Graham Potter | turns down Ajax job

crossy1686 said:
You really think you’ll be able to muscle your way back into the top 4 next season if you miss out this season?

A manager with zero experience of mixing it in the top 4 with the teams and managers that will finish there, all of which will strengthen in the summer also, from a stronger vantage point of offering CL football.

You’ve only got to look at United’s last 10 years to realise it’s a very, very dangerous game to back a manager who just simply doesn’t have the experience at this level.
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In many ways you're a pretty poor example as if my memory serves me correct you've never missed out two years in a row.

For me it will depend on James, Chilwell and (if we sign him) Enzo(*). Those three fit for most of the season and I think we get top four regardless of who's incharge

(*) for the avoidance of being asked why I've named him, from everything I've seen and researched he's a Kante/Hazard level gamechanger in my eyes if we can get him (still an if until he's holding the shirt).

However the new format is starting in 2024, so unless something ridiculous happens like City and Real also failing to qualify through the league we should get back in quick.
 
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Dancfc said:
In many ways you're a pretty poor example as if my memory serves me correct you've never missed out two years in a row.

For me it will depend on James, Chilwell and (if we sign him) Enzo(*). Those three fit for most of the season and I think we get top four regardless of who's incharge

(*) for the avoidance of being asked why I've named him, from everything I've seen and researched he's a Kante/Hazard level gamechanger in my eyes if we can get him (still an if until he's holding the shirt).

However the new format is starting in 2024, so unless something ridiculous happens like City and Real also failing to qualify through the league
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We've been lucky in the sense that we've always been able to spend big even when other teams couldn't so players like Di Maria etc were always an option. We were also lucky that Arsenal went to shit, which gave Liverpool and Spurs the chance to muscle into the top 4, now you can throw Newcastle into that mix also. I'm sure you've also noticed that we've been light years off a PL for 10 years and that's what happens when you give great, organised teams time to pull away from yourselves.

I think Chelsea will always be there or thereabouts in the coming years but it could also go very wrong if bad decisions are made regarding the manager and giving people with no experience or track record time to make things worse.
 
Fergies Gum said:
Next three league games are against City, Fulham and Palace.

First game is a write off and reckon he is fired if they lose points against either Fulham and Palace.
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They won't sack him. Not this soon, it would look awful to sack 2 managers in such a short period.
 
MayosNoun said:
For me, Potter has a free hit this season.

January and summer transfer window, plenty of time to work with the players and implement his own style.

Next season really is his moment as Chelsea manager.
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Surely you'd expect some significant improvement in the second half of this season, especially with Fernandez and Badiashile in?

This team was easily the third best in the PL last season and the owner just spent over 500m euro on new players. I can't fathom the idea that the manager of that kind of squad should just get a free pass until next August and shouldn't be expected to start picking up results or at least playing better football.
 
Powderfinger said:
Surely you'd expect some significant improvement in the second half of this season, especially with Fernandez and Badiashile in?

This team was easily the third best in the PL last season and the owner just spent over 500m euro on new players. I can't fathom the idea that the manager of that kind of squad should just get a free pass until next August and shouldn't be expected to start picking up results or at least playing better football.
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You say that as if he spent all those millions on top of last season squad. We lost at least £200m worth of players, if not more plus we’ve barely been able to make use of Chilwell, James and Kante, 3 of our most important players. I do agree with you though, the base level performance has to improve. There has to be something to hang our hats on to say ‘I see where this is going’.
 
WeePat said:
You say that as if he spent all those millions on top of last season squad. We lost at least £200m worth of players, if not more plus we’ve barely been able to make use of Chilwell, James and Kante, 3 of our most important players. I do agree with you though, the base level performance has to improve. There has to be something to hang our hats on to say ‘I see where this is going’.
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Yeah, that latter sentence is all I'm really saying. Obviously Potter entered a difficult situation mid-season with a big rebuild underway and some unfortunate injuries and you can't expect miracles in that context. But I would expect an upward trajectory in terms of both results and performances over the course of the year. I wouldn't lay down any requirements like "top four or bust" but as a Chelsea fan I would be concerned if by March-April the team wasn't consistently playing better stuff than what we've been seeing recently.
 
