Chelsea

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Former Chelsea winger Pat Nevin believes issues over his "level of control" were behind Mauricio Pochettino and the club parting ways.

The Argentine has left Stamford Bridge after just a season in charge with differences between his and the ownership's approach to squad planning reported as one of they key factors.

"Just in the past two or three months it looked like Pochettino had actually brought them together," Nevin told BBC Sport.

"I don’t think this is about how he’s performed. I think it’s about the level of control, if indeed he has any, on things like transfers.

"Ownership and directors of clubs are now looking for a coach, not a manager. They want to choose the players, deliver them and find someone to coach them. But most 'managers' believe they know what they need to make the team better.

"If they've got minimal input, they're put in the invidious position where they must decide if that's what they want or would they rather go somewhere they can have some input. In the simplest of terms, they're the ones who pay the price if it goes wrong, even if the squad are not 'their' players.

"As for how the fans feel, in the end it's always about results. As those improved, supporters who had been uncertain or actually quite antagonistic towards Poch had started to soften their stance. Most real football fans have some understanding of the game, especially what is going on at their own club, and I think most of them understand he was given a tough deal when he came in.

"The owners are very hard to second-guess, but I think they'll look for someone who is less of a big name next - someone who is willing to work to their methodology.

"Chelsea are not the only club who are moving towards this model but theirs seems to be the most extreme version of it. You don't know how well it will work until next season."

Prospective candidates to replace Pochettino are already being widely reported but Nevin believes the plan of Chelsea's owners may be more important than the identity of his successor.

"But does it really matter who the manager is? I’m not sure," he added.

"That sounds like a strange thing to say, but if your only input is to go and work with the players you're given, then it depends on the quality of players that are there.

"There are plenty of good coaches out there they could get, but the real question is: has the signing policy worked? It's a very different, unusual, radical methodology.

"If you’ve spent a billion quid and it doesn't work next season and if you’ve underperformed in comparison to every other club's spending, then it's not the manager or the coach who has blown it - it's the people above who are making the decisions."

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From a slow start, to a strong finish, it has been a season of vast improvement for Chelsea. They have currently qualified for a place in the Europa Conference League but would enter the Europa League instead if Manchester City win the FA Cup on Saturday.

Will Faulks, from Chelsea News, external, has given his verdict on the 2023-24 campaign.

Season rating: 6/10. Some dreadful moments and still some major long-term questions, but Chelsea reached their minimum aim of getting into Europe despite a quite incredible run of injuries. There was a worrying lack of progress for a long time, but there is no denying that individuals and the collective had improved by the end of the campaign.

Happy with the manager? Pochettino was not perfect but he had done good work in difficult circumstances, the players liked him and he seemed to be happy to work with the demands that the owners had for him. Given the alternatives out there, this looks a big step backwards for a team that would benefit more from stability than a marginal improvement in the dugout.

Unsung hero: Trevoh Chalobah is underappreciated even among Chelsea fans, let alone the wider footballing world. Supporters had spent the first half of the season waiting for Christopher Nkunku to come back from injury and save their season, but in hindsight it was Chalobah whose return changed the course of the campaign. One of the best English centre-backs around.

Player you would most like to sign: A new contract for Conor Gallagher is essential, and the fact he has not already been rewarded with a long deal is one of the biggest black marks against the current sporting directors. He is homegrown, reliable and makes everyone around him better.

Best away fans: Leeds coming to town in the FA Cup was as good as expected. Their support got the home fans going, and the game delivered too.

See how our other fan writers rated their club's season here

After the news on Tuesday that Mauricio Pochettino was to leave Chelsea by mutual consent, we asked you to have your say on the decision.

Here are a selection of your comments:

John: This is absolutely ridiculous, what the hell is going on with Chelsea? We are a joke, embarrassing and clueless. Pochettino needed time and we were going forward. I can't believe this - angry and bewildered by our directors.

