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Tom Coley

Everything Graham Potter has said on his Chelsea future and getting sacked as pressure mounts

Graham Potter has had to defend his position as Chelsea manager throughout his time at Stamford Bridge. With no prior elite level experience in the job it has been a challenge to win over supporters.

The 1-0 defeat to bottom of the table Southampton proved the turning point for many with the atmosphere turning at Stamford Bridge after the second loss in a week. Pressure is now at an all-time high.

For Potter it is a continuation of the up-hill-battle he has been fighting since September as fears mount in the fanbase. Here, football.london has compiled a comprehensive list of what the manager has had to say on his future.

READ MORE : Why Reece James and Thiago Silva were absent from Chelsea's squad for Southampton

Chelsea 0-1 Southampton

A James Ward-Prowse free-kick was enough to deal the biggest blow yet to Potter. Saints are bottom in the league with just one cleansheet in 28 coming into the game and controlled the game for 45 minutes before stopping the Blues from scoring in the second half.

Potter's side were booed at half-time and full-time.

What Potter said: “After a 1-0 defeat at home, any criticism you get is understandable. I think we’ve had a tough period and I think we’ve had lots of challenges in terms of integrating young players into the Premier League. While results don’t go your way it can be tough, that is how it is.

"I’m sure there will be people out there that think I’m the problem, absolutely. I don’t think they’re right but I’m not arrogant enough to say their opinion isn’t worth articulating. My job is to help the team, keep working through a team period, we’ve had to make some changes today and the truth is we took a step back in our performance in the first half. The response in the second half was good, but it wasn’t good enough."

Borussia Dortmund 1-0 Chelsea

In arguably the best performance under Potter it was still a defeat at the hands of the German side. Karim Adeyemi's solo goal was enough to hand them a first leg victory and condemn Potter to his first Champions League loss as boss.

Speaking before the match Potter was his most animated as manager.

What Potter said: “Apart from these questions! I am careful not to get into discussion through the media. Of course, I get angry, I’m a human being like you, it’s just I choose to conduct myself in the way I think is the right way to conduct myself on the sideline. I think the same media are talking about me being angrier but then running stories about problems with referees at grassroots level. They don’t see the connection. That’s not to say we don’t all lose our temper; we do because it’s an emotional thing.

"I have a responsibility to myself, to Chelsea, to the game, and to act in a way that is the right thing for me. If you think that you can start a coaching career in the ninth tier of English football – the Northern Counties Division One – and get to this point, Chelsea and the Champions League, without sometimes getting angry or being nice, then I would suggest you don’t know anything about anything.”

West Ham 1-1 Chelsea

The Blues were frustrated not to take three points away from the London Stadium after a strong half an hour spell. Although attacking play was much improved during periods it was noticeable how the side tailed off in the second half and Potter's decision to play Marc Cucurella was booed.

What Potter said: "Chelsea fans are entitled to their view, of course they are, and when we're not winning they will be disappointed like we are, absolutely. I just said from a performance perspective, I thought it was and you can see the potential of the team I thought today.

"You can also see where the work is. Which is getting Reece James up to speed, which is getting Ben Chilwell up to speed, which is getting Ruben Loftus-Cheek up to speed, which is getting Wesley Fofana up to speed, which is getting N'Golo Kante up to speed, which is adapting Mudryk to the Premier League, which is adapting Madueke into the Premier League, which is adapting Benoit Badiashile to the Premier League, which is adapting Joao Felix to the Premier League.

"That's just how it is. That's how I see it and I'm just being honest to say how it is. I completely understand that people are frustrated if you don't win."

Before the game Potter also addressed his future, saying: "Of course. I’m not stupid. At the end of the day if results aren’t what this club should get then I understand and if I’m the reason for it, then that’s the job. In the meantime, I will go through the process of working with players, helping them improve, come together.

"It’s a complicated situation at the moment but I’m really excited for it. I have to be honest. I’m really looking forward to it, really looking forward to the challenge that awaits us. But again, I don't worry too much about the absolute timescale of it all.

"I think the expectations [from the owners] have always stayed the same, we want to develop a team that ultimately wins. We know there are opportunities to make changes to the team in the windows when they’re open. That hasn’t changed.

