“Crisis talks” at Chelsea as death spiral starts to kick in

Despite the calm on the surface, it was inevitable there would have been some panic behind the scenes at Chelsea given recent results.

We now have proof of that, with an interesting report from Nizaar Kinsella about a “crisis meeting” at Cobham since the loss to Southampton on Saturday.

The defeat against the managerless, bottom placed team in the league at home is about as major a warning you can get that things aren’t right, and the negative reactions of the fans will have intensified the feeling that this situation has become critical.

“Crisis talks were called at the club’s Cobham training ground after co-owners Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali gave their support to Potter and told senior staff to stick together after a calamitous few weeks,” Kinsella wrote.

“In what has been described by sources as a “strategy meeting”, Vivell led discussions which also involved new sporting directors Paul Winstanley and Laurence Stewart.

“Boehly and Eghbali are not thought to have been present in a meeting of the “football operation” at the club.”

It’s the first big test for the major players like Vivell, who were put in place after Potter was chosen as coach, but have to back him given he’s the owners’ choice.

It will be very interesting to see how long the situation can be sustained if results don’t improve.