Official: Mauricio Pochettino appointed Chelsea Head Coach on a Two Year Contract

[Proud-Blue]

Chelsea have appointed Mauricio Pochettino as the new head coach

Best of luck to him. He's got one heck of a job to do!

https://www.chelseafc.com/en/news/article/mauricio-pochettino-to-become-chelsea-head-coach

[Mark Kelly]

Good luck Mo Po. 

Be brutal. 

[Sciatika]

Imagine if he wins the trophies with us that he never managed with the Spuds. There'll be a gnashing of teeth on Tottenham High Road.

[Michael Tucker]

Good luck Poch. 

[Holymoly]

Here we go then. The story the media circus wanted to see.

For all the "Poch is God" talk he really doesn't have a huge amount of experience. Espanyol to Southampton then an extended period at Spuds without any tangible success followed by a stint at PSG which will forever be flagged as having a season where he didn't win the title. It seems that his reputation has skyrocketed during the year where he hasn't been working.

Don't get me wrong, I really hope he sorts the club out. I think he has the mentality to cull all the rotten wood and he certainly has the track record of being able to develop the young players coming through. The one thing he doesn't have however is the CV that shows he can win things. From day one I've always thought that he is the man to sort the squad out for the owners and get them all pointed in the same direction before handing the reins over to another manager to begin winning things.

I'm looking forward to his training regime hitting the squad like a freight train and I fully expect anyone who doesn't toe the line or put 100% effort into it will be marginalised immediately. I began the season hoping that Mason Mount was the future of the club, maybe nurtured by Thiago Silva before being given the captaincy. Today, all such thoughts have been discarded. The protracted contract talks while he spent so much time on the bench or injured made me realise that the club is more important than one player. Our number one priority is to ensure that we don't fall foul of FFP and selling a player who isn't fighting tooth and nail to stay here is a good step in that direction. There are probably six players in the squad that can provide a significant boost to the fund while the rest that end up going are really just numbers being released from the salary budget. We need to acquire a spine to the team, GK, Silva replacement, CM and striker. One way or another those spots need upgraded by day one of next season, be it by acquisition or else promotion from within.

Pochettino has a mountain to climb before the club flies off to the USA to play Wrexham on 19 July. He'll have two weeks maximum to get some sort of cohesion into the squad before developing a system that can be built on moving forward. Good luck Mauricio, you're going to need it.

[My Blood Is Blue]

Wow, this really came out of nowhere! 

I am pleased though,  I’d rather Tuchel was still here but that ship has sailed and it at least feels like we have a proper manager in now that won’t let the players form and application drop to the levels we’ve seen this season and I also think he’ll stick up for us in front of the media, which will make a nice change.

Now, to start the exodus of players.

[McCreadie]

Given the appalling state we are in, I was surprised to see that he is not starting until July 1st. I’d let the players have 2 weeks off starting today then get them back in and run them senseless from about 12th June. So much coaching needs doing, so much to turn around. I guess it is about spending June clearing the decks and starting fresh on July 1st with only the players that are staying but it still feels a bit late to me. Anyhow, welcome to the club and I wish you all the success possible. We are right behind you!

[Chelsea_Matt]

Buena suerte Poch! Bienvenidos al mejor club del mundo 💙💙💙

[CarefreeMuratcan]

The Club did well to have this lined up perfectly for as soon as the season ended. Now we can quickly forget what happened and move on and look forward to the new season. 

[Bones]

Welcome, good luck and have fun, MP!

Edited May 29, 2023 by Bones

[Holymoly]

42 minutes ago, Chelsea_Matt said:

Buena suerte Poch! Bienvenidos al mejor club del mundo 💙💙💙

Google translate is a wonderful thing 😉

[thevelourfog]

1 hour ago, McCreadie said:

Given the appalling state we are in, I was surprised to see that he is not starting until July 1st. I’d let the players have 2 weeks off starting today then get them back in and run them senseless from about 12th June. So much coaching needs doing, so much to turn around. I guess it is about spending June clearing the decks and starting fresh on July 1st with only the players that are staying but it still feels a bit late to me. Anyhow, welcome to the club and I wish you all the success possible. We are right behind you!

I'd be surprised if he doesn't start work of a sorts before then. Bit of time to sort out the practicalities of a new job, then a week or so of rest and relaxation with the family given how intense it will be until this time next year, and loads of analysis and planning that can be done before actually setting foot in an office. When are the players back from pre-season?

He is exactly who I would have picked in our circumstances. No release fee to piss away further money on. PL-experienced and fluent in English (now!). A proven record for improving young players and for drilling players into clear structures and patterns of play, but without alienating them (for all we might want the vindication of a bastard manager screaming murder at the players, it alone would not produce results). I think if we get 18 months and CL qualification out of him, it's a successful appointment.

Edited May 29, 2023 by thevelourfog

[Bob Singleton]

1 hour ago, McCreadie said:

... I was surprised to see that he is not starting until July 1st.

[SNIP]

1st July is when most player contracts start (and end on 30th June n years later). Same with most commercial - especially shirt sponsorship - contracts. Poch officially starting on 1st July shouldn't be a surprise. I think most of us know quite a bit of groundwork regarding player recruitment and sales will have been done during the negotiations anyway. Let's give the "football board" (ie the various directors of recruitment etc that we have) time to offload those that need offloading before the end of June before the new man settles in with the basics of a squad that he wants.

[Chelsea_Matt]

37 minutes ago, Holymoly said:

Google translate is a wonderful thing 😉

Para ser honesto contigo, he estado aprendiendo español hace tres años.

