Graham Potter was smart enough to grasp the risk in jumping into the hot seat at Stamford Bridge, he was likely not naive to the list of incumbents behind him who had all lasted less than three years with the exception of Jose Mourinho since 2005.
As the dust settled on Saturday's humbling 4-1 hammering at the hands of the team he helped to build, maybe the scale of the task might become clearer. Although Potter now boasts a higher quality of player and bigger resources to improve the squad, one thing he had at Ostersunds FK, Swansea and Brighton was a different set of expectations.
Few Brighton supporters would be crying about "standards" for dropping points to Brentford, or asking him what he'd won to get the role. He had time to go through the growing pains, the poor runs and the process to build the exciting unit that so ferociously swarmed Chelsea at the AMEX.
READ MORE: How Graham Potter will react differently to Thomas Tuchel as Chelsea boss after Brighton defeat
At Chelsea, those gifts are not as easily afforded if they can even be earned. When Todd Boehly and the new owners opted to replace Thomas Tuchel and hand Potter a five-year contract there was a message within that. One that reflected the intention of doing something different, of seeing the 47-year-old as the potential spearhead to the club's new era.
These all sound like nice platitudes but it becomes a lot more challenging when faced with the demands for success that come from those who follow the club. Over the past two decades, Chelsea have not gone more than one season without winning some silverware. Although Chelsea have slipped from competing regularly for the title, something they have not done in any capacity for five years, the short bursts of momentum given by different coaches have still kept a sense of success consistent.
"Whenever you’re trying to master something or trying to get better at it, you need to sometimes have a bit of step back, you need to suffer or go through a bad experience to grow and be better," Potter said after the weekend's defeat.
"That team you see out there for Brighton wasn’t the team that was there three years ago. There is a process of pain you have to go through and you have to keep trying to improve."
Whether that pain is something supporters are willing to accept is another question entirely. Some are already comparing Potter's opening run to that of Thomas Tuchel who went four more unbeaten. Also referencing the incredible Champions League run which is a steep task for any successor of the German to replicate.
Six wins in his first 10 games are by no means an awful beginning, although performances have not been unanimously convincing. And Potter has not been averse to experimentation or risk-taking in his selections, something that likely cost him on Saturday.
Tuchel gave the biggest dopamine hit possible but it undeniably presented a false picture of where Chelsea actually were in the process of getting back to a Premier League title.
Those short bursts of optimism under a new coach have been followed by a decline. The bursts have not offered enough fuel to make the improvement sustainable, that is what Boehly will hope the Potter era can bring even if fans may not gain the quick improvement they are used to.
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