Potter under pressure – Chelsea manager’s unwanted record

Defeat to Southampton this weekend added to the pressure on Chelsea manager Graham Potter.

While the club appear set to stand by the under-fire former Brighton boss, a record of nine wins in 25 games in charge is cause for concern and his 36 per cent win rate with the club is the lowest since previous owner Roman Abramovich took charge in 2003.

Here, the PA news agency looks at his record in detail.

Stamford Bridge struggles

The gloom has yet to lift for Chelsea and Graham Potter (Zac Goodwin/PA)

Potter was unbeaten in his first nine games in charge, winning six, including a run of five in a row against Crystal Palace, AC Milan (twice), Wolves and Aston Villa.

Defeat to his former club Brighton, though, was the first of four in a five-game sequence broken only by a 2-1 Champions League win over Dinamo Zagreb.

One of those came against Manchester City, who have now knocked Potter’s side out of both the Carabao Cup and FA Cup this season. A 4-0 rout in the latter immediately followed City’s 1-0 win in the Premier League meeting between the sides as the club’s current run of one win – against Palace – in 10 games gathered pace.

That sequence also includes a loss and a draw against local rivals Fulham, further draws with Nottingham Forest, Liverpool and West Ham and defeats to Borussia Dortmund and Southampton.

They have not won away from Stamford Bridge since October, with three draws and six losses – that includes conceding four goals in a game to both City and Brighton while only scoring that many in total across the nine games.

In all, Potter has won nine, drawn seven and lost nine of 25 games in charge, with his team scoring 25 goals and conceding 24. His win percentage is significantly lower than even Andre Villas-Boas’ 47.5 per cent, the lowest of any of the 13 managers employed by Abramovich before his forced departure.

Club comparison

Graham Potter enjoyed success with Brighton (David Davies/PA)

That record, admittedly in a relatively small statistical sample, also means Potter has lost a greater percentage of games in charge of Chelsea than he did with Brighton.

The Seagulls are three places and four points ahead of Chelsea in seventh in the table and, while their fast start under Potter had them already above the Blues when he was appointed as Thomas Tuchel’s successor, that is surely not what Boehly and his hierarchy were anticipating.

Potter’s Brighton lost 48 out of 140 games in all competitions, or 34.3 per cent. His Chelsea win percentage is higher – 36 per cent to 32.1 – with his Brighton side proving tougher to beat as they drew their other 47 games (33.6 per cent).

His one season with Swansea came in the Championship where, despite finishing only 10th and missing out on the play-offs, they had a 41.2 per cent win rate – the best of Potter’s career in the English league.

He previously made his name with Swedish side Ostersund, winning over half his games in charge (127 of 249, 51 per cent) as he took them from the fourth tier to the top flight, a cup win and the Europa League last 32.