Maresca may well be sacked. But if he goes, others should go too

There HAS to be accountability at the top of the club.

At time of writing, Enzo Maresca is still officially Chelsea head coach. However, judging from Simon’s article on Wednesday and subsequent briefs from the club, it looks like a matter of when, not if Enzo Maresca is sacked or resigns as Chelsea Head Coach. Indeed, by the time you read this, it may have already been officially confirmed.

In truth, given how these things often work, I’m almost certain they’re already working on his successor.

I’ve been consistent on this and will be to the end. I want stability at manager level and think we need it to win the league and get major success. I still think Maresca hasn’t been backed properly in the market and has been undermined by those above him. I think the structure of the club is nearly impossible to work in and it’s never going to last long with any manager this way.

Maresca has not made it easy for himself however. He’s made some poor decisions, bad subs, bad team selections and some tactical errors in the last month especially, and he deserves some criticism for that.

But unlike some, I still fundamentally believe we have a lot of talent in this squad, well enough to achieve Champions League football and maybe win a domestic cup.

I don’t enjoy manager sackings like some do. Indeed, I often let out a large sigh when it happens because it happens so often. Since 2010 we’ve had 11 managers in nearly 16 years, and in that time only won 2 league titles despite outspending Manchester City, who’ve dominated the league in that period.

It honestly becomes so tedious having to sit through the same process again, then have the honeymoon period again, the first full season, and all of it, almost like a doom loop. I want some stability, not constant change.

All of us Chelsea fans have been trained in the last 16 years to expect a change every 18 months. So, obviously we can start to feel that internal itch at that point, especially during an awful run of form. I’m convinced the manager who breaks through that period and survives into a third season, might be the one who finally becomes the dynasty manager. Maresca definitely won’t now, he’ll likely be gone before our next PL game v Manchester City.

Sometimes I wonder whether its really possible for us to have a long term dynasty manager. Whether our fans can be that patient, and also whether any manager can work in this structure long term. It’s really frustrating for me, as we seem stuck and unable to change, and I think we have to change to be consistent title challengers and winners.

If Maresca does go though, the people above him, the Sporting Directors Paul Winstanley and Laurence Stewart, must also go. That’s an absolute non-negotiable.

I saw the briefs on Wednesday and was absolutely fuming. Because yet AGAIN, the person being scapegoated for everything is the manager. And not ONE mention of the Sporting Directors who appointed him and signed the squad.

They need to listen up sharpish. They don’t get to take one OUNCE of credit for success if they haven’t got the balls to take responsibility when things get bad. Their attitude is cowardly. They have no respect from me, either as men or professionally, because they have no integrity, and no sense of responsibility. If they did, they’d hold their hands up and admit their mistakes. But from the surface, its very clear that they put their own careers over the good of Chelsea Football Club, or having personal or professional integrity. If that hurts them to hear, its probably because it rings true.

They have now been in charge for 3 years, spent well over a billion pounds on the squad (this is their squad, fully), and appointed two permanent managers, both of whom will have fallen out with them and then left the club before their contracts are up. The team is in no better position than we were last season, we’re not progressing at all, signings aren’t performing, squad building has been poor, and their hit rate on signings is genuinely abysmal. And that is FULLY their responsibility. No debate.

If there is any form of accountability, and we’re a serious, ambitious, high performance organisation, then they should be held accountable for their actions, for their decisions. They should not be allowed to appoint a third manager, or to sign any more players for this club. They’ve had plenty of time in the job now, there’s really nowhere for them to go. They’re not up to the job, simple as that.

There’s no reality where they should be in their current jobs come the summer, and I’ll be on the case talking about that publicly, as I imagine a lot of Chelsea fans will be. Elite organisations in any field have accountability at a high level, and that is required at Chelsea.

Co-owner Behdad Eghbali also needs to take a look at how he’s running the club. Because its simply not sustainable or conducive to success to run it in the way he is.

Him being too hands on is damaging Chelsea in my view, as his total unwillingness to listen to the views of elite football people.

He’s micro managing things too much and seems to see himself as the expert on football, when in reality he’s been in the game about 3 years and not yet had any major success. He needs to find best in class people, listen to them, learn from them and trust them to make decisions. Its hard to tell if he is ambitious or not, but either way, he needs to start letting elite football people run the club.

Sadly right now I’m resigned to us being stuck in this cycle, and remaining a top 4 team good at knockout competitions. Its not the worst thing in the world, but it’s not where Chelsea should be as a club and it’s not what any of us fans want.

Given the spend, we should be title contenders by next season at the latest, and it really doesn’t look like we will right now.

Bottom line is that’s simply not good enough, and those at the top should be held accountable for it.

The Score