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After spending a short time at Chelsea and West Ham, Graham Potter’s downward trend has caused him to leave the highly anticipated coach, who was widely regarded as Sir Gareth Southgate’s potential England replacement.

After only eight months in charge, Potter was fired by West Ham, leaving them 19th in the Premier League. His reign came after seven months at Stamford Bridge before he was dealt a similar fate.

He claimed that Chelsea’s “perfect storm” caused him to take a job and that his appointment coincided with the club’s new owners, who fired Thomas Tuchel in September 2022 to appoint Potter, who were on a £323m spending spree in the January transfer window.

A squad that was too big for the changing room to fit them all in, led by Potter, a meticulous coach who lived on time and structure at Brighton. In April of this year, he was fired.

Potter has been completely destroyed by a similarly chaotic West Ham environment, leaving his reputation, which he carefully built, and a gifted Brighton team, in ruins.

Potter’s disappointment at West Ham will likely outweigh that of Chelsea, where he was dismissed, a decision that came with some agreement because of the hectic, unstable environment that accompanied his tenure under Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali.

After leaving Chelsea, Potter waited 637 days to make what he saw as a carefully calculated return to the game, believing West Ham as the place where he should flourish once more.

Potter referred to West Ham as being “a little like Christmas for the adults.”

Instead, it turned into a drawn-out nightmare that eventually came to an end, even though West Ham’s timing still drew questions because Potter had been given the opportunity to handle media duties in advance of Monday night’s Everton game.

He had steadily advanced, becoming more and more of a constructor of teams and clubs than a quick fix fixer, which made him unsuitable for clubs as demanding both on and off the pitch as Chelsea.

Potter immediately entered a hole at West Ham after waiting so long for what he thought was the best club for his managerial and coaching skills.

Prior to being appointed manager of Swansea in June 2018, he rose to fame at Ostersund in Sweden, and his successful move to Brighton followed a year later.

With a smart hiring team that discovered gems like midfielders Moises Caicedo and Alex Mac Allister, Brighton was the ideal setting for Potter, who enjoyed patience and planning under owner Tony Bloom and technical director Dan Ashworth.

Before he left, Potter led Brighton to join Chelsea in the Premier League when they finished fourth after winning four of their first six games, including an opening-weekend win at Manchester United. Potter was at his best on the training ground.

While at Stamford Bridge, Potter can point to his leadership of Chelsea in the Champions League’s final eight, but like at West Ham, Potter occasionally appeared to be swept up in events before being consumed by a ruthless sacking.

Potter’s defeat came from joining two clubs with completely different approaches to Brighton, where Bloom continued to play even after only two victories in 19 games. Potter never lost the trust and faith of the hierarchy in the same way.

Martin Keown, a former England defender, stated to the BBC: “Potter was at Chelsea not very long ago. He might have led England.

Now let’s take a look at his Chelsea and West Ham winningscorers. His next Premier League job, if he does, is very important to him.

Potter hasn’t consistently excelled in his Premier League career with high win percentages.

He had a 28% winning ratio in 120 games at Brighton, winning 34 and losing 42. He won six games or 26% at Chelsea, while he won seven at West Ham, and he was 32%.

Potter’s strength as a coach was always the use of organization and tactical discipline, but he even seemed lost at West Ham, especially at set pieces.

You saw the set pieces when you watched them play Spurs, Keown said.

This season, they have conceded seven goals using setpieces. No real direction was present, just a group of schoolboys. That has to be returned to the manager eventually.

As a second high-profile Premier League failure occurred, the typically calm Potter exterior was replaced by a person who appeared to be carrying the weight of the world.

Potter’s next destination is entirely guesswork.

Although the continent may ask, where he might locate a configuration that suits him, the idea of a significant Premier League position is incredibly fantastic.

At Newcastle United, Nick Woltemade made a quick home. in a number of ways.

After moving from Stuttgart last month and breaking club records, the 6′ 6″ forward realized for the first time in his career that he wasn’t the tallest player in the dressing room.

The German is now surrounded by other powerful figures, including William Osula, Sven Botman, Joelinton, and Dan Burn (6′ 7in).

