1 hour ago, Nibs said:

Not gonna lie, when the rumours were doing the rounds that Southgate might quit after the World Cup, I was hoping the FA would come for Potter and Chelsea would go back to TT and re-appoint him after his much needed break from the game.

I actually think that would be a big step back for England. I'm not saying Southgate is amazing, but just think he has more in his bag than Potter does and probably will have. I'd like to see Frank take over after Southgate, that'd suit him and we can all go back to supporting him again.

As for Tuchel, I gave him stick in his latter part and probably thought he should've gone, but in hindsight and on the subject of taking a step back.... we definitely went there!

If I knew back then the way it'd go, I would've backed him more when the games were poor. As we've been shown, it wasn't all on him!

1 hour ago, 2211 said:

He should 100% be given more time IMO, these players don't care about us fans or the club, they get paid regardless and most of them are average at best.

Having said that Potter is not helping himself by picking players like KK and Azpi.

I'd rather have an academy right back thrown in and learn on the job than watch Azpi decline like this, and Chalobah for KK is a no brainer IMO

I'm still fully behind Potter but if he wants to bring the average age down and fitness levels up we should start now!

We might not win a lot but we have ain't winning a lot anyway so you might as well not get the results but at least see what direction we are are going in rather than not get the results with players clearly past their best and playing like they are only here for the wages.

Like I said I'm fully behind Potter as we seriously need a plan to get hungry more talented younger players in over the random buys of recent seasons, but Potter is making it harder to defend him with some of his decisions.

Totally agree. Potter said in his post match interview, quite rightly, that we do not move the ball quickly enough and play with pace.

Good he sees the major problem. That's a start. Now he needs to have the courage of his convictions and act on it. KK, Apzi, Jorginho should be nowhere near the starting lineup if pace and movement is what he wants to inject. 

Problem is those decisions carry risks for Potter. Two well established first teamers and a big money signing, probably won't react well to being left out. 

He also needs to have courage in trying some of the young players he keeps raving about. Rather than using the same old faces. Who Dares Wins Graham.

17 minutes ago, Mod said:

I actually think that would be a big step back for England. I'm not saying Southgate is amazing, but just think he has more in his bag than Potter does and probably will have. I'd like to see Frank take over after Southgate, that'd suit him and we can all go back to supporting him again.

As for Tuchel, I gave him stick in his latter part and probably thought he should've gone, but in hindsight and on the subject of taking a step back.... we definitely went there!

If I knew back then the way it'd go, I would've backed him more when the games were poor. As we've been shown, it wasn't all on him!

TT is without doubt, one of the best coaches in football, so any new appointment was likely to be a massive downgrade. But this season he just didn't appear the same and he looked burnt out. Think the two big jobs of PSG then Chelsea, and the whole Abramovic thing, plus the separation from his wife and kids - it clearly took its toll. A real shame we couldn't have given him time out to recuperate as we have lost the best coach out there. Guadiola took a break after Barca and TT clearly needed one and I think these months will have done him the world of good. Have no doubt wherever he ends up when he returns, he will succeed and we will be left to rue yet another bad decision.

But in Potter we trust.............................!! 

33 minutes ago, just said:

Totally agree. Potter said in his post match interview, quite rightly, that we do not move the ball quickly enough and play with pace.

Good he sees the major problem. That's a start. Now he needs to have the courage of his convictions and act on it. KK, Apzi, Jorginho should be nowhere near the starting lineup if pace and movement is what he wants to inject. 

Problem is those decisions carry risks for Potter. Two well established first teamers and a big money signing, probably won't react well to being left out. 

He also needs to have courage in trying some of the young players he keeps raving about. Rather than using the same old faces. Who Dares Wins Graham.

Yes and no Just. I agree to a point. Fitter players constantly moving off the ball, making runs, moving the ball quickly means we are playing football in the right areas and the forward  passes are then evident for the deeper lying players.  I'm not disagreeing with you, none of those three players fit a high tempo, energetic model, but Mason Mount, Kai Havertz, etc breathing out of their ar$es after 50 - 60 mins is also a major factor 

Edited January 1, 20233 yr by WhiteWall

Don't think Todd and Co can sack him this quickly. 

I mean they can and can easily swallow how much if would cost them to do so, but what does it say about them and their project if they send Potter and his coaches on the way so soon after he joined? What happens with Paul Winstanley does he get moved on too?

No manager is going believe their promises of time to get it right, backing and resources if Potter goes at his first transfer window.

End of the day if they afford him this season and next, lavish upon him players like a Enzo, a Bellingham, a Nkunku etc etc and he still messes up they can say to the next guy "hey we gave Potter almost 2 season, 3 windows and 700mill or whatever on players he wanted and we finished 15th both seasons and played sh*t football. We will give you at least 2 to get your ideas in".

