After a chaotic week, what happens now & in the summer?

Some thoughts on the next few weeks & months, post-Wolves & Villa

It’s certainly been an emotional few days. Lots of reaction to the 4-2 defeat of Wolves, and the incredible win 3-1 over Aston Villa on Wednesday. In many ways, those two games summed up Chelsea’s season. Awful and lethargic in one game, brilliant and energetic in the next.

The Wolves game was a turning point for many, a final straw. For me too. I’ve been patient with Mauricio Pochettino, partly as I always want to back a manager and give them time, partly as I like Pochettino as a man and a coach, and partly as I know the main issues at the club go beyond who the manager is.

But that game felt the final straw for me. I ran out of reasons to defend Pochettino. The misuse of some players, the poor performances, the lack of mentality and motivation, I finally accepted Pochettino’s time at Chelsea should be curtailed, certainly beyond this season.

Since then we’ve had briefings galore from multiple places, many saying contrasting things. This is just a symbol of the chaos at the top of the club, with different people trying to defend their own jobs and positions over the good of the club, and no one taking responsibility. This is by far the biggest issue at the club, the structure, and lack of accountability.

The truth? Probably somewhere between the headlines. People like to exaggerate the bad at a time like this, so it’s probably smart to calmly assess before making judgements. However, its very clear, things are bad behind the scenes at Chelsea, with many issues which needs resolving

But then we had the win against Villa. Pretty much no one saw that performance or result coming, certainly not me. Not only one of our best performances of the season, but arguably our best for nearly two years.

There was a clear show of togetherness and team spirit, a team fighting for each other, the manager and the club. To me a potentially key moment in the Chelsea ‘project’. The players were clearly playing for Pochettino, they showed up at his moment of greatest pressure. No question, the majority of the squad are behind him.

The question is if this form can be maintained more consistently. If it can, we can challenge for the top 6, and potentially win one, possibly two trophies. If that happened, I’d have no hesitation in keeping Pochettino on - for those achievements, he’d absolutely deserve it.

If it’s not, and the inconsistency continues, then Pochettino could be gone before the summer, and at latest at the end of the season.

Of course there are other factors at play with Pochettino. Firstly, there’s the poor relationship Pochettino has with the sporting directors and even some members of the board - one of them wanted to sack him already, remember. Not to mention the reality that many Chelsea fans, including many match-going fans, will never accept him. It would only take another defeat or two for things to get really toxic.

My personal view is Pochettino and the board are increasingly aware of all of the above, and all parties might decide its best to part ways amicably in the summer, regardless of what happens between now and then on the pitch. My view now is his is the likely outcome.

However, one thing is clear, if we’re to get a manager of the level we want if and when Pochettino leaves, and move forward as a club, the structure of the club on the mens side needs to change dramatically.

Its’ very important to state this: Most serious, top, in-demand managers aren’t touching Chelsea with a barge pole right now. No chance. Until the current structure is overhauled, we have no chance of getting our main targets unless we’re very lucky. I hope the owners know this too.

I’m increasingly convinced the current structure is the reason now Germany head coach Julian Nagelsmann (who was my first choice last summer, Pochettino being my second), withdrew from the running last year. I don’t blame him either.

Us fans aren’t fools. We’re smarter than we’re being treated right now. We know what’s going on and we know who is to blame, PR briefings aren’t fooling any of us. We want some accountability and some change, and it’s not just in the dugout this needs to happen.

If nothing changes and results stay inconsistent, I’m pretty sure protests and banners will eventually happen, and things will become a lot more toxic than they already are.

Change is needed at a structural level and admissions of mistakes need to be made. A demonstration needs to be given of our ambition and willingness to do what’s necessary to win, not just in terms of player signings, but staff appointments on the football side. And it needs to happen as soon as possible.

Right now, apart from a few outliers, the concept brought in by the sporting directors to ignore under 25 players or experience is failing. On top of this, there’s too many examples of abysmal treatment of other clubs and players (Le Harve and Malang Sarr being the latest examples), and basic incompetence. Fans want change.

I won’t go into detail about how, I’ve done that plenty already in other articles. But for me the basics are clear, find a best in class sporting director and CEO of football and put them in place as soon as possible before the summer. Offer different roles to Paul Winstanley and Laurence Stewart, without authority to make final decisions. Have one final decision maker on the football side with elite level experience and listen to them.

