Graham Potter | turns down Ajax job

DJ_21 said:
Don’t think he’ll have many complaints with the squad he’s taking over at Chelsea. Although there mainly tuchel signings, there miles above what he had at Brighton. Can see him taking a couple of Brighton players with him though when the opportunity comes… maybe caicedo and lamptey.
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Yeah I too think the squad will be quite well suited for his football, especially if he continues with the 3-5-2 formation he had at Brighton.

I could see us going after Caicedo but bringing back Lamptey seems more unlikely because there's no way Potter would prefer him over James and RJ being there was one of the key reasons Lamptey left in the first place.

Would be interesting to hear what Billy Gilmour thinks of these recent developments. He joined Brighton on a permanent transfer mainly because of Potter and didn't even get to play under him and now Potter's at the club where Billy himself was just a couple weeks ago. If he'd stayed with us I think he'd have gotten a chance under Potter, but understandably with Tuchel there he didn't see a pathway to the first team.
 
Rnd898 said:
Yeah I too think the squad will be quite well suited for his football, especially if he continues with the 3-5-2 formation he had at Brighton.

I could see us going after Caicedo but bringing back Lamptey seems more unlikely because there's no way Potter would prefer him over James and RJ being there was one of the key reasons Lamptey left in the first place.

Would be interesting to hear what Billy Gilmour thinks of these recent developments. He joined Brighton on a permanent transfer mainly because of Potter and didn't even get to play under him and now Potter's at the club where Billy himself was just a couple weeks ago. If he'd stayed with us I think he'd have gotten a chance under Potter, but understandably with Tuchel there he didn't see a pathway to the first team.
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Think that’s the reason you went for potter. Was easy to get him and he plays a similar style with 3 at the back. Be a shame if you got a manager that preferred a back 4 when you’ve just bought a couple of CBS to play in a back 3. I quite like potter so I hope he does well, obviously not when you play us like ;). Can’t say I’ve ever seen Gilmour play, what’s he like? Would he of even got into your first team?
 
Rnd898 said:
Would be interesting to hear what Billy Gilmour thinks of these recent developments.
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Yeah, that looks a bit tragic, especially with CM spots likely to open up soon at Chelsea. If he has the quality to succeed there I can't say though, maybe he's better off at a mid-table club anyway. But I guess he might have taken that chance for a season.
 
Rnd898 said:
Yeah I too think the squad will be quite well suited for his football, especially if he continues with the 3-5-2 formation he had at Brighton.

I could see us going after Caicedo but bringing back Lamptey seems more unlikely because there's no way Potter would prefer him over James and RJ being there was one of the key reasons Lamptey left in the first place.

Would be interesting to hear what Billy Gilmour thinks of these recent developments. He joined Brighton on a permanent transfer mainly because of Potter and didn't even get to play under him and now Potter's at the club where Billy himself was just a couple weeks ago. If he'd stayed with us I think he'd have gotten a chance under Potter, but understandably with Tuchel there he didn't see a pathway to the first team.
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I think Gilmour and Colwill highlight exactly how much of a rush job the Potter deal really was. Along with the Aubamayang signing. There’s absolutely no way this was bubbling on in the background before Tuchel was sacked;

1) Boehly didn’t want to sell Gilmour - if Tuchel was leaving and Potter coming in why would you agree to it?

2) Colwill moved to Brighton and is obviously a player Potter wanted to work with (like Gilmour). Now he can’t work with either.

3) Aubamayang was clearly another Tuchel deadline day signing. Although only £10m he’s on a large 3 year contract. Again why?

Whilst I agree Tuchel and Boehly seemed to have clashed very early on (you can see Tuchel has been fed up since pre season) it’s fairly obvious the appointment of Potter has been rushed through and the decision made to sack Tuchel quite hastily.

I’ve also seen a lot of PR from the Clearlake side painting Tuchel in a bad light. Obviously the majority of Chelsea fans seem to be lapping this up as justification for how he’s been treated which is fine. I get people want to support the club. That said though there’s two sides to this and there’s reputable tier one sources from Tuchel’s camp releasing some rather concerning information about the owners and why he became ‘exasperated’ with them. Why should none of that be believed? The truth normally lies in the middle, especially when you consider the owners have already clashed with both Marina and Cech in their short time in at the club, none of which are no longer there.

It’s still also strange that Boehly and Clearlake haven’t found the urgency of appointing a DoF or attempting to make a start on reforming the structure of the club. There’s definitely been enough time to do so. You’ve only appointed a head of recruitment as part of the Potter deal so again it would appear an afterthought rather than a clear strategy.

From the outside everything is all over the place. Yes there are mitigating factors but I don’t buy some of what is being peddled from the Boehly fan club here that everything that is happening since the takeover is text book and the haulmark of perfect owners.
 
Zidane is perfect for Chelsea because he has experience in how to handle full of star team and get the job done
 
TheReligion said:
Colwill moved to Brighton and is obviously a player Potter wanted to work with (like Gilmour). Now he can’t work with either.

Aubamayang was clearly another Tuchel deadline day signing. Although only £10m he’s on a large 3 year contract. Again why?
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Colwill is only on loan, if he's good enough he'll be be back.

