Graham Potter, the Sweden head coach and former manager of Chelsea and West Ham United, appeared to take aim at his old clubs after a football fan mocked a video of him doing Pilates on Instagram.
Potter had shared photos of himself doing a Pilates session, writing: "Pilates session update! I have a lot of work to do!!" One fan replied: "Hopefully you are better at Pilates than you are a football manager."
Potter shot back: "I'll try not to do Pilates in a dysfunctional place and I will be okay."
When a Hammers fan pushed back on the comment, Potter replied: "Easy tiger. I never mentioned West Ham or any club." Told by another user to "ignore the haters," Potter conceded: "Of course I am responsible for my part but unfortunately lots happen at football clubs to determine success or failure not just one man! COYI."
Sackings at Chelsea and West Ham
Potter was sacked by Chelsea in 2023 after less than seven months in charge, having won just 12 of his 31 matches. He returned to management with West Ham in 2025 but was sacked just five games into last season.
West Ham were relegated at the end of that campaign, with current boss Nuno Espirito Santo having overseen the majority of the season. Potter's spells at both clubs came during periods of boardroom upheaval.
The 'perfect storm' at Chelsea
Potter has previously described his ill-fated spell at Chelsea as a "perfect storm," citing a fixture pile-up ahead of the winter World Cup in Qatar in 2022, followed by heavy investment from the club's new owners during a January transfer window.
"If you are spending £300m on players coming from outside the Premier League, from countries having a mid-season break, then the reality is you can't just imagine they are going to hit the ground running and everything's going to be fine," Potter said in 2024.
"But, obviously, if you spend £300m, the pressure on the team goes up and the pressure on the coach goes up. And people go: 'Come on then, you've spent all this money.' I think if I'd have spent it on Harry Kane and Declan Rice, fair enough, but at the time that was the decision. We tried to support it as best we could, but it left us with a challenge of a lot of players after January and then they can't go anywhere."
Protests at West Ham
Potter's time at West Ham also came while fans regularly staged protests against the ownership of David Sullivan and former vice-chair Karren Brady.
Life with Sweden
Potter took charge of the Swedish national team last October and helped salvage its World Cup qualifying campaign, guiding the side to the finals. Sweden were eventually knocked out in the round of 32.
That run at the World Cup helped Potter bounce back from his underwhelming spells in the Premier League with Chelsea and West Ham.
