Graham Potter has been let go as the manager of Chelsea, which has drawn a strong reaction from Jamie Carragher, who didn’t hesitate to express his opinion on the subject.
Potter had been appointed by Chelsea’s chairman Todd Boehly less than seven months ago, but the team experienced a poor run of performances during his time in charge, losing 11 out of 31 games under his leadership.
Adding to the troubles, Chelsea currently finds itself in the bottom half of the Premier League standings and faces a significant gap of 12 points from the top four spots.
The announcement of Potter’s departure comes in the wake of Chelsea’s disappointing 2-0 loss to Aston Villa over the weekend. Interestingly, the same day also saw the dismissal of Brendan Rodgers by Leicester City.
Carragher reacts to Potter’s sacking
Once Chelsea issued a statement confirming that Potter had been relieved of his duties, Jamie Carragher wasted no time in delivering his opinion on the matter.
“Todd said he would be different to Roman,” the former Liverpool man stressed.
“I feel for Graham Potter, but it was inevitable. You don’t change Tuchel for Potter. Ridiculous decision to start with.”
Todd said he would be different to Roman 😂😂
I feel for Graham Potter, but it was inevitable. You don’t change Tuchel for Potter. Ridiculous decision to start with. https://t.co/twZpL1D23H
— Jamie Carragher (@Carra23) April 2, 2023
Although it may seem a bit harsh, there is some validity to Carragher’s argument.
Thomas Tuchel, who had no prior experience managing a Premier League team, led Chelsea to a Champions League victory before departing for Bayern Munich. On the other hand, Potter lacked the experience of managing a big club.
However, Carragher’s observation about Boehly’s willingness to dismiss managers is noteworthy.
Roman Abramovich has a well-known history of being uncompromising when it comes to parting ways with head coaches, and despite what Boehly may have preached at the beginning of the season, it seems that he shares a similar disposition.
Chelsea’s statement on Potter
Chelsea’s statement read: “Chelsea FC has announced that Graham Potter has departed the club. Graham has agreed to collaborate with the Club to facilitate a smooth transition. In his time with the club, Graham has taken us to the quarter-final of the Champions League, where we will face Real Madrid. Chelsea would like to thank Graham for all his efforts and contribution and wish him well for the future.”
For the time being, Bruno Saltor will take charge of Chelsea on an interim basis and will manage the team against Liverpool on Tuesday.
Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali added: “On behalf of everyone at the club, we want to thank Graham sincerely for his contribution to Chelsea. We have the highest degree of respect for Graham as a coach and as a person. He has always conducted himself with professionalism and integrity and we are all disappointed in this outcome.
“Along with our incredible fans, we will all be getting behind Bruno and the team as we focus on the rest of the season. We have 10 Premier League games remaining and a Champions League quarter final ahead. We will put every effort and commitment into every one of those games so that we can end the season on a high.”