GRAHAM POTTER “should be SACKED” after blaming rotation for Chelsea’s defeat to Southampton, claims talkSPORT pundit Gabriel Agbonlahor.
The Blues fell to their latest defeat at Stamford Bridge yesterday, falling 1-0 to the struggling Saints.
Chelsea’s dreadful defeat extended their dire run to just two wins in their last 15 matches in all competitions.
After the match, Potter pointed to his need to rotate after the 1-0 Champions League defeat to Borussia Dortmund in mid-week.
The former Brighton boss made six changes for the clash with the Saints, but this didn’t wash as an excuse with Agbonlahor.
Appearing on talkSPORT, he said: “He should be sacked for that post-match interview.
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“‘What’s he talking about?
“You’re playing against a team that are in disarray, they’ve not got a manager, they can’t get back-to-back wins together and you’re complaining that you’ve had to bring (Mykhailo) Mudryk off the bench, you’ve had to start (Joao) Felix.
“Are you joking me?”
Agbonlahor’s co-host Jamie O’Hara also piped up, blasting: “Is he winding me up?
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“This is Chelsea Football Club, have you seen their line-up? It’s an unreal team.”
Potter brought in Cesar Azpilicueta, Benoit Badiashile, Mateo Kovacic, Noni Madueke, Mason Mount and David Datro Fofana for the match.
The six stars cost a combined £130million, while academy graduate Mount has twice won the club’s Player of the Year award.
Chelsea also brought on £282.5m foursome Wesley Fofana, Mykhailo Mudryk, Raheem Sterling and Kai Havertz during the second half – as well as academy graduates Conor Gallagher and Trevoh Chalobah.
After the game, Potter was told by a reporter that fans were calling him “the worst manager in the club’s history.”
Potter gave his take on match, saying: “Certainly in the first half, it was a below-par performance.
“Returning from the Champions League and we had to make some changes, so you lose a bit of fluidity and cohesion. Southampton set up with a plan, an idea.
“They mixed the game well with a big target man but our performance wasn’t what we wanted in the first half and I take as much responsibility as anybody in that.”
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On the changes he made, the 47-year-old later added: “No injuries. More just the turnaround and demand of the games considering a few of them had injuries previously.
“With Reece, two 90s in a row, which is more than we expected at the start of the week. It was a case of managing the load and managing the squad.”
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