Robert: Chelsea have shot themselves in the foot again. After a good end to the season, I thought the signs were good for next year. With no control over new signings or transfers, the manager has been undermined by people who don't understand football.

Wilf: When are our owners going to learn? Poch was the best option to develop the young talent we have and was finally getting the squad to a good place, reflected by good results. The owners want a 'young progressive' manager, or in other words, someone they can control - and it shows. Any time our manager wants an input on signings, they go.

Tony: Utterly ridiculous, sad and embarrassing. The club are becoming a serious joke. After all that work, and some success, we will now go back to square one.

Femi: Sacking Pochettino is the correct decision at this point in time to avoid a mid-season crisis in 2024-25. I would not want the inconsistency we witnessed this continuing into next.

Del: Embarrassing. Children running a football club. All the gear (money), but no idea. Sell up and move on for all our sakes.

Ajay: Sad. Never really had faith in him and he was a former Tottenham manager, but given where Chelsea ended this season, I was beginning to believe he could take them back to the top where they belong.

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Cole Palmer has been voted the Professional Footballer's Association Premier League fans' player of the year for 2023-24.

In a standout breakthrough season after joining from Manchester City for £42.5m last summer, Palmer registered 22 goals and 11 assists as the Blues secured a six-placed finish.

He was also named the club's player of the season and players' player of the season.

The 22-year-old has been included in Gareth Southgate's provisional England squad for Euro 2024.

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Former Chelsea defender Mario Melchiot says qualifying for Europe should have been enough for the Blues to "consider one more year" with manager Mauricio Pochettino.

Pochettino and Chelsea mutually parted ways on Tuesday after one season, a sixth-placed finish and defeat in the Carabao Cup final and FA Cup semi-finals.

"When the new manager came there was so much instability at the club and Pochettino came in and it was very difficult for him," Melchiot told BBC Radio 5 Live Breakfast. "It would be difficult for anybody.

"Towards the end of the season is what sets you up for the season that's coming. He built the team and got them into a European spot. At the beginning of the season I said Europe should be the focus, nothing else.

"Don't ask to go for the title or Champions League - that would be a big jump. But getting into Europe? Come on, guys. That should be something for you to consider one more year."

Pochettino aired concerns about injuries and the composition of his young, inexperienced squad, which exposed Chelsea's hierarchy to criticism, and Melchiot believes any prospective replacement must decide whether they will follow the same approach.

"When you hire Pochettino you know you're bringing in a confident guy with experience and a person who is going to question your wishes if he doesn't agree with them. I think this is something that has clearly happened," he added.

"They must have sat together and the ownership said, 'look, we want to go right' and he said, 'no, we have to go the opposite way'. He asked for more experienced players during the season. He came out speaking about it and didn't hold back.

"Most of the time owners don't like managers who directly question them, especially new owners who have just started their journey.

"They want someone who has that sort of character.

"If you go there, what kind of manager do you want to be? Do you want to be a manager who jumps on what the owners say and manoeuvre in that direction or stand strong and tell them exactly what you want. That is what they have to consider before the job."

Listen to the full chat from 07:20 on BBC Sounds

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Mauricio Pochettino "can walk away with his reputation unscathed," according to the iPaper's chief football writer Daniel Storey.

Speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live's Football Daily podcast, Storey said: "There had been hints that he was not entirely happy with life at Chelsea and that their hierarchy were not entirely happy with him.

"A club only really works if everything is aligned and I do not think that happened. Pochettino wanted some more senior players last summer, but they seem to be perusing this 'buy young and buy high' approach.

"Nothing ever seemed to be fully right, even when the team on the pitch were.

"I feel incredibly sorry for Pochettino, but he can walk away with his reputation unscathed because of what Chelsea seem to represent as a model at the moment."

Former Premier League striker Dion Dublin added: "I feel for managers nowadays because they just have no chance. He has lost two games in the past 16 in all competitions.

"So what have you got to do to keep your job? I do not understand.

"It was going to take any manager a fair bit of time to unshuffle that group of players because no-one knew who was playing where or where the best positions for players was.

