Simon Jordan believes Chelsea’s sporting directors should be held accountable if the appointment of Enzo Maresca doesn’t work out.
Chelsea have reached a deal with Leicester City for the 44-year-old to replace Mauricio Pochettino who left the club last week after just one season in charge.
Maresca, who guided the Foxes to the Championship title last season is set to sign a five year deal at Stamford Bridge, with the club believing he’s the right man to take the Blues forward.
Sporting directors must be held accountable if Maresca doesn’t succeed
There’s no denying Chelsea are taking a huge risk by appointing the Italian, who has just one full season of management behind him, and no top flight experience at all.
Maresca has worked with current Chelsea players Cole Palmer and Romeo Lavia during his time at the Manchester City academy, but it remains to be seen how helpful , if at all that will be to him being successful next season and beyond.
Sporting directors Paul Winstanley and Laurence Stewart have come under huge pressure, with many fans believing they should have gone with Pochettino, following a number of poor decisions they have made since arriving at the club.
More than any previous appointment the pair need Maresca’s appointment to be a success, otherwise it’s likely their time at Chelsea will be over.
Jordan believes if things don’t work out Maresca shouldn’t take all the blame, instead the sporting directors should be held to account.
“If they get it wrong, then they need to be held accountable”, Jordan told talkSPORT.
“The guys like Winstanley, if you’re going to use him as intellectual capital, if they get Maresca in and he proves to be a failure, they’re the ones that have got to go as well.”
You have to feel the pair are on their last chance, and whilst some of their signings have been a success with the likes of Cole Palmer and Malo Gusto the same can’t be said for their choice of managers.
He’s never lasted anywhere long, kicked out of Parma after just 14 matches. Started well for Leicester but had no plan B and went from a 16 Point Margin to just 1 Point by the end of the season and only missed the play-offs because Ipswich and Leeds (in particular) slipped up badly. It was allegedly only after the intervention of senior players like Vardy that the end of Leicester’s season ended OK.