No fans-fare for Pochettino or Boehly as Chelsea fail to impress

BY PAUL LAGAN
paul@slpmedia.co.uk

Head coach Mauricio Pochettino will be hoping the Chelsea fans will be singing a different Toon on Monday night.

The Blues have a few extra days to prepare for the visit of Newcastle United in the Premier  League and to put the disappointment of a 2-2 draw against a largely second-string Brentford at the weekend behind them.

Pochettino will also be hoping that there won’t be any repeat of the vitriolic chanting against his name that he had to endure at the Gtech Stadium.

While he said he did not hear it, it was evident, and clearly audible. Pochettino went on to say that he has no special relationship with the fans and that only by winning will anything change.

The fans’ ire was not directed only at the Argentine, but also at co-owner Todd Boehly.

The chants were also a reminder of better times for the club –  from the time when they actually won trophies.

The name of Jose Mourinho was once more heard along with that of former owner Roman Abramovich.

While  the likelihood of the Russian oligarch ever turning up at the Bridge again is remote, Portuguese Mourinho could well be looking for new work in the summer.

It’s widely expected that he will leave Italian giants Roma at the end of the season.

While the hotseats at PSG, Bayern Munich and Barcelona will be up for grabs, it’s a return to SW6 that, if offered, could be a temptation that cannot be ignored by The Special One.

Mourinho still has a house in Chelsea and is a regular visitor to the capital and it would be an interesting dynamic in the current changing room.

Elite managers of his calibre tend not to go for ‘projects’ that require significant changes to player quality.

Mourinho has been at his best dealing with experienced players, who he can mould to create a siege mentality and grind out results.

Since the takeover by the American consortium, the shift has been seismic and potentially on the point of collapse.

Thomas Tuchel was not enamoured by the prospect of losing senior players by the coachload and dealing with youngsters.

He knew it would put his ability to win titles and cups in jeopardy, and he soon scuttled off to Germany, where he is finding that the grass is not particularly greener at Bayern Munich. He’s already leaving at the conclusion of the Bundesliga season.

This time last year Chelsea were in the Champions League and Graham Potter, Boehly’s boss acquisition from Brighton, was overseeing a 2-0 win over Borussia Dortmund in the last-16 round. That was his last hurrah really at the Bridge before he was elbowed out and a couple of interims in Bruno and Frank Lampard saw out a disappointing league season where they finished 12th.

The Blues are currently a dizzy 11th under Pochettino.

So the only prospect of silverware this season is the FA Cup, and they have been given a lucky bounce in that they were drawn at home to Leicester City, who while top of the Championship are starting to hit a rough patch of league form.

Win that and the prospect of a Wembley semi-final should whet the appetite of even the more callow kids occupying the Chelsea blue shirt.

But there has been some progress on the pitch this season – albeit lucky – Djorde Petrovic has emerged as the number one choice for Pochettino.

Taking advantage of Kepa Arrizabalaga’s loan move to Real Madrid and Edouard Mendy getting injured, the Serbian goalkeeper, 24, has been faultless between the sticks since. And he was brought back to the league side against Brentford, when fit again Mendy was given a run out against Leeds in the FA Cup last week.

He and Malo Gusto, who has performed admirably in the absence of ever-injured Reece James, are the standout players who have taken their chance in a team that has had a torrid season.