Life has not only has gotten from bad to worse for Chelsea, it has gotten downright embarrassing for a club that had so many great expectations this English Premier League season.

After a dreadful 2-0 home defeat to Aston Villa on Saturday, Graham Potter became the latest victim of the Blues’ coaching axe as he was fired after 206 days in charge of the beleaguered London side.

Potter had replaced Thomas Tuchel seven months ago, but things have gone south, especially lately for the 2021 UEFA Champions League title winners.

Bruno Saltor, a member of Potter’s coaching staff, has taken over as interim head coach.

Despite going on a $630 million spending spree the last two transfer windows, Chelsea has been an ordinary team this season, especially after everyone returned to action after the Qatar World Cup.

“We have the highest degree of respect for Graham as a coach and as a person,” Chelsea co-owners Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali said in a statement. “He has always conducted himself with professionalism and integrity and we are all disappointed in this outcome.”

The Blues (10-10-8, 28 points), who include U.S. men’s national team forward Christian Pulisic, won only seven of its 22 EPL matches under Potter as it slumped to 11th place in the 20-team league. With 10 games remaining, Chelsea is 12 points off the top four, meaning the team is unlikely to qualify for next season’s Champions League.

Chelsea has reached the quarterfinals of the Champions League, where it was drawn against defending champion Real Madrid with the first leg on April 12.

The team hosts Liverpool in EPL action on Tuesday.

Front Row Soccer editor Michael Lewis has covered 13 World Cups (eight men, five women), seven Olympics and 25 MLS Cups. He has written about New York City FC, New York Cosmos, the New York Red Bulls and both U.S. national teams for Newsday and has penned a soccer history column for the Guardian.com. Lewis, who has been honored by the Press Club of Long Island and National Soccer Coaches Association of America, is the former editor of BigAppleSoccer.com. He has written seven books about the beautiful game and has published ALIVE AND KICKING The incredible but true story of the Rochester Lancers. It is available at Amazon.com.