Chelsea part ways with Graham Potter after seven months

Chelsea have released a club statement confirming that they have parted ways with manager Graham Potter seven months into his long-term deal. 

This comes after Saturday’s 2-0 defeat to Aston Villa at Stamford Bridge where Potter and his players were booed after the final whistle.

Potter was appointed by Chelsea in early September, signing a five-year deal to replace Thomas Tuchel in the dugout. 

The contract length was a reflection of the club’s trust and commitment to the Englishman. 

However, the former Brighton & Hove Albion boss lasted just seven months into his lengthy deal following a string of disappointing performances and results.

Potter won just seven of his 22 Premier League games (D7, L8), including yesterday’s deflating defeat to Villa that left the club in the bottom half of the table with ten games remaining.

The Blues scored and conceded 27 goals each and failed to hit the net nine times in the league under the Englishman’s stewardship.

The 47-year-old leaves the Blues worse off than when he first joined domestically but steered the club toward a place in the Champions League quarter-finals, where they will face current champions Real Madrid.

Former Brighton defender and member of Potter’s coaching staff Bruno Saltor Grau has been appointed interim head coach until the club finds a new manager.

His first game in charge will come against fellow strugglers Liverpool at the Bridge, with both sides looking to return to winning ways.

Chelsea co-owners Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali expressed their gratitude to Potter in a statement.

“On behalf of everyone at the club, we want to thank Graham sincerely for his contribution to Chelsea,” it read.

“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.”

Potter enjoyed a decent start to life at Chelsea, but things began to go downhill after his return to face Brighton at the Amex Stadium, which ended in a humiliating 4-1 defeat.

An abysmal run of poor form, which lingered for too long, followed, and Potter struggled to prove he was not way out of his depth, culminating in his dismissal. 

Chelsea will now focus on finding a replacement for the former Swansea City boss.

They have an array of options, with Julian Nagelsmann, Luis Enrique, Zinedine Zidane, Mauricio Pochettino, Antonio Conte and Brendan Rodgers currently without a job.