Although not all of these players start for Newcastle at once, this formidable side still has everything needed to pose a threat on set-plays.

However, this season’s giants in front of goal have not yet experienced this.

Before facing set-piece masters Arsenal on Sunday, the Newcastle head coach said, “We have the players, we have the height, we have the delivery.” However, something is not quite clicking, and no coach should be held accountable for this. That is unfair to me.

It is instructive to note that Howe posed similar queries almost a year ago.

In the Premier League, Newcastle had just gone a whopping 50 corners without a goal, but they eventually started firing once more.

By the time Newcastle faced the Carabao Cup final of the previous year in March, Howe even recognized the value of “a set-play could win us the game… let’s go into the detail that could swing it for us” (p. 63).

After discovering Liverpool’s weaknesses in deeper areas of the box, Newcastle spent the following weeks working on free kicks and corners.

The routines at Wembley did what was most important, and they put an end to a 70-year wait for a significant domestic trophy.

The work of assistant manager Jason Tindall and set-play analyst Kieran Taylor, who contributed to Newcastle scoring a respectable 13 goals from free kicks and corners in the Premier League last year, was well illustrated in the game’s opener that day.

However, Howe had been considering hiring an additional set-play coach to help with the load for some time given the volume of work involved.

And when Martin Mark joined Newcastle in June, Midtjylland’s set-piece innovators record was unquestionable.

Even after penalties, Midtjylland’s record of set-play goals (19) and the country’s top flight counterparts (including those from other teams) last year contributed to their title triumph.

Mark’s “hunger really shined through,” according to Kristian Bak, the head of sport at Midtjylland.

He defended the notion that we should be the best in the world in that field, saying of the 32-year-old. Every day must have set-pieces, and for him, having someone like that is a gift.

This season, Newcastle’s approach has definitely changed.

In the Premier League, the Magpies only launched one long throw into the box last year. Opta claims that Howe’s side have already launched 13 long throws into the penalty area in the first five games of the new campaign.

The black-and-whites make long throws in the same way that Newcastle’s rugby-style restarts have a wider trend in the game – they have started by pressing the ball into touch from kick-off to put the opposition under pressure deep inside their own half.

Although the Premier League has an average of 3.4 long throws into the penalty area per game this year, that is a small sample size. In order to put that into context, the 2020-21 campaign average was 0.9% per game.

No wonder Thomas Tuchel, England’s manager, said “the long throw is back”?

When Liverpool visited St James’ Park last month on a night where manager Arne Slot admitted that “you cannot control a game of football if every ball is thrown into your 18-yard box,” they found out.

In such a circumstance, Newcastle actually scored their first goal. With his team-mates still forward, the full-back was able to pick out Bruno Guimaraes’ head at the far post thanks to Tino Livramento’s long throw that was headed back to him out to the left.

Then, for Newcastle’s second, goalkeeper Nick Pope stepped forward to take a free kick and drove Burn’s long ball forward before being blocked by substitute Osula.

As the 10-man Newcastle’s match grew more chaotic, two goals from two dead-ball situations brought the score to a dead-ball.

Newcastle’s challenge is finding a way to consistently cause such mayhem.

Only four Premier League teams have attempted to score more goals from set pieces than Howe’s team (15), but Newcastle have only attempted to score one goal from a corner or free kick in all competitions.

Newcastle (1.56) are currently a long way off Arsenal (3.55), who are at the top of the table in this area.

Newcastle have yet to concede from a set-piece, but Howe was the first to acknowledge that they have “work to do” in the opposite direction.

Will it take some time, then?

He said, “I hope not,” adding that. That’s not the plan, they say. The difference between set-plays and plays is what is intended. We have been doing that for a long time, in my opinion.

It’s the perfect away performance – but we didn’t when you look at games like the Bournemouth game [a goalless draw], if you play as we did, defend as you did, and win the game 1-0 on a set-play.

Arsenal, the team that hosts Sunday, has undoubtedly abused these circumstances.

Set-pieces have been the key to half of Arsenal’s Premier League goals this season, including the winner against Manchester United and the Premier League opener against Nottingham Forest and Leeds United.

In that regard, Arsenal is still the best team to defeat.

