Graham Potter Next England Manager Odds: Former Brighton boss can rebuild with England

England are searching for a new manager after Gareth Southgate called it a day following Euro 2024. After two finals, one semi-final and one quarter-final finish across four tournaments, Southgate goes out with his head held high, but now it is time for the FA to try and appoint a manager to get the Three Lions over the line.

As part of a five-part series, Betfred Insights are analysing each of the main candidates and what they could bring to the role. Could Graham Potter be the next England manager?

In my eyes, Graham Potter feels like the most sensible candidate to take over the biggest job in English football. The former Brighton manager has had an impressive managerial career so far, but it feels like his stock has fallen after a difficult spell at Chelsea. 

The thing is, he wasn't a complete disaster in the capital, and based on what we have seen since, perhaps they should have stuck with him. It was, and still is, a basketcase of a club under Todd Boehly, and Potter come in mid-way through the season into a difficult dressing room. 

After six months, he departed with a win percentage of 39%, having won 12, drawn eight and lost 11 matches in all competitions. He reached the last eight of the Champions League and although league results were not great, it certainly shouldn’t tarnish the rest of his impressive career so far. He was a massive success at Brighton, and having replaced Chris Houghton he took the Seagulls from relegation candidates to European contenders over the space of three years. 

Next England Manager Odds

Prior to Brighton, he had done well at Swansea City in his first job in English football, finishing 10th in the Championship and reaching the quarter-finals of the FA Cup. However, he earned his stripes at Ostersund, in Sweden. Taking over the club when they were in the fourth tier, he led them to the top flight, and then the Europa League - where they even recorded a famous win at the Emirates Stadium over Arsenal. It’s one of the best individual stories we have seen in recent times, and the fact they are now back in the second tier speaks volumes of the miracles Potter worked in Sweden. 

He’s got a brilliant CV, and I don’t think think the negative view on him right now is necessarily justified. Perhaps part of that is because he has been out of a job since leaving Chelsea in early 2023, but it’s clear he has been waiting for the right role to come up. Perhaps England has been in the back of his mind, given he turned down talks with the likes of Leicester City this summer. 

It feels like he has been waiting for something like this, and let’s not forget the praise he has been showered with in the past. Pep Guardiola named himself as a ‘big fan’ of Potter, saying “Brighton are a joy to watch, a joy to analyse" and that Potter’s "players move with freedom and everyone knows what they have to do. They have the courage to play everywhere."

Sounds like an exciting prospect for this group of England players, but there are pros and cons to Potter. First of all, like most of the other candidates up for consideration, he has no international experience. However, he does have a positive playing style that could tempt the FA after the criticism that Southgate received. He’s also available, and would not be too expensive to hire, unlike his fellow candidates Eddie Howe, Jurgen Klopp, and Pep Guardiola. 

The players are likely to enjoy playing under him, and he would likely build on the positive atmosphere Southgate has spent so long cultivating, rather than ripping it all up and starting again. There’s a lot to like about this potential appointment, with Potter able to change between two or three formations per game according to former players. And those formations are drilled into the players, with everybody knowing their roles. We must alaos consider that international managers get far less time on the training ground than club managers do, but this would still be seen as a progressive move by the FA. 

Eddie Howe Next England Manager Odds

He’s English and available, which may swing a tight selection process his way, and he could be an improvement on Southgate from a tactical perspective. However, if we are looking for negatives - he has been out of the game for over a year, and his last job ended badly. He also has only a handful of matches in charge of elite-level talent and no international experience. 

I’m absolutely certain he will be throwing his hat into the ring for the England job, and he will be considered carefully. He could rebuild his reputation with England, whose main priority is surely to appoint a progressive coach with attacking ideas. Potter certainly ticks both of those boxes and if the FA cannot tempt a manager that is currently employed, the former Chelsea boss may find himself at the top of the order. 

His patience may just pay off. 

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