Former Chelsea head coach Graham Potter has admitted that mistakes were made during his time at Stamford Bridge.
In September 2022, the Englishman made the decision to leave a developing Brighton & Hove Albion side to take over from Thomas Tuchel.
The hope had been that Potter would lead Chelsea into a new era just months after Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital had replaced Roman Abramovich as the club's new owners.
Instead, the 49-year-old would remain at the helm for just 31 matches, recording just 12 wins but having still guided Chelsea through to the Champions League quarter-finals.
Potter has already commented on the wide array of players that were purchased during the 2023 January transfer window, causing disarray behind the scenes given the heavily-populated squad.
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Potter suggests error in judgement
However, he has also indicated that he made an error in judgment in thinking that the culture at Chelsea would completely change, rather than the pressure ramping up on the back of several defeats.
Speaking to Sky Sports, Potter said: "The culture at Chelsea over a period of time has got them success so I respect that.
"I suppose you could feel that from the outside, the media and the supporters. Perhaps the mistake I made was that I thought with new ownership there would be a change of culture.
"But culture runs a lot deeper than that. Before the World Cup, we'd only lost three matches in the Premier League — one to Arsenal, who were top at the time, and to Newcastle and Brighton away — but the world was closing in and we were close to crisis.
"Perspective is not always easy to get, and at the time Chelsea were used to winning and competing. It was easy to say it must be the coach as he's not used to playing at this level or worked at this level. Maybe he was the problem, and I could understand that as the results weren't what they expected."
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Average age continues to drop
In the same interview, Potter spoke about his excitement about working under an ownership model that would focus on signing younger players.
The average age of the group under Potter was 26, the high number a result of Boehly and Clearlake being less than a year into their stay in West London.
On the squad size, Potter added: "They wanted to challenge for trophies and use younger players. The chance to have that opportunity to work with younger players and build an environment. We did some things well.
"All of a sudden there was a bit of adjustment to be done while still trying to compete, the whole team was in a bit of flux. There was a lot of adjusting. It's impossible to play everybody in every minute. Finding that stability was a bit of a struggle.
Enzo Maresca's squad is currently the youngest by far in the Premier League, the average age having been reduced to 23.4.
When teenagers such as Kendry Paez and Estevao Willian arrive next summer, that number is expected to drop even further.
Darren Plant
