Sports Poets Society

Sacked by Chelsea and West Ham, the Englishman finds himself taking his adopted country to North America ‘It’s a bigger thing with the national team.  You can feel the intensity.  That’s what’s beautiful’ 6 Jun 2026 - THE GUARDIAN / Sport Jacob Steinberg If management has taught Graham Potter anything it is that there is no point in trying to run away from failure. “You’ve got to face the bad stuff,” the 51-year-old says as he thinks about how he recovered from bruising spells at Chelsea and West Ham. “The more you face it, the more chance your life is better. Then you get these beautiful moments.” Potter is in reflective, occasionally punchy mood during a long conversation about a rollercoaster few years and the brutal life of a football manager. He points out there have also been some successes – he has, after all, lifted Sweden out of the doldrums and led them into the World Cup – but knows people tend to focus on the lows. Potter lasted seven months at Chelsea after leavin...

Granit Xhaka, ici lors d’un entraînement de la Nati à Lausanne,  et ses coéquipiers devront être vigilants sur les balles arrêtées de leurs adversaires. Qualifications pour le Mondial 2026 La sélection nationale affronte les Scandinaves samedi (20 h 45) dans une rencontre qui pourrait lui permettre de décrocher son ticket pour la Coupe du monde. Il faudra se méfier de la formation nordique, bête blessée. «Avec ce nouveau sélectionneur, tous les joueurs suédois  voudront se montrer et tenter de gagner leur place.»    - Manuel Akanji Défenseur de l’équipe de Suisse 15 Nov 2025 - Tribune de Genève Ugo Imsand-Curty From page 9 Sur le papier, le match Suisse– Suède de Genève aurait dû être la finale du groupe B. Les Scandinaves et leurs attaquants stars se sont pourtant liquéfiés dans ces qualifications pour le Mondial 2026 ( 1 point en 4 matches). Tout le contraire d’une équipe de Suisse invaincue après 360 minutes de jeu. Les joueurs de Murat Yakin peuvent finir le trav...

The timing was just right for coach to return to his roots and get batch of superstars firing for a qualifying playoff When talents such as Isak, Gyökeres and Elanga are in the mix it is clear he has inherited a goldmine 15 Nov 2025 - Sport Nick Ames There was widespread approval from Sweden’s well-wishers when, during a training camp in Marbella this week, Graham Potter announced his new charges would play a variation of 4-4-2. A national team once tipped for greatness had been frayed, disconnected and muddled for too long. If their new manager had arrived with an unusually high profile, at least he had wasted no time in throwing on a familiar comfort blanket. From one angle, that is just what the Sweden job resembles for Potter. He could surely not have believed his luck when, just over a fortnight after his dismissal by West Ham, the top job became open in the country where he made his name. The Swedish Football Association must have pinched itself at the timing, too. Potter was in...

En crise, l’équipe de Suède, qui affronte la Suisse ce samedi à Genève (20h45), a fait appel à l’ancien entraîneur de Chelsea, qui s’était révélé avec Östersunds. Avant lui, plusieurs coachs anglais se sont fait un nom en Suède, dont un certain Roy Hodgson «Les Suédois n’aimaient pas trop l’idée que leur jeu soit dominé par deux Anglais»     - ROY HODGSON, ANCIEN ENTRAÎNEUR DE HALMSTADS BK «English Graham» est l’héritier de ce qui commence à ressembler à une longue tradition 15 Nov 2025 - Le Temps Laurent Favre L’équipe de Suisse de football n’est pas surprise de ne pas retrouver Jon Dahl Tomasson ce samedi sur le banc de la Suède. Très contesté après la victoire de la Nati à Solna (0-2), le 10 octobre dernier, le Danois a été licencié quatre jours plus tard, au lendemain d’une nouvelle défaite à domicile face au Kosovo. Plus étonnant en revanche a été le nom de son successeur: l’Anglais Graham Potter , encore à la tête de West Ham en septembre, entraîneur de Chelsea il y...

TOM JENKINS/THE GUARDIAN; MARTIN RICKETT/PA West Ham last played at Upton Park in 2016  Nuno Espírito Santo has walked into a dispirited club You can still visit Upton Park now, but it looks a little different 2 Oct 2025 - The Guardian Jonathan Liew Graham Potter still turned up for work on Saturday morning, even though there was no work left for him to do. A team meeting was arranged, at which Potter announced to general bewilderment that he had been sacked. Potter left. Training was delayed because nobody was available to take it. Eventually the new coach, Nuno Espírito Santo , arrived on site and hastily began preparations for the Everton game on Monday. Perhaps it was inevitable that West Ham United’s big set-piece appointment went the same way many of their set pieces have gone this season. Consider the evidence. A bungled sacking. A fiesta of contradictory leaks and briefings. Chaotic performances on the pitch. A vacuum of leadership and direction. Catastrophic recruitment. ...