Graham Potter says implying that Albion’s form depends on if he wears his own clothes rather than a tracksuit on the touchline or whether he grows a beard is doing a disservice to his players.
Having only secured one home league win in 2020, Albion enjoyed four wins at the Amex from January until the end of the 2020/21 season – coinciding with Potter's decision to wear his own clothes in the technical area.
And since growing a beard during the close season, Albion have climbed to sixth and only lost one of their first seven Premier League games.
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“I try to be logical and to think that actually it's about 11 against 11 on the pitch and how they do and what they do,” Potter said. “I don’t think I’ll be making a decision about whether I shave or not based on where we are in the table – but I’m happy with the beard at the moment! Whether I wear matching socks or not isn't really going to influence the game!
"That would be doing a disservice to the players’ effort and their quality. It’s a game of football and sometimes the run of the ball goes your way and sometimes it doesn’t. That’s what makes it so brilliant and why we love it so much. Often it can be a bit unexplainable.”
Potter, 46, believes Albion’s uptick in performances can be put down to the fact his team are a more cohesive unit now.
“It sounds simplistic but it’s also been a bit of a process the team has gone through. When we first came the team had finished with 36 points the season before. We tried to change the playing style, which can take a bit of time in terms of not just performance but results.
“We’re still not there yet in terms of being really consistent, but we've taken steps and last year was a really good learning and development experience for us all.
“Our performances were good, but we were playing well in lots of games and we didn’t get the points. You have to deal with that, and all the feelings which come with it.”