"There has to at least be some method to the thinking" - Former PL star slams Chelsea for sacking Graham Potter
Former Watford striker Troy Deeney has slammed Chelsea, among other Premier League clubs, for sacking their respective managers this season.
Chelsea parted ways with Graham Potter last week after a string of poor results see them languish in 11th place in the league table. The Englishman was hired this season following Thomas Tuchel's sacking in September last year.
Potter became the 12th manager to be sacked in the Premier League this season, with the likes of Antonio Conte and Brendan Rodgers among the other recent coaches to have been let go by their respective clubs.
Writing in his column for The Sun, Deeney shared his thoughts on the recent sackings in the English top flight, including Potter's at Chelsea, saying:
"Graham Potter got the chop at Chelsea who are in the Champions League quarter finals, and his drop-down job that he was offered was Leicester in the bottom three, who are still a huge club. That’s how competitive it is."
He added
"I have heard people talk about creating a designated and restricted window during a season purely for sacking Prem managers to help control things. It made me laugh. Who is going to tell these billionaire owners they can only get rid of an unwanted manager in one or two months of a season?"
"Also, in what other line of work could you say: ‘Let’s have a month where we review the managers and sack them?’ It’s absolutely mental."
Deeney also criticized the fact that some of these clubs don't even have replacements lined up after sacking their managers. He wrote:
"As I said, these sackings aren’t a surprise, but what I will accept is that the timings of some of them are definitely surprising, as well as the choice of replacement, if any. There have been a few where you’ve thought: ‘Why now?’, especially when it is this deep into a season and clubs don’t have someone already lined up, for example Chelsea."
Speaking about Chelsea, who have appointed Frank Lampard as the interim manager until the end of the season, Deenay added:
"Despite Frank Lampard’s caretaker role, you don’t really know where they want to go on a permanent basis after that. It looks knee-jerk... Chelsea sack Potter and go back to where they were with Lampard. It feels panicky from the owners at the moment and, to be honest, I don’t blame them with the amount of money flying around — but there has to at least be some method to the thinking."
Chelsea face Wolves in Frank Lampard's first game back in charge
Chelsea will face Wolverhampton Wanderers at Molineaux on Saturday, April 8 in Lampard's return to the club as interim manager.
The Blues will then have a run of three tough fixtures. The West London side will face Real Madrid away in the first leg of the UEFA Champions League quarterfinal on April 12. They will then host Brighton & Hove Albion in the league on April 15 before facing Real Madrid in the second leg of the UCL quarterfinals on April 18.