COMMENT: So blame Poch? Dig out the manager? The one man who is actually qualified for the position he holds at Chelsea is the one they want pushed out...?
C'mon. Mauricio Pochettino isn't the problem at Chelsea. Indeed, for this column, the Argentine is the one positive this 'new Chelsea' has on it's staff. Yet, if the jungle drums are to be believed, Pochettino is fighting for his job - not yet nine months in.
The latest is Poch will be shown the door if Chelsea fail to qualify for Europe. Stupid? Idiotic? Of course, but this is Chelsea '24. This new board are already five managers in after just over 18 months (counting Bruno and Frank Lampard). Of course Poch's position is under threat.
That's the reality. That's the project. A project with the expectations of a traditional Chelsea, but with the standards of Brighton. At anyother club, with a third sacking contemplated in one-and-a-half seasons, those making the appointments would also be looking over their shoulder. But messrs Paul Winstanley and Lawrence Stewart are safe. Indeed, while Poch is defending transfer policy. Justifying certain signings and sales. The club's co-sporting directors are adding another member of staff from Brighton, this time Sam Jewell, who leaves the Seagulls as head of recruitment.
Again, it's another appointment - another addition - who is making the step up. To learn on the job. Chelsea will cough up another compo fee for Paul Jewell's son - taking their outlay to Brighton past the £230m mark since the summer of 2022.
And it's just baffling. When you have new owners, with zero football expertise at any type of level - let alone the level Chelseaused to live upon - why bring in so many staff to also learn the ropes? As we say, beyond Poch and his No2 Jesus Perez, how many staff on Chelsea's books have the experience and success to warrant their position?
It's blind leading the blind stuff. And it's only going to get worse come the end of the season.
The decision has been made: Thiago Silva will be allowed to come off contract in June. On the pitch, okay there is an argument to made about letting him go. But what about Thiago's influence and impact through the club? The example he sets. The leadership he shows. The standards he demands. Whether in word or deed, Thiago has had a massive influence on Chelsea's dressing room through the four years he's been in London. And when he leaves, there is nothing inside Chelsea's dressing room to fill that void.
Reece James? Conor Gallagher? No. Sure, they've both worn the captain's armband ahead of Thiago this season, but the idea that either player can step up and match what a player of well over 20 years of senior experience offers is ridiculous.
Which is why the idea of Pochettino being under pressure is just as mad. With titles won at PSG. Reaching the Champions League final with Tottenham. With all that experience at the very top of the game. Pochettino is a manager made for a Chelsea of any era. But the same cannot be said of the squad he has inherited - nor those who built it.
"It's like building a house," Pochettino said before Christmas, again offering praise to those he's working with - who now stay silent.
"We have good people building the house, good architects. We have the best company, architects, very creative and good - already proven.
"If you want to buy a new house you go to the market and choose the best house. A new house, already finished, this one, bam.
"But if you want to build a house you know you need to take some risks. We are going to need more time."
That sums it up. Chelsea haven't bought readymade 'Chelsea-type' players. They haven't given Pochettino the tools to instantly win. Indeed, this column would argue Chelsea are in the exact mid-table position their signings and sales would dictate.
From the owners. To management. And to the players. None of them would get close to the positions they currently hold in the Chelsea of Roman Abramovich. The only outlier. The one man with a record and experience that can lift and educate those around him. It's the manager... A manager who is now copping it in the neck for every error made by those around and above him.
This columns gets it. We do. We understand the fans' frustration. Indeed we warned way back in January last year that the Abramovich chants would soon ring out around Stamford Bridge. But Pochettino isn't responsible. He's not the one the supporters should be digging out.