Even I voted no, and I never wanted him here. Two wrongs don't make it a right, at least give him the time to sink or swim.

Utterly pointless sacking Potter just now. Unless there is a credible replacement ready to join who genuinely thinks he, within a month, bring in players to fix a midfield that is softer than Philip Schofield in a jacuzzi with the Dallas Cowgirls.

This squad is ill equipped for the physicality of the Premier League. No manager is making a difference to that without a big window (I.e. not January) and a budget.

In todays starting eleven there was only one starter equipped for the physicality of the English game and he is older than Nibs. 

It's hiding behind the sofa time watching teams rip the piss out of Jorginho, Kovacic and Mount in the centre and when you then throw in the fact that Havertz, Ziyech and Aubameyang would lose in a fist fight against Rollie from Grange Hill you know we are as robust as Katie Price's cleavage in a sauna.

As for Koulibaly, @justputs up a stronger defence for Jorginho than he does. If Napoli want him back I'd trade him for some buffalo mozzarella. 

What a clear out we need and that's not on Potter. Tuchel carries a lot of blame for this weak squad.

 

5 hours ago, axman2526 said:

Don't think Todd and Co can sack him this quickly. 

I mean they can and can easily swallow how much if would cost them to do so, but what does it say about them and their project if they send Potter and his coaches on the way so soon after he joined? What happens with Paul Winstanley does he get moved on too?

No manager is going believe their promises of time to get it right, backing and resources if Potter goes at his first transfer window.

End of the day if they afford him this season and next, lavish upon him players like a Enzo, a Bellingham, a Nkunku etc etc and he still messes up they can say to the next guy "hey we gave Potter almost 2 season, 3 windows and 700mill or whatever on players he wanted and we finished 15th both seasons and played sh*t football. We will give you at least 2 to get your ideas in".

That's probably what the United board said to Ten Hag when he came in. Hundreds of millions thrown away doing that though.

6 hours ago, Deino said:

Should have brought Potter on when the project was nearing completion a la City with Guardiola. 

I was thinking the total opposite, he could work out given a change in his system/setup but I don’t see that winning mentality the top coaches have; he’s pretty vapid and soft, doesn’t seem the type to inspire great feats. Time will tell but even if this eventually works out I can’t help but feel he’s not the one for the finish line anyway.

13 hours ago, axman2526 said:

Don't think Todd and Co can sack him this quickly. 

I mean they can and can easily swallow how much if would cost them to do so, but what does it say about them and their project if they send Potter and his coaches on the way so soon after he joined? What happens with Paul Winstanley does he get moved on too?

No manager is going believe their promises of time to get it right, backing and resources if Potter goes at his first transfer window.

End of the day if they afford him this season and next, lavish upon him players like a Enzo, a Bellingham, a Nkunku etc etc and he still messes up they can say to the next guy "hey we gave Potter almost 2 season, 3 windows and 700mill or whatever on players he wanted and we finished 15th both seasons and played sh*t football. We will give you at least 2 to get your ideas in".

This is all I want and why. Players have reportedly turned us down because they just don't believe there's going to be the same team in charge in a couple of months. 

Im going to be incredibly down if Boehly keeps up the manager go around that Roman did. We need some stability and we need to allow ourselves to fail and be sh*t for a bit. Our failures for me are solely at the door of poor planning, poor recruitment and a revolving door of managers. Boehly seems to be solving these issues but it takes a couple of windows to fix, not 6 months. 

There's one argument that we should have kept Tuchel and seen the change through with him. But all the soundings were that he just didn't want to be a part of what Boehly was doing, it wasn't the right fit for either party. Potter is at least that man, and if we can give him the opportunity to succeed or fail then we will be in a stronger position the season after next. 

I feel absolutely dreadful, I actually have questioned myself several times this season, wondering if I even still like football.

Having said that, if Potter were to be sacked I think I'd feel worse.

 

What an absolute mess we are in! Could always be worse mind.

11 minutes ago, bisright1 said:

Potter is at least that man, and if we can give him the opportunity to succeed or fail then we will be in a stronger position the season after next. 

Absolutely no guarantee of this.

The ownership group are by all accounts investing heavily now at the start and by 2024 we want to reduce our spending in the market. What happens if we completely support for a couple of transfer windows now and he turns out to be a disaster? We will have spent most of our money and we are presumably way off the Top 5/6 with little hope of catching them if this goes wrong.

That's what concerns me. We seem to put all our eggs into Potter's basket and he's unproven and he's been really poor so far for us. I want him to turn things around before he's part of planning our summer window. Arteta is the popular example these days but for every Arteta there are about 20 Solskjaers/Moyes/AvBs etc.

