There have been some big claims made this morning suggesting that Chelsea are about to pull the plug on Mauricio Pochettino and make a managerial change yet again.
Everything seems to be up in the air right now, and Chelsea are even reportedly now in contact with two potential new managers to replace Pochettino.
Sources: Managerial merry-go-round that is likely to effect Chelsea this summer!
There will be meetings taking place this week with the Chelsea board ready to sit down with Pochettino to discuss the future as part of a two-way meeting. Nothing appears to be decided either way yet though, and Chelsea seemingly have a big decision to make.
And now, Rio Ferdinand believes he might know the fate of Pochettino, and that is Chelsea may well now pull the plug.
Rio Ferdinand said on his Podcast this week: “From what I’m hearing about Mauricio Pochettino, I’m not sure he’s going to be there at Chelsea. The mutterings I’m hearing coming out, I don’t know if it’s going to end well there.”
Would it be harsh to sack Pochettino now?
The Argentine has just enjoyed a very strong end to his first season in charge at the club, winning the final five games in a row. He has coached a team that has scored an incredible amount of goals this season and he has done all of that whilst having to fight against a large number of unprecedented injuries.
However, the season on the whole has not been great and there has been some very gloomy periods during the season. Pochettino has also coached a Chelsea side who have conceded the most amount of goals in a season since the Premier League began. So it certainly isn’t all rainbows and sunshine this season.
I do think there is a decision to be made, and I do think a review is more than fair.
I don’t know how this is a conversation. A review is fine should be standard practice and I am sure it is – if that is what you’re saying at the end fair enough. If you’re inferring he should be reviewed as to whether they keep him I think you’re beyond nuts. I think most Chelsea fans who know anything about football can recognise the corner the Club has put Poch in with their deal structures, the youth of the players, the lack of vocal support and the bloated squad size. Anyone who watches that and then watches them fire him knows this is no longer Chelsea and should halt their support. It would be an absolute farce to get rid of him and there is no manager out there better positioned to get the most out of a squad without financial incentive, without the jeaopardy of job security, with shared game time and with massive inexperience than the guy who has helped them mature throughout the past season who has their vocalised support. Absolute delusion to think otherwise. Nobody on the planet, not Klopp or Pep or Carlo – nobody.
I’m sorry, but Simon isn’t making any sense here.
In reviewing the season of a manager who only came in during the summer to helm an exceedingly young squad it’s far more important to look at the trend line than at the bottom-line results. In other words, to say it was merely an “average” season is to miss the point almost entirely!
If we value the (poor) results of 2023 the same as the (vastly improved) results of 2024 then we allow those poor early-season results to obfuscate the incredibly promising (and very real) trend line of the last several months. To put it more simply, we’ve improved dramatically over the course of the season! We’re a top four team in 2024, but only finished 6th because it naturally took Poch time to whip this young, injury-stricken group into shape. But it’s missing the point if the question you ask is whether we should replace a 6th place manager (as opposed to a 4th place manager). We’re simply not the team we were in December and that’s all down to Poch and the belief he’s cultivated among the players. We’ve seen it growing before our eyes on a weekly basis and to chuck it all out the window because we got off to a (predictably) slow start to the season would be the height of stupidity.
It seems to me that Simon has a lot of ink invested in bad-mouthing Poch and the results he’s achieved this season and is now too stubborn to concede the fact that the manager has, in the end, achieved a real breakthrough with this squad. To his immense credit, SuperFrank seems to have come around to the idea that keeping Poch and maintaining momentum and stability is what the club needs right now. Unfortunately, Simon still seems to be doubling down on his doubts, despite the fact that he has no credible basis for continuing to question the manager.