Chelsea boss Graham Potter eased some of the pressure on himself thanks to overseeing a Champions League victory over Borussia Dortmund on Tuesday night, a result which should see him safe in his job until the end of the campaign.
That’s the view of Jamie Carragher, who feels the 2-0 success - which gave the Blues a 2-1 aggregate win - at Stamford Bridge, allied to the weekend win over Leeds United, means Potter at least has a shot of seeing his side back into Europe next season.
While the result isn’t likely to entirely appease supporters who had more than once aired their disgruntlement on the back of a run of one win in 11, Carragher believes it grants Potter time through to the end of the campaign.
“The fans aren’t going to change on one game but I think this gives him time to get them on board,” Carragher explained on CBS Sports. “He’s going to be there until the end of the season now. There was a question four or five days ago where journalists were getting briefed from the club that he could be on a knife edge for his job and his position.
“He’s won both games and that’ll be massive for him as a manager.
“That buys him time, the next draw is the quarter-finals of the Champions League and once you get to that stage you’re almost at the end of the season, it’d be ridiculous to change it.”
That said, earning a spot in next season’s Champions League is usually seen as the minimum requirement for most of the top clubs.
Chelsea currently sit tenth in the Premier League, 11 points off fourth with 13 matches left to play.
It’s unlikely they will regain enough ground to clinch a top-four finish therefore, meaning winning the Champions League outright is their only real avenue back into the competition - a scenario Carragher wouldn’t entirely rule out.
Even so, the former England defender feels it’s unlikely that Potter will do enough between now and May to show he has the club pointing far enough in the right direction to warrant still being in the dugout come August.
“They’re not going to make the top four but that could be the way they make it [into Europe]. It’s the only way they are going to make it, winning the Champions League.
“And they have got great pedigree, you think of the atmospheres, the run they had under Thomas Tuchel, the history they’ve got in European competition. They can use that.
“It cements him until the end of the season but whether he’s there at the start of next season or not, I still don’t think he will be.”
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