Journo states importance of UEFA Champions League qualification to Graham Potter’s Chelsea job
Graham Potter has been slammed for his influence on Chelsea’s style, as the manager is likely to leave the club if the team does not finish in the top four at the conclusion of the season.
As journalist Ben Jacobs stated on Si & Dan discuss Chelsea (Subscription required) (h/t Football.London), Potter will be expected to ensure Chelsea’s place in the Champions League next season. Although if that doesn’t happen, his job may still be safe.
“The final thing to add on Potter is that he asked when he joined, what would happen if Champions League football wasn’t achieved, and he was told very clearly that the top four was the target (it always will be, at worst, at a club like Chelsea, and quite rightly so), but his job didn’t depend on it.”
“This has since been reiterated directly to Potter by Behdad Eghbali. Potter would never have left Brighton if he believed he could plausibly be out of work before the season is out or within his first full year.”
Chelsea’s poor performance after a few excellent runs has enraged supporters, exerting pressure on former Brighton manager and owner Todd Boehly.
However, there is speculation that the board could dismiss the 47-year-old if Chelsea don’t improve in further games and are looking for a replacement, with former Tottenham Hotspur manager Mauricio Pochettino surfacing as a possible candidate.
The Argentine manager is eager to grab the position after being out of work since his dismissal from PSG. But according to Jacobs’ comments, it seems that Potter’s job is safe at Chelsea for the time being. However, in modern football, nothing can be taken for granted and good results, of course, is the best way to ensure that he stays in the job.
After being eliminated from all domestic tournaments, it is apparent that the club want to end the season on a good note, which may be the Champions League; therefore, this should be Potter’s final objective.
And Chelsea are a large club that would want to compete in better competition next season rather than the Europa League. It’s understandable that Bohely wants the Blues to compete in the Champions League, and a top-four finish is necessary.
And the team can still do it if they showed the form they did in Potter’s initial days. Moreover, we have a good squad and hopefully, they are backfiring when our injury troubles start to end.
More Chelsea News:
- Chelsea will make a decision on the future of David Datro Fofana in the second half of January
- Pep Guardiola urges Chelsea owner Todd Boehly to give Graham Potter time
- Chelsea target Wilfried Zaha could only leave Crystal Palace in the summer
Even the supporters want the team to participate in the Champions League, and they may expect Potter to lead them to a top-four finish, but this will be a difficult task, as Manchester United and Liverpool will not make it easy.
Fans here are used to competing for big trophies. No matter how loyal we stay to the manager, there comes a time when patience starts to run thin even among the loyalists. Hopefully, results start to improve otherwise speculation around Potter’s job will probably not go away.