Chelsea’s hierarchy are beginning to have major doubts over Graham Potter’s future as manager ahead of two key matches, according to reports.
The London club – who have spent around £600m since their new owners took charge last summer – have won only two of their last 15 games in all competitions.
They enjoyed a superb record against Tottenham in recent years but gave a poor display against their London rivals on Sunday, losing 2-0 and having just two shots on target in the match.
- Casemiro argues with Bruno Fernandes after Man Utd’s Carabao Cup win
- Why Ziyech’s red card vs Tottenham was rescinded by Stuart Attwell
- Reece James reacts to Potter sack claims after Chelsea’s loss to Spurs
That has increased the pressure on Potter, who until now has retained the full backing of the club’s co-owners Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali.
But, according to the Daily Mail, the defeat to Spurs has finally started to erode some of that faith and doubts are beginning to arise over the manager.
Chelsea’s board are keen to back Potter and want him to be in charge for the start of the 2023/24 campaign, but the next two games have now become must-win fixtures for the former Brighton manager.
The Blues have a week to prepare for the Leeds United game next Saturday before Dortmund travel to Stamford Bridge in the UEFA Champions League on Tuesday 7 March.
Chelsea only have one home win this year – against Crystal Palace in January – and were stunned by Southampton in their last game at Stamford Bridge.
Boos greeted the full-time whistle in that game – something Potter avoided in north London with most of the away fans having left the stadium long beforehand – but the mood could turn ugly if they drop more points at Leeds.
They then need to turn around a 1-0 defeat in their last-16 clash with Dortmund, and questions could be asked of Potter if they fail to qualify.
After the Tottenham loss, Potter acknowledged Boehly and Eghbali could soon lose faith if results fail to improve: ‘I take full responsibility for the results and it isn’t good enough for Chelsea.
‘We want to try and improve it and if results aren’t good enough, which they aren’t at the moment, you can’t rely on support forever that’s for sure. My job is to keep going.’
