Potter: Why Chelsea Fans Must Forget About Abramovich’s Era

Chelsea boss Graham Potter has urged Stamford Bridge fans to focus on the current era and forget about former owner Roman Abramovich.

Potter insists the club must move on from the Russian billionaire.

Speaking ahead of the second of two matches against Manchester City in the FA Cup, having lost the first in midweek, Potter tried to explain that his side will stick to their long-term plan, ending a period of hiring and firing under the previous owner.

“There is a completely different ownership than there was,” Potter told reporters. “That is hard for some people to get their head around because for twenty years Chelsea was one thing and now all of a sudden it’s different.

“Yet people still think back to what happened in the past twenty years. That is normal but it is completely different. The reason for me to take the job was the chance to shape a club that is in a massive transitional period. It’s huge.

“Twenty years is a long time to have that leadership and then to change. With that, I knew there were going to be extreme challenges for sure.

“It’s not like I jumped at the first opportunity to leave Brighton, I had other opportunities to leave if I wanted to previously. But this one felt right because of the owners, because of the support I felt they would provide, and that has proved to be the case. They’ve been fantastic.”