Pochettino | Leaves Chelsea by mutual consent

redshaw

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He could do well with the budget he has and higher profile players will respect him but it's also quite packed at the top end so patience will be tested.

I just hope Chelsea do return back to just a top half team as there's so much big money and top coaches, the quest for top 4 is quite tedious. A possible 5th place will open up soon for the CL though.
 

ZolaWasMagic

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His biggest issues are getting us scoring goals and with the owners clearing the squad out.
looks like RLC could be first out. Fully expect Ziyech , pulisic and mount to follow . Think Kante might stay, Kova not sure. but i rate him highly
 

Lost bear

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Is he the first manager to get his own sack watch thread before he’s even started?
:lol:
 

klsv

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He didn't win anything at Southampton because they were shit and it's Southampton. Didn't win anything at Spurs because the squad lacked depth and Levy didn't back him. Failed at PSG because the squad had too many big players, hard to manage. Now the excuses are prepared to say he failed at Chelsea because Boehly is mad and squad filled with deadwood. Would we got him in instead of ETH, it would have been because of the Glazers. Real next? Expectations too high. It's never because he's a mediocre manager.
 

redshaw

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What's the deal with Lukaku? I'd guess Poch would like him back, of course the player loves Italy but I wonder if he'd be open to returning if Poch says he'll back him. No CL football though, Inter will have it. Contract to 2026.
 

Barthez

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He’ll last until January 24. He won’t be able to fix such a mess
 

FootballHQ

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What's the deal with Lukaku? I'd guess Poch would like him back, of course the player loves Italy but I wonder if he'd be open to returning if Poch says he'll back him. No CL football though, Inter will have it. Contract to 2026.
I actually think he'll give him a proper chance up to January if the player is willing. He can't do what Kane can but he's still an effective CF if he gets in a manager who really believes in him as Conte did at Inter.

Makes sense if Chelsea are going back to 4-2-3-1 as then you have out wide any two of Mydryk, Sterling, Madueke, Nkunku and whoever else they sign.

Option of Havertz in number 10 position which will be interesting unless Mount decides to stay.

I think by Jan/Feb they'll have proper structure again to their team and I doubt they'll be far off 4th.
 

Rnd898

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I don't see how they are "easily" top 4 material. Their best players were playing and they still couldn't get anything done. Sure Lampard sucks and Nkunku and Ugarte might provide a nice boost to the team but top 4 will be a tough task, let alone "easily" achieving it. Their defense is dodgy as feck and they heavily lack goalscoring ability.

Also Poch couldn't even let that PSG side shine so I'm very hesitant to believe he'll be Chelsea's savior.
Up until the last couple of weeks in the season our 'dodgy as feck' defense had conceded the third least goals in the league though, only behind Man City and Newcastle.

I basically stopped paying attention to our remaining games some weeks back when it became crystal clear none of the players gave a feck either. In the last few games we conceded a whole lot of silly goals but I'm not sure how much weight can be placed on those games as far as next season is concerned when the team had clearly mentally checked out for the season a long time ago.

We may have a bunch of problem areas in the team but defense is the one I'm personally least worried about.
 

TheLord

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I was never too convinced of his performance while at Spurs. If Chelsea finish within Europa League places next season, I will be convinced that he's pretty decent. If he's fired midway into the season, he can bid goodbye to top-flight management, especially after the disaster at PSG.
 

Reezy

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What would be a good season for him? Top 4?
I think I may be in the minority of Chelsea fans, but I’d honestly be happy with top 6 and a cup run next year, provided we see improvement in our play and we start actually putting the ball in the back of the net now and then.

The league is so competitive now, and let’s face it, we’re a bit of a mess. There are a lot of players we need to shift, so I’m not expecting instant success. Appreciate that there might be a bit more urgency from our owners, given the outlay, but I hope they give him time. If they’re not prepared to be patient, I think it’ll ultimately prove to be a pointless appointment and we may as well have brought Jose or Conte back.

Poch’s second season is when I’d be looking for us to secure CL qualification.
 

bringbackbebe

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I think I may be in the minority of Chelsea fans, but I’d honestly be happy with top 6 and a cup run next year, provided we see improvement in our play and we start actually putting the ball in the back of the net now and then.

The league is so competitive now, and let’s face it, we’re a bit of a mess. There are a lot of players we need to shift, so I’m not expecting instant success. Appreciate that there might be a bit more urgency from our owners, given the outlay, but I hope they give him time. If they’re not prepared to be patient, I think it’ll ultimately prove to be a pointless appointment and we may as well have brought Jose or Conte back.

Poch’s second season is when I’d be looking for us to secure CL qualification.
This is a reasonable expectation. The key will be to bring in some form of stability within the club, be in news for footballing reasons and not be in news for non-footballing reasons next year. Boehly had his dick out and running last year and (deservedly) got whacked. Time for him to play it low.
 

WeePat

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What would be a good season for him? Top 4?
Hard to say before we know the summer business we have done. If we do everything I want us to do, then I think being in the mix challenging for top 4 isn't too much to ask.
 
