 said:

It was a very poor appointment and I admit this is my first time I ever read the club statement. Even now I have only skimmed through it, that's how disappointed I was and still am in the appointment. 

Todd approached it like an American sports model that doesn't do relegations and have huge media and sponsorship budgets, its ok for a team to just tick along and reap huge spoils from the sport, which is really just entertainment. I bet you if he had to make the decision again, 101 times out a 100 he doesn't appoint Potter. 

Hopefully he changes course before more damage is done because already we are getting damaged, and not just from results on the pitch. 

I bet if Potter offered to walk away now with just the remainder of his years salary paid up Boehly would bite his hand off.

5 minutes ago, bisright1 said:

I mean to be fair he has lost 8 of the last 9...

Yes exactly. 

But to have club of Chelsea's resources doing what we are currently doing is easily as poor a performance as Jones at Southampton ... 

On 07/09/2022 at 14:37, Sexyfootball said:

Brighton's PL results last season :

 

I don't think any further words are necessary !

dkw probably salivating at that home form LOL

This is you from Sep 22. Prophetic and bang on, unfortunately 

Edited February 12, 20233 yr by WhiteWall

First time poster here although I have been on the forum for a while.

I understand that the results haven't been great of late however I think it's unfair to blame potter at this stage.

The first 20 minutes of yesterday's game were really good.  I could see the patterns of play and development I think Potter is aiming towards ( Sports Science degree).  We could and should have been at least 2 if not 3 to the good.  Marginal offsides stopped a very comfortable lead.  

The rest of the game was a bit of a grind.  It was West Ham away though, you have to go back quite far to find a match that wasn't.

We have basically signed a whole new starting team over the last 2 windows, there has clearly been some good, bad and indifferent signings not all of which were potters men.

We have an over inflated squad of 34 who Potter by and large is keeping on side, no mean feat in my opinion.  Under any recent manager there would be 4-5 + players alienated, losing all market value. (Barkley, Rudiger, etc under Tuchel/ Lamps).

I have no doubt that we will clear deck in the summer and get a more manageable squad size.

There has been tremendous change over the last year ( I know Tuchel also had this however it's clear there was more going on behind the scenes there ).

My point is a Jose esc appointment 'may' have given better short term results (passion, experience etc) but it's been proven to be a 2-3 year cycle and then wholesale changes with the next manager having their own style, ideas, staff.

Give the man some time, 2 years minimum.  This is new territory, new ideas and despite what 'experts' such as Garry Neville may suggest, CEOs of investment banking firms tend to have a very clear and defined plan.

2 minutes ago, grantb said:

First time poster here although I have been on the forum for a while.

I understand that the results haven't been great of late however I think it's unfair to blame potter at this stage.

The first 20 minutes of yesterday's game were really good.  I could see the patterns of play and development I think Potter is aiming towards ( Sports Science degree).  We could and should have been at least 2 if not 3 to the good.  Marginal offsides stopped a very comfortable lead.  

The rest of the game was a bit of a grind.  It was West Ham away though, you have to go back quite far to find a match that wasn't.

We have basically signed a whole new starting team over the last 2 windows, there has clearly been some good, bad and indifferent signings not all of which were potters men.

We have an over inflated squad of 34 who Potter by and large is keeping on side, no mean feat in my opinion.  Under any recent manager there would be 4-5 + players alienated, losing all market value. (Barkley, Rudiger, etc under Tuchel/ Lamps).

I have no doubt that we will clear deck in the summer and get a more manageable squad size.

There has been tremendous change over the last year ( I know Tuchel also had this however it's clear there was more going on behind the scenes there ).

My point is a Jose esc appointment 'may' have given better short term results (passion, experience etc) but it's been proven to be a 2-3 year cycle and then wholesale changes with the next manager having their own style, ideas, staff.

Give the man some time, 2 years minimum.  This is new territory, new ideas and despite what 'experts' such as Garry Neville may suggest, CEOs of investment banking firms tend to have a very clear and defined plan.

why the f**k we are giving him 2 years minimum? What did he achieve to grant such a lenient treatment? 

FFS standards are on the f**king floor man, next time I wont be surprised if someone posts saying remaining in the EPL is considered as 'good result'

11 minutes ago, grantb said:

First time poster here although I have been on the forum for a while.

I understand that the results haven't been great of late however I think it's unfair to blame potter at this stage.

The first 20 minutes of yesterday's game were really good.  I could see the patterns of play and development I think Potter is aiming towards ( Sports Science degree).  We could and should have been at least 2 if not 3 to the good.  Marginal offsides stopped a very comfortable lead.  

