The Chelsea managerial merry-go-round looks like it might be turning apace for some while yet, as another candidate has had his name thrown into the ring.
It appears that Todd Boehly wants to cast the net as wide as possible before making a decision, and there are pros and cons to doing so.
The question that really should be asked is whether he has the faintest idea of what sort of manager he wants in the hot-seat given the particular style that he would bring.
His decision to parachute Frank Lampard in at the expense of Graham Potter has been shown to be completely the wrong one to make, and that doesn’t bode well for the immediate future.
Stan Collymore, writing in his exclusive column for CaughtOffside, has also noted the 11th hour admission of another managerial hopeful into the mix, and it’s a name that might surprise a lot of people.
‘It’s interesting that I’ve just heard that Vincent Kompany has been mentioned for the Chelsea job alongside Nagelsmann, Pochettino and somebody else,’ he wrote.
‘Now, Vinny Kompany would be Graham Potter but with the trophies and the medals to prove he was a bona fide Premier League legend which is always difficult to get across in a dressing room. The Chelsea players certainly wouldn’t be able to get one over on him in the same way as they did with Graham Potter.
‘He’s obviously a very bright guy, he went away and did a masters as well as then going to Anderlecht to cut his teeth in Belgium.’
Whilst Kompany certainly does have the kudos that Potter didn’t thanks to a stellar Premier League career, it’s doubtful that Boehly can afford to take a chance on him given his relatively short managerial stint so far.
Chelsea will surely be better served by an established name, though he can’t be booted out like Potter was if things are going well in the first few months of his tenure.
‘I don’t think Frank Lampard is any better than Graham Potter and all that appointment’s done is given Chelsea fans the reassurance of a sugar hit of a new manager. The board should actually be looking at a sustainable methodology that can get them success which I don’t think includes hire and fire anymore,’ Collymore continued.
‘Whoever gets the job, they’ve got to be given the time to discharge what I think it is that Todd Boehly wants, which is some sort of consistency.
‘From a playing perspective, Chelsea aren’t in a two or three horse race for the Premier League and the Champions League anymore. Newcastle are doing really well, they’ve got money. Man United, Liverpool, Arsenal too.
‘Spurs aren’t going anywhere because they’ve got a certain level of capital that they can spend… clubs like Brighton and Brentford that are really progressive in terms of recruitment will be up there challenging for Europe, and then in a few years clubs like Everton, who are moving into a new, revenue generating stadium, and Villa who have very wealthy owners will be in that bracket.
‘Leeds too might be ripe for buying and all of a sudden the Jose Mourinho ‘Special One’ team which perhaps only had Man United to overcome, now they’ve got five, six or seven teams in the same space so a regular hiring and firing of managers won’t work for Todd Boehly.’
What happens next will tell us much about Boehly’s modus operandi, and whether Chelsea have it in them to challenge for honours again or risk becoming another Premier League also ran.
