According to The Mail, Aston Villa were keeping a keen eye on Graham Potter for weeks before they sacked Steven Gerrard.
Gerrard has, of course, been relieved of his duties as Aston Villa boss this week after a string of poor results was capped off by a 3-0 loss against Fulham, and the Midlands club are now on the hunt for a replacement.
One man they did have in mind to replace Gerrard was Potter, but unfortunately, that now isn’t going to happen as the ex-Brighton boss has taken the Chelsea job.
Potter and Villa would have been a brilliant match.
As an exciting young manager, the 47-year-old really would have resonated with the Villa Park faithful and as he’s shown at Brighton, he’s able to propel any half-decent squad up the table.
However, aside from being a talented manager, Potter is also a boyhood Villa supporter – stating that they were the first team he supported when they won the European Cup.
“The first team I actually started to get interested in was the Aston Villa side that won the European Cup,” Potter once said.
“Most supporters will tell you, ‘hang on, you can’t be Birmingham and Aston Villa, you’ve got to be one or the other’, but I think I pretty much was – I have to be diplomatic as I’m from Birmingham.”
Of course, Potter would go on to play for both Birmingham City and West Brom, making him less than popular at Villa Park, but he does seemingly still have a soft spot for the Clarets.
Perhaps if the timings worked out better, Villa would’ve been able to tempt Potter into coming and managing the club he supported as a youngster, but now he’s at Chelsea, the Villans will have to look elsewhere.
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