Graham Potter Reveals How Chelsea Owners Failed To Listen To Him

Former Chelsea manager Graham Potter has opened up about his experience during his time at the club, revealing that he sought support from the club’s owners but felt let down by their response.

In an appearance on The High-Performance Podcast, Graham Potter explained that he approached Todd Boehly, the co-owner of Chelsea, and his fellow executives with genuine concerns regarding the club’s transfer strategy but they didn’t buy his ideas.

Potter observed that their focus was predominantly on acquiring new talent, often neglecting the critical need to offload existing players. This imbalance, he argued, led to significant tension within the squad and created challenges during training sessions. He expressed his belief that simply signing new players does not guarantee success on the pitch.

Potter cautioned the owners against the common misconception that high-profile signings would automatically lead to improved performance. Instead, he emphasized the importance of maintaining a balanced squad size and ensuring that the team dynamics were harmonized.

The English tactician said, “At the end of the day, you’re the owner. You’re the guy that’s responsible for the football club. If you want to do this, then my job is to support it.”

Graham Potter noted that the club did not follow through on the necessary actions to release some players, which contributed to the issues he encountered during his management tenure.

He said, “So I tried to do that with the owners, had the conversation around, ‘Look, if you do spend this money, you might have to overpay, there are no guarantees that it’s going to improve because the profile of the players you’re going to buy and you might have to get some players out’. They didn’t do that [get players out].”