Would Graham Potter turn down Newcastle if the Toon came calling?

October used to be a graveyard for Albion managers. In the space of seven years, the 10th month of the year saw Micky Adams, Martin Hinshelwood, Steve Coppell and Russell Slade all depart from the Brighton dugout, either sacked or poached by another club. With Newcastle United now sniffing around Graham Potter, could the current boss be about to join that list?

Three weeks ago, Potter swapping the Amex for St James’ Park would have been considered unthinkable. Now though Newcastle are sitting on 10 times the wealth of even Manchester City having been bought for £305 million by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund.

The Saudis want to turn the Toon from perennial relegation candidates into Premier League champions so that their country might be associated with sporting success rather than stuff like chemically castrating members of the LGBTQ+ community or dismembering critical journalists using a bone cutter.

It seems as though the new Newcastle owners have already decided that Steve Bruce is not the man to kick off their great sportswashing project.

Almost from day one, reports have said that Bruce is for the axe. Hopefully, that is just a metaphor rather than Mohammed bin Salman literally deciding to chop Bruce into pieces, as he did with Jamal Khashoggi of the Washington Post.

All kinds of names have been linked with replacing Bruce at St James’ Park. Antonio Conte. Zinedine Zidane. Brendan Rodgers. Jose Mourinho. Frank Lampard. Lucien Favre

And, er, Potter. The fact that the Brighton manager is even being considered alongside some of the finest managers and players who have ever lived is testament to the job that Potter is currently doing at the Amex.

He would also be arguably the most sensible choice of the lot. Zidane, Conte, Lampard, Mourinho… they have all delivered at the highest level. Newcastle though are not at the highest level yet. In fact, they are nowhere near.

The Toon sit 19th in the Premier League table without a win so far. The first aim of the Saudi era has to be staying in the top flight and to do that, they need a manager with a proven record when it comes to coaxing more out of underperforming players. One who already has experience of turning a struggling team into a thriving one.

Which is why Potter fits the bill perfectly. Brighton are sixth in the table, two points off the top and although the Albion are yet to face any of City, Manchester United, Chelsea or Liverpool so far, that position is no fluke.

Brighton’s football is good, Potter has helped turn the likes of Yves Bissouma, Ben White and Robert Sanchez into some of the best players in the league and it does feel like the sky is the limit right now for the Albion.

So, what if Newcastle did come in for Graham Potter? Most Brighton fans seem to have laughed off the suggestion that he would leave, but that is surely more nervous laughter than confident laughter.

Yes, Newcastle might be in a bit of strive at the minute but nobody in their right mind is going to turn down the chance to work for a club with an endless budget without at least seriously thinking about it.

Potter is under contract with Brighton until 2025, so Tony Bloom is at least in a strong position to demand a serious amount of money from the Toon.

If Newcastle are desperate enough to get Graham Potter though, they will be able to match whatever the Albion ask for.

It then comes to down to whether Potter himself wants to go. Newcastle will obviously be paying big wages and whilst that is a factor, everything we know about Potter suggests he is not the sort of person to be solely swayed by money. What is best for his career will come into it.

Newcastle would represent a fantastic opportunity. The manager who goes there and delivers a first major trophy since 1955 will be hailed a hero on football-mad Tyneside forever more.

Give the Toon Army a Premier League title or a Champions League and you would never have to buy a pint of Brown Ale again. Ant and Dec would be your best mates (just do not let Ant give you a lift home) and you might even get dinner with Cheryl With No Surname.

Delivering such success with 10 times the wealth of Manchester City might look easy on paper, but it will not happen overnight.

It took Abu Dhabi four years for the Premier League trophy to arrive at the Etihad Stadium and only once Sheikh Mansour’s first manager Mark Hughes had been axed in favour of Roberto Mancini. Again, not literally thank goodness.

Amanda Staveley who brokered the deal for Saudi Arabia to buy Newcastle has said that they know success will take time. They are committed to a long term project.

Words like that are easy to say, but when you have an owner who is willing to murder his critics then you clearly have someone who has to have his own way. How long will whoever replaces Bruce actually get? Nobody knows.

Brighton in contrast are a bastion of stability. Bloom has said his long term goal is to establish the Albion as a top 10 club by taking baby steps to achieve the aim.

He has been as good as his word, something which might convince Potter that for all the Saudi money on offer at Newcastle, his future career prospects would be better served by staying with Brighton rather than risk failing to live up to expectations at St James’.

Not many owners back their managers as Bloom does. The Albion might be riding high now, but it has not always been smooth sailing since Potter arrived at the Amex in the summer of 2019 from Swansea City.

In his first two seasons at the helm, Potter oversaw runs of 19 games with only two victories. In 2020-21, the Albion made their worst ever start to a top flight season.

Potter also holds the club record for most home games without a victory, having gone 14 matches without success between June 2020 and February 2021. Brighton only won one league game at the Amex in the calendar year of 2020.

At virtually any other football club in England, a manager overseeing those sequences of results would be under a lot of pressure. Most would not survive.

If Graham Potter took the Newcastle job, there is absolutely no chance that Bin Salman is accepting two wins in half-a-season or 14 games without victory in front of the Toon fans.

Potter is working for the best chairman in the league. The Albion’s form could fall off a cliff between now and March and Bloom would still give his manager time to turn it around. For an intelligent guy like Potter, you would hope that sort of belief and loyalty counts for something.

For loyalty is one word that has been used to justify Potter staying by Albion fans. He did though walk out on a long term project at Swansea City after only a year when Brighton offered him Premier League football.

One would hope that, three years into his plan at Brighton and with very obvious signs of progress, Potter would choose not to jump this time if a better offer comes up.

Because make no mistake about it, Newcastle is a good offer. An unlimited war chest. The chance to write history at St James’ Park.

Potter could go from telling us he is happy to attempt coaxing more goals from Aaron Connolly by trying to keep him out Shoosh as Brighton cannot afford a new £30 million striker to being at a club who can find £300 million down the back of the sofa to buy Harry Kane.

Nobody could blame Potter if his head is turned by the challenge and the potential of joining Newcastle. It would be nice though if it was the Brighton manager who took a stand against the Saudi sportswashing project by turning down the millions on offer at St James’ to stay with a club and chairman who have stuck by him.

Money talks in modern day football. Will it talk if Newcastle want Graham Potter?