But Thomas Gronnemark, a freelance throw-in expert who worked with Mark at Midtjylland last season, has no doubts that Newcastle will eventually fall off set-plays.

He claimed that Martin is a “really talented guy.” Yes, he is very young, but I don’t care whether someone is between the ages of 15 and 80.

Cardiff is to blame for avoiding a complete whitewash during the United Rugby Championship’s opening weekend.

After Matt Sherratt scored five points in the final two games of Dragons, Ospreys, and Scarlets, the Blue and Blacks came out victorious in a wet Arms Park to end the season.

With the victory, all four regions lost, so there was no chance of the URC campaign’s final round from last year.

Although Dragons and Ospreys’ defeat was a positive experience, Scarlets had a difficult start.

Munster simply couldn’t compete with Dwayne Peel’s side at home, which was Wales’ best last season.

Taulupe Faletau, who only played eight club games last season, will miss the next few weeks while he recovers from a summer calf injury.

Alun Lawrence continued as number eight after making an impressive start as the match’s man in Cardiff’s 32-20 victory over the Lions.

With Taine Basham, Dan Thomas, and Alex Mann as try-scorers off the bench, the 27-year-old produced 16 carries and 12 tackles in a well-balanced back-row display.

Van Zyl, the new head coach, called him an “unbelievable machine.” It seems like he enters the game and is so consistent, which makes it difficult to choose him because he has an engine on him.

Dewi Lake, the Ospreys’ captain, cut a frustrated figure in the process, but Loftus Versfeld had something to show for their efforts.

Although Mark Jones’ side’s success at home will depend on their results at Brewery Field, optimism can be found in their 53-40 loss to Bulls in Pretoria, which ended the season with a win.

Ospreys have a formidable pack, but their deftness outweigh the Bulls, who scored four of their six tries in a strong opening half.

The team produced strong performances from wing Dan Kasende, midfielder Phil Cokanasiga, and two-try centre Kieran Williams, who had a strong start to the game with a strike play to put Keelan Giles over.

With a ball in hand, there is plenty of promise when you add in Dan Edwards and Jack Walsh’s playmaking and the threat from back-rowers on the edges.

Bulls allowed their hosts to put the pressure on them and did not perform at set-piece with their usual standards, but Ospreys made 12 clean breaks to six.

Head coach Mark Jones remarked, “We encouraged the Bulls into our red zone, which caused a lot of self-harm.”

“We spent too much time without the ball with a side this good as the Bulls at this altitude,” said one player.

The proposals made by the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) for the elite game had sparked hundreds of protests in Parc y Scarlets.

However, the build-up was soon ceased as Munster quickly established that they were a much better team when they won seven straight against Scarlets.

As the home side toiled in a narrow attack with scrum-half Gareth Davies living off slow ball, an all-Wales international back line did not live up to its billing.

In the second half, there was a chance for improvement thanks to Davies and Sam Costelow’s successful pairing to set up Blair Murray.

After being promoted from the bench, Harry Thomas impressed bosses Joe Hawkins and Jake Ball, but the signings for summer put in a shift.

He said, “He’s a tough cookie and a Llanelli lad, which is great, and he can probably walk home from here.”

Aaron Wainwright made money off of Ulster’s failure to claim the kick-off, which equaled Shay McCarthy’s record against Ospreys in October and Dougie Fife’s mark of 10 seconds later.

Although Dragons showed tenacity and were only a short way away from a fourth try and a bonus point, four tries in 15 minutes gave Ulster the upper hand.

Fly-half Tinus de Beer made his debut, but Dragons’ lack of discipline meant they only managed six tries and 42 points, which needs to be addressed if they want to get better.

After being determined to have caught Nico Steyn high, Ben Thomas saw his yellow card upgraded to a 20-minute red in review.

Referee Filippp Russo and TMO Stefano Roscini were able to get their hands on the South African scrum-half’s performance when their Melbourne counterparts matched those of Australian star Carlo Tizzano.

A debut try was denied to Basham, which caused Cardiff to work much harder for a win that was deserved.

It’s a tough one, Van Zyl declared. They could have just received a yellow card and played on it, but they had more views and probably liked it more.