Graham Potter insists his “careful” career progression means he has not jumped at the chance to take charge of Chelsea.
It is a week of firsts for Potter, who addressed the media for the first time as Chelsea head coach on Tuesday ahead of his first stint in the dugout for a Champions League match on Wednesday.
Potter admitted to having never attended a Champions League game, but when Chelsea host Red Bull Salzburg the 47-year-old will be drawing on his European experience from his spell at Swedish side Ostersunds.
“I left England when I was 30 years old,” said Potter. “I went to a club that had sacked their manager every year for the last five years in the fourth tier of Swedish football.
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“I’ve tried to understand what was involved and whether it was the right time to take the next challenge. But that’s what life is, about going outside your comfort zone and believing there is more to us than what sits here now. I don’t see it as a risk in a negative way, but everything is a bit unknown and that’s the beauty of life.”
Potter was Brighton’s manager this time last week, but what he described as a “whirlwind” followed, with confirmation of his appointment at Chelsea coming just hours before the Queen’s death was announced.
“It was one of those days when in 40 years’ time we’ll be asking ‘Where were you when it happened?’, and that will be easy for me to answer that’s for sure,” he added.
“A seismic day on loads of levels. I had the personal exciting news of being here, and without sounding silly I was the main news, but then I didn’t become the news at all.”
5 takeaways from Potter’s press conference
Comfortable handling big personalities
The man with a Masters in Emotional Intelligence is not afraid of handling a room full of egos.
“We’re still working with people as far as I know,” he said. “There’s all this narrative, ‘Top players are this, top players are that’, but people have egos and different things that challenge them. That’s the fascinating thing about this job really, it’s something I really enjoy.”
Potter swayed by ‘intelligent’ owners
Potter was sandwiched between co-owner Behdad Eghbali and co-owner plus chairman Todd Boehly for his unveiling photoshoot on Thursday, but amid rumours Chelsea’s new hierarchy irked Thomas Tuchel over their desire to play “4-4-3”, there are no such concerns for the latest head coach.
“I’ve had some really intense conversations with the owners and quickly I realised they were good people, intelligent people who have made a huge success of their lives outside football, with exciting ideas of how to take the club forward,” Potter said.
“I got a nice feeling from the owners on a human level. They have an understanding of what they want to achieve.”
Ask Kyle about transfers
Potter is expected to have a say regarding Chelsea’s appointment of a new sporting director, but when asked about his potential role on transfers he talked up recruitment analyst Kyle Macaulay – who has joined him at Cobham after the pair worked together at Ostersunds, Swansea and Brighton.
“Predominantly I’ve always thought I’m a head coach,” Potter said. “Kyle is one of my members of staff, really important in terms of recruitment, so a lot of the conversations I think you need can be had via him because he knows me well and how we want to play. It’s not that I don’t try and help the club around decisions on transfers, but my main job is to help the players here.”
Potter wants balance, fight, and runners
Having masterminded upsets as Brighton manager, the boot is on the other foot now Potter is at Chelsea, but he still expects his new squad to “fight” for a united cause.
“The team that I’d like to see is one that is balanced in terms of attack and defence,” he said. “A humble team that when they don’t have the ball runs hard and fights, because that’s important also. We want to entertain, of course we do, but we also want to win.”
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When asked about discussions with his family over taking the Chelsea role, Potter joked that he did not “bog down” his seven and 12-year-old children with too much conversation, but added that discussions with his wife were “important” before taking this challenge.
He also brushed off the “if” of whether he would have taken charge of Chelsea during the hire-and-fire Roman Abramovich era.
“I don’t like answering ‘ifs’, it’s not fair on the current owners or the previous regime to compare,” he said. “It was what it was, the history of Chelsea and the previous ownership is fantastic, I’m respectful of that and I’ve grown up with that success, our job is to create our own history, our own path and that’s what we’re going to be focused on doing.”
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