"To get such little time I can not get my head around. I think it is a really big mistake."

Listen to the Football Daily podcast on BBC Sounds

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Former Chelsea and Scotland winger Pat Nevin says it would have been "borderline impossible" for Mauricio Pochettino to turn this Blues side around any quicker this season.

But asked if he was surprised by the Argentine's exit from Stamford Bridge, Nevin replied: "Not in the slightest!"

Speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live's Football Daily podcast, Nevin added: "He did a good job with what he was handed and, in the last six or seven games, it looked like he had done the job.

"Doing it any quicker would have been borderline impossible.

"There has been little bits of noise coming from Pochettino, in the most polite way, suggesting that he would like a bit more control in certain areas. He knew where he could bring strength in.

"But I do not think he gets that option and it comes from elsewhere. It looks to me like a number of things have changed how he sees his role and it does not suit either party any more.

"I like Pochettino and I would have liked him to stay. What frustrates me is that the club look like they want more of a coach than a manager.

"They do not have as much influence with who the club decide to bring in."

Listen to the Football Daily podcast on BBC Sounds

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Are you surprised or shocked that Mauricio Pochettino has parted ways with Chelsea?

Despite a slow start with many disappointing defeats, the Blues finished strong and the general consensus was improvement had been made.

Yet just two days on from the conclusion of the season, Chelsea are again managerless.

"You cannot be surprised by the decisions that this Chelsea ownership make," said BBC commentator John Murray on BBC Radio 5 Live's Football Daily podcast.

"It has been a hallmark of what they have done since coming in. They are clearly set on doing things their own way.

"It seemed to be coming together at the end of the season. They won their last five matches and played some very good football. Pochettino has got the best out of some of the young players.

"But from the utterings from Pochettino in recent weeks, this did look like it would be the outcome, and so it is."

Listen to the full discussion on the Football Daily podcast

Nat Hayward
BBC Sport journalist

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So, Mauricio Pochettino has left Chelsea after one season in charge.

A club statement, external echoing the usual sentiments towards an outgoing manager from co-sporting directors Laurence Stewart and Paul Winstanley was unusually accompanied by comment from the Argentine manager himself, who said the Blues are "now well positioned to keep moving forward in the Premier League and Europe in the years to come".

But how has it come to this?

As recently as February, Pochettino was being booed by Blues supporters after Wolves leapfrogged them into the top half of the table with a 4-2 win at Stamford Bridge.

However, between an away defeat against the same opponents on Christmas Eve six weeks earlier and the end of the season, only Manchester City and Arsenal picked up more points than Chelsea. They secured sixth place and European football with five consecutive wins to end the campaign.

It felt then that this was the start of something rather than the end, despite Pochettino's demeanor in news conferences, his non-committal comments on the future and cryptic references to the power of the club's hierarchy.

There has been no epic fallout between manager and club. No public breakdown. No explosive rants to the media. It appears to be as mutual a parting as mutual partings get in football.

The fear, it seems, for Chelsea fans is where they go from here. Fan frustration had largely given way to optimism - fuelled by improved performances, key players retuning from injury and the development of a clear, coherent system and style of play.

After a season that began so chaotically and developed so inconsistently, the last few months have felt like things were beginning to come together.

Now they are left with further questions over the ownership's plan for the club, a list of prospective replacements and a requirement to summon the energy to start again.

So much hinges on the appointment of Pochettino's successor. Dissatisfaction can rapidly turn into mutiny if it is underwhelming.

If Chelsea start next season poorly it will surely not be long before unsavoury chanting towards the club's hierarchy will begin again.

Once again, chaos trumps continuity at Stamford Bridge.

