Mauricio Pochettino's own Chelsea sack deadline has passed amid final announcement wait

"First, it is not my decision because if the owners are thinking to change – yes, for sure, in one week we will know." Already over seven days ago, Mauricio Pochettino explained just when Chelsea supporters would learn what the future for their coach was.

Speaking before the Blues took on Nottingham Forest on the penultimate weekend of the season, his position was evident. After two more games and two more wins for the boss, as well as a dramatic 3-2 victory at the City Ground a day after his latest managerial ramblings, the picture is not much clearer.

The club are expected to conduct a review of the season, in which Pochettino's first year in charge will be assessed. Taken on by the co-sporting directors (Paul Winstanley and Laurence Stewart) as well as co-owners Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital (fronted by Behdad Eghbali and Jose E. Feliciano), there are big calls to be made.

Pochettino finished the season in fine form with Chelsea, turning things around to finish sixth on top of reaching the FA Cup semi-final and the Carabao Cup final. With five wins in the last five games and top-four standard results across 2024, the Argentine ended his first campaign on a positive note.

However, during the period of improved results, Pochettino also took the fight to the club, putting pressure on them to get behind him or risk seeing their coach (and backroom staff) walk away this summer. Following the victory over Bournemouth at Stamford Bridge on Sunday, it was revealed by Pochettino that he had already spoken to Boehly a few days before, though the extent of the conversations was not made public.

"I don't know if that is going to happen or not," he said of the expected post-season review. "I don't have any idea about this. All I can tell you is on Friday night, Todd invited me for a dinner and it was a very nice dinner together.

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"But I don't know about the rumours about the review. My staff tomorrow are flying for their holidays. I am going to stay in London for a few more days. I am always open. My phone is going to be on."

He continued: "I am not going to explain. It is only for you to know that I was with him. I'm not going to talk about this. If I invite you along, and you and me have dinner, it's not for bad things. I don't believe that."

As uncertainty rolls on towards the end of the month, the wait for an outcome either way in Pochettino's future continues as well. It leaves plenty of questions to be answered, but the one thing that is clear is that Pochettino's initial statement was wrong.

"Yes, for sure in one week we will know," he has said. "That's an instability with which we are comfortable with working." This much was proven with wins coming despite the murky scenario.

"I am so comfortable and you know us after more than 10 years of working here in England. We are so comfortable," he went on, reiteraitng the staff's position. "In the way we are not comfortable is to put in doubt – like you are talking – are [we] going to be here or not here?

"With the truth, that's the plan, the realistic objectives with which we can do or not do. Then we start to work and work until the end. We are going to be very strong to try to help.

"It is true that in the last few months, like we were talking, that question is always coming. You need to kill the rumours if that's not true, if not the rumour is there for a different strategy.

"If you ask is it affecting me? It is not affecting me. Is it affecting the people working with? I think yes because in the end you can kill the rumour, sack me and that's not a problem. It happens in a lot of clubs."

It was one part of a week in which he surprised many with his vocal expression of seemingly discontent, though his stance did fluctuate throughout. "Look, it's not important [whether i is at Chelsea next season or not]," Pochettino had said.

"The most important thing is to keep going, working if we are all happy, not only the owners happy with us, or the sporting directors with us, or us, with all the organisation that the club is building here because of them we are all under assessment. If we are happy, perfect.

"But it is not only if the owners are happy or the sporting directors are happy. If we are happy, you need to ask us, also, because maybe we are not happy and we accept the situation and then we are not happy and we need to split.

"It is not going to be the first time the coaching staff at the end of the season decide to not keep going. But at this end, it is always the opposite way, it is always the owners or the sporting directors.

"They can say tomorrow 'I want to leave'. It is two parts to make a decision. Because Chelsea is not happy, the owners or the sporting directors. Maybe we are not happy because we arrive here with a job to do and in the end it has not happened what we expect.

"Maybe we are not happy. I am not saying I am not happy but it is always one side and maybe [we need to look at the] other side."