The Chelsea hierarchy are determined to push for a long-term cultural reset under Graham Potter and will stand by the new manager if they fail to qualify for the Champions League this season, as long as the overall direction of travel is positive.
Potter, who took over from Thomas Tuchel on Thursday, knows that the minimum requirement for the campaign to be considered a success would be a top-four finish in the Premier League, as well as a decent run in the Champions League. Chelsea are sixth in the league after six games – three points behind Potter’s previous club Brighton in fourth – and lost their first European game at Dinamo Zagreb on Tuesday in what turned out to be the last game of Tuchel.
Under Chelsea’s previous owner Roman Abramovich, it was often the case that a manager’s job prospects were inextricably linked to qualification for the Champions League. But according to senior club sources, his successors do not want Potter to live or die by that criterion in his first season.
Progression is key in the eyes of Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali, the Chelsea co-owners, who moved for Potter at high speed after reaching the end of the line with Tuchel.
Boehly, part of a group that bought the LA Dodgers in 2012, is understood to see parallels between Potter and Andrew Friedman, whom his baseball franchise hired as president of sports operations in 2014. Friedman he had previously helped the Tampa Bay Rays pack a punch. punching above its weight in the highly competitive American League East Division. Like Potter, Friedman is seen as someone who makes the people around him perform better.
Potter has been given a five-year deal, and it may be because of how the Dodgers have kept their only managerial appointment, Dave Roberts, since Boehly got involved. Roberts was hired by Don Mattingly in 2015.
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Chelsea’s ownership has a 10-year plan to boost revenue and they hope it will not be derailed by a Champions League-less past season.