"My relationship with them has stayed consistent with them in that there has been regular dialogue and conversation. We understand where we both are in terms of where we see the overall picture, where we see the team. We are working together really well to try to keep improving."

Chelsea 0-0 Fulham

In the first game after the January transfer window there were expectations that things would start to click for Potter with the new signings but they were held by neighbours Fulham. Chelsea were booed off the pitch at half-time.

Before the match he called for time.

What Potter said: "I think coaching is a process. Time helps that but I've never been one to sit here and say that you need it. You guys will talk about time and pressure and the rest of it as we go through the days and weeks. I'm just looking forward to working with the team and players. I'm excited for the second part of the season, happy the window is closed, happy we can move forward and work with the players.

"Everybody that has been in this room over the last four months, the word that we've always spoken about is pressure. So that isn't going to change. Clearly, if you spend money, the external noise goes up. I understand that. I've also said that resources are one thing and spending money is another.

"You need to be able to align them, make the right decisions, and create a team culture because it isn't the amount you spend on its own that gets success."

Liverpool 0-0 Chelsea

Chelsea were held to a frustrating draw at Anfield despite having some good chances to win the game.

What Potter said: “Rather they worry about in four or five months’ time, we’ve got to focus on the next day’s training and the next match. Liverpool have suffered as well but if you look at how many players we’ve had missing for a significant period of time, it’s into double figures. So that will affect any team in the Premier League.

"We also have to understand the transition we’ve all been through and all that brings. I think the way the team stuck together through a period where there was a lot of criticism, noise, pressure, we stayed together and kept trying to improve."

Fulham 2-1 Chelsea

At the time this was the darkest day of the season. A 2-1 defeat away to local rivals Fulham and cries for Roman Abramovich and Thomas Tuchel from the away end.

What Potter said: "Well, the results in terms of the Premier League, I think we’ve lost four matches. Newcastle away before the World Cup when we had nine players out, we lost 1-0 to Arsenal, we lost on a bad day at Brighton, and I think we lost to Man City. Those are the teams we’ve lost to and we’ve drawn against Manchester United and Brentford, so the results in a small space of time aren’t positive.

"Like I’ve said, you can make excuses and look for reasons or you can say it’s not good enough. Both of those answers are correct so we have to keep improving and stick together because clearly we’re suffering as a football club and it’s not nice at all. That’s where we’re at at the moment.

"We can’t do anything apart from do our jobs better and work harder. We understand the supporters’ frustration, that is understandable and we’ll respect that. Our job is to do our jobs, to keep working, see the situation for what it is, and of course there are always other opinions, negativity and criticism because the results haven’t been positive. That’s part of the job and the challenge.

"It’s always challenging in the Premier League and it’s always challenging here. I understand their frustration and I understand when you look at results and the team performance today that it is far away from Manchester City. That’s clear. We have to focus on the next day, the next match.

Manchester City 4-0 Chelsea

In a damaging away loss in the FA Cup there were more chants for Tuchel and Abramovich. Before the game Potter spoke extensively about his future.

What Potter said: "I think we always want to try to compete, absolutely. In terms of how that gets measured, you have to take things as they are and analyse it at the end of the season. We’re not even halfway through the season yet but we’ve got a game in a cup competition that we want to do well in.

"Not especially, no [conversation with the owners]. We try to go day to day improving, working on how we can get the team better. I acknowledge the team hasn’t functioned as well as we would like it to and there are lots of reasons for that. I can’t sit here and say I’m a perfect person so clearly I’ve not done everything completely right.

"At the same time, there are some factors that take into consideration where we’re at. That’s for other people to judge and have any perspective on or not. For me, it’s about how we can keep improving and at the end of the season, you assess what happened.”

“The owners are billionaires so they are quite smart – smarter than me that’s for sure. So they understand the challenges that we have and the direction we want to go in. I’ve been here four months and five or six weeks of that have been lost to international football. I think Pep was there a year before they won anything, and obviously, Mikel [Arteta] and Jurgen [Klopp] took a bit of time [at Arsenal and Liverpool].

"Obviously, it’s maybe different for me, for some reason. I don’t put a timescale on things. I know the responsibility we have here but also I know I’m capable and I know the quality that I have. I have the full support of the owners, the players and the staff here and you can see by the support we had [against Manchester City], I thought it was fantastic.