The rest of the game was a bit of a grind.  It was West Ham away though, you have to go back quite far to find a match that wasn't.

We have basically signed a whole new starting team over the last 2 windows, there has clearly been some good, bad and indifferent signings not all of which were potters men.

We have an over inflated squad of 34 who Potter by and large is keeping on side, no mean feat in my opinion.  Under any recent manager there would be 4-5 + players alienated, losing all market value. (Barkley, Rudiger, etc under Tuchel/ Lamps).

I have no doubt that we will clear deck in the summer and get a more manageable squad size.

There has been tremendous change over the last year ( I know Tuchel also had this however it's clear there was more going on behind the scenes there ).

My point is a Jose esc appointment 'may' have given better short term results (passion, experience etc) but it's been proven to be a 2-3 year cycle and then wholesale changes with the next manager having their own style, ideas, staff.

Give the man some time, 2 years minimum.  This is new territory, new ideas and despite what 'experts' such as Garry Neville may suggest, CEOs of investment banking firms tend to have a very clear and defined plan.

Fair points though for me we need to be playing better as the season now progresses.

Some decent spells of play yesterday hopefully this is start of good things to come. 

7 minutes ago, grantb said:

First time poster here although I have been on the forum for a while.

I understand that the results haven't been great of late however I think it's unfair to blame potter at this stage.

The first 20 minutes of yesterday's game were really good.  I could see the patterns of play and development I think Potter is aiming towards ( Sports Science degree).  We could and should have been at least 2 if not 3 to the good.  Marginal offsides stopped a very comfortable lead.  

The rest of the game was a bit of a grind.  It was West Ham away though, you have to go back quite far to find a match that wasn't.

We have basically signed a whole new starting team over the last 2 windows, there has clearly been some good, bad and indifferent signings not all of which were potters men.

We have an over inflated squad of 34 who Potter by and large is keeping on side, no mean feat in my opinion.  Under any recent manager there would be 4-5 + players alienated, losing all market value. (Barkley, Rudiger, etc under Tuchel/ Lamps).

I have no doubt that we will clear deck in the summer and get a more manageable squad size.

There has been tremendous change over the last year ( I know Tuchel also had this however it's clear there was more going on behind the scenes there ).

My point is a Jose esc appointment 'may' have given better short term results (passion, experience etc) but it's been proven to be a 2-3 year cycle and then wholesale changes with the next manager having their own style, ideas, staff.

Give the man some time, 2 years minimum.  This is new territory, new ideas and despite what 'experts' such as Garry Neville may suggest, CEOs of investment banking firms tend to have a very clear and defined plan.

Firstly, welcome to the forum, hope you're  a regular contributor.

A number of the points you make are valid and echo those that a number of us said at the time of his appointment.  We expected a transition to be difficult and fully expected a drop off in form and results first as we tried to implement a new style.

Frustratingly we have seen little if any evidence of an attempt at a more expansive style of football. Frustrating because it is shaping up to be one if the weakest/most competitive season with Arsenal likely to benefit from everyone else's decline.

Taking yesterday's game as a specific example, I didn't see this new expansive style of football. I saw some newbies gelling quickly, mainly because they are ballers, whilst the others continued to misplace passes, not see or make runs and maintain a fairly impotent attack.

Better players should improve a team, of course. But beneath that veneer are we moving towards a new and improved style of football or are we blundering around grabbing our high spots where we can get them.

Put another way, take Enzo and Felix out of that side yesterday, would we have looked any different than we did in November 

6 minutes ago, cfcforeverfan said:

why the f**k we are giving him 2 years minimum? What did he achieve to grant such a lenient treatment? 

FFS standards are on the f**king floor man, next time I wont be surprised if someone posts saying remaining in the EPL is considered as 'good result'

When Lampard was brought in the idea was to give him time, what had he done as a manager? Same with Di Matteo, AVB, Avram Grant?

If we don't give someone time things will never change.  Why Potter?  Apart from the last 6 months he has been highly regarded across the industry in every role he has held.  Compared to those listed above he has proven management experience.

I think the owners knew it was a gamble but what alternative do you suggest?

1 minute ago, grantb said:

When Lampard was brought in the idea was to give him time, what had he done as a manager? Same with Di Matteo, AVB, Avram Grant?

If we don't give someone time things will never change.  Why Potter?  Apart from the last 6 months he has been highly regarded across the industry in every role he has held.  Compared to those listed above he has proven management experience.

I think the owners knew it was a gamble but what alternative do you suggest?

Lamps in his time took us to an FA Cup final and finished 4th with kids. Potter is tacking us to a new abyss.. despite all the investments.