Chelsea Sacks Graham Potter After Loss to Aston Villa

Chelsea has removed head coach Graham Potter following their recent loss to Aston Villa that has placed them in the bottom half of the Premier League table. The 2-0 defeat at Stamford Bridge resulted in home supporters calling for the manager to be fired due to the team’s poor run of form, which has been limited to just four wins from 19 games in the league.

A club statement reads, “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-finals 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.”

Potter’s tenure had a brief revival with three consecutive wins before the international break, including a winning performance against Borussia Dortmund that saw the side reach the quarter-finals of the Champions League. His position was supported by owner Todd Boehly and his Clearlake Capital consortium. Yet the loss to Villa tested confidence that Potter was the right person for the job due to Chelsea’s continued struggles in front of goal and their drop into the bottom half of the table.

Coach Bruno Saltor, who was taken to Chelsea from Brighton when Potter became the head coach, will take over the first team in the immediate term starting with Tuesday’s home game against Liverpool. He will likely remain in charge for both legs of the Champions League last-eight meeting with Real Madrid while Chelsea’s recruitment chiefs Paul Winstanley and Laurence Stewart conduct a search for a successor.

The decision to remove Potter was unanimous among Chelsea’s board members due to the lack of progress demonstrated in recent performances despite their willingness to give the former Brighton boss time to get results from the club’s expensively-assembled recruits. Potter was appointed in September, taking over from Champions League-winning manager Thomas Tuchel, whose relationship with the owners soured after a difficult pre-season tour to the United States.

The recent good performances of new signings Benoit Badiashile, Joao Felix, and Enzo Fernandez suggest that faith in Potter may have been well-founded. However, his position became untenable due to Chelsea’s drop into the bottom half of the Premier League table and their continued struggles in front of goal, leading to Stamford Bridge hosting the fewest goals seen in the top-flight of the league this season.

A permanent appointment is not expected to be imminent, although former Bayern Munich head coach Julian Nagelsmann, who was dismissed in March and is currently without a club, is likely to be among the names under consideration.