PREMIER LEAGUE
Chelsea sack Potter: how many managers have they had in the last 20 years? What have they won?
Current Blues co-owner Todd Boehly has been even more ruthless than his predecessor in firing underperforming managers at Stamford Bridge.
Continuity breeds success. At least that’s what we have always been told. Was that simply because of what Sir Alex Ferguson achieved in 26-and-a-half years at Manchester United? Graham Potter has lasted only a fraction of that time at Chelsea, who have decided he is now not the man to lead them to future glory, less than seven months after paying his £21.5 million ($26.5 million) release clause to Brighton, convinced that he was.
Chelsea’s chopping and changing in the dugout
The Blues, it should be said, appear to be something of an anomaly. Since previous owner Roman Abramovich bought the club in June 2003, they have rattled through 14 different head coaches. One – José Mourinho – was twice in charge permanently, another – Guus Hiddink – was twice named interim manager for around half a season, while former Liverpool boss Rafael Benítez also had a sixth-month spell as a high-profile ‘caretaker’ boss.
But despite their constant chopping and changing, very much unlike United before them, Chelsea have managed to remain successful, certainly when compared with their Premier League counterparts. Over the course of the last 20 years, they have won a total of 21 trophies (both major and less major), the same as the Red Devils (who also shared one Community Shield) and significantly more than Liverpool (12 plus one shared Community Shield) and Arsenal (11).
Which Chelsea managers have won which competitions?
Here is a breakdown of which managers won each of those trophies and in which competitions:
| Manager | Period | Premier League | Champions League | Europa League | FA Cup | League Cup | Other trophy | Manager totals |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Claudio Ranieri | Sep 2000 to May 2004 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| José Mourinho | Jun 2004 to Sep 2007 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 6 |
| Avram Grant | Sep 2007 to May 2008 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Luiz Felipe Scolari | Jul 2008 to Feb 2009 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Guus Hiddink (interim) | Feb 2009 to May 2009 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Carlo Ancelotti | Jul 2009 to May 2011 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| André Villas-Boas | Jun 2011 to Mar 2012 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Roberto Di Matteo | Mar 2012 to Nov 2012 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Rafa Benítez (interim) | Nov 2012 to May 2013 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| José Mourinho | Jun 2013 to Dec 2015 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Guus Hiddink (interim) | Dec 2015 to Jun 2016 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Antonio Conte | Jul 2016 to Jul 2018 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Maurizio Sarri | Jul 2018 to Jun 2019 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Frank Lampard | Jul 2019 to Jan 2021 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Thomas Tuchel | Jan 2021 to Sep 2022 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| Graham Potter | Sep 2022 to Apr 2023 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Competition totals | 5 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 21 |
Success never far away at Stamford Bridge
Seven manager reigns (Ranieri, Grant, Scolari, Villas-Boas, Hiddink (part 2), Lampard and Potter) ended up trophyless, while the other seven did lead to silverware. Mourinho did most of the heavy lifting with six titles, with honourable mentions going to Ancelotti and Tuchel on three.
History suggests that after every unsuccessful Chelsea manager comes a triumphant one, with Grant and Scolari the only back-to-back Blues bosses who have failed to win a trophy. Bruno Saltor has been appointed as the latest interim coach after Potter’s departure and is therefore guaranteed glory in the Champions League, the only competition the Londoners still have a chance of winning. That’s how it works, right?