Who wants to be Chelsea manager? Incoherent buying and clueless ownership make it the impossible job

Liverpool have faced Bruno Saltor. Now for Calum McFarlane. There will be an interim manager in the Chelsea dugout on Saturday; not for the first time in this fixture, given that Saltor’s only game in charge, following Graham Potter’s sacking and before Frank Lampard became a slightly more permanent caretaker, was a 0-0 draw against Liverpool in 2023.

If their owners are engaging in the “self-reflection” they promised after Liam Rosenior ’s sacking, they may care to note that as many people have taken charge of Chelsea in their four-year ownership – eight – as have led Liverpool this millennium; and that is including Phil Thompson, who only assumed the reins because Gerard Houllier was ill. Liam Rosenior was sacked to leave Chelsea searching for another new manager (PA Wire) Or perhaps, still convinced of their genius, they are simultaneously preparing their next managerial appointment while finding more loopholes to avoid breaching financial regulations now it is apparent they won’t have Champions League football next season; something for which Liverpool, whose passage back into Europe has been eased by Chelsea’s run of six straight defeats , can be very grateful. But Chelsea’s meltdown ought to illustrate that hints of a change of direction ought to be more than that.

Since Clearlake Capital and BlueCo took over in 2022, they have sacked a Champions League-winning manager, in Thomas Tuchel, and made four hires. Potter and Rosenior were horribly out of their depth . Mauricio Pochettino was the most qualified but happy to leave after a year.

Enzo Maresca could be called a qualified success but in effect talked himself out of a job. Which, in turn, may not help Chelsea’s search for a successor. Word about the prospective employers can get around the managerial grapevine and the chances are that few of the managers to encounter BlueCo will speak well of them.