Tony Cascarino believes Graham Potter would not have survived this long as a Chelsea manager if Roman Abramovich was still in charge of the club.
Despite the injury returns and the presence of new signings, the Blues still could not win.
It is one win in the last 10 matches in all competitions for Potter’s men now, following Saturday’s defeat to Southampton.
The Blues are almost as close to the relegation zone as they are to the top four.
This, according to Cascarino, would have cost a Chelsea manager under Abramovich his job.
“Graham Potter, under the previous owner, Roman Abramovich, he’d have been sacked three times already,” the former Blues striker told talkSPORT.
“Chelsea is a massive job in world football and has become even bigger in recent years because of the money they spent and how the structure of the club has been built by the owners.
“There is no way on earth that he could survive, even if they kept saying it’s a long-term project.
“It won’t [be a long-term project]. Things change quickly in football.
“He’s being given a huge benefit of the doubt because there would have been many clubs even lower down in the pecking order than Chelsea would have sacked Graham Potter by now.”
Things are different now under the Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital ownership, and recent reports suggested that the Chelsea board remain confident in Potter.
Abramovich’s tendency to sack managers when things were difficult might have proved successful, but it also came with instability and the need for a rebuild every two or three years.
Especially after Manchester City and Liverpool showed that long-term projects could work, it is easy to see why the new Chelsea owners want to try a different approach.
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