Five key reasons for Chelsea backing Graham Potter revealed as Boehly-Eghbali stances made clear

The Chelsea hierarchy have decided to keep Graham Potter in charge ahead of their Premier League match against Tottenham Hotspur.

Following two wins in their last 14 Premier League matches, Potter is becoming increasingly under pressure at Chelsea from the supporters who booed the team off at Stamford Bridge after their 1-0 loss to Southampton.

Chelsea’s form is currently the 16th worse in the league, almost relegation worthy, and it doesn’t get any easier in the coming weeks with matches against Spurs, Leeds United and Borussia Dortmund to come.

READ MORE: Inside the Chelsea dressing room room as Blues slammed for ‘not being good enough’

However, the Chelsea board are still offering their backing to Potter, who they handed a five-year contract to, and he will be in charge versus Spurs on Sunday in the capital.

Co-owners Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali remain supportive of Potter and Matt Law of the Telegraph has outlined the five key reasons why the Chelsea head coach retains the backing of the club.

1. Behind the scenes
2. Anger management
3. Bravery
4. Pain game
5. Manchester City’s example

Graham Potter was told Reece James, Thiago Silva, Kai Havertz, Raheem Sterling and Mykhailo Mudryk risked significant injury if they started against Southampton, so the Blues boss took the advice of the Chelsea medical team. Although the board believe they should still have had enough to have beaten Southampton, they recognise Potter put the club and players ahead of himself and value that.

The 47-year-old has been accused of not being passionate enough and showing enough emotion on the touchline. He has already responded, saying: “You can only be yourself and try your best while being yourself. I get it that when you are losing that there’s always something you should do or change. I have always been this way and it has gotten me to this point but, at the same time, I know people want something different.” But senior sources insist Potter has been ‘upset’ and had ‘tough conversations’ with players, being intense.

There are no fears at Chelsea over his mentality and the hierarchy are ‘pleased that they do not have a head coach who is prepared to point fingers and throw his players or club staff under the bus when things do not go for him’ amid feelings of the board disagreeing with former boss Thomas Tuchel’s comments after their pre-season defeat to Arsenal.

Recognition has been given inside the club over Potter leaving a stable job to risk moving to Chelsea – who are in transition – during the middle of season to replace Tuchel. Although results haven’t been good enough, there is a feeling inside Chelsea that Potter deserves a full pre-season to work with the squad.

READ MORE: Graham Potter explains why he isn’t the problem at Chelsea despite dismal form

The owners reportedly knew that the rebuild would be painful and they’d need to experiences the highs and lows before they overcame the difficult period to see positive results. They want to stick together, with Potter, to fight through the uneasy times.

Boehly and Eghbali want to follow the City Football Group’s multi-club model, and they have also seen the relationship between Txiki Begiristain and Pep Guardiola over their recruitment. They see that link between Potter and Paul Winstanley, both of whom worked together at Brighton. Chelsea believe they have the foundations in place to thrive under Potter.

Chelsea are used to the hire-and-fire model under previous owner Roman Abramovich which served them incredibly well full of success. However, times have moved on and the new owners are changing tact completely, shown by their stance on Potter who would’ve been sacked by now under Abramovich’s reign.

The report from Matt Law concludes with: ‘Boehly and Eghbali do not believe sustainable success will come from changing the manager or head coach every six months’.

A critical period now awaits Chelsea. Tottenham Hotspur, Leeds United and Borussia Dortmund are their challengers in their next three matches. Goals and wins are going to be needed to relieve the pressure, however little, otherwise the noise is only going to increase.