"There will always be people who doubt, there will be people in this room who doubt, but there’s nothing I can really do about that. I’m not here to convince anybody. I’m here to do my work and if that convinces, then fine.

“I don’t know [about pressure] because I don’t read the newspapers and I stay away from social media. I have no idea. I’ve had some support but I’m not naive enough to believe that when we had the results we had, there isn’t going to be criticism and negativity. That would be strange for me to think that. Again, I’m not sitting here as some egomaniac who has all the answers and gets everything right.

"Of course, that is not the case. But like I said, there are some challenges we’ve faced, some margins in the Premier League that are difficult, and we’ve had a massive transition. Problems with injuries don’t make it easy to be stable but it’s sort of blah, blah, blah isn’t it? People want to see results, so it’s ‘shut up, Graham, what are you talking about? We need to win.’

“I think this is the challenge for everybody. I don’t think I’d have left my previous job [at Brighton] if I didn’t feel there was a chance the owners would give us support. They are absolutely in line with where we’re at and what we’re trying to do. I’m more confident now that we can achieve things than I was when I started the job because I understand the club, the players, and what’s needed.

"Obviously, with the past at Chelsea and changes of management, you can see why the questions are being asked. But like I said, I’ve been here four months and if people are going to judge me on those terms – when you consider how many games we’ve had and the challenges we’ve had – that is fine.

"I can give you a counter-argument in terms of my career and in terms of what I’ve achieved, and people in the game that consider my quality. But I also know that people will dislike it for whatever reason. All I know is I’ve got the total support of the guys above, the players and the staff.

"I don’t think I would have got the sack at Brighton, which is a well run club. I can’t comment on the others. I’ve no idea what people would do.”

“I would always feel lucky to be at Chelsea because I am grateful and privileged to be here. I understand where you are coming from but there is a completely different ownership than there was. That is hard for some people to get their head around because for 20 years Chelsea was one thing and now all of a sudden it’s different.

"Yet people still think back to what happened in the past 20 years. That is normal but it is completely different. But again, the reason for me to take the job was the chance to shape a club that is in a massive transitional period. It’s huge. Twenty years is a long time to have that leadership and then to change.

"With that, I knew there were going to be extreme challenges for sure. It’s not like I jumped at the first opportunity to leave Brighton, I had other opportunities to leave if I wanted to previously. But this one felt right because of the owners, because of the support I felt they would, and that has proved to be the case. They’ve been fantastic.

“You see me here and this isn’t actually me all the time. Of course, there are times when I get cross and angry. It’s not like I’m some robot and you’re just speaking to this can [of water]. There is stuff that happens but my responsibility when I come to you is to speak as respectfully as I can, even if some of your questions are stupid!

"I’ve got to answer them as best as I can and respectfully as I can because I represent a fantastic football club. I’ve got that job to do regardless of if I’m pissed off after a game. I have to come here and represent Chelsea in the best way.”

Manchester City 2-0 Chelsea

Before the World Cup it was Carabao Cup defeat for Potter who saw his side on a run of five domestic defeats in a row.

What Potter said: "I'd be lying if I said I didn't expect it [pressure] at all. When you take this job and take this challenge on, of course, there are going to be times where it's not a pleasant road, should we say. You have to deal with that and be honest and say, 'okay, we need to do better', and that's my responsibility.

"We've had a six-week period in the end where we've played 13 matches, eight of them away. It has a toll on everything, injuries to key players, it can get messy, It's part of the process. I've been through it at Brighton, been through it at Swansea, been through it at my club in Sweden. It is what it is. That's part of what the job is, to deal with it.

"I don't think you can ever predict in football. When the results were quite good, I was honest enough to say we've still got a lot we can do to improve. It wasn't like we were sitting there thinking we had cracked football. Games and performance-wise, we can improve a lot. That's exciting, that's also the job, the challenge, and that's what we're looking to do. It's why we're looking forward to the game tomorrow. It's why we're looking forward to the game against Newcastle because that's where you can learn a lot about each other.

"You have to do that constantly. That's what the job entails, not just for him but for lots of players. It's been a tough period. Lots of things are happening, lots of transition, lots of change, new faces in the dressing room, new faces everywhere. Trying to get it all to gel and settle down and try to develop a playing style, we've got a lot of work to do. That's why we came here, to produce a top team. We've got a long way to go, but it's exciting.

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