Why Blues' owners decided they had to ditch Potter project

IN THE end, Chelsea’s owners felt they had no choice but to dispense with the man they chose to lead their new era at Stamford Bridge.

- Nizaar Kinsella

Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali indicated they wanted to break from the hire-and-fire culture under Roman Abramovich by handing Graham Potter a five-year contract when he was appointed in September.

They gave a £12million-a-year deal to someone who Boehly said “fits our vision”, and vowed to support him through a rebuild they calculated would most likely be painful.

Boehly and Eghbali do not believe sustainable success will come from regularly changing their manager. They had resisted calls for Potter to be dismissed in recent weeks and wanted to give him time to turn the situation around. But they could not wait for him to come good, and growing concerns behind the scenes have led to another brutal Chelsea sacking.

Potter said this year that he had the hardest job in football, as expectations levels remained high, despite radical change across the club.

It is hard not to feel sympathy for Potter, who had to deal with difficult circumstances. But he seemed a coach torn between long-term planning and short-term impact. He failed to settle on a plan amid the chaos at Chelsea and his team has lacked identity.