Powderfinger said:
Yeah, that latter sentence is all I'm really saying. Obviously Potter entered a difficult situation mid-season with a big rebuild underway and some unfortunate injuries and you can't expect miracles in that context. But I would expect an upward trajectory in terms of both results and performances over the course of the year. I wouldn't lay down any requirements like "top four or bust" but as a Chelsea fan I would be concerned if by March-April the team wasn't consistently playing better stuff than what we've been seeing recently.
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Ehhh I don’t know. A lot of people have short memories on here. United last season were worse than us this season. We literally cannot score because our forwards are shite and the team as a whole isn’t putting in the numbers of goals they were last season. This isn’t a new thing, it’s an ongoing issue that started under Tuchel, made worse by Tuchel and Potter is in the receiving end.

It’s going to take a couple of years to have the personnel in place to challenge again but we will come back. I believe they’ll persist with Potter in charge while the background pieces are being put into place but certainly from my perspective, it’s pleasing to see an aggressive approach to the market and young talent.

The summer was an expensive but necessary graft to fill the wholes in the squad. In hindsight, the wrong players were purchased but they were available and we needed to make the deals. The future has already begun and the reason so many fans are enjoying our current position is simply because they’re scared of the potential success of the project. I say that as again, we could look back in hindsight but the wheels are definitely in motion.
 
Powderfinger said:
Yeah, that latter sentence is all I'm really saying. Obviously Potter entered a difficult situation mid-season with a big rebuild underway and some unfortunate injuries and you can't expect miracles in that context. But I would expect an upward trajectory in terms of both results and performances over the course of the year. I wouldn't lay down any requirements like "top four or bust" but as a Chelsea fan I would be concerned if by March-April the team wasn't consistently playing better stuff than what we've been seeing recently.
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I don’t really disagree with that to be honest. It was just the ‘third best squad last season and then spent more millions’ but I was trying to correct/add context to.
 
Do we know if he has a big say in any of the signings now?

As I still see no plan with the recruitment that is going on at that club. Still reeks of Boehly wanting to throw money away for some reason.
 
My god can you imagine how much shit United would be getting if they had spent all this money and were in 9th playing like this, especially if Ole wasn't in charge and under media protection.
 
He's getting the sack sooner than we think. The team seems to get worst week after week, can't see him keep his place.
 
Newtonius said:
My god can you imagine how much shit United would be getting if they had spent all this money and were in 8th playing like this, especially if Ole wasn't in charge and under media protection.
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Chelsea dont get this because there is no real attention at Chelsea. Manutd get this sort of attention because of the size of the club.

I find it weird you mentioning Ole when last season when we had our worst run, there was alot of media criticism towards Ole, from alot of people. This idea that Ole was protected is somewhat bizzare. I dont remember Carragher protecting Ole, or other non Manutd pundits.
 
Newtonius said:
My god can you imagine how much shit United would be getting if they had spent all this money and were in 9th playing like this, especially if Ole wasn't in charge and under media protection.
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Chelsea are irrelevant compared to United. Nobody really cares about them.
 
Newtonius said:
My god can you imagine how much shit United would be getting if they had spent all this money and were in 9th playing like this, especially if Ole wasn't in charge and under media protection.
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I would say you're getting quite a lot of protection this season.
 
SirReginald said:
Ehhh I don’t know. A lot of people have short memories on here. United last season were worse than us this season. We literally cannot score because our forwards are shite and the team as a whole isn’t putting in the numbers of goals they were last season. This isn’t a new thing, it’s an ongoing issue that started under Tuchel, made worse by Tuchel and Potter is in the receiving end.

It’s going to take a couple of years to have the personnel in place to challenge again but we will come back. I believe they’ll persist with Potter in charge while the background pieces are being put into place but certainly from my perspective, it’s pleasing to see an aggressive approach to the market and young talent.

The summer was an expensive but necessary graft to fill the wholes in the squad. In hindsight, the wrong players were purchased but they were available and we needed to make the deals. The future has already begun and the reason so many fans are enjoying our current position is simply because they’re scared of the potential success of the project. I say that as again, we could look back in hindsight but the wheels are definitely in motion.
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Am I crazy for thinking even when you lot won the CL that it felt like a bit of smoke and mirrors in the final third? Even when Tuchel was doing well there (especially how he initially solidified the defense and coached some fantastic progression play into the side), I never felt like Chelsea was that dangerous in the final third. It more seemed like a team that was a pain to score on and play against, and they'd graft their way to a couple of goals from defenders and that would be that.

That always seemed like the biggest failure from Tuchel, in that he failed in the recruitment of a more dangerous forward line, and now that the defense and midfield started to wear down Chelsea is seeing the effects of that.
 