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esmufc07

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I think he’ll do well. No European football so essentially one game a week for the season barring a few cup runs. Do feel there’s a good team in there it’s just been horribly mismanaged.
 

cyberman

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I think he’ll do well. No European football so essentially one game a week for the season barring a few cup runs. Do feel there’s a good team in there it’s just been horribly mismanaged.
The squad is many times too large for this to be a positive imo
 

Infra-red

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What would be a good season for him? Top 4?
5th place should be enough for Champions League football in 2024/25 - that will surely be the aim. It looks tough, given that Newcastle are now in the mix and you'd expect United, Arsenal and Liverpool to strengthen this summer. Chelsea have also just had the worst season of any big club for as long as I can remember - far worse than anything we've endured post-Fergie or Liverpool under Hodgson or Arsenal under Emery. 44 points is demonstrative of how truly awful they are. So many players so obviously did not give a shite for such a large section of the season and that isn't easy to bounce back from while those very same players remain at the club.
 

justboy68

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Pretty ideal job to walk into for Poch. Reset the culture a bit, work with the young players and any top 7 finish will probably be seen as good progress.
 

top1whoisman

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Pretty ideal job to walk into for Poch. Reset the culture a bit, work with the young players and any top 7 finish will probably be seen as good progress.
Not necessarily by the owners. They sacked Tuchel when Chelsea were 6th.
 

Tony247

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Actually Chelsea needed is Tuchel but if not him then equally experienced and shrewd manager who can start making sense out of this mess. But instead you got potter, lampard (again) and now Poch. Poch is the guy who ends up in mess and not take one out of the mess!

In available lot Unai Emery would have been far better choice for a year or two to bring stability and then take off from there. But that boat is sailed.

All the best, all I can say.
 

Dancfc

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I don't see how they are "easily" top 4 material. Their best players were playing and they still couldn't get anything done. Sure Lampard sucks and Nkunku and Ugarte might provide a nice boost to the team but top 4 will be a tough task, let alone "easily" achieving it. Their defense is dodgy as feck and they heavily lack goalscoring ability.
Really? Until Lampard arrived we had one of the best defensive records in the league.
 

Woziak

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Their squad is so bloated and full of players on massive long term contract and fat wages, he already has his work cut out to select 18 or so squad members who fit into his vision.

I expect them to push for Top 4 once he figures it out though.
For the last time it’s Top 5 this year as that will also qualify for the CL
 

Wilt

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Really can‘t call it ….one of the more interesting appointments in recent times.

Could do better then expected if the owner keeps his nose out of it.
 

Mb194dc

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I think it's quite a predictable appointment for the owners who are trying to build long term value with lots of young players. Meanwhile they'll do the stadium which is going to take 5 years or so.

Probably not great for our trophy outlook. After last season I'll take playing decent football and scoring more than a goal a game.
 

BerryBerryShrew

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Interesting to see what their transfer window looks like. They need a new keeper (and if they sign Maignan without us battling for his signature, I'll be annoyed), but otherwise their defence is good.

Midfield needs work if Kovacic, Kante, and possibly Mount are leaving, but there seem to be loads of good mids around these days. Ugarte has a good reputation and Caicedo would be brilliant alongside Enzo.

The real issue is their attack. They either need to spend megabucks again on someone like Oshimen or they need to get a tune out of their existing players. If Pochettino actually manages to make Lukaku look vaguely competent (unlikely) and gets the likes of Mudryk, Sterling, and Havertz playing well (almost as unlikely) then they have a very good shot at a domestic cup and a CL place.
 

Rnd898

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They need a new keeper (and if they sign Maignan without us battling for his signature, I'll be annoyed), but otherwise their defence is good.
Doesn't look like Maignan has too much interest in joining. At the moment Onana looks more likely of the two main targets for GK.

Midfield needs work if Kovacic, Kante, and possibly Mount are leaving, but there seem to be loads of good mids around these days. Ugarte has a good reputation and Caicedo would be brilliant alongside Enzo.
Ugarte already agreed to join PSG so he's out of the question.

Caicedo would be a great signing though. We won't have European footy for next season so Enzo-Caicedo with one more decent backup + some youngsters could be just about enough for the next season.

The real issue is their attack. They either need to spend megabucks again on someone like Oshimen or they need to get a tune out of their existing players. If Pochettino actually manages to make Lukaku look vaguely competent (unlikely) and gets the likes of Mudryk, Sterling, and Havertz playing well (almost as unlikely) then they have a very good shot at a domestic cup and a CL place.
I have really high hopes for Nkunku but we probably need an actual striker as well. Vlahovic could be a good option and he's likely to leave Juve this summer.
 

NLunited

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Can we not have thread titles like this? Who thinks its fun to make a sack watch thread before the season has started?

More like thread for ‚Sad Sacks‘.
 

Oldyella

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Can we not have thread titles like this? Who thinks its fun to make a sack watch thread before the season has started?

More like thread for ‚Sad Sacks‘.
Every Chelsea manager gets a sack watch thread, normally when appointed.
 

Changeisgood

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I feel they needed a disciplinarian to sort this out, but Poch is a decent proven manager. They need to give him time.

Funny title to this one, and a little true as well. The clock is ticking faster over there.

I would say 6th place should be the target.
 

Rajiztar

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We were always bounce back from setbacks sooner than anyone. There were plenty of samples. So i am not worried about next season. We will finish in cl place this season.

Warning to pl nobody knows what will hit them shit version of Chelsea or champion version of Chelsea. Not even pochettino to be honest. :lol: