Palmer worry, Boehly pressure - Chelsea handed response to shock Mauricio Pochettino move

Chelsea are looking for a new manager after Mauricio Pochettino and the club mutually agreed to part ways on Monday night. Pochettino leaves Stamford Bridge after just one season in charge and halfway through the contract he signed with the club last summer.

The former Tottenham Hotspur and Paris Saint-Germain boss had overseen a sixth-placed finish, a marked improvement on 2022/23's 12th and one that ended with a run of five consecutive wins. Now, Chelsea are looking for yet another manager and the fourth of BlueCo's ownership, excluding interim coaches such as Frank Lampard, since they took over the club from Roman Abramovich in 2022.

Already, there is intense speculation around who may replace Pochettino, with former Brighton & Hove Albion boss Roberto De Zerbi and Ipswich Town mastermind Kieran McKenna linked with the new vacancy. "Thank you to the Chelsea ownership group and sporting directors for the opportunity to be part of this football club's history," Pochettino said on departing the club. "The club is now well positioned to keep moving forward in the Premier League and Europe in the years to come."

As the dust settles on Pochettino's exit, football.london's writers react to another shocking turn of events in West London and where Chelsea go next.

Lee Wilmot

The accusation that Chelsea's owners do not know what they are doing has been levelled at them many times already since they took over from Roman Abramovich. Sacking Mauricio Pochettino just supports that belief.

What are they doing? He had a tough time in charge this season, of that there is no doubt and calls for him to be sacked during the season were arguably justified.

READ MORE: Mauricio Pochettino exit LIVE - De Zerbi favourite, next manager odds and mutual exit

READ MORE: Mauricio Pochettino leaves Chelsea after meeting club chiefs

But he was working with a young squad of players, perhaps de-motivated by long contracts handed out to them, and had to deal with a horrific injury list to boot. Not to mention, it took him time to get his philosophy across at both Southampton and Tottenham in the Premier League.

Things got better though and they were only bettered in 2024 results by the top three teams in the league. Finishing sixth was no mean feat.

And now he's gone. If it's true the owners want someone who is not going to ask questions and not going to make demands, they will not end up with a very good manager at all.

Joe Doyle

It seems a strange move from the Chelsea leadership. It looked like it could be the end a month ago after the 5-0 defeat against Arsenal and going 2-0 down versus Aston Villa, but since then the tide has turned.

While Cole Palmer has been the undoubted star of the season, Pochettino looked to be getting better results from others as well; Nicolas Jackson has grown into the striker role, and that's before you consider the likes of Christopher Nkunku missing effectively the entire season.

Ultimately, sixth position is not what the Blues want - or need, given their cavalier spending tactics. And without the recent run of form, you could hardly argue if the manager lost his job.

But now? With the team starting to look just that - a team - who appeared to give Pochettino strong backing this week, it could be a foolish move.

It sends a ruthless message to prospective new hires, especially when trying to install an attacking brand of football, which will never happen overnight. The lack of stability at the club has been a problem for a while now, and it doesn't seem to be stopping anytime soon.

Sam Truelove

Wow. Just wow.

When you think Chelsea may have turned a corner, they release a bombshell like this. Mauricio Pochettino was meant to be a coach for the future.

It appears that the Blues’ owners indeed want a coach for the present. What will players such as Cole Palmer, Nicolas Jackson and Noni Madueke think now?

It's an absolute mess. Chelsea's owners must get the next appointment right.

An upgrade on Pochettino will be tough to find given his reputation of working with youth. You can’t help but feel Boehly is one wrong decision from being sacked himself.

Josh Holland

The football season has just finished and we’ve already been treated with a surprise Chelsea bombshell. Having Mauricio Pochettino leave the club after such a good end to the season just feels odd.

Mutual consent means there was no bad blood and he wasn’t ‘sacked’ like Thomas Tuchel and Graham Potter. But what has happened in these meetings for it to come down to that?

He proved in the last three months that he was getting this group of players ticking. It was becoming clearer by the week that the players were enjoying being under his stewardship.

Finishing sixth after lurking in mid-table for the majority of the season deserves praise and it would have been good to see where they’d go with another pre-season behind him. But no, Chelsea are back to square one.

I’m not sure what the owners want. His ‘experience, standard of excellence, leadership qualities and character’ were all pointed out when he was appointed by Laurence Stewart and Paul Winstanley.

Did they just all of a sudden vanish?

Tom Coley

So much for sustainability, so much for a project. Chelsea are looking for their third permanent head coach since September 2022.

It is worth remembering that when the Todd Booehly-Clearlake Capital administration took over, Chelsea were the reining world and European champions, coming off the back of finishing third in the Premier League and reaching both domestic cup finals.

Now one of their leading candidates is Ipswich boss and was managing in League Two two years ago. The circus goes on, as the banner that draped from the gates of Stamford Bridge on the morning of Frank Lampard's sacking in early 2021 read.

Who does this reflect well on? Pochettino will argue that sixth place with a cup final and semi-final was the ceiling for a squad comprised of mainly 23-year-olds with very little experience at the top level, if at all.

The owners and sporting directors that have funded this recruitment drive and built the squad see it as the floor. That's an enormous difference to get over.

Personal feeling is that the reality is closer to Pochettino's. It is the owners and sporting directors who run the camp though, and their own ability was effectively questioned in recent weeks when Pochettino spoke publicly about the shortcomings in the squad.

Where do Chelsea go from here? They inherited the 'win now' coach and didn't align with him.

The 'project manager' was sacked within seven months. The proven man to steady the ship has gone as well.

It's back to square one and if questions of those at the top didn't already need asking then they do now.

Nobody falls out with Pochettino. He is possibly the most amicable man if football.

Chelsea have found a way to split and disagree. Why would anybody want to follow?

The best option on the market is Ruben Amorim but he is perfectly comfortable at Sporting. Leaving Portugal for Portugal is a monumental risk, and Chelsea will now need to weigh up what sort of message to prospective coaches they are giving.

The fact that there is no obvious contender for this, as they all have serious pitfalls or are unlikely, is a worry. Chelsea Football Club in 2024 ladies and gentleman, more unpredictable than before.

Jack Flintham

Pochettino's departure from Chelsea makes for bizarre timing but it is hardly surprising. Since taking over the club, Todd Boehly has not been one to show patience with his managers and it seems as though the 52-year-old is the latest victim of this mentality.

While this is not officially a sacking, it is hard to imagine Pochettino will not be twinged with sadness about how abruptly his tenure at Chelsea has ended. It felt as though Chelsea were finally turning a corner and the magnificent run to finish sixth was a solid foundation from which the club could build.

Now, this project appears to be on the ropes and it is hard to see any suitable manager being tempted by a switch to Stamford Bridge. These are testing times ahead for Chelsea.

Isaac Johnson

Bang! Boehly’s barmy blueprint strikes again. Even Roman Abramovich held a steadier ship amid his constant turnover of players. Pochettino’s exit feels like undoing all the hard work that was done over the last six months.

The Argentine had a “nice meal” with Boehly on Friday and there were little signs of a change in tone from the press conference table on Sunday that would indicate an exit was nigh. “I don’t know about the rumours about the review,” he insisted.

“If I invite you along, and you and me have dinner, it’s not for bad things. I don’t believe that.” Perhaps talks on Monday didn’t go as planned, then.

Chelsea have landed themselves in a mess once again. Pochettino’s history made him the perfect manager for Chelsea’s situation and the constant turnover of coaches is sure to put off a few next-manager candidates. Good luck with that.