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.
Denne historien er fra April 03, 2023-utgaven av Evening Standard.
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Denne historien er fra April 03, 2023-utgaven av Evening Standard.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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