Todd Boehly is damned if he does, damned if he doesn't. Chelsea fans have spoken, their voices have been heard - they always are. Everyone knows what comes next.
From the side of the River Thames with stops at the Olympic Park and even a journey to Germany, Stamford Bridge was united in the culmination of the chorus of boos on Saturday. The collective yearning of 40,000 fans that know when they come out in force they usually get what they want.
For years the reaction of these fans has been just days, sometimes hours, ahead of Roman Abramovich's constantly twitching trigger finger. Nobody knows the club better than the faithful supporters and under Abramovich they aligned through Jose Mourinho, eventually embracing true chaos in the late 2000s and early 2010s. The model that followed has become engrained in Chelsea's name and culture.
READ MORE : Why Reece James and Thiago Silva were absent from Chelsea's squad for Southampton
Abramovich tried to change it in 2012 but got cold feet at the first point of clashing. The Champions League success satiated him enough for it to be blown over. It ultimately didn't matter if the manager was one of Abramovich's play things, each was met with ruthless disregard when the time was up. Managers came and went, they watched the tide swing and felt it coming. They knew the pit they were headed for only had one exit. The coals were lit and the dragons ready to feed.
The reaction of Chelsea fans to their latest head coach has been little short of catastrophic. He was never warmed to in the same way that a proven elite manager was, a European champion, international success, club legend or serial title winner either. This is an appointment Chelsea would never have made under Abramovich. Judging Potter by his methods and what the Russian-Israeli would have done is unfair.
Having previously hired the manager that lost in the Champions League final here was a man who's track record of rising through the ranks of English football is impressive but it wasn't going to be enough to sell the movement in ideas at ownership level to the supporters.
Boehly/Clearlake could offer money, ambition and a project but they didn't offer the type of character that has become commonplace at Stamford Bridge.
The new ways of Boehly are unproven in England making it hard to truly get behind. Matched against Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester United's American owners who have gained a bad rap for their role in the club's achievements in the past decade, Boehly is up against it to become truly popular in football.
How they deal with the big decision in front of them now will do plenty to depict the narrative around them for a long time. Potter's loss to Southampton is a turning point entirely natural for Abramovich's Chelsea to reach and the next chapter is usually already written.
Here is an ownership group that has been watching English football far removed from the preconceptions of the sport in contrast. Their model has had success elsewhere, the landscape at Stamford Bridge is unique to a football club it is hard to draw many parallels to American sport but it's certainly worth looking into.
The group that purchased the LA Dodges in 2012 and allowed head coach Don Mattingly to continue for four years before appointing Dave Roberts now have to climb to the summit of modern football. The current coach in MLB for the Dodgers has been there for seven years. It's the longest spell for a coach since the 1970s at the franchise.
Having not had a period of success since the late 80s, Boehly has helped bring the best years in the franchise's recent history. It took five seasons to truly form though. It's the ultimate goal at Chelsea too. Not to Americanise but to revolutionise. Convincing fans that this method can work in England hasn't been easy.
The continued narrative is that football is it's own thing and what they have done in America is entirely separate. Potter's form only enhances this feeling and every loss is further proof to many that they don't know what's going on. This is, unsurprisingly, totally unfair.
Chelsea have made great leaps off the field but that is usually reflected in success on it. It's understandable that fans aren't chanting the name of Paul Winstanley or Kyle Macaulay in the Matthew Harding Stand and the need to see tangible evidence. That adds demands on Boehly-Clearlake that perhaps doesn't exist in baseball.
The exciting crop of players aged 23 and under purchased won't have their careers tainted in the same way modern football dictates that their manager's will be. Their talent hasn't dissipated. It will still be there tomorrow, Potter might not be. This is in part what has turned the heads of many. It creates a culture test for the owners.
Everything in the books of perceived wisdom, 30 years of Premier League football, tells them that Potter should go. The results, the money invested, the performance at the weekend, the table and the fans. There's very little on the surface that supports his position even after just 25 matches.
The last time a top six side tried this sort of appointment it ended abruptly. David Moyes will say he didn't get the time or the backing at Manchester United. Many will point to him and say that elite level management is a closed shop for a reason. Perhaps it's why managers like Moyes, like Potter and even Brendan Rodgers don't get these jobs at the top table consistently. They're too much of a risk. Those that are known are there for a reason. Going outside of this remit is dangerous and modern football is all about reducing that.
The fact that perhaps the most recent example of this type of plunge failed is only evidence of football's problem with trusting unproven coaches. It not happening since could be put forward as even more proof that it's not sustainable or that most are too scared of the risk to try.