 

😉

[paulw66]

3 hours ago, Holymoly said:

 

For all the "Poch is God" talk

Serious question, can you direct me to a single comment that is anything remotely like that the above statement? I can't / haven't seen one.

3 hours ago, Holymoly said:

. Espanyol to Southampton then an extended period at Spuds without any tangible success

Define "tangible success"

Look at how Southampton were doing before he joined, and how they fared after he left. 

How many CL finals have Spurs got to in their history? How many PL title races have they been properly involved before he joined, or after he left? 

He may not have have won those trophies at Spurs, but they were never expected to (and nor did JM or AC).

Has Eddie Howe had tangible success this season? Or Arteta? Or Thomas Frank, Marco Silva, or even Gary O'Neil or Roy Hodgson?

2 hours ago, McCreadie said:

Given the appalling state we are in, I was surprised to see that he is not starting until July 1st. 

I am fairly certain he has "started" already. 

As for giving the players 2 weeks off, that is a recipe for disaster. However awful the season has been, a lot of players have played a lot of games, and not giving them a proper break would be madness IMO

Edited May 29, 2023 by paulw66

[Chelsea_Matt]

4 minutes ago, paulw66 said:

Serious question, can you direct me to a single comment that is anything remotely like that the above statement? I can't / haven't seen one.

Define "tangible success"

Look at how Southampton were doing before he joined, and how they fared after he left. 

How many CL finals have Spurs got to in their history? How many PL title races have they been properly involved before he joined, or after he left? 

He may not have have won those trophies at Spurs, but they were never expected to (and nor did JM or AC).

Has Eddie Howe had tangible success this season? Or Arteta? Or Thomas Frank, Marco Silva, or even Gary O'Neil or Roy Hodgson?

Don’t always agree with you but this is brilliant. 

[exiledblue]

Welcome Poch, signing was the easy bit.

Trim squad, get a CF but not Kane as he doesnt play high enough and teach them to cross the ball.

[blueandproud]

Welcome to CFC Mr Pochettino, and good luck, hopefully we will get rid of the dead wood amd start playing fast paced attacking football rather than the slow, preictable one=paced rubbish we have been seeing for too long.  We have quantity over quality, it should be the other way round, and get rid of the sulking  prima donnas who are wasting everyone's time.

[Ham]

 

[Proud-Blue]

I think I might have linked this before, but this episode of London is Blue has an excellent analysis of Pochettino. Incredibly in-depth. It's two hours long but absolutely worth listening to in my opinion 

 https://open.spotify.com/episode/4kczkKAMtW3ALYtkpCZG90

[Sleeping Dave]

5 hours ago, Mark Kelly said:

Good luck Mo Po. 

Be brutal. 

Oh yea, he’ll have to be fucking brutal. He can start with these four bellends. 
 

The worst thing is that they aren’t even ashamed. These aren’t footballers, they are influencers masquerading as footballers. Ziyech, Auba and dear I say it, W Fofana should he first out the door. Dear God! 
 

Edit: and Mudryk likes it!!!

Edited May 29, 2023 by Sleeping Dave

[Holymoly]

2 hours ago, paulw66 said:

Serious question, can you direct me to a single comment that is anything remotely like that the above statement?

I was referring to the media generally actually. I'm guessing they'll use it as a stick to beat us with if we don't win the first 10 games of the season... "Poch is god yet even he can't get a tune out of this bunch"

2 hours ago, paulw66 said:

Define "tangible success"

Literally, tangible success, cups. Getting to a final is just being first loser in my books. I can remember when we got to the 1994 cup final against United and got battered 4-0. I didn't come away from that with any thoughts of success whatsoever.

2 hours ago, paulw66 said:

I am fairly certain he has "started" already. 

1st of July start date will be for accounting reasons dear boy. He'll probably be on a consultancy contract until then so that he can get his feet under the desk.

[paulw66]

45 minutes ago, Holymoly said:

 

Literally, tangible success, cups. Getting to a final is just being first loser in my books. I can remember when we got to the 1994 cup final against United and got battered 4-0. I didn't come away from that with any thoughts of success whatsoever.

Right... So by that definition, De Zerbi has done nothing tangible for Brighton because they won nothing? 

Ditto Thomas Frank, Howe, Arteta, Emery..... 

Every manager has done a bad job bar Pep (and Ten Hag) 

 

Edit - and 1994 whilst disappointing, was huge progress. Building blocks that lead to 97, 98, 2000 etc. 

Edited May 29, 2023 by paulw66

[paulw66]

1 hour ago, Sleeping Dave said:

Oh yea, he’ll have to be fucking brutal. He can start with these four bellends. 
 

The worst thing is that they aren’t even ashamed. These aren’t footballers, they are influencers masquerading as footballers. Ziyech, Auba and dear I say it, W Fofana should he first out the door. Dear God! 
 

Edit: and Mudryk likes it!!!

They went out for dinner? 

 

Hanging is too good for some people 

[Ham]

1 hour ago, Sleeping Dave said:

Oh yea, he’ll have to be fucking brutal. He can start with these four bellends. 
 

The worst thing is that they aren’t even ashamed. These aren’t footballers, they are influencers masquerading as footballers. Ziyech, Auba and dear I say it, W Fofana should he first out the door. Dear God! 
 

Edit: and Mudryk likes it!!!

Knee jerk reaction on Wes Fofana.  He really is an excellent footballer who had a very bad day at the office. 

He'll be a superstar for us for many years. Mark my words. 

So what if he's tagged in a post by a genuine bellend. It wasn't his comment.