Tottenham have asked Chelsea about the availability of Trevoh Chalobah, as they look to sign the defender and midfielder Conor Gallagher. (HITC), external

Stuttgart boss Sebastian Hoeness and Ipswich Town manager Kieran McKenna have been sounded out by Chelsea to replace Mauricio Pochettino. (Teamtalk), external

Girona's Michel and Leicester City manager Enzo Maresca are also likely to be among the names under consideration. (Telegraph - subscription required), external

Thomas Tuchel has held "loose talks" with Chelsea about returning to the club - who sacked him in 2022 - for a second spell in charge. (Florian Plettenberg), external

Meanwhile, Pochettino is on the radar of Manchester United and Bayern Munich after leaving Stamford Bridge. (Standard), external

Want more news? Read Wednesday's full gossip column

Nizaar Kinsella
BBC Sport football news reporter

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Chelsea will now search for a successor to Mauricio Pochettino following the Argentine's Stamford Bridge exit after just one season.

The Blues have expressed recent interest in Ipswich Town manager Kieran McKenna, Sporting Lisbon's Ruben Amorim and Burnley’s Vincent Kompany.

BBC Sport understands Chelsea are unlikely to go for Leicester City's highly rated boss Enzo Maresca, a former assistant coach with Pep Guardiola at Manchester City.

A return for former managers Jose Mourinho or Thomas Tuchel is not on the cards as the club targets a young and upcoming head coach.

Meanwhile, the Chelsea players' initial reaction to Pochettino's departure by mutual consent is understood to have been sadness.

Many of the squad are away on holiday after the season and mostly found out via their team WhatsApp chat.

Stars posted sad emojis as the news filtered through, with widespread support for Pochettino and his coaching staff.

Several posted on social media after the announcement.

Playmaker Cole Palmer, who was Chelsea's top scorer this season, said: "Gaffer, thank you for everything you have done for me and making my dreams come true. All the best."

Defender Marc Cucurella said: "Thank you for everything mister. Good luck in the future."

Forwards Mykhailo Mudryk and Noni Madueke were among others who posted thanks to Pochettino on Instagram.

Nizaar Kinsella
BBC Sport football news reporter

Mauricio Pochettino's departure from Chelsea will surprise many but the situation had been on a knife-edge.

Even though they had finished the Premier League season with a five-game winning run, there was huge uncertainty behind the scenes.

Chairman Todd Boehly had called for patience and met the Argentine on Friday before the final game of the season.

But less was known about the opinions of other senior board members - including, most notably, co-controlling owner Behdad Eghbali.

In reality, Eghbali is the key decision-maker at Stamford Bridge and will have been a crucial voice in the end-of-season meeting.

He has been in London with fellow Clearlake Capital co-founder and board member Jose Feliciano since Chelsea won the Women’s Super League on Saturday.

They, along with the two sporting directors Paul Winstanley and Laurence Stewart, will have been the loudest voices in the room, despite support for Pochettino from the squad and senior staff.

Of course, this is an ending by mutual consent, and signs of discontent from Pochettino were apparent at news conferences about injuries and the composition of his young, inexperienced squad.

This exposed the decision-makers to criticism.

Privately, he is understood to have been open to continuing depending on the outcome of the post-season meeting, but also to have aired concerns in the final weeks of his tenure.

What do you make of this decision? Have your say here, external

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A short club statement on Tuesday evening confirmed Chelsea and Mauricio Pochettino have "mutually agreed to part ways".

The Argentine, who was only in charge for one season, said: "Thank you to the Chelsea ownership group and sporting directors for the opportunity to be part of this football club's history.

"The club is now well positioned to keep moving forward in the Premier League and Europe in the years to come."

Sporting directors Laurence Stewart and Paul Winstanley said: "On behalf of everyone at Chelsea, we would like to express our gratitude to Mauricio for his service this season.

"He will be welcome back to Stamford Bridge any time and we wish him all the very best in his future coaching career."

Backroom staff Jesus Perez, Miguel d'Agostino, Toni Jimenez and Sebastiano Pochettino have also left the club.

The statement added: "The club will be making no further comment until such time as a new head coach is appointed."

What do you make of the news, Chelsea fans? Have your say here, external