[Football] Potter [NOT] at Chelsea

[Weststander]

Quite. I don’t think Potter was crap for us, he was great, but he wasn’t the messiah either.

We know now, but probably not in early Sept 22, that Potter was just one key person in our success. As coach he was obviously important, but the brains/skillbase behind the academy, support for the senior squad, scouting and recruitment was not down to Potter. Borne out by RDZ slotting in almost effortlessly and improving on Potter.

Hence Tony Bloom’s ultra cool nonchalance when Potter walked out.

 

[trueblue]

He was a great manager for us. But once we started to benefit from the patience and time he was given to create his team, he ducked off to Chelsea taking everything bar the kitchen sink with him. I still want this to seriously tits up for him. I know it is not rational but I am enjoying it.

Both of these things are true. He certainly wasn’t crap and he did lay some very good foundations. He also chose to join the worst possible ‘big’ club at the worst possible moment so no wonder it rankles. Perfectly rational to enjoy his struggles while RDZ, with bundles of refreshing charisma, takes us onwards and upwards.

 

[Hamilton]

We know now, but probably not in early Sept 22, that Potter was just one key person in our success. As coach he was obviously important, but the brains/skillbase behind the academy, support for the senior squad, scouting and recruitment was not down to Potter. Borne out by RDZ slotting in almost effortlessly and improving on Potter.

Hence Tony Bloom’s ultra cool nonchalance when Potter walked out.

Don’t you think we knew all along how TB’s data machine sat at the heart of the intel behind recruitment? That said, you still need coaching staff to make it gel, but then again, there’s intel behind recruiting them too.

 

[StonehamPark]

Still predict he’ll be gone by/at the end of this season.

 

[Weststander]

Don’t you think we knew all along how TB’s data machine sat at the heart of the intel behind recruitment? That said, you still need coaching staff to make it gel, but then again, there’s intel behind recruiting them too.

Hands up, I didn’t (when Potter walked out). I was aware of TB’s intellect and StarLizard, the TB/PB planning, but I didn’t know that TB and TB alone uses StarLizard to analyse player and staff data for recruitment for his other business BHAFC.

Giving me stages of grief once Ashworth, Potter, Macauley and Winstanley walked out. I don’t think I was alone going by 1000’s of angry NSC posts.

 

[Psychobilly freakout]

"Any team can look great passing around outside of the opposition box." - This is obviously not true, very few teams pass the ball around as well as we do regardless of if that is Potter style ball retention or De Zerbi style ball retention and both styles were achieved by players coached by Potter before De Zerbi turned up. Do you seriously believe De Zerbi took a bunch of Palace level cloggers and created the current team with a bit of fairy dust and a week in Dubai?

"We really weren’t that great until a certain Ecuadorean came into the side." - So we weren't amazing to begin with under Potter but we were getting better and better before he left? Does that indicate a good manager or a bad one?

"Two homes wins in a calendar year eleven games without a win and our longest PL losing streak all came under Potter which gets conveniently forgotten about by some." - A team in transition from perennial relegation candidates goes through a bad spell, this is not enjoyable but not surprising and then we came out of the other side as a better team. Are you saying Alex Ferguson was a bad manager because Man Ure finished 11th in his 3rd season there? Selecting just a sample of data to back up an argument is deliberately trying to distort facts, just as bad as Potter fans who only talk about the wins.

"Yes we had a few good wins against the top six but then again most sides manage one or two of those." - Yes most sides manage one or two, is that all that we ever managed then? I think we could all name more than that and they weren't flukey Palarse level 1-0s. We went in to every game against the big 6 with at least a hint of optimism that we might get something out of them. Compare that with the infamously dull anti-football that we were reduced to in Hughton's last game against Spurs - we were desperately holding on for a draw from the first minute.

Where Potter really struggled with us was against the low block teams and this could be said to be the biggest challenge for De Zerbi too (although the signs are that he will do better).

Yeah sure, bang on about the frustrating low block struggles we had under Potter, his dreary interviews or his frikin annoying habit of sucking in air through his teeth but to try and use any of this as evidence he was somehow a terrible manager is just laughable. He was, no matter what you think of him as a person, the manager in charge when we came 9th in the premier league and the team that De Zerbi might just get us into Europe with was assembled and coached under that same manager. He was a very good and successful manager for us.

That may all be true, but

I’m finding his woes at Chelsea rather enjoyable, the more I see him oddly, the more I dislike him.

