Graham Potter has revealed that he and his family have received death threats from Chelsea fans upset with the team’s poor form..
The Blues have won just two of their last 14 games in all competitions and were booed off the field after a 1-0 home defeat to managerless Southampton last weekend, a result that prompted some fans to call for Potter’s dismissal.
According to sportsacer, the Chelsea hierarchy remains supportive of Potter, who was appointed in September, but are aware of growing fan discontent with his team’s tenth-place finish in the Premier League..
Potter opened up about the mental health challenges managers face in the United Kingdom, including high energy prices and frequent workers’ strikes, ahead of a difficult stretch of games beginning with Sunday’s trip to Tottenham.
“I spoke with [West Ham manager] David Moyes about it,” Potter said. “There’s a point to it to be considered but I think you need to be very careful.
“The world is difficult for everyone. We are in the midst of an energy and cost-of-living crisis. Every other week, people go on strike.
“Things are difficult, so no one wants to hear about the poor old Premier League manager..
Nonetheless, if you ask me a question about ‘is it hard, is it tough, is it nice to hear,’ I’ve had some not-so-nice emails come through that want me to die and want my kids to die.
“That is obviously not a pleasant greeting. But what do you expect if you’ve asked about it for four months, if you’re under pressure, if you’ve been saying for four months, ‘I’m under pressure, I’m under pressure,’ because you guys [the media] need to sell stuff, what do you expect in the end?
“And obviously, if we don’t get the results, that’s what happens. That’s how football works..
That’s the way it is. And my challenge is to think about how I conduct myself. That’s what I always come back to. The higher you go, the more pressure you have on your pre-season performance.”
Pushed on how he copes with the criticism, Potter said: “It’s a challenge and if you go to work and somebody is swearing abuse at you it’s not going to be pleasant. If you are referred to as the worst person in the club’s history.
“You can answer the question in two ways: ‘oh, I don’t care,’ but you know I’m lying; everyone cares what other people think because we are hard wired to be socially connected.
That is correct. So there’s an element of that, and I want to succeed here, so it’s nonsense this notion that I don’t care, so it’s ‘OK, where did that come from? ‘Where is your proof on that?’
“Just ask my family. Because people have a perception that you don’t care and my response is ‘what is that based on? ‘How did you find out?’
And I’d like you to ask my family – not that I’d let you – how life has been for me and them. It has not been a pleasant experience.
“I understand that supporters go home frustrated because their team is not winning..
But, aside from the fact that I am extremely grateful for this experience, I assure you that my life over the last three or four months has been fairly ordinary. I can see [the criticism], but I can also see what a great challenge this is.”
A club spokesman confirmed that Chelsea will follow up with the appropriate authorities regarding Potter’s abuse.
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