Graham Potter believes his calm demeanor towards referees comes is due to his journey from non-league football to Chelsea manager.
The 47-year-old was criticised by BT Sport pundits Joe Cole and Rio Ferdinand for joking about Tomas Soucek’s handball in the box, which saw not penalised and therefore saw Chelsea denied a seemingly clear penalty in Saturday’s 1-1 draw against West Ham.
He then faced further criticism on BBC’s Match of the Day from duo Alan Shearer and Danny Murphy for his lack of reaction towards officials, in a week where several high-profile VAR errors have cost teams like Arsenal and Brighton.
Asked about whether he lacks passion around decisions that cost his team, Potter says it took anger to rise from the Northern Counties East League Division One side Leeds Carnegie but that he doesn’t mean he must take it out on officials.
He said: “I try to be careful not to get into these discussions through the media. Of course, I get angry. I am a human being, just like you. I just choose to conduct myself in a way that I think is right on the side.
“The same media talk about wanting me to be angrier but then run stories about problems in grassroots football and don’t see the connection.
“That’s not to say that we don’t all lose our temper because we do. It’s an emotional thing. At the same time, I think I have a responsibility to myself, Chelsea and the game to act in a responsible way for me. For me, not anyone else, for me.
“If you think you can start a coaching career, not in the Premier League, but Northern Counties Division One and get to this point now, as the Chelsea manager in the Champions League, without getting angry or through always being nice - I would suggest you don’t know anything about anything.”
Cesar Azpilicueta followed his manager speaking ahead of the last-16 tie with Borussia Dortmund on Wednesday night.
The Chelsea captain admitted he was unable to hide his fury after Soucek’s hand blocked Conor Gallagher’s shot in the 89th minute at the London Stadium.
He 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.
“It was quite unfair for us to maybe not get a penalty and three points, which would change the picture. But I’ve been with different managers who have expressed themselves in a different way. There is nothing more I can add.”
