Brighton & Hove Albion head coach Roberto De Zerbi has expressed his disappointment following the sacking of Chelsea manager Graham Potter and believes that his dismissal is "bad news for coaches".
Potter spent just over three years as Brighton boss and established them as a top-10 club in the Premier League, before leaving to replace Thomas Tuchel at Stamford Bridge in September.
However, the 47-year-old was relieved of his duties by Chelsea on Sunday night after winning just 12 of his 31 games in charge over a seven-month period.
While Chelsea are languishing in 11th place in the Premier League table, 12 points behind the top four, Brighton are flying high in sixth place and are just seven points behind the Champions League spots with a game in hand.
De Zerbi – who inflicted the first of Potter's 11 defeats with the West Londoners with a 4-1 Brighton victory at the end of October – has successfully picked up the baton from his predecessor and is seeking to steer the Seagulls into Europe for the first time in their history, while they will also prepare for an FA Cup semi-final at Wembley later this month.
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Potter has become the 13th managerial departure in the Premier League this season – a record figure in the top-flight – and De Zerbi believes that the large number of dugout dismissal is "bad news for coaches".
Asked to share his thoughts on Potter's departure from Chelsea at a press conference ahead of Brighton's clash with Bournemouth on Tuesday, De Zerbi said: "I'm really sorry (for Potter). It's bad news for the coaches.
"I think you give too much importance to the coaches because the players are always most important.
"I don't like when the coaches are sacked because the responsibility is not only of the coaches – (it is also) the players, the club.
"In Italy we are used to changing a lot of coaches every season. In the Premier League it's different but I think it's changing also in the Premier League.
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"I think the coaches are not so important like the people think – when you win and when you lose.
"The coaches can give the players mentality, ideas, a style of play, but if you speak about results you can achieve the results with the quality of the players and not only the quality of the coaches."
De Zerbi added: "I want to say thanks to Graham Potter. I have a team with a very good attitude and mentality.
"It is difficult when you don't know the situation or another dressing room. I don't like speaking about other teams and coaches. I am sorry because when there are these situations they are sad."
Former Brighton right-back Bruno Saltor has been placed in interim charge at Chelsea while the club's hierarchy search for a successor to Potter.
Chelsea co-owners Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali are reportedly looking to speak with up to five managers over the vacancy, with the likes of Julian Nagelsmann, Mauricio Pochettino and Luis Enrique believed to be among the current frontrunners to take over.
Oliver Thomas
