Graham Potter is hopeful Joao Felix can make a difference for out-of-form Chelsea on his return from suspension at West Ham, acknowledging his raft of new signings must gel quickly.
Joao Felix arrived on loan from Atletico Madrid last month and initially impressed on his debut at Fulham, though a rash challenge on Kenny Tete saw him sent off 58 minutes into the Blues' 2-1 defeat.
That made him the first player to be dismissed on his Premier League debut for Chelsea, and Potter's men have struggled for attacking inspiration during his subsequent three-match ban.
After beating Crystal Palace 1-0 in their next game, Chelsea laboured to goalless draws with Liverpool and Fulham – they have never drawn three successive league matches 0-0 in their history.
Speaking ahead of Saturday's short trip to face London rivals West Ham, Potter highlighted Joao Felix's positive performances in training.
"I think we all saw the impact he had in his hour before the red card," Potter recalled of his debut. "You can see his quality, we see it every day.
"He's a player that can make a difference for us. It's about helping him to get integrated into the team, but the signs are really positive."
The Portugal attacker has since been joined by more big-name arrivals at Stamford Bridge, with Chelsea investing heavily to acquire Mykhaylo Mudryk, Enzo Fernandez and others.
Asked how patient he could afford to be with his new players, Potter said: "It's my job. When you're coaching players, there is a process to go through and you have to understand the context.
"I'm not stupid, at the end of the day, if the results aren't what this club should get, and if I'm the reason for it... then that's the job.
"In the meantime, I have to go through the process of working with the players, helping them improve.
"It's a complicated situation at the moment, but I'm really looking forward to the challenge that awaits us. I don't worry about the absolute timescale of it all."
Reports have suggested Chelsea could help to balance their incomings by letting Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang depart for Major League Soccer outfit Los Angeles FC, but Potter says there is "nothing to report" on that front.
"He's been training with us this week, conducting himself well," Potter added. "He has been supporting his team-mates and while he is here, he is doing exactly what I expect him to do."
Potter was also asked about this week's announcement that Manchester City have been charged with breaching the Premier League's financial regulations, but he was careful to stress the champions remain innocent until proven guilty.
"I don't know anything about it, we focus on ourselves. It's something Manchester City have to deal with," he said.
"As I understand it, they're just charges. Certainly in this country, you're innocent until you're proven guilty, so it's not for me to comment on it."
Steve Clarke keen for Scotland to have ‘top level’ facility for training
Steve Clarke wants a top-end Scotland training complex as he prepares for Euro 2024 in Germany.
The men’s national team moved from their base in Oriam, Scotland’s Sports Performance Centre, to Glasgow earlier in the year, with coach John Carver criticising the pitches at the Heriot-Watt University Edinburgh Campus.
Clarke spoke about the move to Lesser Hampden and a city centre hotel as part of the re-setting of Scotland following the defeat by Ukraine in the World Cup play-off in June 2022 and, although he is focused on a second successive Euros, he is looking to the longer-term, albeit he may not be the beneficiary.
Scotland were drawn against host country Germany, Switzerland and Hungary in Group A for next summer’s Euros, with the Scots set to face the Netherlands in the first of a friendly double-header in March with an as-yet unnamed opponent coming to Hampden Park days later.
Clarke said: “Oriam was the venue that I was asked to use. It was fine.
“Initially it was perfect, it served its purpose. We had some really good camps at the Oriam, some great results, some great moments.
“We made the best of those facilities and we made them work.
“But after a period of time you think, ‘OK, this is a little bit tired, we are a bit tired of this place and we need to change’.
“To be fair to the (SFA) board, as soon as I began to ask for change, they were on it. They understood what I was trying to say to them.
“Just to freshen it up, to try to improve the facilities a little bit and move close to the top level of facility.
“Unfortunately we don’t have our own base in Scotland so we have to find something and at the moment the Blythswood hotel and Lesser Hampden is a fantastic option but I won’t stop looking and I won’t stop pushing for something else because I want to keep moving and moving.
“I say it to the board all the time, never stop trying to improve and never stop trying to look for something eventually, hopefully, can become a Scottish FA facility.
“It would be nice but being realistic, two tournament qualifications in 25 years is not going to help us (pay for it), you would need to look at another two or three, or three out of the next four, or three out of the next five, a constant extra revenue coming into the association and maybe then they can think about it.
“If you are asking me if I would I rather have a training ground than a refurbished Hampden – Hampden will get refurbished for the 2028 Euros.
“If that refurbish is adequate then I would be saying look to put your money into a training facility that belongs to the Scottish FA and then you can look to move the game forward, you can use it as a facility for the men’s A, the women’s A and then hopefully all the under-age groups moving down the way and that is something we should look at.”
“I can start the process,” continued Clarke. “I never think too much about myself. Maybe you see that sometimes.
“But if I’m in the fortunate position to be head coach with a really talented group of players – which I am – then this is the time to start trying to build something for the future.
“Hopefully it could be for just one head coach down the line – or maybe two or three head coaches down the line before we actually get there.
“But, either way, that will mean we’ve been consistently successful and then hopefully we can end up with a nice product.”
Sunderland make ‘difficult decision’ to sack head coach Tony Mowbray
Sunderland have sacked head coach Tony Mowbray, the Sky Bet Championship club have announced.
Mowbray’s departure comes two days after his side’s 1-1 draw at Millwall that extended their poor recent run to one win from their last five games.
Sunderland, who have also parted company with Mowbray’s assistant Mark Venus, confirmed that coach Mike Dodds will take over pending the appointment of a new head coach, starting with Saturday’s clash with West Brom at the Stadium of Light.
Sporting Director Kristjaan Speakman said: “All at SAFC have thoroughly enjoyed working with Tony and he is quite rightly held in high regard by our players and staff, and our supporters.
“After arriving at an uncertain time, he helped guide us to the Sky Bet Championship play-offs and played an important role in developing our team
“This was a difficult decision to make, but we remain loyal to our ambition and our strategy, and felt that now was the right moment to take this step.
“We are now focused on identifying the right candidate and we will continue to support our coaching team and players throughout the interim period.”
Mowbray replaced Alex Neil, who abruptly departed in August last year, and led the Black Cats into the play-offs, where they lost in the semi-finals to Luton.
Despite a bright start to the current campaign, his side appeared increasingly unsettled and have slipped out of the play-off places to ninth, three points adrift of the top six.
West Ham offer reward for information after burglars raided Kurt Zouma’s house
West Ham have offered a £25,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and prosecution of burglars who raided Kurt Zouma’s home on the eve of Sunday’s Premier League clash with Crystal Palace.
Zouma and his young family were in the house during the break-in, and he missed the following day’s match against Palace, with his club saying at the time that he was absent for “personal reasons”.
West Ham said the burglars took items of “significant value and of huge personal and sentimental importance to the family.”
Hammers joint chairman David Sullivan said: “First and foremost, the thoughts of everyone connected to West Ham United are with Kurt and his family.
“To have someone break into your home is a terrifying experience and I hope this reward will help bring the individuals to justice and prevent others from going through a similar ordeal.”
Last year Zouma was ordered to carry out 180 hours’ community service and banned from keeping cats for five years after kicking and slapping his pet in a disturbing home video posted on Snapchat.
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