(Football news) Chelsea have sacked Graham Potter, who was just seven months into his five year contract after winning just seven of his 22 Premier League games in charge. The former Brighton manager was appointed as a replacement for Thomas Tuchel on September 8th but has failed to get consistent results with the Blues as the club are languishing in 11th place in the Premier League. Potter was sacked in a meeting held on Sunday at 2:45 pm and assistant manager Billy Reid has also left the club.
As things stand assistant coach Bjorn Hamberg and goalkeeper coach Ben Roberts will remain and assist Bruno Saltor, who has been appointed as interim head coach. Chelsea will be facing Real Madrid in the quarter-finals of the Champions League and are currently 12 points behind fourth place Manchester United. Reports suggest that some individuals in the club’s hierarchy wanted to sack Potter in January while a section of the Chelsea fans sang “you don’t know what you’re doing” at Potter during their defeat against Aston Villa.
Chelsea have said that Potter ‘has agreed to collaborate with the Club to facilitate a smooth transition’ and interim coach Bruno Saltor will now face the difficult challenge of getting a result against Liverpool on Tuesday, who lost to Manchester City 4-1 at the Etihad Stadium. Former Bayern Munich manager Julen Nagelsmann is considered to be a front runner for the job while Luis Enrique and Mauricio Pochettino have also been linked to the role.
“While results have been a big factor in Graham Potter’s departure from Chelsea, one of the biggest factors for his sacking was that the club’s hierarchy did not see progress in the team despite spending £300m in the January transfer window. A statement released by Chelsea co-owners Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali read “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.”
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