If we can do that, and publicly admit mistakes have been made and demonstrate a commitment to change, make best in class appointments, then we have a better chance of attracting a top manager to replace Pochettino IF he ends up leaving.

It’s been reported and is very clear from his body language and press conferences, Pochettino is not happy at Chelsea. My guess if even if he were not sacked, he’d choose to leave in the summer anyway, unless something very dramatic happens. The fans have never taken to him and most likely never will now, the vast majority of fans want him gone, and you can be sure they will make that clear at remaining home games. Any home game we lose it’s going to get very toxic. If we lose a few home games in a row, even worse.

This is why even now there’s no guarantee he lasts the season, because even one defeat and poor performance at home and the toxicity will get worse. The longer Poch is seen to be failing and the club do nothing, the more eyes will turn to the ownership, so they will feel they have to act.

As I said earlier, its’ been reported a senior member of the board wanted Pochettino sacked on the Monday after the Wolves game. I can’t imagine that changing based on one game or even a short run of good games. It would require a dramatic and consistent improvement in performance and results, us we finishing 5th/6th and winning a trophy to change things.

Remember, the club’s target this season was top 4 and we are miles off that - even accounting for the countless injuries. Apart from the rare occasion, so far players aren’t performing and that’s going to fall on both the manager and sporting directors. Behdad Eghbali doesn’t strike me as a sentimental type, and whatever the briefings now, both coach and sporting directors will have to face accountability in the summer at the latest.

Even if we make Europe or win the league cup under Poch, I still think it will be thanks and goodbye in the summer. Winning the league cup ensures European football and is a trophy in the bank, it also looks good on Poch’s CV. We’re then just playing for league places and you can likely announce Poch’s departure prior to the end of the season, a mutual agreement for him to leave with no hard feelings. This also gives the impression of a at least a bit more of a measured, stable approach, takes the edge off the toxicity and above all, probably opens up the field a little in terms of managers.

As of now, (February 2024), my feeling is if we keep the current sporting structures beyond the summer, with Winstanley and Stewart still in situ, our only hope of hiring a top manager is to find one with an emotional attachment to the club. I just can’t see an elite manager with a pick of clubs choosing to work in this structure as it is.

There’s one currently unemployed manager who fits that profile, Jose Mourinho, who the club are distancing themselves from. Another, Thomas Tuchel, is likely to be unemployed in the summer. Of those two, Tuchel fits the profile of the style of football and even the type of squad we have way more.

I have no idea if its possible Tuchel could come back. I heard a story over a year ago he and the ownership had held discussions and made peace with each other. Tuchel famously likes to focus entirely on coaching, and we’ve already seen most recruitment decisions aren’t taken by the manager at all, though he gets some kind of say (ignored this season).

If Tuchel came into this structure he could focus entirely on coaching, which suits him far more. Chances are his tactical genius and coaching would move Chelsea forward in terms of league positions and player development, and potentially in terms of winning cup competitions. He’d probably be gone in two years but we’d be in a far stronger position at that point to attract one of the best managers.

I’m NOT saying I want Tuchel back, in fact the opposite is more true. I’m not a fan of him as a person particularly, and he has clear weaknesses in man management and player profiling. If we made a change of manager, he’s nowhere near my first choice (more on those in another article).

But Tuchel is clearly a world class coach and tactical genius, so he would immediately improve us in that respect, and in terms of results. He also very obviously loves Chelsea and the fans love him too. He understands the expectations and culture of the club. If we can’t get our first choice options, we may have to turn to him and I think he could be open to a return, especially given his recent comments about how much he enjoyed English football.

Believe it not this season is not irretrievable. We’re not far off the top 7 and even top 6, and not all the teams above us are in great form either. There’s a possibility even 8th place could be a European place this season and that’s well within reach. We’re in a cup final, with the chance of a trophy and a European place.

So although it all seems black, there is hope - both in the short term and the long term.

Despite my own feelings on Pochettino, I’ll be right behind him and the team in every game, as always. I’d genuinely love Pochettino to prove me wrong, deliver a successful end to the season, progress on the pitch, and deserve to stay.

Ultimately, I want Chelsea to win and have a consistently competitive team who show pride, whoever the manager is. It’s time Chelsea were a consistently competitive side again.

The Score