 

[Justice]

"Any team can look great passing around outside of the opposition box." - This is obviously not true, very few teams pass the ball around as well as we do regardless of if that is Potter style ball retention or De Zerbi style ball retention and both styles were achieved by players coached by Potter before De Zerbi turned up. Do you seriously believe De Zerbi took a bunch of Palace level cloggers and created the current team with a bit of fairy dust and a week in Dubai?

"We really weren’t that great until a certain Ecuadorean came into the side." - So we weren't amazing to begin with under Potter but we were getting better and better before he left? Does that indicate a good manager or a bad one?

"Two homes wins in a calendar year eleven games without a win and our longest PL losing streak all came under Potter which gets conveniently forgotten about by some." - A team in transition from perennial relegation candidates goes through a bad spell, this is not enjoyable but not surprising and then we came out of the other side as a better team. Are you saying Alex Ferguson was a bad manager because Man Ure finished 11th in his 3rd season there? Selecting just a sample of data to back up an argument is deliberately trying to distort facts, just as bad as Potter fans who only talk about the wins.

"Yes we had a few good wins against the top six but then again most sides manage one or two of those." - Yes most sides manage one or two, is that all that we ever managed then? I think we could all name more than that and they weren't flukey Palarse level 1-0s. We went in to every game against the big 6 with at least a hint of optimism that we might get something out of them. Compare that with the infamously dull anti-football that we were reduced to in Hughton's last game against Spurs - we were desperately holding on for a draw from the first minute.

Where Potter really struggled with us was against the low block teams and this could be said to be the biggest challenge for De Zerbi too (although the signs are that he will do better).

Yeah sure, bang on about the frustrating low block struggles we had under Potter, his dreary interviews or his frikin annoying habit of sucking in air through his teeth but to try and use any of this as evidence he was somehow a terrible manager is just laughable. He was, no matter what you think of him as a person, the manager in charge when we came 9th in the premier league and the team that De Zerbi might just get us into Europe with was assembled and coached under that same manager. He was a very good and successful manager for us.

How much evidence do you need lots of possession yet his teams hardly ever score if that’s your definition of a great manager then fair enough. His Billion pound squad has exactly the same issue.

 

[jackalbion]

"Any team can look great passing around outside of the opposition box." - This is obviously not true, very few teams pass the ball around as well as we do regardless of if that is Potter style ball retention or De Zerbi style ball retention and both styles were achieved by players coached by Potter before De Zerbi turned up. Do you seriously believe De Zerbi took a bunch of Palace level cloggers and created the current team with a bit of fairy dust and a week in Dubai?

"We really weren’t that great until a certain Ecuadorean came into the side." - So we weren't amazing to begin with under Potter but we were getting better and better before he left? Does that indicate a good manager or a bad one?

"Two homes wins in a calendar year eleven games without a win and our longest PL losing streak all came under Potter which gets conveniently forgotten about by some." - A team in transition from perennial relegation candidates goes through a bad spell, this is not enjoyable but not surprising and then we came out of the other side as a better team. Are you saying Alex Ferguson was a bad manager because Man Ure finished 11th in his 3rd season there? Selecting just a sample of data to back up an argument is deliberately trying to distort facts, just as bad as Potter fans who only talk about the wins.

"Yes we had a few good wins against the top six but then again most sides manage one or two of those." - Yes most sides manage one or two, is that all that we ever managed then? I think we could all name more than that and they weren't flukey Palarse level 1-0s. We went in to every game against the big 6 with at least a hint of optimism that we might get something out of them. Compare that with the infamously dull anti-football that we were reduced to in Hughton's last game against Spurs - we were desperately holding on for a draw from the first minute.

Where Potter really struggled with us was against the low block teams and this could be said to be the biggest challenge for De Zerbi too (although the signs are that he will do better).

Yeah sure, bang on about the frustrating low block struggles we had under Potter, his dreary interviews or his frikin annoying habit of sucking in air through his teeth but to try and use any of this as evidence he was somehow a terrible manager is just laughable. He was, no matter what you think of him as a person, the manager in charge when we came 9th in the premier league and the team that De Zerbi might just get us into Europe with was assembled and coached under that same manager. He was a very good and successful manager for us.

As I said previously, I’m just a bitter, twisted 20 something. So for that reason he is a terrible manager and a fraud. Also football needs its pantomime villans so it’s all part of the fun.

