Chelsea’s season hit a new low and turned mutinous as they slumped to a second defeat to Manchester City in four days.
The Blues had come out with their heads held somewhat high after a 1-0 Premier League defeat on Thursday but they were dominated in a 4-0 FA Cup defeat on Sunday.
The humbling means Chelsea have exited both domestic cup competitions at the first stage for the first time in 34 years. They are 10th in the Premier League, 10 points outside the top four and in serious danger of missing out on Champions League qualification.
It had appeared many Chelsea supporters in the away end left the Etihad Stadium after Phil Foden put their side 3-0 down at the end of the first half.
But plenty returned in the second half and chanted the names of both former Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich and ex-manager Thomas Tuchel.
In 2019, Chelsea supporters turned on Maurizio Sarri after a 6-0 defeat at the Etihad Stadium. This time, they turned on both Potter and co-owners Todd Boehly and Clearlake.
Chelsea appear in decline despite spending over £300million on transfers since Boehly and Clearlake completed their takeover from Abramovich last year.
Unfortunately, the chaos from that takeover led the owners to conduct transfer business themselves alongside Tuchel, who they sacked in January over a poor working relationship.
There are questions over whether Marc Cucurella, Kalidou Koulibaly or Wesley Fofana were value signings in a scramble to cover the exits of Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has also been a disaster signing and he was absent from the Chelsea squad at the Etihad with what Chelsea said was a minor injury.
It forced Potter into an uncomfortable position to start two academy players, 19-year-old debutant Bashir Humphreys and 18-year-old Lewis Hall, in defence.
After five major finals in six years it feels like everyone involved at Chelsea, both past and present, must take some portion of blame for how this season is going.
It looks like the first season of the new era will be a trophyless one.
Many frustrated fans have had enough and, in the eyes of many, the fault lies more with the new regime than the old.
