Graham Potter uses violent Viking TV dramas as a unique coping mechanism for the pressures that come with Premier League management.
The Chelsea manager was in a laid-back mood ahead of his Saturday return to Brighton, which he managed for three years before taking over the Blues.
The 47-year-old talked about the extreme expectations and obligations placed on individuals working in top-tier dugouts on their mental health.
Graham Potter chooses TV drama over his wife, Rachel, the mother of Potter’s three children and a Pilates lover.
When he was a footballer in the 1990s, he (Graham Potter) and his wife started dating.
She runs a prosperous business on her own and has supported the football manager over the years.
In reality, when he accepted the Ostersund position in 2011, Rachel abandoned her first firm in the UK and began fresh in Sweden.
He (Potter) also revealed details about his private life, which included watching “blood and guts” violence on TV, for a change.
Potter, a former coach in Sweden, said: “I have friends, but to be honest, I don’t socialize very much.
“I just come here, do my work, and then I go home. I don’t leave my house. I then recognize my family. Life is dull.
“Not too much reading, just a little bit now and again. occasionally listening to a podcast and occasionally binge-watching a Netflix show.
“Vikings: Valhalla was the last thing I watched. My wife became irrational because there was just blood and gore.
“Given their high salaries, Premier League executives may not be without many people’s sympathies, but it would be inaccurate to imply they are immune to hardships.”
Potter thinks back on the six months that saw the sudden deaths of his father Steve from cancer in early 2020 and his mother Val from dementia in the summer of 2019.
He now has perspective throughout any trying professional circumstances thanks to his tragic personal losses.
Despite steering Chelsea to a historic ninth-place finish last year, Potter acknowledges he may encounter resistance from Seagulls supporters given that he defected to Chelsea last month when Thomas Tuchel was fired.
Graham Potter is appointed by Chelsea on September 9, 2022, replacing Thomas Tuchel, who left after the Blues’ 1-0 loss to Dinamo Zagreb on September 7, 2022, in their first UEFA Champions League game.
He has won nine games so far and hopes to become the first English manager in Chelsea’s history to win all 10 of his games in any competition.
What’s next for Graham Potter?
Graham Potter and his men will pay a visit to his former club Brighton on Saturday afternoon by 3:00 pm in the English Premier League.
However, Graham Potter will look forward to extending his unbeaten run in all competitions as he and his team will welcome Dinamo Zagreb at Stanford Bridge in the UEFA Champions League matchday six, which means the final group stage of their 2022/2023 Champions League campaign.
