Exclusive: Ben Jacobs Takeover - inside Graham Potter's Chelsea sacking, how Tottenham manager uncertainty could impact Harry Kane transfer, and more

This week's exclusive column, featuring Chelsea, Spurs, Lionel Messi, and more.

How Graham Potter lost the Chelsea dressing room and who’s in contention to replace him

Graham Potter was sacked by Chelsea on a dramatic Sunday. Chelsea’s new owners did something that didn’t even happen under Roman Abramovich: axed two managers in the same season.

The simple answer to why Potter was sacked is because he showed a lack of progress... but you could write a book on all the finer points as to exactly why this didn’t occur.

Chelsea fell into the bottom half of the table at the weekend after the 2-0 loss to Aston Villa, and Potter leaves with only seven league wins from 22 Premier League games. He lost eight and presided over just 21 goals.

Chelsea’s board consistently backed Potter, far longer than Abramovich would have done so for. They gave him as much time as they could. But things changed rapidly into Sunday afternoon with co-sporting directors Paul Winstanley and Lawrence Stewart key to this story. Both are newer to the club and drove the decision to make a change, which in the end was referred to as “unanimous” by sources, and first came under serious consideration after February’s 2-0 loss to Spurs.