 

[Wallace]

Great quote on the radio today... Chelsea were looking for a Mr Mackay but they ended up with Mr Barrowclough!

 

[Bodian]

Off the top of my head I've posted about

- My perpetual annoyance that Mcvites digestives have too many with a crack down the middle that winds me right up and how their packaging is clearly wank.
- How shit the remake of Fireman Sam is and why Norman Price should be in the care of social services.
- The "wild flower garden" at my work that looks worse than the grass verge between a dual carriage way.

Potter is definitely fair game. Even Leon Knight still is.

What annoys me is how they say that they are the 'Original' Digestive - when they clearly are not made how they used to be. They are less crumbly and absorbent - and so on. And yes, their packaging has become far too noisy for my morning cup of tea when waking up....

 

[um bongo molongo]

"Chelsea's expected goals - which measures how good your chances were - was 2.14.
That is the fourth most of any team in this season's Champions League without scoring." (BBC Sport)

If only there had been some way of Chelsea anticipating this outcome...

It’s interesting how he seems to have such an inverse effect on finishing. Solly has gone from, well, Solly, to finishing like a mid 1980s Gary Lineker since he left

 

[raymondo]

Ees complicate

Too effing right it ees

 

[albionalex]

Chelsea's next 3 games are Spurs, Leeds and Dortmund.

Lose to Spurs + Dortmund and the fans will well and truly turn on him.

Edit: They actually play Saints first this weekend

 

[jcdenton08]

Chelsea's next 3 games are Spurs, Leeds and Dortmund.

Lose to Spurs + Dortmund and the fans will well and truly turn on him.

If they can’t beat Leeds things are desperate

 

[GT49er]

Or objective fans who sat through Potter’s 12 game winless run and identified his tactical weaknesses?

I'm sorry - jog my memory. Where were we when Potter left us? Don't remember us ever being there in the near 70 years I've been following the Albion. Different history, I guess (just not re-written, of course).

 

[GT49er]

He was a great manager for us. But once we started to benefit from the patience and time he was given to create his team, he ducked off to Chelsea taking everything bar the kitchen sink with him. I still want this to seriously tits up for him. I know it is not rational but I am enjoying it.

That's fair enough, we agree! - I too was/am pissed off with him jumping ship. That doesn't stop him being a great manager for us while he was here - he was.

 

[WhingForPresident]

Four wins from 19

 

[GT49er]

Calling fellow supporters idiots for having a different view. Classy.

No, calling people who try to re-write history idiots is just politely pointing out their.........err...........idiocy. We were all on a high after that Leicester match, after thrashing United, and after beating them at OT. Calling for the sacking of our incompetent manager then were we? Well, maybe there were one or two idiots ........................

 

[jackalbion]

Christ almighty, have you seen the shit people waste their lives banging on about on here, or posting about, and yet people still have issues with people having issues with Potter. It beggars belief that anyone would even question it. Do you have issues with the sad fuckers who still post on the Wordle thread in 2023 or the infinite juke box or any number of other crap on here? It's a football forum and a lot of us are interested in the fall and rise of our recent football manager who left in such inglorious circumstances. (said with all due respect)

Stevie Wonder needs to fess up

 

[ConfusedGloryHunter]

How much evidence do you need lots of possession yet his teams hardly ever score if that’s your definition of a great manager then fair enough. His Billion pound squad has exactly the same issue.

Hardly ever score? His approach seems to result in less goals than that expected goals thingie, yes, but you are missing the point, we created more chances and gave away less. We scored a couple more over his seasons than we did before and at the same time let in less goals. An undeniable improvement.

Don't forget that by the time Potter left us in the lurch we had started thrashing some teams too. Or did I dream us doing Man U 4-0 and then that glorious 2-1 at their place?

Dislike the man, yes, mock his glow up, yes, that frikin sucky breath thing, mock it, giggle as Chelsea struggle, yes. Just accept that he did a good job here and be happy that De Zerbi seems to be better.

Or to put it another way ask yourself this question: would you rather we had had Hodgson or Gerrard or Bruce or Lampard or any of a hundred other bang average managers in that same period instead?

Also when I heard that chocolate digestives are supposed to be eaten with the chocolate side down so it hits the tongue I was dubious. I was wrong, it is the only way to eat them. Not sure how this is relevant to Potter schadenfreude though.