06 February 2024 , 11:39
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Sunday’s mauling by Wolves felt like a turning point when it came to the views of matchgoing Chelsea fans.
There was a moment during the second half when one irate supporter near the dugout stood up and, red in the face, barked at Mauricio Pochettino that it was “time to face the f***ing music.” Not long after a small group of disgruntled fans to his left began singing Jose Mourinho ’s name.
Pochettino has been fronting up, accepting that he along with the £1bn cast of players must do better.
His admission after this latest defeat that “no one is safe” set alarm bells ringing but it seems clear that, despite a record marginally worse than Graham Potter’s last season, any talk of sacking him remains wildly speculative.
It will need to get worse than even 11th place for Behdad Egbahli and Todd Boehly to pull the trigger - and Pochettino could still win some silverware if they can beat favourites Liverpool in the EFL Cup final.
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But in this new era of financial rules being properly applied, there is also an added consideration: the significant cost of getting rid of Poch and his backroom team when the club is worried about falling foul of the Premier League ’s profit and sustainability regulations.
The expectation is that Chelsea will need to offload a number of players before the end of June to remain within the limit of a £105m loss across three seasons.
Homegrown talents such as Conor Gallagher (who has captained the team this season), Trevoh Chalobah (injury prone and Armando Broja (now on loan at Fulham ) remain most likely to depart because they represent pure profit for the accountants - despite questions around the ability of several recent signings to perform at the required level.
Yet the prospect of changing the head coach again would create an even bigger deficit and Chelsea will be wary of the additional costs.
Pochettino, and his extensive backroom staff, would be in line for a pay off of more than £10m should Chelsea’s hierarchy decide to make another change.
Factor in the costs of sacking Thomas Tuchel early last season, an estimated £10m, the £22m fee paid to Brighton to bring in Graham Potter and subsequent compensation of £13m when he was sacked and that would equate to a £55m financial hole on management changes in less than 18 months.
Suddenly it becomes easy to understand why Chelsea - who have spent £157m on managerial changes in the past 20 years - are desperate to hold out for premium prices for academy graduates.
Chelsea paid Brighton £22m to sign Graham Potter and paid him £13m when sacked after six months. (Getty Images)Pochettino has been impacted by issues outside of his control, including a lengthy injury list, the fact almost all of the players signed were decided by the sporting directors, and the absence of a prolific striker.
Equally, he has been quick to admit that he must do better. A few more defeats and performances in the manner of the past week could bring the end game in sight.
And that will be another financial fair play headache for a club that thought they could quickly succeed by doing things differently and learning now.
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