Player anger & baffling selections - Why Chelsea sacked Graham Potter after just 31 games in charge

• Blues board backed into a corner
• Ex-Brighton boss given the boot
• Lost the dressing room and boardroom

WHAT HAPPENED? The Blues decided on Sunday evening – after just six months and 31 games with Potter at the helm – that change was once again required in their dugout. A 2-0 defeat at home to Aston Villa proved to be the final straw, but a big call from Todd Boehly and Co inside the Blues’ boardroom had been on the cards for some time.

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THE BIGGER PICTURE: Chelsea’s ownership group had been eager to back Potter, having chosen him to succeed Champions League-winning coach Thomas Tuchel, but found themselves backed into a corner. Potter was expected to show some signs of progress after making a slow start to his reign in west London, but it became impossible to ignore regression on the field and the fact that faith was being eroded among those in the stands.

AND WHAT'S MORE: The Telegraph claims that players inside the dressing room were becoming “angry” at some decisions, with former Brighton boss Potter considered to be “out of his depth”, while big selection calls – such as keeping faith with big-money January signing Mykhailo Mudryk while keeping Mason Mount on the bench – raised alarm bells.

IN THREE PHOTOS:

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WHAT NEXT? A top-four finish and Champions League qualification was never laid out as being the difference between Potter staying or going at Chelsea, in what was always going to be a transitional campaign. But a tumble into the bottom-half of the Premier League table was deemed to be “unacceptable” by those in power and the decision to part with Potter was ultimately taken at around 3pm (BST) on Sunday afternoon.