Two wins in a row offers hope - Breaking down Graham Potter's managerial record at Chelsea

There was little doubt that Chelsea manager Graham Potter finally felt like the weight of the world had been lifted from his shoulders on Tuesday night, following his team’s 2-0 win over Borussia Dortmund to progress to the quarter-finals of the Champions League. It was the Stamford Bridge side’s second victory in less than a week and suddenly the English head coach was feeling more optimistic about things at the Premier League side. 

"To win a game to go into the last eight of the Champions League, you have to say it's up there in terms of wins and evenings in my career, for sure,” said Potter after the match. "Really pleased. Fantastic atmosphere, fantastic evening. The players were tremendous, the supporters were tremendous. You have to be against a team that are doing so well – winning 10 games on the bounce. But I think over the two games we deserved to go through.”

Chelsea are the first club to beat Dortmund in 2023

Graham Potter's side are now through to the Champions League quarter-finals pic.twitter.com/aRw1zNKeKX

— Transfermarkt.co.uk (@TMuk_news) March 7, 2023

Indeed, Potter and his Chelsea side will be in high spirits, following success in the Champions League. Which followed an equally instrumental win in the English top-flight a few days prior, when the club picked up an important 1-0 win over Leeds in front of the Stamford Bridge faithful. Not only did the result keep Chelsea in the top half of the table but it was also Potter’s first victory with his side in the Premier League since January 15. 

However, while things have seemingly turned a corner for Potter there’s no guarantee that this new run of form will continue. Or, indeed, whether it has yet proved to be enough to compensate for Chelsea’s dreadful run since the turn of the year. So where does Potter stand as a Chelsea manager since he made the move to the club and what is his record at Stamford Bridge?

Worse than Lampard, Hiddink and Benítez - Potter's poor Chelsea record

Indeed, despite a strong start at the club which saw Potter’s side win six of their first nine games and go undefeated until a 4-1 defeat to Brighton in his tenth game in charge, the wheels soon came off at Stamford Bridge in November and the the 47-year-old head coach had struggled to get his team back on track. Fans will be hoping the last two victories will be a sign of things changing at the club but for now it remains to be seen. And in general the overall season has left the new manager with a rather unenviable record at the club. 

To date, Potter’s record at Chelsea points to a rather dismal average of just 1.43 points per game in all competitions with the club. Not only is that a sizable 31% drop from Tuchel’s average of 2.07 points per game, but it’s also the worst record for a Chelsea manager over the course of the past 10 years at the club. In fact, the last manager to have a record as poor as that was Glenn Hoddle, who coached the club between July 1993 and June 1996. And Hoddle & Co. certainly didn’t get to spend the kind of money Potter has had at his disposal this season.

As is the nature with the Chelsea job, Potter will know that good will from happy supporters won't last unless his team continue winning games. And fortunately for him there are a number of winnable games on the horizon. Over the course of the next 6-7 weeks, Chelsea face Leicester City, Everton, Aston Billa and Wolves, before tricky tests against Brighton and Manchester United. Which should provide plenty of opportunities for the club to win game and quickly improve Potter's poor record at the club.  

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