Zaphod2319 said:
Could you imagine Chelsea going five years without winning a trophy? Yeah, me neither.
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Yeah I probably could

New owners buying all the players, sacking managers quicker than Roman did.

Who would really want to go there IF they sack Potter?

You could possibly say that the owner is just buying whoever anyone else wants and the journo's are picking up on it too:

 
Shinjch said:
Do we know if he has a big say in any of the signings now?

As I still see no plan with the recruitment that is going on at that club. Still reeks of Boehly wanting to throw money away for some reason.
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Mis-firing attack -> sign Christopher Nkunku for the summer as a player to provide an immediate impact and Datro Fofana as a developing youngster to keep an eye on for the future. Nkunku was already the club's top attacking target for last summer but since he wasn't available for transfer at that time we ended up going the stop-gap route with Aubameyang who as we all know has not been all that great.

Ageing and stale midfield that's been neglected for years (last one signed was Kovacic in 2018..) -> look to sign one of the most highly rated midfield prospects in the world with Enzo Fernandez and a youngster in Andrey Santos for the future.

Silva finally starting to look his age, Fofana out injured and realizing early the Koulibaly signing has not exactly worked out -> sign Badiashile who's been on the club's radar for a long time now.


Exactly which part of that doesn't make any sense to you? Now I'm not sure how much of a say Potter himself has in these deals but it also certainly isn't Boehly going solo and deciding by himself who to go for.
 
Poor guy. He needs strikers and the club is buying every player under the sun except a striker.
 
Hansi Fick said:
Who cares what they do. Chelsea are finished as a top club, anyway, the forced sale sealed their fate. They'll slowly drift into irrelevance and they won't be missed.
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Chelsea never were a top club. There were a pretender for a few years, that is all. I don't anticipate ever seeing them being a consistent contender for anything again. They may manage to sign a few big players for big money and because players like Enzo and Nkunku don't realize what an insignificant club they are, but the continued turmoil, wild owner, changing managers, weird shitty signings, etc eventually decent players will avoid and Chelsea go back to midtable obscurity. A club like United may go through struggles, but we still get world class talent like Casemiro that want to play for us, because of our history, what kind of draw does Chelsea have without purchased success?
 
Chelsea fans should probably be really worried about what’s happening. If United get sold to the Middle East they will then be in a situation where they can’t compete with City, Newcastle or United money wise. They will be left battling it out with Arsenal Liverpool and Spurs.
 
Dancfc said:
I would say you're getting quite a lot of protection this season.
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How so? We’re a game in hand from 3rd and two wins away from being at least a point behind City?
What have we been protected against?
 
They wont drop this amount of money and expect to be sitting mid table he will be gone if it doesn't improve quickly.

City twice and then Liverpool in their next 5 games with Fulham away as well who are above them.
 
Berbaclass said:
Chelsea fans should probably be really worried about what’s happening. If United get sold to the Middle East they will then be in a situation where they can’t compete with City, Newcastle or United money wise. They will be left battling it out with Arsenal Liverpool and Spurs.
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Unless Liverpool get their own ME owners and then top would be a closed shop? It’s going to be interesting to see how the ownership situation of those two clubs plays out.
 
phelans shorts said:
He was far from crucified. He was shown the door because he had absolutely no control over the dressing room, as evidenced Kepa very publicly refusing to be substituted.
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Sarri wasn't really shown the door to begin with, it was merely held open when he himself decided he wanted to jump ship and go to Juventus.

Of course no real effort was put into keeping him at the club either but still a very distinctive difference to being sacked.
 
Rnd898 said:
Sarri wasn't really shown the door to begin with, it was merely held open when he himself decided he wanted to jump ship and go to Juventus.

Of course no real effort was put into keeping him at the club either but still a very distinctive difference to being sacked.
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I’d include holding the door open for him as showing the door, but that’s up for interpretation as you say.
 
Rnd898 said:
Mis-firing attack -> sign Christopher Nkunku for the summer as a player to provide an immediate impact and Datro Fofana as a developing youngster to keep an eye on for the future. Nkunku was already the club's top attacking target for last summer but since he wasn't available for transfer at that time we ended up going the stop-gap route with Aubameyang who as we all know has not been all that great.

Ageing and stale midfield that's been neglected for years (last one signed was Kovacic in 2018..) -> look to sign one of the most highly rated midfield prospects in the world with Enzo Fernandez and a youngster in Andrey Santos for the future.

Silva finally starting to look his age, Fofana out injured and realizing early the Koulibaly signing has not exactly worked out -> sign Badiashile who's been on the club's radar for a long time now.


