We are not the only ones to note how mad the sacking of Mauricio Pochettino was, at least from one perspective.
This team a year ago the club spent a huge amount of time selecting the Argentine from a host of candidates. In fact, the club appointed Frank Lampard as caretaker manager just so that they had more time to work on picking the right guy.
So the fact that he’s ultimately been sacked not for bad results, but for being a bad match with the project, is scandalous.
Liam Twomey’s piece on the subject for the Athletic makes that same point. This, finally is an article which addresses the fans’ view that it’s the sporting directors should be under fire and not the coaches. They’ve appointed 2 managers and have sacked each of them within a year. But for fans hoping that it’s Laurence Stewart and Paul Winstanley who will be under pressure, it’s bad news.
A stronger position than ever for double act
“Stewart and Winstanley retain the total confidence and unequivocal backing of Chelsea’s ownership,” Twomey writes.
“The ownership believes [they] have assembled one of the three most talented squads in the Premier League.”
Not only that, it seems Pochettino’s chafing at working under them led directly to his dismissal:
“The moment Pochettino spoke publicly against them in a press conference, even in veiled terms, he crossed a red line”
It seems that their position is actually safer than expected if anything, and the hiring and firing of coaches isn’t being held against them. Clearlake Capital and Todd Boehly do want stability, but they think that stability should come from keeping a consistent structure above the head coach, rather than by keeping the same head coach.
We wonder, if we’re in the same position in a year’s time, where things will stand then?