CHELSEA’S longest serving manager under the club’s new owners has left by mutual consent.
The fact that Mauricio Pochettino lasted only 325 days underlines what a basket case of a club it has become.
You might expect a manager to lose his job after five games WITHOUT a win but only Chelsea could lose theirs after five wins on the spin.
When the supporters wrote an open letter to chairman Todd Boehly and his sidekick Behdad Eghbali in March, they expressed fears that their beloved Chelsea was becoming a ‘laughing stock on and off the pitch’.
It is way beyond that now with the departure of the manager who finally looked to be getting a tune out of a squad branded ‘£1billion bottle jobs’ just over two months ago as they crashed to defeat against Liverpool’s youth team in the Carabao Cup Final.
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In eight days’ time it will be exactly two years since the Clearlake Capital consortium rode into Stamford Bridge to rescue the club from possible liquidation.
Pochettino is the third full-time, permanent head coach to have tried and failed to work with the American-led group of venture capitalists who arrived in London preaching their motto of ‘long-termism’.
Regardless of whether it was ultimately Pochettino’s decision to go, or he was ‘pushed’ by his superiors, there is clearly something fundamentally wrong at Chelsea.
Two sackings and a mutual consent in less than 24 months.
First Thomas Tuchel and then Graham Potter.
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Throw in one frustrated caretaker boss in Frank Lampard and a rabbit-in-the-headlights one match wonder in Bruno Saltor and that’s five coaches that Clearlake have ploughed through in next to no time.
Thrown in Tom Glick, President of Business who went after 16 months and technical director Chris Viell who left after seven.
It makes former owner, the so-called ruthless Russian Roman Abramovich, come across as a dream employer. And he sacked one boss not long after winning The Double.
There have been noises that all was not well in the Chelsea camp.
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That a good end to the season might not be enough to make up for the barnstorming finish.
If Chelsea have effectively sacked the manager who enjoyed the unequivocal backing of his players and was starting to see a huge upturn in performance and results then that is sheer stupidity.
You might expect a manager to lose his job after five games WITHOUT a win but only Chelsea could lose theirs after five wins on the spin.
If, after two days of thrashing out the ifs and buts of an admittedly turbulent season, Pochettino decided enough was enough, that is way more worrying for Chelsea fans.
They won’t cry over his exit. They were uneasy about his long history with hated rivals Tottenham. He himself insisted he would not ‘kiss the badge’ to win favour with them.
This may have been part of his downfall. As an experienced manager with a strong personality, perhaps he wasn’t willing to kiss something else either to stay on the good side of Eghbali and sporting director Paul Winstanley.
Pochettino wasn’t perfect. There have been dreadful results this season. Terrible injuries too and with his reputation for hardcore training that may have cropped up in conversation.
Chelsea finished the season on Sunday toasting a fifth successive Premier League victory. It took them until December to reach that number.
He himself admitted he feared the sack after crashing 4-2 at home to Wolves in February. There was the 5-0 surrender at Arsenal, a 1-0 embarrassment in the Carabao Cup semi final first leg at Championship Middlesbrough. A 4-1 thumping at Liverpool.
Silence from the boardroom in the most desperate moments when he needed their support.
And Pochettino dropping thinly-veiled threats that ‘maybe I am not happy’ then claiming he was quoted out of context.
The powers-that-be at Stamford Bridge no doubt pointed out that the start of the season was way below expectations given such an expensive assembly of players at the manager’s disposal.
But when at times an entire team has been on the treatment table, Chelsea needed an ambulance driver more than a manager to get them through matches.
It is hugely ironic that even Pochtettino grew fed up with pleading for ‘time’ and to ‘trust the process’ in every press conference and ended up enjoying so little of it himself.
For Chelsea supporters glad to see the back of the man who in their view couldn’t quite leave Spurs behind, this is an alarming trend.
Three high grade managers could not work with these guys - so just who can?
