The Soccer Whiz
IT was a week highlighted by managerial casualties and at the forefront of this managerial merry go round was Chelsea FC, now owned by the Todd Boehly Circus Troupe who decided to part ways with Graham Potter just seven months into his reign.
The ink had barely dried on Potter’s dismissal when Todd Boehly pulled o another incredible Boehly Wilkie circus act by enlisting homeboy Frank Lampard to return again for another stint at the club he so badly managed just two years ago!
We are in the nal stretch of a season where Chelsea are e ective bystanders as they currently sit in eleventh place in the EPL table and barring a total seizure, cannot do worse than eleventh!
Frankie’s short managerial record has also proven that he does not have the tactical nous to outsmart Real Madrid in their forthcoming Champions League quarter nal tie where most observers expect Chelsea to be mere spectators!
Surely even if all concerned parties(and here I include the fans,) felt that Potter was not the right man to take Chelsea forward, what exactly do Chelsea gain by giving him the sack at this particular juncture and hiring Frankie Lampard in a caretakLet’s er role. then surmise the highly improbable situation where Frankie does miraculously succeed in the Champions League this season or goes on an unbeaten league run right until the end of the season.
Surely Chelsea would not then offer Frankie the permanent role or could they?
Remarkably in the crazy circus environs of Chelsea FC, anything is posUnfortunately sible! it’s proof if it were needed that Chelsea have indeed under the Boehly Circus gone potty and I’m sure that it won’t be long before Lampard’s reign is curtailed, and Frankie is exiled and sent to HolThe lywood! Boehly led consortium bought the club for a mammoth GBP 4,25 billion and he does demand massive respect however for a fascinating track record which includes a current stake of the mega basketball brand,the LA
Lakers.
Personally, however, I felt more than a tinge of sympathy for Roman Abramovich who was shoved out of the club without any cognizance of his immense contribution to Chelsea FC.
It’s necessary to point out that he and he alone bankrolled and supported Chelsea into becoming the high ying glamorous sought out London club they have now become.
Meanwhile, their new owner who has no previous football or EPL background wants to be involved in all decisions pertaining to the club and has sadly been found wanting.
Even Chelsea diehards while pleased that the new ownership has come to the party in terms of the nancial outlay for the club itself and then a further whopping GBP 600 million on transfers already, are nevertheless puzzled, irritated and in some cases angered by decisions being made at the club.
After all why sack Thomas Tuchel who brought you Champions League glory in the rst place simply because as a manager he was not a “yes” man and he had other ideas on recruits for the club.
Boehly then compounded matters by bringing in a manager who had never been in charge of a big club, let alone one lled with superstars.
Mind you, once Potter was entrenched as Chelsea boss, what really did we expect from Potter in an environment where his own players were never going to respect him or give him the time of day.
Meanwhile, behind the scenes,he had Boehly barking down orders and player preferences.
The sad truth for Potter was that as long as Boehly was the circus master,Potter was on a hiding to nothing.
I suspect that he’s feeling a measure of relief now that the circus gate has been left ajar and he has been able to escape.