Matt Law’s piece on Mauricio Pochettino today contained a very loaded expression towards the end.
The Daily Telegraph’s Chelsea correspondent noted in a piece about the manager’s uncertain future that “the Conference League would not satisfy Chelsea’s ambition.”
As it stands, with 3 games to go, the Conference League looks our most likely European destination next season. Just a few weeks ago even that modest honour looked to have slipped through our fingers, so let’s not get too greedy.
As Law points out, it’s another group of games to blood youngsters in, even if it can be a drag on your league season, and may in fact lose Chelsea money given the small rewards for a lot of expense.
Not good enough – but not sack-worthy
What this shouldn’t be taken to mean is anything too extreme. The fact that Chelsea’s ambitions won’t be satisfied by reaching the Conference League doesn’t mean that Pochettino will be sacked. Their ambition was to make it to the Champions League, and they will be disappointed to miss out. But has the progress this season, especially in the way it has had an upward curve towards the end, mean that they’ve done well enough keep the coach? Probably. Most clubs fail to reach their top ambitions by the end of the season, and most of them do well enough to give the coach another go next year.
We’re not sure some Chelsea fans will be happy to hear that – but we’re all pulling in the same direction here. If next season the owners’ ambitions are not met again – we might start to see more rumblings. But as always in football it’s all about narrative. Finishing a season strong is much better than starting one strong, even if you end on the same points. Just ask Ange Postecogglou…
I’d argue it’s the trend line, not the final place in the league that should be the barometer. Poch came in fresh and it was always going to take him a number of months to get his ideas across to such a young group—and that was before the squad was hit with more injuries than any other club in the league! But, despite the injuries and the intense criticism from both the media and the fans, the team has shown not only resilience but tangible improvement since the new year. And, but for a few blips, the trend line has steadily bent upward. Why on Earth would we want to disrupt that trend by replacing the manager???