Graham Potter has had a tough old time since leaving Brighton for Chelsea, but that story could have a happy-ish ending with plenty of reports suggesting he could be heading back to the Amex. You’d have to have a heart of stone not to be pleased for him.
But it got us thinking, which is always dangerous, about some other triumphant managerial returns we’d love to see, some because they would genuinely be nice and others because we just want to watch the world burn.
Graham Potter returning to Brighton
This one looks like it could really work out, and it would be wonderful to imagine everything goes according to plan.
As we’ve previously mentioned, “Be Careful What You Wish For” is a common scolding comment from pundits to supporters who have the audacity to hope for something better than the garbage that is being given up by someone who just so happens to be their buddy and former teammate. It’s not often applied to managers, though, is it? They seem to be at least as likely as fans, in our opinion, to find out the hard way that things aren’t always as they seem.
We have previously observed that the phrase “Be Careful What You Wish For” is a typical rebuke from judgmental pundits to supporters who have the audacity to desire anything better than the garbage that is being delivered by someone who just so happens to be the pundit’s friend and former teammate. However, it’s not often used on managers themselves, is it? We believe there’s a good chance they will learn the hard way that things aren’t always better than they are, just like fans.
Potter was more hurt than most. The only positive aspect of his Chelsea move was his dramatic big-club comeback, which left us all in awe and additional evidence that beards are indeed men’s makeup. His club was corrupt and playing poorly, and to exacerbate the situation even further, the Brighton team he had skillfully shaped improved much more under Roberto De Zerbi.
That kind of double punishment is uncommon for a manager, and he still hasn’t healed enough to return to managing.
Perhaps it would be better for everyone if they went back to Brighton. At least there has been some mitigating cover over the past few months, with De Zerbi’s star falling dramatically before his exit from Brighton was known, and Chelsea still being plagued by sheer foolishness.
Potter’s big-club itch has been satisfied, and he may now return to his prosperous and happy life, but he must use caution when making future wishes. Here, perhaps everyone comes out ahead in the end. Obviously excluding Chelsea, but f*** Chelsea.
Returning to Tottenham is Mauricio Pochettino Speaking of Chelsea, they deserve praise for successfully saving this one as well. It seemed inevitable that Pochettino would return to Tottenham at some point after he departed the club in 2019. that the manager and the club still had unresolved issues. The fans continued to sing his name, even those who thought it was definitely time to move on when he was replaced by Jose Mourinho. The club still loved and respected him, and it seemed to be a completely reciprocal relationship.
He would return one day. If we had made a list of “Things That Will Definitely Happen In The Next Five Years,” we would have placed it at the top.
He later became a Chelsea player. I apologize, Mauricio. What have you done?
He was familiar enough with Fully COYS culture to understand what it meant. to be aware of his actions. Pochettino had been quite selective about the positions he had accepted in the years before leaving Spurs, with his sole previous employment being an uncomfortable but trophy-filled eighteen months in Paris, which made this move all the more shocking. Burning his Spurs bridges meant accepting the Chelsea job.
Subsequently, Chelsea made the decision to fire him for trivial and insignificant reasons, and install a manager who had never overseen a Premier League match in his place. The possibility of a return to Spurs is revived, Chelsea appears to be complete villains, and Pochettino is revealed as the victim.
It’s still not as clear that this one will happen as it was eighteen months ago. But if he can withstand the allure of Manchester United—and we can’t really blame him if he can’t—he might even make a comeback as early as November, when Angeball unavoidably blows apart and Spurs sit in 13th place after 14 games with 30 goals scored against 35 goals allowed. Steve Cooper returning to Nottingham Forest It was not necessary to be a supporter of the Forest to be grieved about Cooper’s Forest farewell. Yes, it most likely did need to happen, and Nuno Espirito Santo’s eventual ability to keep them going with some margin left over essentially justified the means.
However, that was also largely due to the mistakes of others, leaving one to question if Cooper could have accomplished the same feat. And the truth is that the poor sod was worn down and drained by the sheer, unrelenting craziness of Forest and their owner and their transfer policy and their impending point penalties and everything else, which is largely why he needed to be replaced in the first place.
It was never on him, and it was always on Forest, even if it was the correct thing to do. primarily, at least. Some of the horrible splitters who left us for respectable employment are among the few Forest fans we know, and they do mourn him badly. We are unable to even exercise caution when wishing for them, as they did not at all ask for this.
Nuno will undoubtedly start the season, which is understandable given that he completed the exact task for which he was hired. However, the rumors of Cooper being linked to numerous positions are unsettling Forest supporters, many of whom, we believe, have been secretly hoping that he would be unemployed long enough for a switcheroo in which he steps in to replace the exhausted Nuno halfway through the following season.
Frank Lampard returning to Chelsea When this Enzo Maresca experiment goes completely awry sometime around the second international break of the season, who better to lead Chelsea back on course? Chelsea will require someone who is familiar with the club if they end up being the mess we anticipate them to be by then. Someone descended from Chelsea. Someone the supporters adore. Someone who gets it. Super Frank Lampard is the only person who is qualified for the position. or Mourinho, Jose. The task is only to be filled by two men. We could care less which one is funny; both would be entertaining for different reasons. But for Jose, we have other ideas.
Return of Brendan Rodgers to Leicester They were really good together for a while there, and that job is open right now, don’t you think? Rodgers and Leicester? fit perfectly. Let us repeat that.
If/when Arne Slot doesn’t work out, we’ll be content with Rodgers returning to Liverpool. Just think of how much fun it would be to read headlines about a “beloved former Liverpool manager set to return” in relation to that. Back at Manchester United, Jose Mourinho Speaking of managers who saw their team finish second in the Premier League behind Manchester City, how about this classy fix for United’s current problems? He is the ideal person to lead a group of gifted but impressionable young people and guide them toward ultimate greatness.
Since then, no one has performed any better than that second-place result, have they? Yes. Consider that. The greatest manager of United since Ferguson. These are actual facts. Just keep in mind the golden rule: never find out how many points Jose Mourinho’s Man United runners-up were behind, a woman their age, or a man his pay.
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