The reason, especially in modern day football, that these managers don't get the gigs is because they are still seen as a risk. Potter was no different.
He was the next cab off the rank when at Brighton but hasn't got the structure that he built on the south coast, at Cobham. Chelsea have specialised in not having a structure and now Potter's position is unstable. Something has to build up for there to be progress long-term, no matter who the manager is.
There was an acceptance that a team with Hakim Ziyech and Kalidou Koulibaly, steered by Jorginho and captained by Cesar Azpilicueta was unlikely to be any better for Potter than it was for the best short-term firefighter out there. This was a group of underperforming players who's form transcends multiple head coaches. There were mentality issues, squad makeup problems and legitimate quality concerns.
The team that lined up against West Ham last weekend was very different. Here was a collection, a snapshot and a parade of talent. It was an all-star team of youth excellence.
The fact that the half hour of quality attacking play was cut short at the 30 minute mark was merely a small price to pay for the bright future. A window into what might be about to come. One week later and Stamford Bridge had turned. Boehly now has a choice to make.
This is his thing. The centrepiece to it all is Potter. He was handed a six-year contract in September but less than eight months later and almost every other club in the land would already have made his position untenable. In football it simply doesn't matter what mitigation there is, results are king.
In came a young manager, elite directors, promising talent. A modern day system at a club still operating in the dark ages. They want to tap into the potential of a club that has been papering over cracks very well for a long time, ignoring the changing world as it went on because a cup competition was won.
Fans can get on board with that, buy into a vision but only if there are signs of improvement and Saturday's loss was major regression. It went beyond underlying numbers, which have been on the up. It was an unequivocal failure of the type that has for so long lost managers their jobs.
The table isn't decided by xG. Being nice doesn't put the ball in the net and lower average ages doesn't offer a points multiplier. No amount of excuses will buy Potter time with the fans but the owners have more at stake. The preachers of building and investing and affording leeway are being tested. The footballing gods are practically asking for Boehly/Clearlake to pull the trigger. Who blinks first? It's always the owners.
There really are serious questions to be asked here. Clearlake and Behdad Eghbali made their name in private equity, in investments. Potter is a £20m asset, his coaching staff an extra £2m. Unlike Tuchel, hired by the previous regime, there is attachment here between employers and employee.
The argument is that issues go well beyond him but that has rarely mattered at Chelsea. It's one of those things that will matter now though. Boehly and Clearlake are more willing to reason with why things have gone wrong and offer Potter the chance to change and oversee adaption to the circumstances, otherwise it's just another manager's job to sort out.
The other option is that somebody else takes over a squad that is bloated, another coach has to rate the squad, build relationships within the club and then finally get a tune on the pitch. With the unrest and turnover at Chelsea in the past 12 months there is evidence to say that Potter should be granted a real shot at this because cutting things short previously hasn't helped to create a positive picture or a sustainable environment. Don't blink first.
Furthermore to all of this, to go so hard and so staunchly for a manager in a sport that Boehly/Clearlake are consistently told acts so differently to others, especially American sports as fans will keep saying, to then back down would be an embarrassment. But should that matter? Business savvy owners have made careers for themselves by getting the tough calls right.
This is the complexity of the situation. In the owners' minds there may not even be a decision to make. Potter is the one for them, they believe in him, see the progress and can counter the negative results with data-lead signs of improvement. That could very easily be misplaced for loyalty though. When does patience for a reason become blind faith?
Sack Potter now and it's the same old Chelsea. That's how it would be seen even if the truth couldn't be further from this. Move on from the former Brighton man in the wake of the loss to Southampton and the absence of tangible progress and plenty of fans will be satisfied, they got what they wanted again but it looks foolish. The latest shred of evidence for those that are convinced Boehly/Clearlake have no idea.
Stick with the image of the new regime and support Potter and the competence of the owners will be questioned regardless. There is enough to say that he should be out the door by modern football standards but that is the size of the paradigm shift they want to be at the forefront of. Convincing people this is the best course of action, let alone if it's possible at all is a whole task of its own.
Damned if they do, damned if they don't.
READ NEXT:
How Graham Potter responded to Chelsea boos amid 'arrogant' claim and sacking threat
Mauricio Pochettino preferred Graham Potter Chelsea replacement as fans demand immediate change
Every word Graham Potter said on Azpilicueta injury, fan rage, Fofana change, Chelsea regression
Chelsea news and transfers LIVE: All the latest news, rumours and gossip from Stamford Bridge
