BOEHLY’S BACKING FOR POTTER MEANS NOTHING

I HAVE been in and around this game for 55 years. So, I will tell you what Chelsea’s board letting it be known that Graham Potter retains their support means — absolutely nothing!

I wish I had a tenner for every time I’ve heard a club say they are fully behind a manager and then he gets sacked. What it really means is that, when the flak turns on the board instead of the manager, it will be him sent packing. End of. They’re all the same. It is all about self-preservation. But I do think Potter needs help.

Managing Brighton, and making the step up to one of the biggest and most glamorous clubs in the world, the job description could not be more different. He looks like he is struggling.

The demands of being at a big football club are so different. I can make the comparison between managing Liverpool and then, with all due respect, Blackburn or Southampton. There is so much more to occupy your time that you need good people around you. Those he has brought with him from Brighton have been on the same journey as him, so they won’t know what is needed at Chelsea.

I then look at the new technical director, Christopher Vivell, and he has no experience of the English game. He may have great knowledge of Europe and beyond, but he will not fully understand the intensity of our game and what qualities are needed for a player to succeed at a big club in the most demanding league in the world. I just do not understand a lot of the decision-making since the American Todd Boehly took control.

They have now won one in nine in the Premier League and although there is no disgrace in losing to an in-form Fulham team, it just compounds the problems for Potter. For Chelsea, there is no given as to who they will beat right now and Crystal Palace should fancy their chances at Stamford Bridge tomorrow.