“His sacking was caused by you” – What Pep Guardiola did to Pochettino that leads to Chelsea sacking
I apologize to Manchester City supporters who believe that everyone is against their team right now, but I think Pep Guardiola is to responsible for Chelsea’s decision to fire Mauricio Pochettino.
Considering that his title team has drawn both at home and away from the London club this season, Pep himself might take issue with that. However, the main reason is that I think the Catalan’s presence is forcing clubs to make snap decisions as their will to catch up to City becomes desperate.
Last week, City won their fourth straight championship and their sixth in seven seasons. Since only Liverpool and Arsenal have been able to mount a consistent threat to their dominance during that time, it appears that the best method to keep the faith with your manager.
It might not be enough, of course, whether it’s two points, one point or goal difference, City always seem to get over the line. And my theory is that owners, chairman and board members are now reaching for the panic button more quickly than they used to.
Chelsea and Liverpool will both have new managers next season – and perhaps, too, Manchester United. The Pep Factor will once again come into sharp focus.
When a club has raised the standard to a level where breaking the 90-point barrier is the minimum requirement to mount a title challenge, then three defeats on the bounce became a major crisis. If an owner sees their team quickly becoming a fading dot in City’s rearview mirror then the temptation to make a change is obvious.
Unfortunately, more and more of them are unable to resist the impulse to sack the manager and give someone else a go. Chelsea owner Todd Boehly obviously felt that after lavishing more than £1billion in the transfer market, he deserved more bang for his buck.
So Pochettino was toast, despite qualifying for Europe with a sixth-placed finish after five successive wins and just one defeat in 14. Chelsea also reached the Carabao Cup final and the FA Cup semi-finals. I was sat next to Blues’ legend Frank Lampard at the League Managers’ Association awards dinner on Tuesday night – and when the news broke that Poch had been sacked a look of utter disbelief spread across his face. Frank wasn’t the only one in the room who was shocked.
Almost immediately there were a few whispers that new LMA manager of the year Kieran McKenna was in the frame to take over at Stamford Bridge after brilliantly guiding Ipswich Town to the Premier League. And why not after the job Kieran has done at Portman Road?
I did my coaching badges with McKenna and he is an impressive individual who has grasped the opportunity given to him in Suffolk with both hands. But Mr Boehly has built himself a reputation for having the quickest trigger finger in English football in the two years since he bought Chelsea from Roman Abramovich.
Would the American be able to resist lining up the crosshairs again if a young manager with no Premier League experience suddenly finds himself at the mercy of the Stamford Bridge fans after a fistful of defeats in the opening weeks of next season?
Graham Potter was doing an admirable job at Brighton when Chelsea came calling. But some supporters questioned whether he had the profile for a club of their stature – and Boehly loaded a bullet to ensure his reign lasted just 31 matches.
Todd Boehly isn’t steeped in football – but he is an extremely astute businessman who has made a fortune by making the right decisions. Someone at Stamford Bridge must have his ear, because I can’t believe he’s just making it all up as he goes along. He must be getting advice that he trusts from somebody. Surely he can’t be taking these decisions on a whim?
Footballers like routine. Familiarity helps them to thrive. If a club changes the manager every five minutes they don’t know what’s going on. It’s impossible for a manager to get his ideas across to players who are thinking ‘it doesn’t matter what the gaffer tells me, because he’ll be gone as soon as we lose a couple of games.’ Let’s hope the next manager off the rank at Chelsea gets to go the distance.