Imagine that Thomas Tuchel had not been sacked by Chelsea at the beginning of September and that Graham Potter had not been lured from Brighton to replace him. Potter, presumably, would still be in charge at the Amex. Would Brighton’s situation now be better or worse? Would they be heading into Sunday’s game against Southampton sixth in the Premier League table and likely to qualify for the Europa League?
Brighton had begun this season well, taking 13 points from the first six games – which, of course, is why Potter was appointed by Chelsea. Would Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali have been drawn by his years of steady progress culminating in last season’s ninth-place finish? It seems unlikely. It is indicative of how large a part chance plays that had Boehly realised at the end of last season that Tuchel was not the man for him, the obvious candidate to take over would have been Brendan Rodgers.