Auba does not have a 3 year contract.
 
TheReligion said:
I think Gilmour and Colwill highlight exactly how much of a rush job the Potter deal really was. Along with the Aubamayang signing. There’s absolutely no way this was bubbling on in the background before Tuchel was sacked;

1) Boehly didn’t want to sell Gilmour - if Tuchel was leaving and Potter coming in why would you agree to it?

2) Colwill moved to Brighton and is obviously a player Potter wanted to work with (like Gilmour). Now he can’t work with either.
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Gilmour left because he demanded to go. Whether the hiring of Potter was planned in advance behind the scenes or not, there's absolutely zero chance a player on the fringes like Billy Gilmour or his agent would be kept in the loop about it. Boehly was reluctant to let him go but caved in when both the player and Tuchel made it clear they wanted it to happen. Could something have been done to prevent this scenario with better planning? Definitely yes.

As for Colwill (and to some extent Gilmour), even if Potter really wanted to work with the player(s) at Brighton who's to say he would fancy them to be a regulars at this season's Chelsea any more than Tuchel did? Chelsea and Brighton are two very different clubs with different quality players and different levels of expectations. Colwill is only a loan anyway so it's up to the player himself to perform in a way that makes Potter and the club think it's worth bringing him back into the squad for next season.

TheReligion said:
It’s a 2+1 contract so widely reported as 3. No need to be pedantic.
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The club also reported it as a two year deal with no mention of an option.

But even if there is an option included in the deal, should he be about as shit a signing as you seem to believe he is, there's hardly any chance of the third year being activated so it's definitely not just @duffer being 'pedantic'. It's a two year deal which can turn into a three year deal if he turns out great.
 
Rnd898 said:
Gilmour left because he demanded to go. Whether the hiring of Potter was planned in advance behind the scenes or not, there's absolutely zero chance a player on the fringes like Billy Gilmour or his agent would be kept in the loop about it. Boehly was reluctant to let him go but caved in when both the player and Tuchel made it clear they wanted it to happen. Could something have been done to prevent this scenario with better planning? Definitely yes.

As for Colwill (and to some extent Gilmour), even if Potter really wanted to work with the player(s) at Brighton who's to say he would fancy them to be a regulars at this season's Chelsea any more than Tuchel did? Chelsea and Brighton are two very different clubs with different quality players and different levels of expectations. Colwill is only a loan anyway so it's up to the player himself to perform in a way that makes Potter and the club think it's worth bringing him back into the squad for next season.



The club also reported it as a two year deal with no mention of an option.

But even if there is an option included in the deal, should he be about as shit a signing as you seem to believe he is, there's hardly any chance of the third year being activated so it's definitely not just @duffer being 'pedantic'. It's a two year deal which can turn into a three year deal if he turns out great.
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RE the first part that may all be true but it still highlights bad planning (or zero planning) whichever way you decide to look at it. And that’s kind of the point I’m making.

RE Aubamayang I’ve not said it’s a bad signing. He might do well. The point is it again highlights there was no real planning this window and even as late as deadline day Tuchel was getting his players in so Potter can’t of been a topic of discussion for the owners at that point.
 
littlepeasoup said:
Was it a big payoff then to Brighton? In one fell swoop they've picked up Potter and *all* his backroom staff. At least we had the decency to poach a manager with a whole summer for his predecessor to get some good work done. Proper cnutish from Chelsea tbh.
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What are they supposed to do? Not take a manager that wants to join them because it would be bad for Brighton?
 
TheReligion said:
RE Aubamayang I’ve not said it’s a bad signing. He might do well. The point is it again highlights there was no real planning this window and even as late as deadline day Tuchel was getting his players in so Potter can’t of been a topic of discussion for the owners at that point.
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Regarding the Aubameyang signing I personally don't have many complaints, mainly because in the deal that brought him to the club we also managed to get rid of Alonso and his salary as well. Alonso had been wanting to go since about March after agreeing personal terms with Barcelona so it's good for everyone that a deal worked out in the end, especially given the club had already replaced him with Cucurella and there were never going to be any minutes left for Alonso had he stayed.

Aubameyang was definitely a player Tuchel wanted and requested but that doesn't mean he can't still play well under another manager too. If we were talking about a "Lukaku-level" investment then yeah I would definitely agree that a certain lack of planning represents a bad deal but Aubameyang is only a stopgap signing for a season or two anyway so I don't mind him. If he can at least match Lukaku's output from last season it will have been a decent signing for me, so clearly the bar is not set very high.

Take it with a pinch of salt if you want but the media leaks seemed to suggest that after having talks with the player and getting to know him the club leaders were convinced that the Aubameyang signing was the right move to make at this time regardless of what was going on with Tuchel and the plan to eventually replace him. Maybe there's an element of truth to that or maybe it's a spin move made by Boehly to try and 'hide' his own incompetency. I'm not an either/or kind of dude and think there's a bit of truth to both claims.
 
