‘I have to be me’: Graham Potter rules out becoming ‘sexy’ manager at Chelsea

Graham Potter has laughed off the idea of turning into a “sexy” manager now he has traded Brighton for big-spending Chelsea.

Potter has always rejected football’s flashy trends and fashions in favour of mixing humility and hard work with a sprinkling of self-deprecation.

The Solihull-born coach still drives the same car he collected on moving from Swansea to Brighton three years ago.

Not for Potter the trappings of Chelsea’s King’s Road or the leafy Surrey suburbs of the Blues’ Cobham training ground then.

But the 47-year-old insisted his low-key nature must not be mistaken for any lack of belief: Potter remains wholly confident in his ability to succeed in west London.

Asked if stepping up to a big club like Chelsea would see him reviewing his previous admission he would never be a “sexy” coach and change his persona, Potter replied: “I sincerely hope not, would be my instinctive answer.

“I very rarely feel sexy!

“If you ever have any success or you’re trying to do anything, you have to be true to yourself, I think.

“And I’m not saying that I’m right or wrong or anything like that, I have to be me.

“And part of being me is a little bit of self-deprecation.

“I’m intelligent enough to know that I started off below the bottom tier, and after a process of trial and error and a lot of hard work, luck and help from other people I’ve got to this point.

“And that’s a fantastic achievement and something I’m really proud of.

“But at the same time I’m a human being, certainly not perfect and don’t think I’ve cracked anything or have all the answers.”

Potter joked in his first media duties as Chelsea manager that he had started his career below football’s bottom tier, in charting his rise from Swedish side Ostersund to the Premier League.

The highly-rated coach, who takes Chelsea to Crystal Palace this weekend, has no desire for football’s plushest trappings, instead choosing to focus on the central challenge of chasing success with the Blues.

“We haven’t moved, our lifestyle hasn’t changed,” said Potter of himself and his family.

“We’re not in an open-top car driving round Brighton and Hove, or Surrey or Cobham or anything.

“There’s no Lamborghini on order, I’m still driving the same car that I picked up in England when I returned from Swansea.

“So my life hasn’t changed at all if I’m honest.

“Brighton does have a lovely training ground, and in some ways equal if not better in terms of the facilities.

“But what we have here is a history, and recognition, photos of people winning major trophies.

“And that’s the main thing. That’s where the expectation, or the pressure, the difference is.

“It’s not about facilities, it’s about people and understanding the difference in the context of this football club.

“Managers, top players, legends, trophies; that’s the difference.

“But at the same time I’m intelligent enough to know, I think, and aware enough of my own personality that I’ve got the capability to achieve here.

“And I think if other people have done it then it’s possible for me to do it.

“And I think that’s quite a good way to think about the challenge.”