At the helm of Chelsea for just a few months, new owner Todd Boehly has shocked the Premier League by sacking manager Thomas Tuchel just six league matches into the 2022/23 campaign.
Mere hours after a disastrous 1-0 loss at Dinamo Zagreb to open their UEFA Champions League challenge, Boehly pulled the plug and let the German manager go.
The warning signs were there, as Tuchel had been complaining about his squad since the preseason tour of the United States, but the move still came as a surprise. It was assumed that Tuchel would at least get time to sort things out, despite early-season Premier League defeats to Southampton and Leeds United.
Yet the new owner prompted comparisons to previous club patriarch Roman Abramovich, who was well known for a similarly itchy trigger finger, when he made the move on Wednesday.
The search now begins for a new permanent manager at Stamford Bridge, someone Boehly can hand-pick and work alongside to build a long-term plan for the London club.
MORE: Chelsea disappoint in defeat at Dinamo Zagreb to begin Champions League group stage play
Next Chelsea manager betting odds
Graham Potter of Brighton has been among the leading betting candidates since the moment Thomas Tuchel was fired.
The odds on Potter as the next Chelsea permanent manager opened at 1/1, but plummeted immediately as word spread of the club's interest in him, after Brighton gave him permission to hold talks with the Blues. Within the first hour, Potter's odds had shortened considerably.
The other betting pick is Mauricio Pochettino, formerly of Tottenham and PSG and currently unemployed.
Odds via SkyBet (UK), current as of Sept. 7, 2022.
| Manager | Current Club | Odds |
|---|---|---|
| Graham Potter | Brighton | 1/4 |
| Mauricio Pochettino | None | 7/2 |
| Zinedine Zidane | None | 12/1 |
| Brendan Rodgers | Leicester City | 16/1 |
| Diego Simeone | Atletico Madrid | 25/1 |
| Jose Mourinho | Roma | 25/1 |
| Massimiliano Allegri | Juventus | 25/1 |
| Luis Enrique | Spain | 25/1 |
| Ange Postecoglou | Celtic | 28/1 |
| Roberto Mancini | Italy | 33/1 |
| Thomas Frank | Brentford | 33/1 |
The candidates to replace Thomas Tuchel at Chelsea
Graham Potter
The leading betting pick from the moment Tuchel was let go, Potter is the early favourite for the open Chelsea managerial position having been given permission to hold talks by his current club.
Potter has led Brighton to a brilliant start to the Premier League season, with four wins and a draw through the club's opening six matches, falling only to fellow early surprise side Fulham in late August.
The calling card of Potter's Brighton has been a defensive structure that keeps opponents hemmed in, holding Leeds United, Newcastle, and West Ham off the scoresheet while keeping Man United to just a single goal.
The 47-year-old was plucked from Swansea City in 2019 and has led the Seagulls to safety in each of his first three seasons at the club, including a ninth-place finish last season, the club's highest-ever Premier League standing.
MORE: A full breakdown of Graham Potter's contract, style of play, and managerial history
BREAKING: Brighton have given Chelsea permission to speak to Graham Potter ✅ pic.twitter.com/B6g17mn4UF
— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) September 7, 2022
Mauricio Pochettino
Pochettino has been without work since departing French giants PSG in the summer after just one season in charge. His time in Paris was shortlived, with reports of dressing room strife and clashes with upper management all plaguing his tenure at the club.
That doesn't necessarily reflect directly on Pochettino, however, as PSG have been known to suffer from dysfunction ever since their Qatari ownership group arrived.
Still, while the 50-year-old Argentine comes with an excellent resume sporting brilliant results at Southampton and Tottenham, there would be questions for Pochettino to answer surrounding his departure from both Spurs and PSG, with reports of running his teams into the ground while playing a very demanding pressing style.
There are claims that, like Potter, Pochettino has already been approached by Chelsea to discuss his candidacy.
🚨 Chelsea have made approaches to Graham Potter + Mauricio Pochettino - high among manager options. #CFC owners very fond of Potter + know clause, so can be done swiftly if job offered & he agrees. Pochettino would be similarly quick @TheAthleticUK #BHAFC https://t.co/i34XPVulMq
— David Ornstein (@David_Ornstein) September 7, 2022
Zinedine Zidane
While the former Real Madrid boss' managerial resume is utterly spotless, and his hire would present a triumph of incredible proportions, it seems unlikely that Zidane will ultimately arrive at Stamford Bridge.
The former French international is thought to only want a job in charge of the French national team, with Didier Deschamps expected to step down following the 2022 World Cup.
That said, tempting him to take the Chelsea job now would prove nothing short of a massive coup for Boehly and the club's new ownership group.
Brendan Rodgers
If Boehly were searching for a manager just a year ago, Rodgers would almost certainly have been at the very top of his list. The 49-year-old former Liverpool and Celtic boss had just guided Leicester City to a fifth-placed Premier League finish, secured the Foxes an FA Cup title and narrowly missed out on a UEFA Champions League place.
Now, after last season's respectable eighth-place finish, the club has plummeted to start the 2022/23 league campaign, sitting bottom of the Premier League table with just a single point through the first six matches of the season.
Rodgers has his own issues at Leicester City to work out before he can leverage his highlights with the Foxes to earn any kind of upper-echelon managerial position.
His arrival would probably not go down well with supporters too, and for that reason would seem unlikely.
