Former Chelsea player predicts Potter will be sacked this week
"If Abramovich were still the owner of Chelsea, Potter would have been sacked three times by now," Cascarino wrote in the expert column of the British newspaper The Times on February 23.
After buying Chelsea for nearly 190 million USD in the summer of 2003, Abramovich pumped about 2 billion USD into the team to invest and recruit players to help Chelsea rise to a position of power in the English Premier League and Europe. Under his era, the London team won the English Premier League five times, the Champions League, two Europa Leagues, five FA Cups and a European Super Cup and a FIFA Club World Cup. Abramovich also turned Chelsea into a "mill" for a coach when he changed the general 15 times over 20 years.
In March 2022, Abramovich decided to sell Chelsea due to public pressure from the Russia-Ukraine tension. In May, Chelsea confirmed that a joint venture group led by Todd Boehly had spent $ 3 billion to buy shares of Chelsea. All the money will be transferred to a frozen bank account closely monitored by the British Government, and will be given to charity in accordance with Abramovich's wishes.
After taking over at Chelsea, Boehly and his associates have approved to spend $ 668 million to bring in 16 players through the last two transfer periods, for the 2022-2023 season. British media claim that the Chelsea owner feels short-term success is impossible this season and has no intention of changing the general.
However, Cascarino thinks that Potter does not have much time to turn the situation around. "It's clear that Boehly is in a hurry to get Chelsea back into title competition. So why is he content to allow mediocrity under Potter? I wouldn't be surprised if Potter was sacked this week. ", the former England striker commented.
After succeeding Thomas Tuchel on a limited contract until the summer of 2027, Potter has not been able to help Chelsea find form again. They won only one of the last five matches and fell 10th in the Premier League with 31 points, 11 points behind Tottenham's fourth place. Potter is the Chelsea manager with the worst record in the Premier League, with six draws, six losses and five wins - a win rate of 29.4%.
Chelsea were also knocked out of both the FA Cup and League Cup by Man City, with a score of 0-4 and 0-2 respectively. The owner of Stamford Bridge also lost 0-1 to Dortmund in the first leg of the 1/8 Champions League round, and will play the second leg at home on March 7.
Cascarino criticized Chelsea for playing very badly in the first half of the 0-1 defeat to Southampton at Stamford Bridge in the 24th round of the English Premier League on February 18 and emphasized that "losing to the bottom club is unacceptable". This match, Southampton can win even more if Adam Armstrong takes advantage of the late game.
While playing professionally, Cascarino played for many English and French clubs, including joining Chelsea from 1992-1994. He was a member of the Republic of Ireland national team for Euro 1988, the 1990 and 1994 World Cups. After retiring, Cascarino worked as a commentator on TalkSPORT radio, wrote for The Times, Ireland's Hot Press, and collaborated with Sky. Sports in the UK and TV3, Today FM in Ireland.