Exactly which part of that doesn't make any sense to you? Now I'm not sure how much of a say Potter himself has in these deals but it also certainly isn't Boehly going solo and deciding by himself who to go for.
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Nkunku is not that answer to your attacking woes as far as I can see. He is a good player, but he needs someone to be playing off or around. You need to have that focal point in attack first before signing the likes of Nkunku. Does Nkunku then take Sterling or Mount's place? Both will be on big contracts as well. You will still need a number 9, and without having that main striker I don't think it makes sense to be signing the players that you want to be supplementing him. What do you see the front 3 looking like next season? I don't see the plan.

Fernandez seems a good player to me, and we will see how he does. The fee seems totally mad to me though. Especially considering that you will likely have to sign another midfielder in the summer.

Spending 35 million or whatever it is on Badiashile is mental. Especially when you have Colwill on your books. It has basically just written off his Chelsea career now as he has another player on a big contract in front of him. Everyone knew that Fofana has had injury issues when you signed him for that massive fee and Koulibaly was never going to be a sure thing. Badiashile has been on a lot of clubs radars for a long time, but none have bitten the bullet as he is still raw. We were told that part of why Chelsea spent so much on Cucurella was because of his ability to also play on the left side of a back three too, has this been given up on? I just don't see how the pieces in that squad connect.
 
cyberman said:
How so? We’re a game in hand from 3rd and two wins away from being at least a point behind City?
What have we been protected against?
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I was mainly referring to before your recent run when you were on a negative goal difference and buggered up your Europa group.

phelans shorts said:
He was far from crucified. He was shown the door because he had absolutely no control over the dressing room, as evidenced Kepa very publicly refusing to be substituted.
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He was hammered from minute one because he wouldn't play Kante as a lone DM (a position he's never excelled in). He was even critisised for his use of CHO even though he played around 25 times which would have been more had he not got injured, figures well well above the average for a 17/18 year old at a club with huge demands to win.
 
Dancfc said:
I was mainly referring to before your recent run when you were on a negative goal difference and buggered up your Europa group.


He was hammered from minute one because he wouldn't play Kante as a lone DM (a position he's never excelled in). He was even critisised for his use of CHO even though he played around 25 times which would have been more had he not got injured, figures well well above the average for a 17/18 year old at a club with huge demands to win.
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But that negative goal difference was a run when we picked up points v every top team in the league, bar City, in a two month span? And we won all but one European game? Where can you criticise us?
Seems incredibly harsh. Especially when you see the shit we were getting for being mid table last year versus the press you’re getting
 
cyberman said:
But that negative goal difference was a run when we picked up points v every top team in the league, bar City, in a two month span? And we won all but one European game? Where can you criticise us?
Seems incredibly harsh. Especially when you see the shit we were getting for being mid table last year versus the press you’re getting
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But you are (as many of your fellow fans have taken delight in informing us on this thread) the biggest club in the country.

Imagine the flack Madrid get in the same circumstances.
 
Dancfc said:
But you are (as many of your fellow fans have taken delight in informing us on this thread) the biggest club in the country.

Imagine the flack Madrid get in the same circumstances.
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And this has to do with what? Liverpool are just as bad, a team that nearly won it all last season, who are right beside you so it’s not the difference in any expectation of standards that’s in play here.
You, and many opposition fans on here loved to point out, thought we were shit. Pulisic over Rashford and all that. That doesn’t mean you get to retcon high standards to a squad that didn’t deserve it, just to justify a club that is about to spend over 400 in a season, laying in fourth without a peep from the media.
Imagine any other, non London club in the globe, spends that money and are performing the way you are. Imagine the uproar.
United are doing well in a season everybody didn’t expect us to so let’s see where it brings us..meanwhile, at Stamford Bridge..
 
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The issue with Chelsea is spending. With the increased output for youth and relatively highly rated talents (Nkunku) these outlays raise the expectation for the manager to deliver more. Within 12 months time there will be an expensively assembled squad and the manager WILL need something to show for it.

It's a similar thing that happened to Lampard, from what I remember he came in and didn't spend anything but once he had a summer full of transfers and results went left he was given the sack.

If Chelsea follow maybe the route someone like Arteta has had at Arsenal with growing a young team with a few young players who aren't exactly established the manager has room to grow with the team. I feel like Chelsea's ambitions and the way they are going about achieving it will drown out the time that Potter would need. It's not exactly the summation that he's a bad manager but seemingly more of a wrong profile.
 
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