Chelsea Sack Graham Potter After 7 Months In Charge
Potter was appointed on September 8 on a five-year deal...
Marvin Chege 
Chelsea has announced that former Brighton and Hove Albion manager Graham Potter has departed the English Premier League club.
According to the club's statement on Sunday, April 2, the West London club thanked Potter for facilitating a smooth transition and taking Chelsea to the UEFA Champions League quarter-final.
"Graham has agreed to collaborate with the Club to facilitate a smooth transition. In his time with the club, Graham has taken us to the quarter-final of the Champions League, where we will face Real Madrid.
"Chelsea would like to thank Graham for all his efforts and contribution and wish him well for the future," read the statement in part.
An image of Stamford Bridge, the home of Chelsea Football Club. /SPORTS ILLUSTRATED
Bruno Saltor will take charge of the team as Interim Head Coach. The former Brighton defender has his first game being a home game against Liverpool on Tuesday, April 4.
Co-controlling owners Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali stated: "On behalf of everyone at the club, we want to thank Graham sincerely for his contribution to Chelsea. We have the highest degree of respect for Graham as a coach and as a person. He has always conducted himself with professionalism and integrity and we are all disappointed in this outcome.
"Along with our incredible fans, we will all be getting behind Bruno and the team as we focus on the rest of the season. We have 10 Premier League games remaining and a Champions League quarter-final ahead. We will put every effort and commitment into every one of those games so that we can end the season on a high."
Potter was appointed on September 8, 2022, on a five-year deal but has left the club just seven months into that contract, after winning 7 of his 22 Premier League games in charge.
At the time, Chelsea praised Potter as one of the most exciting coaches in the game, starting his journey in Sweden before bringing his talents to the English game over the past four seasons.
The 47-year-old was revealed to be educated to a degree level in disciplines beyond sport and combined these experiences to forge a collaborative, forward-thinking approach while developing attacking and winning football.
"That has been in evidence during his time at Brighton & Hove Albion, where he achieved that club’s highest-ever league finish last season.
"Along the way, he earned praise for his winning brand of football on the South Coast, while proving flexible in tactics and formations to be a step ahead of opponents," the club stated in part.
On making the move to Stamford Bridge, Potter said: "I am incredibly proud and excited to represent Chelsea FC, this fantastic football club. I am very excited to partner with Chelsea’s new ownership group and look forward to meeting and working with the exciting group of players and to develop a team and culture that our amazing fans can be proud of.
"I would also like to place my sincere thanks to Brighton & Hove Albion for allowing me this opportunity and in particular Tony Bloom and all the players, staff and supporters for their continued support during my time at the club," he noted.
His departure comes a day after Chelsea's 2-0 defeat at home to Aston Villa, a result which left the Blues 11th in the Premier League table, now 12 points behind fourth-placed Manchester United, and hours after another Premier League club, Leicester City, had announced that it parted ways with Brendan Rodgers.
Chelsea, who have spent more than £550m (Ksh89.9 billion) on new players fired their second manager this season.
The club had sacked Thomas Tuchel, now at Bayern Munich, who was brought in as a replacement for Frank Lampard in January 2021, and during that time he had managed to win the club's second UEFA Champions League trophy and its first FIFA Club World Cup.
The new owners had thought it was the right time to make the transition. It came hours after Chelsea lost 1-0 to Dinamo Zagreb in the UCL group match.
Premier League managers sacked this season:
- Graham Potter (Chelsea)
- Thomas Tuchel (Chelsea)
- Antonio Conte (Tottenham Hotspur)
- Steven Gerrard (Aston Villa)
- Frank Lampard (Everton)
- Patrick Vieira (Crystal Palace)
- Scott Parker (Bournemouth)
- Bruno Lage (Wolves)
- Ralph Hasenhüttl (Southampton)
- Jesse Marsch (Leeds United)
- Nathan Jones (Southampton)
- Brendan Rodgers (Leicester City)
Former head coach, Thomas Tuchel. /FILE
