Potter: If I wanted an easy life, I’d have stayed at Brighton
GRAHAM POTTER accepts that the honeymoon period is over and it is time to find out who wants to make his relationship with Chelsea work.
After his impressive nine-game unbeaten start, two defeats in the last three games has given the Chelsea boss a better idea of the scrutiny that comes with the job.
When it was put to him that the situation is akin to entering the second stage of a relationship where learning about the other party, both good and bad, really begins, Potter said: ‘Yes, I couldn’t put it much better myself.
‘Football is emotion. It’s about the results and so that overrides everything. But the coaching process is something that gets better with time because you go through the ups and downs and then you understand more about this person, who can come with us, who maybe we are not on the right path with, how you can help them, how they can help you.’
Potter is not daunted by the challenge. ‘If I wanted an easy life, I could have stayed at Brighton and signed a new contract and been OK,’ he said. ‘And I would not have had questions about myself, pressure or sackings.’
With a gruelling schedule, including eight out of 13 matches away from home and injuries piling up, realist Potter said: ‘It can get messy.’
On the plus side, he has experience of how to stamp his mark on a club having done so at Ostersund, Swansea and Brighton.
Potter said it is difficult to put a timescale on when that process starts to bear fruit. He added: ‘One of the reasons to come to Chelsea — there were many — is it is a fantastic football club, potentially one of the best in the world that can compete for any major trophy.
‘I think we all know we are not at that point now and we haven’t been for two, three or four years. So, how do you get there? That’s hard work and pain. That’s suffering and moving forward, learning, developing and just driving it forward. That’s why we are here.’
After Potter’s encouraging start, the Premier League defeats to Brighton and Arsenal have provided a reality check.
Things will not get much easier with trips to Manchester City in the Carabao Cup tonight and Newcastle in the league on Saturday before the World Cup break.
Potter said: ‘We can improve a lot. That’s the challenge. It’s why we are looking forward to the games against City against Newcastle because that is where you learn a lot about each other.’