Ask many Brighton fans now if they would take Graham Potter back and very few would likely say yes. Not because Potter didn't do some fine work at Albion – he really did – it's just that the impact Roberto De Zerbi has made since arriving in September has been impressive.
True, Brighton have suffered two frustrating results in the previous two fixtures...they should have been out of sight in the 1-1 draw at Crystal Palace and the 1-0 smash and grab loss to Fulham at the Amex was a painful one. The Seagulls should have had six points from their last two matches, instead they gained one and now it's a long break until they are next in Premier League action action against West Ham at the Amex on March 4.
Potter recently said if he wanted an easy life he would have stayed at Brighton and how he must now long for those calmer days on the south coast. He moved to Chelsea to test himself at the top-end (and to significantly boost his bank balance) but he has had a rocky start to life at Stamford Bridge. The scatter gun approach to the transfer market has left him with an expensive but bloated squad – many of whom don't want to be there – and results have been poor, culminating in a 1-0 home loss to basement team Southampton last weekend.
So how does the Premier League table look since Brighton replaced Potter with De Zerbi on September 18? Here, Sussex World takes a look at how Brighton compare with Chelsea and all of their Premier League rivals.