Chelsea part ways with manager Graham Potter

• Chelsea have parted ways with manager Graham Potter one day after the team suffered a 1-0 loss to Aston Villa at home
• Graham Potter has lasted just seven months at Stamford Bridge and Bruno Saltor has been appointed as interim head coach

Graham Potter has been sacked by Chelsea barely seven months since becoming the manager. His sacking follows a 2-0 home loss to Aston Villa on Saturday.

Graham Potter’s sacking is Chelsea’s 17th managerial change since the turn of the century. However, his reign was by far the shortest.

In a statement released by Chelsea, Graham Potter has agreed to collaborate with the club to enable a smooth transition.

Co-owners Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali said they thank Graham Potter for his services to the club. However, they will now be supporting Bruno Saltor who takes over with immediate effect.

Chelsea have sacked Graham Potter. Photo/ Daily Post Nigeria.

“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.” The club owners said in a statement.

Chelsea has 10 Premier League games remaining before the end of the season and a Champions League quarter-final ahead.

Graham Potter was Todd Boehly’s first managerial appointment since taking over the club from Roman Abramovich. He replaced Thomas Tuchel, who left in September after 20 months in charge. The German coach, who is currently with Bayern Munich, helped Chelsea win three trophies during his time with the club.

By the time he left, Chelsea were sixth on the table, having spent 225 million Euros in the summer. But despite Todd Boehly spending another 288 million Euros in the January transfer window, Graham Potter has been unable to guide the club to a top five spot.

Chelsea sacked Graham Potter following the 2-0 home loss to Aston Villa on Saturday. Photo/ Goal.com.

During his time with Chelsea, Graham Potter won just 12 of his 31 games across all competitions. According to BBC Sports, the Englishman managed 1.27 points per game in the Premier League, which is the joint-lowest of any manager to take charge of Chelsea, alongside Glen Hoddle.

The club’s management feels that with Bruno in charge, the team will have a better chance of salvaging the season. Chelsea begins their search for a new manager but it is understood that a replacement will not be named anytime soon. And that means that Bruno could be in charge until the end of the season.

Bruno Saltor is a former footballer who played as a right-back and spent the last seven years of his playing career at Brighton before getting into coaching. He retired in 2019.

Reports indicate that it was not the poor results that solely led to Graham Potter being sacked but a lack of progress from the team overall.