Chelsea‘s woeful 1-0 loss against Southampton at Stamford Bridge has left the club’s fans and football pundits questioning the team’s form and the future of manager Graham Potter.
The defeat was Chelsea’s ninth in ten games, and it has dented their hopes of finishing in the top four of the Premier League.
Many are wondering whether Potter is the right man to turn the team’s fortunes around, and this has sparked a heated debate among fans and experts alike.
Among the voices chiming in on this debate are football pundits Mark Goldbridge and Gabby Agbonlahor, who recently got into a Twitter spat over Potter’s future at Chelsea.
TalkSPORT pundits Agbonlahor and Jamie O’Hara criticized Potter on the GameDay Phone-In show. Agbonlahor declared that Potter ‘should be sacked’, while O’Hara claimed he was ‘getting away with murder’.
😳 JO’H: “Graham Potter- is he winding me up?! This is Chelsea Football Club!”
👀 GA: “He should be sacked for that post-match interview!”
O’Hara & Agbonlahor are left stunned after #CFC boss Graham Potter’s post-match interview with talkSPORT! 😱 pic.twitter.com/HAXiSdONIv
However, Manchester United fan and a Talksport regular these days, Mark Goldbridge took a different view, arguing that Chelsea should stick with Potter until the end of the season.
The YouTuber argued that it would be wrong to spend so much money on managers like Tuchel and Potter and then sack them after just a few months. He also defended Potter’s post-match interview and urged Chelsea to give him their backing.
👀 “Another take from @ga11agbon that I don’t agree with, saying sack Potter.”
🤔 “Potter is more qualified for the job than Solskjaer ever was at Man United.”@markgoldbridge says #CFC should back manager Graham Potter!
After Mark Goldbridge defended Chelsea manager Graham Potter on talkSPORT, former Aston Villa striker Gabby Agbonlahor took to Twitter to voice his disagreement. Agbonlahor tweeted, “Keep my name out ya mouth ya dweeb 🤫”, to which Goldbridge responded, “Dweeb 😆 Stop talking 💩 and I’ll stop correcting you”.
Mark Goldbridge is a YouTuber, for whom clicks and publicity literally turns into more money. Agbonlahor is a retired professional footballer who is now a pundit. This tweet calling Mark a dweeb would help Mark a lot more than it would him. It also comes off as defensive, as Goldbridge didn’t personally attack either of the pundits, only criticised the viewpoint.
The Twitter feud quickly caught the attention of football fans, with many taking sides. Some fans supported Goldbridge, with one saying, “Man was so hurt by someone disagreeing with his view 😂 what a child”.
Meanwhile, supporters of Agbonlahor, or those who agree with sacking Potter,, came to his defence with one tweeting, “You just know Potter is the wrong one for Chelsea if Goldbridge is arguing in favour”.
In the end, it is up to Chelsea to decide what to do with Graham Potter. The Blues have had a difficult season so far, and it is clear that something needs to change if they are to have any hope of salvaging their campaign.
However, sacking Potter after just a few months would be a drastic move that could have negative consequences for the club. It is essential that Chelsea take the time to assess their options and make a decision that is in the best interests of the team.
Unfortunately, knowing that the club sacked Tuchel 6 months after he won the Champions League shows that “taking their time” might not be the strategy they use a whole lot.
