ROB DRAPER: Chelsea owners are as COMMITTED to Graham Potter as they were when they first appointed him admitting ‘collective responsibility’ for club’s recent poor form
- Chelsea owners are still committed to Graham Potter despite recent poor form
- The Blues have dropped to tenth in the Premier League after a string of poor results
- The board says there is a ‘collective responsibility’ for the clubs’ struggles
- They are also willing to sacrifice short-term pain for a long-term goal
- That is part of their strategy to bring new young talent into their team
Chelsea’s owners are as committed to Graham Potter as their head coach as their appointment and consider themselves ‘jointly responsible’ for the recent poor form, which has seen the club win one in eight games in the Premier League.
There is no sense that Potter’s job will be in jeopardy, even if Chelsea fail to finish in the top four this season, as Todd Boehly, Behdad Egbahali and Jose Feliciano want to drive long-term cultural change at the club and accept the pain of the short-term. setbacks to once again turn the club into challenges for the Premier League title.
Finishing fourth, while obviously important financially, is not the ultimate goal, which is winning the Premier League title.
Chelsea’s owners say they are as committed to Graham Potter as they were when he was appointed
Todd Boehly and the board say they take ‘collective responsibility’ for the club’s poor form
While respecting what Roman Abramovich has achieved on the pitch at Chelsea, their assessment is that the club has fallen well behind Manchester City and Liverpool in terms of challenging for the title, despite winning the 2021 Champions League.
And that it cannot continue to be run as a benefactor club, running at losses and with little financial transparency.
The return under Potter is expected to take time and short-term issues, such as the current injuries, the delay of the World Cup and the difficulty of negotiating a transfer window immediately after the sale of the club, which was done under the previous manager that Thomas Tuchel, all explain the current situation.
Chelsea have now slipped to tenth in the league and pressure is mounting on Potter
Boehly and his partners are doubling down on their policy of long-term investment in young talent, having offered new signing Benoit Badiashile a seven-year deal.
Long-term deals are understood to progress from year to year so most of this cost will come later in the contract and is partly dependent on performance.
Boehly, Egbahli and Felciano were all in Chelsea’s defeat against Manchester City on Thursday and they were upbeat despite the defeat.
In particular, the fact that Potter turned to 19-year-old Carney Chukwuemeka to replace Raheem Sterling after five minutes, and that the young player responded with such a good performance, is seen to be in line with their ideas. for the club.
His time at the club has been marred by injuries and that has worsened this week
Raheem Sterling (R) was ruled out during Chelsea’s defeat to Manchester City with an injury
Christian Pulisic (L) also became one of ten injured players on Chelsea’s books
Also the fact that Potter has entrusted Omari Hutchinson, 19, and Lewis Hall, 18, to chase Thursday’s game, the former making his senior debut, the latter only his fourth senior appearance, will delight those owner.
Christopher Nkunku will join in the summer from RB Leipzig and there is an understanding that Potter needs the right signings to fit him and the owners collective vision.
It is an exciting time for the club investing in future talent with Benoit Badiashile
Promising star Omari Hutchinson (L) gets some game time against Man City
And Carney Chukwuemeka, 19, put in a solid performance in place of the injured Sterling
Neil Bath, Director of Football Development, is now fully integrated into the transfer and recruitment strategy, so that pathways from the academy are not blocked by unnecessary signings.
Along with Director of Global Talent Paul Winstanley, technical directors Lawrence Stewart, Christopher Vivell, Co-director of recruitment Joe Shields and Kyle Macauley, who joined Potter from Brighton to help with recruitment, believe ownership that the club now has the infrastructure to compete better. in the transfer market and support Potter with the players he needs, which will be reflected in the results going forward.
