Chelsea manager Graham Potter has dismissed criticism of his temperament ahead of the Champions League showdown against Borussia Dortmund.
Joe Cole, Rio Ferdinand and Danny Murphy all questioned Potter’s calm reaction to Chelsea’s failure to win a penalty against West Ham on Saturday, claiming the Blues boss wasn’t angry enough.
The 47-year-old refused to publicly condemn referee Craig Pawson, who refused to point to the spot despite what appeared to be a blatant handball by Tomas Soucek, during his post-match duties.
It was not the first time Potter’s cool exterior has been called in to question since his arrival at Chelsea earlier this season.
And the former Brighton boss fired a curt response to assertions that he is too placid, saying: ‘If you think that you can start a coaching career in the ninth tier of English football.
‘In the Northern Counties Division One and get to this point now as the Chelsea coach in the Champions League without getting angry or being nice then I suggest you don’t know anything about anything.
‘I want to be careful not to get into discussion through the media. Of course I get angry, I am a human being. It’s just that I choose to conduct myself the way I think is the right way to conduct myself on the side.
‘The same media are talking about me being angry and then running stories about problems with referees at grassroots football and they don’t see the connection.
‘That’s not to say we don’t all lose our temper because we do. It’s an emotional thing but also I have a responsibility to myself, to Chelsea and to the game to act in the way I think is the right way for me, not for anyone else but for me.’
Asked about his manager’s reaction to the incident at the London Stadium, captain Cesar Azpilicueta added: ‘I was angry. I can speak about myself when I was watching the iPad on the bench. It was a bad decision, to be fair, that we were not awarded a penalty. That is the truth.
‘But I’ve been with different managers who have expressed themselves in a different way.’
Potter also dismissed suggestions of a rift between £88million signing Mykhailo Mudryk and Marc Cucurella.
Ukrainian attacker Mudryk appeared to endorse a social media post suggesting Cucurella was reluctant to pass to him during the game against West Ham, while there is also a social media video in circulation in which Mudryk appears to suggest Chelsea need a new left-back.
But Potter said: ‘There’s no problem in terms of anything sinister at all. If anything it’s just team-mates understanding each other. It’s quite a common problem, I would say – when to pass and at what point and what time.’