Chelsea board 'split over Graham Potter's future'

The Chelsea hierarchy are reportedly in disagreement over whether to keep Graham Potter as the club's head coach.

While the Englishman started his reign by going nine matches unbeaten, that has been followed by just three victories from 17 games in all competitions.

As a result, Chelsea are out of both domestic cup competitions, down 1-0 on aggregate to Borussia Dortmund in their Champions League last-16 tie, and only sitting in 10th position in the Premier League standings.

The latter scenario is made worse by the Blues being 14 points adrift of the top four, leaving their hopes of staying in contention to qualify for European football's premier competition in 2023-24 hanging by a thread.

Chelsea play host to Leeds United on Saturday afternoon, three days before the second leg of their tie with Dortmund, and there have been conflicting reports over what defeat could mean for Potter.

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At a press conference on Friday, the former Brighton & Hove Albion boss acknowledged that his position was under threat amid what has been a calamitous run of results and period in front of goal.

Potter told reporters: "When you are a head coach and you start on this journey you say well if the results aren't good enough then you know your job is in peril. That's the life we lead.

"I just have to accept that and do my best and try to improve the situation we are in until there is a point where we are not able to go forward. But that hasn't been the case and we keep fighting."

According to the Daily Mail, co-owner and chairman Todd Boehly continues to believe that Potter is the right man to bring success to Chelsea.

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The report suggests that Boehly is of the opinion that a managerial change at this stage of Chelsea's season would be detrimental to their season and overall development.

However, it is claimed that Potter no longer has the universal backing of other important figures behind the scenes, leaving the 47-year-old needing a positive result on Saturday to ease growing uncertainty.

Given the magnitude of the match with Dortmund in three days' time, it remains unclear whether Boehly and fellow members of the consortium which purchased Chelsea at the end of May would consider parting ways with Potter if the team suffered defeat to Leeds.

Despite another six players being added to the first-team squad in January, Chelsea are on a six-match winless streak, while Potter has recorded nine wins and 10 defeats from his 26 fixtures in charge.