The Chelsea board still trust Graham Potter to continue a long-term project with the men’s first team despite Saturday’s 1-0 defeat to Southampton, according to The Telegraph’s Matt Law.
Let alone closing the gap to the top four, the shock defeat to 20th-placed Southampton has put Chelsea’s spot in the top half of the table at risk.
This is hardly a surprise for a team that have just two wins in their last 14 matches in all competitions.
The poor run of results is mainly down to their terrible goalscoring form. The Blues have scored just 23 goals in 23 league matches this season.
Many would argue that this should not have been the case. The club have brought in six attackers in the last two transfer windows, including high-profile players such as Joao Felix and Raheem Sterling.
Some Chelsea fans are questioning whether Potter is the problem. Regardless of the lack of chemistry in the team or the need for an adaptation period, the squad he has at his disposal should not be 23 points behind the league leaders.
According to Law, however, the Chelsea board still consider Potter the right man to lead the team, at least for now.
“Told [there is] no change in Chelsea board’s position on Graham Potter,” the journalist wrote on Twitter.
“They are still backing him.
“The bigger, immediate challenge for Potter is to stop the fans turning on him, and that requires a big and quick upturn in results and performances.”
When Potter signed a five-year deal as a Chelsea manager back in September, he was always expected to be given time to rebuild the team.
The January spending spree, which should significantly fast-track the rebuilding process, has changed the narrative.
It inevitably raises expectations, and Potter has not lived up to them.
The Chelsea board may be confident in their data-driven decision to hire Potter, but in the end, football is a results-based world.
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