TalkSPORT pundit Simon Jordan says he is “tired of the mental health card being played” by managers like Graham Potter, who is feeling the “pressure” at Chelsea.
The Chelsea head coach is going through a very difficult spell in his career having led Chelsea to two wins in their previous 15 Premier League matches.
Also out of the FA Cup and 1-0 down on aggregate to Borussia Dortmund in the last 16 of the Champions League, the former Brighton boss is the favourite to be the next top-flight manager relieved of their duties.
Defeat at Tottenham on Sunday further added to the pressure he is under, although it is believed that co-owner Todd Boehly feels Potter is the right man for the job.
Many supporters are obviously unhappy with the woeful run of results and have voiced their displeasure on social media, mainly.
However, some ‘fans’ have gone way too far, sending Potter and his family death threats.
It is a brutal job being a football manager, especially for a club the size of Chelsea, but there is obviously a line which has been crossed in this instance.
The Blues have confirmed they are providing the necessary support for Potter, who recently revealed he has been sent “threatening emails”.
The 47-year-old said during a pre-match press conference last week: “I’ve had some not particularly nice emails come through, that want me to die and want my kids to die. That’s obviously not pleasant to receive.
“If you’ve been asked for four months if you’re under pressure, because (the media) need to sell stuff – what do you expect, in the end?
“You know there’s a problem when the email address it’s been sent from is ‘Potter b****** at Gmail dot com’.”
Former Arsenal defender Martin Keown has condemed the death threats Potter has received.
“The death threats are a scandal, it’s an absolute scandal – the man’s just trying to do his job,” Keown told talkSPORT.
“He’s just being honest about what he’s living through. The problem is it isn’t going well for him at all, and when you start losing games against teams at the bottom of the table, Southampton last week, and then losing a London derby against Tottenham this weekend…
“He has a collection of players most managers would love to have. It’s a phenomenal group of players, so there can be no complaints. The manager has to find a way to get them playing and turn this around.
“But he’s been asked the question how he’s feeling and he’s just been very candid and honest. I don’t know whether that’s the way to do it, I think he just needs to concentrate on things on the pitch.
“You have to admire that he’s being very honest with us. He’s under huge pressure right now… but he’s got to shut out the noise and start believing in himself.”
Although former Crystal Palace owner Jordan echoed those thoughts, he has shown a little less sympathy.
Pressure is part and parcel of being a football manager, Jordan says. However, he has brutally accused Potter of playing the “mental health card” due to the pressure he is under.
“I don’t want to diminish how it feels when someone says something mean about you, and anything with a threat in it is not necessary, but that goes with the tribalism and emotion of football,” Jordan said.
“That’s why you’re in a job getting paid £10million a year, because if there was no emotion and no fever pitch, then these guys in football wouldn’t get the rewards that they get.
“I really do get tired of the mental health card being played every single time someone gets put under pressure.
“This is the business that you’re in. You’re a big-time manager and you have to have resilience and fortitude – that is my opinion.
“The challenges you have to take on board are to ignore the background noise, ignore the noise of total strangers and focus on the core product of what you’re supposed to be doing, which is winning football matches.
“So ignore the rampant lunatic who sends you an awful message, because they are irrelevant. They are not someone who is in your life and if there’s real jeopardy behind it and you really are fearful for your life, ultimately you will get security… although you shouldn’t have to have that.
“But it goes with the territory and when you lose football matches in the manner Chelsea are, and consistently turn out a side that doesn’t look capable of winning, you’re going to come under pressure.
“I get tired of this weakness in football that only praise will suffice. He’s damn sure not going to get any, because he’s not entitled to it.”
Jordan is right when he says a Premier League manager must show “resilience” but to say death threats ‘go with the territory’ when things aren’t going your way is fairly harsh.
Potter should definitely ignore ‘rampant lunatics’. But he should also ignore Simon Jordan.
