Interim Chelsea manager Bruno Saltor: I must take blame for Graham Potter sacking
Chelsea caretaker manager Bruno Saltor admits he and the players must take their share of the blame for the club’s decision to sack Graham Potter.
Potter was dismissed by the Blues on Sunday night, just seven months after arriving from Brighton and Hove Albion with Spaniard Bruno among his backroom staff.
The former defender has a chance to make some reparations when Chelsea host Liverpool in the Premier League on Tuesday evening.
“If I am here right now, it’s because Graham and the club thought it was the right step and I’m here just trying to help the club and trying to be the most professional I can,” he said.
“I think Graham did an amazing job. Football is a really complex business and we have to keep going.
“The responsibility is all of us. We are responsible and we have to keep it positive, try to focus on the next game and that’s the energy we’re working with.
“How I see it is, I have to be the most professional I can. Try to help the players, guide the players to prepare the game the best we can.”
Potter was sacked in the wake of Saturday’s home defeat by Aston Villa, which left Chelsea 12 points below Champions League qualification – and the same distance above the relegation zone.
Former Brighton fan favourite Bruno, who went into coaching after retiring from playing in 2019, concedes he faces an uphill battle to inject fresh momentum into the west London side’s flagging season.
“Obviously it is a massive challenge. I have been just four years coaching but I have been 20 years involved in football,” he said.
“I start really early and I have a lot of experience in changing rooms. What I will try to do is help the players, guide the players because I have been in those situation before.
“Then I think I have got that feeling that I can help, especially young players that have never been in this situation before.
“It is an opportunity for the players. We are representing Chelsea, a club with an amazing history. It is about winning, it is about dominating and we need to prepare for the game.”
Former Bayern Munich, RB Leipzig and Hoffenheim coach Julian Nagelsmann has emerged as the early favourite to succeed Potter.
Thomas Tuchel, who preceded Potter at Chelsea and has succeeded Nagelsmann at Bayern, said of the latest managerial change at Stamford Bridge: “I saw the news very late last night.
“I really enjoyed working there and formed friendships for life. But the club has changed a lot, so it didn’t really trigger big emotions in me.”