For me Potter needs to show something ASAP. Should not be sacked right now but needs to show something very quick.

3 minutes ago, Eight Times said:

I feel absolutely dreadful, I actually have questioned myself several times this season, wondering if I even still like football.

Having said that, if Potter were to be sacked I think I'd feel worse.

 

What an absolute mess we are in! Could always be worse mind.

Don't worry - I expect it to get worse (starting with Man City on Thursday followed by an early FA Cup exit....................!)

Don't sack Potter. Hire Ant Middleton as the fitness coach. Scare the fck out of them. He'd get them fit!!

I can understand the question being asked, I do however feel what we are experiencing now is the culmination of three major factors:

* Poor transfers. The lack of a clear club philosophy have resulted in us winging it when it comes to transfers. Players have been bought for a specific manager or simply because they were available, resulting in a woefully unbalanced squad

* Sacking of managers.  Instead of addressing the squad issue, we have chosen the easy way out whenever the inevitable run of bad results came. Sometimes with successful short term gains, mind you. But at the end of the line, we always find ourselves at the same spot - with a run of bad results, and the squad looking disinterested and waiting for the next manager to come in

* Injuries to key players. Because of the imbalance of the squad, we have been extremely dependant of our key players. In my view, this is why players like James and Kante constantly brakes down and we have been suffering greatly as a result. Our foundation as a club simply isn't solid enough to kope.

 

We need a rebuild, plain and simple. The bad news is, this takes time. Probably a couple of seasons to get the right players in and just as crucially - the right players out. 

Whether Potter is the best person for this job or not, I have no idea. Only time will tell

I think, however,  we are better served with his kind of mentality rather than a "win first at all costs" sort of manager in this moment of time.

Ripping up everything and starting again now just will not help us. 

 

I like much of what the club is trying to do at the moment, with creating a more calm and stable environment for the manager and  developing a clear transfer strategy which will hopefully help us a lot long term.

The club and the manager needs patience from all of us to heal and rebuild through what will likely be a rough season or two. I hope they'll get it 

 

No, GP needs time to build the squad. Look at Arsenal with Arteta.

If the club and Potter are going down the route where league form doesn't matter so long as we aren't relegated, then Potter best start utilizing the younger players now vs later. 

Just now, Sconnie Blue said:

If the club and Potter are going down the route where league form doesn't matter so long as we aren't relegated, then Potter best start utilizing the younger players now vs later. 

Aside from the point that he isn't, it is an interesting question of at which point do we give up on 4th place and give next seasons prospects a chance. 

I'm assuming the reason they aren't being thrown in yet is because Potter isn't seeing enough from them to show they are ready. Zakaria forced his way in from the wilderness so there's no reason to think there aren't valid reasons why Chalobah, Chuk and Omari aren't being played from the off. 

However I do think 4th place is very achievable if post Man City we can get the team going again. Tottenham Liverpool and United don't seem consistent enough to mean it's out of reach just yet.

2 minutes ago, bisright1 said:

Aside from the point that he isn't, it is an interesting question of at which point do we give up on 4th place and give next seasons prospects a chance. 

I'm assuming the reason they aren't being thrown in yet is because Potter isn't seeing enough from them to show they are ready. Zakaria forced his way in from the wilderness so there's no reason to think there aren't valid reasons why Chalobah, Chuk and Omari aren't being played from the off. 

However I do think 4th place is very achievable if post Man City we can get the team going again. Tottenham Liverpool and United don't seem consistent enough to mean it's out of reach just yet.

Not unless we bring in 2-3 reinforcements in January and Chilwell + James remain injury free. 

And even then, the chances are still slim. 

5 hours ago, OriginalS said:

Absolutely no guarantee of this.

The ownership group are by all accounts investing heavily now at the start and by 2024 we want to reduce our spending in the market. What happens if we completely support for a couple of transfer windows now and he turns out to be a disaster? We will have spent most of our money and we are presumably way off the Top 5/6 with little hope of catching them if this goes wrong.

That's what concerns me. We seem to put all our eggs into Potter's basket and he's unproven and he's been really poor so far for us. I want him to turn things around before he's part of planning our summer window. Arteta is the popular example these days but for every Arteta there are about 20 Solskjaers/Moyes/AvBs etc.

For me Potter needs to show something ASAP. Should not be sacked right now but needs to show something very quick.

With Enzo (if he joins) and Santos we seem to be going after players that will work in most systems which is good.

I mean, I'm going by word of mouth when it comes to Santos but I like what I hear.

Another thing going under the radar is that from 2024 the UCL format changes to allow the two best ranked teams who dont qualify pretty much a free pass back in, so if in worst case we miss out top 4 now then again we should get back in default bar something crazy like Madrid and Bayern both missing out aswell.

