Chelsea head coach Graham Potter insists he will not bow to the pressure to change his personality and says Spurs boss Antonio Conte is someone he greatly admires for his commitment to being himself.
It follows Potter revealing on Friday that he has been sent death threats via email targeted at both himself and his family, and admitted managing Chelsea has had a negative impact on his mental health and that of those closest to him.
The Blues boss is under severe pressure in the job having won just two of his last 15 games and suffered possibly his worst defeat yet last week when his side were beaten 1-0 at home by relegation threatened Southampton, which prompted vocal outbursts aimed at Potter from some of the home fans.
Potter also came in for criticism for his measured response to being denied a late penalty in their draw with West Ham earlier this month when the ball struck Tomas Soucek on the arm, with some questioning why he was not more frustrated.
Chelsea travel to London rivals Spurs this afternoon looking for a much-needed result, and Potter spoke of his admiration for former Blues boss Conte, who will again not be present in the dugout for Spurs as he recovers from gallbladder surgery, when asked about their differences in personality.
“Absolutely, yes, because he is himself and I don’t look at how he is and look down on him in any way,” Potter said, when asked if he admires Conte.
“The best person to be Antonio Conte is Antonio Conte. The best person to be Graham Potter is Graham Potter. That’s how I see it.
“Everybody is different and I don’t think he’s being fake, I just think he’s being himself, and you can’t help who you are. That’s just life.
“Of course, you could play another role, but in the end I think you have to be yourself.
“But it isn’t nice when people then start to criticise you for being you. That also isn’t particularly nice because I can’t help being me, and it’s certainly gone well.
“I started off in the ninth tier of English football, so it’s not so easy to get to this point and you have to have some resilience, some passion, some emotion, some courage. You have to have something that gets you to this point.”
Potter also shared some advice that Conte gave him while he was still at Brighton on “doing your best today and not necessarily thinking too much about the future”, which he jokingly acknowledged came after his side had been beaten by Spurs.
The Chelsea head coach’s time at Brighton brought improvement on the pitch but also saw him come in for criticism at times, including during his first year at the club, something he says he can draw on for help during his current situation.
“Maybe that period enables me to get through this period. I’m still here, still alive and survived crisis meeting after crisis meeting,” he said, tongue in cheek.
“There’s lots of positives here. If I felt that I had lost the changing room or staff here, if I felt there was a bad feeling in Cobham, my feeling would be different.
“But the one-to-one chats I’ve had with pretty much all the players, there is incredible support there.”
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