Thomas Tuchel: Chelsea's ruthless reputation for sacking managers continues
Chelsea's ruthless reputation for sacking managers, irrespective of previous success and reputation, lives on with the brutal dismissal of Thomas Tuchel.
If anyone believed new owner Todd Boehly would adopt a lighter and more sympathetic touch to those inhabiting the manager's office at Stamford Bridge than predecessor Roman Abramovich they can now think again.
The same rules apply. Poor results equal the sack. Quickly.
Boehly's turbulent first 100 days in charge at Chelsea ended with the abrupt removal of the man who won the Champions League in May 2021, six months after arriving to replace sacked Frank Lampard.
The American's hands-on approach, coupled with the lack of a sporting director after key figures such as director Marina Granovskaia and technical and performance advisor Petr Cech left, has made Stamford Bridge appear to be an unsettled and somewhat chaotic place.
Sacking a manager just days after Chelsea spent more in one transfer window than any other British club in history, £255.3m according to financial services firm Deloitte, only adds to that impression.
Boehly has certainly proved his ambition and financial power but he has made a very bold call sacking Tuchel, one of the game's elite managers, so soon after taking control at the club, although it has appeared all has not been well behind the scenes at Chelsea for some time.
There seemed to be an uneasy relationship between manager and boardroom, with Tuchel issuing several coded messages of mild discontent about transfer policy during the summer. Boehly's strategy was more inclusive than the distance applied by Abramovich and Granovskaia and Tuchel seemed to have not enjoyed the change.
The collaborative approach suggests not all transfer targets were Tuchel's although the deadline day arrival of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who worked successfully with the German at Borussia Dortmund, from Barcelona certainly had his prints on it.
