Some rather worrying news has just come out of Chelsea’s sister club Strasbourg.
The Alsatians have ended manager Patrick Vieira’s contract “by mutual consent” after one season, they’ve just announced on their website. After a season where they battled relegation, the coach seemed to get them on track towards the end of the year and saw them climbing the table.
He’s still a highly rated manager after his spell with the City group, and it felt like a coup when BlueCo got him a year ago. We’re not sure who comes next, but it’s certainly not going to be as big a name as Vieira’s is within French football.
That could in turn affect the quality of player Chelsea is able to persuade to join Strasbourg on loan. All in all it’s a bit of a disaster for the nascent BlueCo group.
𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐪𝐮𝐞́ 𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐥
Le Racing Club de Strasbourg Alsace et Patrick Vieira mettent fin à leur collaboration d'un commun accord.
— Racing Club de Strasbourg Alsace (@RCSA) July 18, 2024
A worrying repetition of Chelsea’s Pochettino situation
Vieira was in a tough position last season, and it only appeared to be getting tougher. A year ago a number of experienced players were sold off and replaced by youngsters and loanees from Chelsea. They survived relegation narrowly, and then doubled down this summer, selling off further established players and replacing them with another swathe of teenagers.
Vieira must have known the project he was signing up for a year ago, but even he clearly seems to have seen which direction this is heading. He’s not willing to risk his managerial reputation on a project which is only focused on developing players for a profit rather than winning games, so much like Mauricio Pochettino at Chelsea, a mutual detachment so each can move towards what they want seems to have made sense.
Vieira has been linked with other jobs including the US men’s national team, so perhaps there’s something waiting in the wings like that.
