Graham Potter says it's 'not my job' to win over Chelsea boo-boys
EXCLUSIVE: Graham Potter says it’s ‘not my job’ to win over Chelsea boo-boys who call him ‘RUBBISH’ – and adds NOT being a ‘massive egomaniac’ is his key to working his way out of their dire situation
- Graham Potter has come under pressure following Chelsea’s dire run of results
- They sit 10 points off the top four ahead of Thursday night’s visit to Fulham
- Owner Todd Boehly has backed Potter, who only took the job in September
- Potter has come out fighting, saying it isn’t his job to win over the boo-boys
- Ex-Brighton manager believes he has the ‘humility’ to turn situation around
- He has been boosted by the arrival of Portugal star Joao Felix on a £9m loan
Graham Potter has insisted it isn’t his job to win over the Chelsea boo-boys who have already written off his tenure at Stamford Bridge.
The English coach is already under pressure just four months into the job after Chelsea lost six of their last nine matches.
Disgruntled fans chanted the name of Potter’s predecessor Thomas Tuchel during Sunday’s 4-0 defeat to Manchester City in the FA Cup third round.
Graham Potter is already feeling the pressure as Chelsea manager after a poor run of results
Chelsea were thrashed 4-0 by Manchester City in the FA Cup in their latest setback
But Chelsea’s American owner Todd Boehly has moved to back his manager with significant investment in the January transfer window, including the £9million loan of Joao Felix.
Potter, 47, has admitted the situation is ‘painful’ and is impacting his family life, but has also come out fighting.
‘I think you’re always just battling for perspective and you can’t argue with people all the time,’ he told Mike Calvin’s BT Sport podcast.
‘People will have their opinion, they’ll analyse the situation, and their conclusion will be “it’s because Potter’s rubbish” you know.
The Blues have lost six of their last nine matches in all competitions to ramp up the pressure
Chelsea’s American owner Todd Boehly (right) has provided his backing to Potter
Chelsea fixtures
Premier League unless stated
Thursday Fulham (A)
Sunday Crystal Palace (H)
January 21 Liverpool (A)
February 3 Fulham (H)
February 11 West Ham United (A)
February 15 Borussia Dortmund (A)
Champions League last-16, first leg
‘There’ll be people out there that will think that, and there’ll be others that can look at it a different way and can look at it with a different perspective.
‘So, I think you have to accept there’s going to be criticism and accept that people won’t like you and disagree with you and I don’t think you can fight that.
‘It’s certainly not my job to convince them otherwise, my job is to do my job as well as I can and if I do that well then maybe they’ll change their opinion.’
Chelsea make the short journey to Fulham on Thursday night as they attempt to bridge a 10-point gap between themselves in 10th position in the Premier League table and Man United in fourth.
Former Brighton manager Potter has been under pressure before and believes his own ‘humility’ will see him through this latest crisis.
‘Everybody’s got their own way [of coping]. I’m not one of these massive egomaniacs who think I know everything about everything,’ he said.
‘I think that’s good because it gives you humility, gives you and ability to connect with people.
‘At the same time, you acknowledge that you’re not perfect, and you haven’t done everything perfect.
‘So, the criticism that is there, whilst it’s not totally correct, it’s not totally incorrect either. And you have to deal with that.
The name of former boss Thomas Tuchel (pictured) was chanted in the away end at the Etihad
Potter says he has the ‘utmost respect’ for Tuchel but is focused on Chelsea’s new direction
‘You need to deal with that fact that, “Okay I need to learn and I need to improve and I need to take the steps forward, take responsibility.”
‘That’s the approach I’ve had throughout my career. You don’t have all the answers. But you try to take responsibility and you get better for it.’
Chelsea have matches against Crystal Palace, Liverpool and West Ham coming up before their Champions League last-16 tie against Borussia Dortmund.
Potter added: ‘The players want to win, they want to win, they don’t want to lose.
‘Everyone wants to win, and I used to say it’s because the feeling of winning is nice and there’s a really uncomfortable feeling when you lose, we don’t like that.
The under-fire Chelsea head coach, pictured here with his wife Rachel and their three children during his previous stint at Brighton, admitted poor results affects his family
‘It manifests itself in some sort of effect physiologically but, again, you have to try to theorise that it’s part of what makes you better and it’s part of what’s got you to this point.
‘And that’s pretty much why I love football, because I think it reflects life.
‘There’s some pain, there’s incredible joy, it’s often unfair, you don’t know what’s going to happen, when you think you’ve got it cracked something comes and kicks you in the backside, just when you’re on your knees something comes and lifts you up, you know, it’s an amazing game.
Chelsea have confirmed the half-season loan signing of Atletico Madrid star Joao Felix
The 23-year-old has joined the West London club on loan for the rest of the 2022-23 season
‘And that’s why the emotions of it are so complicated and so raw, especially after a defeat, because you want to explain and get away this feeling of “why are we losing, why is this happening?”
‘As I said, sometimes blaming somebody else is an easy way to get rid of that discomfort, but I’m not sure it’s the total solution.’
Listen to the Graham Potter interview in full in the latest edition of BT Sport podcast, ‘Michael Calvin’s Football People’ – out today across major podcast platforms. Every Thursday, award-winning journalist and author Michael Calvin interviews ex-players, managers, owners, referees and more, providing unique insights into the game: btsport.com/pods
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