COMMENT: Let's get it straight. The Premier League, indeed football in general, would be in a much healthier state if there were more Graham Potter-types managing at the top end of the game...

For this column, Chelsea's manager leans a little too much on the 'woke' side. We'll always take a Jose Mourinho over a Gareth Southgate... Every. Single. Time. But we can also appreciate Potter's approach. And certainly his explanation over why he never indulges in touchline histrionics, knowing the influence it can have on refereeing and how match officials are treated at all levels of the game, deserved greater press.

And his comments came with his team in the doldrums. It would've been easier over these last weeks to shift the spotlight to refereeing decisions. To condemn the human error factor in football. And leave those who have made mistakes - however innocent - out to dry in the global public arena. Indeed, you had ex-pros like Joe Cole and Rio Ferdinand cynically urging him to do as much. But he didn't. It's part of him. His principles. His lifelong approach. And it's something not only to admire, but for many of his peers to follow - particularly at a time in the game as this. To be fair to Cole, he later admitted he was wrong in a column of his. Again, it was an admission and write up that deserved better press.

But this isn't column isn't about refs, or even a manager's principles. This is about Potter and what he's had to face at Chelsea since his arrival in September. It's been extraordinary. Indeed, we'd argue - unprecedented. And no matter the personality in the Chelsea dugout, the problems that have engulfed the team this season would still be there even Potter wasn't.

For the root of Chelsea issues, the buck doesn't stop with the manager. Nor the players. You need to go higher up than that. It's the owners. It's Todd Boelhy. And it's this decision to completely rip everything inside the club that worked and to start again.

Could Mauricio Pochettino have done any better with a new XI thrown together from all corners of the world? No. Luis Enrique? The same. Zizou? C'mon. They may have greater experience than Potter. A far more impressive CV. But this job at Chelsea, as it's been created by Boehly and co, is unlike anything any of these men have handled in their careers. And that's with the expectations that every player Boehly has signed this season is actually as good as his transfer fee suggests.

As we've said in past columns, just because Darijo Srna says Mykhaylo Mudryk is a "€100m player", doesn't mean the former Shakhtar Donetsk winger actually is. Ditto Enzo Fernandez. Marc Cucurella. Benoit Badiashile. Take your pick. Potter is working with an overhyped, bloated squad of individuals thrown together by the chequebook of the new owner. With the majority coming from inferior competitions abroad. And yet he's expected to instantly make it all click...

Again, take your pick - Poch, Enrique, Zinedine Zidane... none of them could simply wave a magic wand and immediately transform a team on paper into a winning combination. And it has nothing to do with managerial ability. Simply, football doesn't work like that. It's not the laws of the game. Combinations. Partnerships. This all takes time. And that's with those Boehly has brought in. What about the gaping hole left on the pitch and in the dressing by the decision to allow Jorginho to move across town to Arsenal?

Would Zidane have tolerated such actions? Pochettino? It's doubtful. Potter is carrying all this himself. Yes, we get to hear from Boehly and fellow director Behdad Eghbali in a joint statement with every signing made. But that's it. For all the servile stuff from certain sections of the press, this lot are no better in terms of direct communication than Roman Abramovich. But at least the Russian knew football. It really should be on Boehly and Eghbali to explain this crazy transfer policy. And ultimately to take responsibility for the absolute state of this team.

One doubt about Potter, amid the chaos, is his relationship with the players. They like him. They enjoy working with him. But we're yet to see the manager establish a visible bond with his senior group.

There's a famous photo of Sir Alex Ferguson, in his first weeks as Manchester United manager, with his arm around Bryan Robson in the away dugout at Kenilworth Road. As soon as he arrived, Ferguson identified Robson as his leader and the pair immediately became close. In terms of Chelsea, think Thomas Tuchel and Toni Rudiger. Or go further back, JT and Jose. Potter, now six months into this job, still doesn't have that. We can argue he hasn't been allowed to given the constant flux of the squad. But there is something to be said about a new manager and one or two senior players working together to drag the rest through a crisis. From the outside looking in, Potter hasn't been able to do that.

In different circumstances. If Boehly and co, as we've long argued here, had come in with a 'light touch'. If they'd shown a greater consideration for what had been built before them. Would things be different for Potter and this team? Of course. This would be the 2020s version of Brendan Rodgers moving from Swansea City to Liverpool. Similar experience. Similar approach. And pretty much the same opportunity.

At least, that was on paper. But not now. Not with how this transfer policy has been thrown together. Potter isn't to blame for this chaos. Chelsea fans need to adjust their sights a little higher up.