The start of this week saw the end of Mauricio Pochettino’s time at Chelsea, a decision taken by Todd Boehly and his board as being the best one for the club after an average season.
Officially the decision was one of mutual consent, though one can always read between the lines.
It was fairly obvious that the Blues hierarchy wanted the Argentinian out as the noises coming out of Stamford Bridge rarely were positive where Pochettino was concerned.
According to former professional player turned broadcaster, Stan Collymore, moving the manager on is an awful decision by Boehly.
Boehly’s Chelsea manager decision isn’t a surprise
“It’s a bit weird isn’t it, after the bizarre season that Chelsea have had, spending millions of pounds, the kids not working out… and then they start to get results towards the end of the season, everything’s looking good and Mauricio Pochettino goes and has dinner with Todd Boehly and you think it’s all going to be alright, but before you know it the manager’s gone,” he said to CaughtOffside for his exclusive column.
“My understanding is – from a couple of people I know at Chelsea – that Pochettino basically wanted more control over things but the Chelsea hierarchy were like ‘the structure is the structure. This is the way that we want to do it. We’re more than happy with you having your input, but ultimately there’s other people at the club that we’ve employed who we want to do their jobs and be empowered to do their job.’
“So my opinion is really simple.
“Chelsea had a coach that’s really good with youngsters and who was starting to develop a style of play to be honed and refined. Putting things into perspective, Villa would appear to have had a 10 out of 10 season on the face of it, and finished only five points ahead of Chelsea who apparently had an awful season. I think it just goes to show how much potential there is in that Chelsea team.
“It should be the least the least shocking news in football when a Chelsea manager gets the sack, but on this occasion it is, and it’s a real shame. I’m a big fan of Poch and I genuinely thought he would go on and get some success at Chelsea, over the next two or three years.
“What it means for some of these younger players, I don’t know, but I think that if they get in a benign dictator as a coach, one or two might fall by the wayside.
“It’s another incredibly poor decision from Todd Boehly.”
It’s just the latest in a long line of strange decisions from an owner that appears to be using the club as his play thing.
With such a monumental turnover of playing and managerial staff under his watch already, it’s difficult to believe that the American has the club’s best interests at heart.
Just at the point Pochettino had begun to stabilise things, we’ve seen how ruthless Boehly can be, but he must surely realise that he’s the one standing in the way of progress being made at the club.
The West Londoners now have to begin their search for another manager to replace the Argentinian, with current first-team players arguably wary of who might come in and what ideas they may have for the squad and individuals.
It may well be that some of those players that Boehly has tied down on long contracts to help circumvent Financial Fair Play rules, are not to the liking of any new managerial incumbent, and that in itself could land the American with another problem of his own making.
Given everything that’s gone before, whomever comes in Pochettino’s stead will know exactly what they’re getting themselves into.