Chelsea ‘have not considered sacking Potter or replacing him’ as XI v Saints explained

Graham Potter appears to be safe in the Chelsea job despite a run of one win in 10 games throughout 2023, with the club’s hierarchy reportedly determined that he should have at least one pre-season in charge.

Potter is odds-on favourite to be the next manager out of a Premier League club but an extensive report in the Daily Telegraph suggests that his job is safe despite poor results leading to significant fan unrest.

Journalist Matt Law – who has unparalleled sources within Chelsea – details five reasons why Potter is still in a job, while making it clear that sacking the former Brighton boss is not on the agenda.

‘Potter has accepted that results have not been good enough, but there remains a feeling inside Stamford Bridge that he at least deserves one pre-season to properly work with a squad and start a season as Chelsea manager, rather than paying the price for problems that he inherited.

‘The club have not considered sacking Potter or replacing him, but if they did, which top manager or coach would be brave enough to take the current squad with three months of the season to run? Not many, if any.’

Other cited reasons for patience are the sense that Potter is not overwhelmed by the task and the belief that many of the problems at Chelsea were inherited from the reign of Thomas Tuchel with last summer’s recruitment focused on players that do not fit the new ethos or system.

There has been much consternation about Chelsea in the media, with some critics unfairly focusing on the changes made by Potter for the visit of Southampton which culminated in a very poor 1-0 defeat.

Law’s Telegraph colleague Jim White asked why certain players were left in the stands and Law has the answers to those questions, detailing that Potter was following medical advice.

‘It is understood that Potter was told James, Silva, Kai Havertz, Raheem Sterling and Mykhaylo Mudryk risked significant injury if they were to start the game, which for James, Silva, Havertz and Mudryk would have been a third in a week.’

The club has obviously decided to release this information through Law, but that is unlikely to quell the feelings of Chelsea fans who feel like this has become a wasted season, with the club already 11 points adrift of the Champions League places and facing an uphill battle after losing the first leg of their last-16 clash with Dortmund.

READ: Arsenal are Premier League winners again but Potter and Moyes are edging closer to the sack