A blog of two halves

No Easter for the Blues

There’s no Easter bank holiday for the boys in blue.

18 April 2019
Categories:
Image 1

The manager of Chelsea, Maurizio Sarri, gives instructions. PICTURE: GETTY IMAGES

There’s no Easter bank holiday for the boys in blue. They face Burnley at the Bridge on Monday, determined to do better than they did at Anfield.

The 2-0 defeat to Liverpool last weekend was hard to take. Had Eden Hazard not hit the woodwork when one-on-one with the Scouser keeper, things might have been different.

Only four league games remain as the season gallops to a close, with Chelsea still in with a shout of automatic Champions League football next season.

But who will be managing the Blues when everyone reconvenes in July?

If Morrie Sarri lifts the Europa Cup on 29 May, will he be allowed to continue... despite fans’ unhappiness about his tactics?

Trophies are important, but the whispers in the corridors of power insist Sarri will not stay, and a new gaffer will be announced – as early as June.

The feeling is that this particular leopard is not going to change his spots, and the club (and players) want to distance themselves from Sarriball.

Retaining talent such as Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Callum Hudson-Odoi may hinge on a new boss being recruited.

The board knows that in some past seasons it has left things late – too late – to make effective changes in time for the start of a new season. The determination is that the club will not make that mistake again.

The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and unless specifically stated are not necessarily those of Hammersmith & Fulham Council.

Want to read more news stories like this? Subscribe to our weekly e-news bulletin.

Tim Harrison

Tim is our Chelsea FC blogger.

Tim has been writing Chelsea match reports since the late 1980s for newspapers and, more recently, websites.

When he first reported on the Blues, the press box was a metal cage suspended over the lip of the old west stand - and you reached it via a precarious walkway over the heads of the fans.

But he has been a Chelsea fan since his father took an excited seven-year-old to watch Chelsea v Manchester United in the mid 1960s... and covered his ears every time the chanting got too ripe.

In July 2005 he wrote The Rough Guide to Chelsea, published by Penguin, which sold 15,000 copies.

His favourite player of all time is Charlie Cooke, the mazy winger who lit up Chelsea's left wing in the 60s and 70s.

When he isn't watching the Blues, Tim acts, paints, writes and researches local history.

Translate this website