Top 4 ain't happening, neither is the FA Cup. Better chances fluking it in the CL and that is slim to none chance.

Make the best of the season as we can and use this window to carry on building and work out the issues. Then after another summer window pressure cranks up on Potter. 

1 season with no CL money is a hit, 2 or more? Clearlake and investors won't be happy...

I feel the same as Zeta, he should never have been appointed in the first place. I don't think anything will improve under Potter, even if you give him 10 transfer windows. Forget ever getting to Arsenal or City's level in the future, I don't even think he will have us competing for top 4 for as long as he is here. 

The problem is that we can't sack him. The ridiculous contract he is on only hurts us if we sack him. Boehly is ambitious, that much is clear, but he is making so many decisions that worry me. These ridiculously long contracts with high wages and obscene amounts of money we are throwing at clubs to bring players here worries me. I don't see how this is sustainable, it's worse than Barcelona's crazy spending that got them into the trouble they are in today.

7 minutes ago, Scott Harris said:

I feel the same as Zeta, he should never have been appointed in the first place. I don't think anything will improve under Potter, even if you give him 10 transfer windows. Forget ever getting to Arsenal or City's level in the future, I don't even think he will have us competing for top 4 for as long as he is here. 

The problem is that we can't sack him. The ridiculous contract he is on only hurts us if we sack him. Boehly is ambitious, that much is clear, but he is making so many decisions that worry me. These ridiculously long contracts with high wages and obscene amounts of money we are throwing at clubs to bring players here worries me. I don't see how this is sustainable, it's worse than Barcelona's crazy spending that got them into the trouble they are in today.

We just need to learn to expect rubbish, horrible to watch football and that we wont be at the top table for a while. 

Todd will have to let this play out, show he supported Potter. His people, his say in the boardroom shake up, his signings.

After all that a few seasons of finishing between 14th and 9th he can say "I gave him time, signings, full backing but this is not good enough" and the only thing Todd will get beat for is appointing Potter in the first place.

1 hour ago, Malcolm9 said:

No, GP needs time to build the squad. Look at Arsenal with Arteta.

Funny, I remember people saying "Look at Klopp with Liverpool" when it came to Tuchel, and we sacked him too. How about we do our own thing instead of trying to mimic other clubs? Just trying to be the same as the other club never works.

It just amazes me that Chelsea fans have invented this scenario where Potter has inherited a bunch of mid table dross, or worse. It's like winning the Champions League, Super Cup, Club World Cup, reaching 3 cup finals, and finishing 4th and 3rd under Tuchel never actually happened in the past 16 months. Arteta came into an Arsenal squad that was heading south for years, they had nothing going for them. We aren't where they were when he took over.........well, we are now, because Potter has taken us there, it's a big difference.

There is no doubt that GP will be given at least until the end of the Season and most likely next season too. 

When he took the job, he was probably thinking, 'wow, I have landed one of the top jobs in the English game, big Club, massive fan base, New Owners, vast financial resources etc etc' and he will have been shocked when he arrived, to see up close, the frighteningly shallow squad depth, and the real lack of a pipeline from the Academy, albeit that we have bought some late teenage World talent to make up for that. 

He will now know what we all do; We have no strikers, the midfield is weak, We have ZERO natural leadership on or off the pitch, we have a terrible injury crisis at the Club, hence the demolition of the former medical team, which has yet to be replaced, We have to rely too heavily on Reece James, Ben Chilwell Thiago Silva and Mason Mount, but the aforementioned squad depth does not allow for these players to be given a rest or rotated. We have bought VERY badly, KK looks well past it, Zakaria is not good enough, Cucarella is just not Premier quality, he is awful in most aspects of his game  and I believe, a complete waste of money, Fofana is injury prone, Sterling was a great player, whose best days are behind him and don't get me started on bloody Aubameyang !!

As mentioned already in this thread, the players who have been here a few years have given successive coaches, Sarri, Lampard and TT precisely the same issues, with an obvious lack of mental and physical toughness, which must now be addressed.

So in summing up, I actually feel rather sorry for GP. He is dealing with a new owner who clearly has little idea of what he is doing, a new Technical Director to report to, no medical team except hired in jobbing physios and a playing squad that is one of the worst we have had at Chelsea for 20 years,  but he has brought with him THREE assistant coaches from Brighton plus 2 goal keeping coaches and sundry others and Potter and these guys must step up and be counted. He MUST have the balls to at least give more chances to the youth at the Club like Gallagher, Hutchinson, Chalobah, Humphries, Hall and Chukwuemeka and pray that the new recruitment team know what they are doing with our latest acquisitions.