Potter to Chelsea is overdue Big Six justice for Steve Bruce, Garry Monk and Nigel Pearson

The moment Chelsea took a punt on Graham Potter as boss, it was inevitable that someone would hail it as ‘a victory for all English coaches’.

‘Graham Potter’s step-up to Chelsea is a victory for all English coaches… the elite are finally rewarding managers for sticking it out at mid-table Premier League sides’ is the precise sort of take Mediawatch expected to read in the coming days. And it is no particular surprise to see Martin Samuel is the one offering it in the Daily Mail.

Firstly, the idea that taking Brighton from 17th upon his appointment to 9th last season and 4th by the time of his departure within little over three years is anything resembling ‘sticking it out’ for Graham Potter is laughable.

But this is also a clever twist on the usual argument, using ‘English coaches’ instead of the usual refrain about ‘British coaches,’ which would automatically bring in Brendan Rodgers and David Moyes as managers who fit the following precise criteria Samuel lays out, thus summarily dismantling an already flimsy argument:

‘Jurgen Klopp got the Borussia Dortmund job because he did well at Mainz. Antonio Conte was sought out by Juventus after positive spells at Bari, Atalanta and Siena. Valencia’s door opened for Rafa Benitez because he prospered with Osasuna, Extremadura and Tenerife.’

The Spanish example coming from an appointment made in 2001 really does make for compelling evidence that England is lagging behind in terms of granting opportunities to native managers.

‘It is only in England where the elite think our league doesn’t count; where a manager can toil away at clubs that have scant chance of success, while all the time being judged for not being successful.’

What will presumably follow is an extensive list of the English managers who toiled away in the Premier League’s mid-table to the extent that a member of the elite should obviously have taken a chance on them.

Samuel must come armed with hundreds of examples of these coaches being egregiously ignored on the basis of their nationality.

Except what we actually get is this:

‘Yes, Thomas Tuchel’s dismissal was harsh. Yet Potter’s appointment is a positive development. Not since Roy Hodgson went to Liverpool in 2010 has an English manager been recognised by a Big Six club for the job he has done outside their environs. And Fulham was Hodgson’s first role in this country since leaving Blackburn in 1998, do not forget.’

And Hodgson did ever…