The back and forths between Religion and Duffer about Chelsea related news are one of the highlights of the site
 
Cascarino said:
The back and forths between Religion and Duffer about Chelsea related news are one of the highlights of the site
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Just two strong minded Chelsea fans bickering. Happens all the time.
 
Potter has nothing to lose here. If he does well, all is well. And if he fails, there are far greater managers than him who've fared the same at Chelsea. Mid-table clubs will all want him anyhow, based on what he did with Brighton, and how difficult a job Chelsea is.

His position at Brighton, however, wiill be a terribly difficult act to follow, the worst possible sort of managerial job. They've been consistently punching above their weight for some time, and will be expected to continue doing so. So there's no winning for whoever comes in next, only continuing (which will be a feat in itself, but with little fanfare) or flat out failure.
 
Want Potter to do well. But not Chelsea. Difficult difficult.
Please either be miles better than us and better than City and win the league, or be really bad.
No yo-yo and getting 4th place while we get 5th or some crap like that.
 
TheReligion said:
So why are months passing and they can’t yet find the right person for the DoF job however they can hire Potter within 24 hours of the sacking of Tuchel?
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We have found him apparently, he is just taking time out... Edwards

Or we want Luis Campos if you believe the Duncan Castles
 
webbthepostie said:
A lot will depend on whether it's a good or cunning plan :D

Edit: Step one being to spend £200m and then sack the manager you've signed them for isn't partularly encouraging.
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That’s Woodward’s kind of management.
 
united_99 said:
Want Potter to do well. But not Chelsea. Difficult difficult.
Please either be miles better than us and better than City and win the league, or be really bad.
No yo-yo and getting 4th place while we get 5th or some crap like that.
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I don’t get people wanting a manager or a player to do well. Modern fan kind of thinking maybe ?
As a United fan, I hope he’ll flop as I don’t want a rival to do well.
 
Redfrog said:
I don’t get people wanting a manager or a player to do well. Modern fan kind of thinking maybe ?
As a United fan, I hope he’ll flop as I don’t want a rival to do well.
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Not that hard to understand really. I wanted him to do well and improve further at Brighton. Now he has joined Chelsea (and not City or Liverpool). If it’s not us finishing above those two, then Chelsea are the only realistic option and the lesser evil. That’s it.
That doesn’t mean that I am a Chelsea fan now or won’t laugh if he does really badly with them.
 
Redfrog said:
I don’t get people wanting a manager or a player to do well. Modern fan kind of thinking maybe ?
As a United fan, I hope he’ll flop as I don’t want a rival to do well.
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Yeah, bizarre stuff.
I hope Potter relegates them.
 
What a ridiculous appointment, no European credentials whatsoever, downgrade on Tuchel and even Lampard
 
Flavor of the month. Hopefully the flavor goes rancid for Boehly. Also disappointed that the Brighton project is now in shambles due to Potter thinking he will be the exception to the rule. Chelsea is the graveyard of managers. Brighton played some attractive stuff, too, so the league is poorer as a result.
 
Threesus said:
ETH is still an unknown commodity for me. I would go Klopp, guardiola, conte, potter, arteta, Thomas frank and then maybe ETH.
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I think ETH has more credit in the bank than Potter and Frank. Also maybe Arteta currently.
 
He's expected to win from the off. It would make sense to get him in at the end of the season so he at least has the pre-season to get accustomed to inner working and prepare his own squad by maybe dipping into the transfer market. That would be an easier transition.

Thrown in the deep end at the start of the season with signings approved and completed for a different manager is crazy.

Career suicide.
 
Rnd898 said:
If Tuchel was sacked immediately after Boehly/Clearlake took over without even being given any kind of chance I'm pretty sure the fan reaction would have been way worse. Even now the overall reception wasn't great and I have to say I was personally very much against it but the poor start to the season, both result-wise as well as the performances, at least gave them an easier way out.

You seem to cling on to this '24 hours' stuff with pretty much every post. To everyone else, including the top media sources, it seems obvious this change was something that's been on the cards for Boehly-Clearlake for a good while now and I'd be very surprised if some talks hadn't taken place with Graham Potter much, much earlier already.

Btw the club also interviewed Pochettino and Amorim too. At that time Potter was already the owners' top choice but they still talked to other candidates even if it was just to confirm they still believed they were making the right choice with Potter. Isn't that how it usually goes, you have one top candidate and still consider alternative options in case something seems off?
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It's just there's a lot of contradiction with this line of thought.
If Boehly-Clearlake already have a long term plan for a good while now, why do they did not execute this plan at the start of the summer? Fan reaction should not decide this kind of decision. Just trust your plan and deal with the criticism later. Fans would be quiet when your team is winning
Also this kind of stuff happens all the time in American sports, Boehly must be familiar with it. New ownership came in and wanted to bring their own guys.
Firing Tuchel just after the transfer deadline just scream reactionary to me. Most of all this move does not give Potter a room to bring in his players
 
P-Ro said:
feck it. Let's just get the big man in. JT will lead us into the promised land.
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Don't do that to yourself again mate. Only works if you have a player named Pep or zidsne and a youth players consisting of messi xavi iniesta and a certain Brazilian or Portuguese with flair. For the rest of us, we are doomed.
 
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