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Mauricio Pochettino’s time at Chelsea is up, not even a year after moving to Stamford Bridge.

Whether that’ll prove to be the right decision in the long run is unknown, with fans and players both in shock at his departure.

For many, the Blues’ five-game winning streak at the end of the season was enough to stick by the Argentine for the upcoming campaign, but Todd Boehly has other plans.

Now that the dugout is vacant, let’s take a look at a potential successor who’s caused Chelsea plenty of headaches in the past.

Chelsea’s search for a new manager

According to a report from Fabrizio Romano, Thomas Frank is on the list of potential replacements for Pochettino.

The Danish boss has been discussed internally at the club as they look for a “dynamic manager.”

Other reports state that Frank is admired for his entire package, in terms of his relationships with the media and his players.

The 50-year-old is a strong candidate for the job, unlike Thomas Tuchel, whose return has been all but ruled out, but what would a Frank Chelsea side look like?

Frank’s Chelsea side compared to Pochettino’s

Throughout the campaign, Pochettino had attempted to install his philosophy within the squad, which prioritises an attacking approach.

This can be highlighted by the Blues scoring 77 goals and creating 3.2 big chances per game this season, which happens to be even more than Arsenal’s three big chances on average.

The other guarantee with a Pochettino side is that they’ll look to dominate possession, as shown by their 58.9% this campaign (fifth best in the division) and 505 accurate team passes per game.

On the other hand, Frank has a simply different style of play, which takes a slightly more reserved approach to attack, instead focusing on defensive security.

As you can see, given that they are the underdog in most games, unlike Chelsea, Brentford are a side that operates more without the ball while ensuring that the basics are mastered.

What makes Frank slightly different from the Argentine is that he’s more willing to be tactically flexible, whether that be via in-game instruction or pre-match formation.

Pochettino always favours a standard 4-2-3-1 system, while the Dane has alternated between a 4-3-3 and a 3-4-3 variant, which has seen him go unbeaten in the last five games against the Blues and versus Pochettino.

Given the Chelsea squad, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him utilise the three-back formation if he were to join, with Reece James and Ben Chilwell proving to be a deadly wing-back combo under the aforementioned Tuchel, with 18 goal contributions between them in the 2021/22 league campaign.

So, with the former Blues boss unlikely to head back to London, Frank would be a fine alternative for the decision-makers at Chelsea.

Promisingly, the Dane is also known for getting the best out of each individual on his team, hence why he’s earned promotion and stayed in the top flight on a far-from-large budget, and Boehly will hope that he can help develop talent into superstars.

Ivan Toney is a prime example of the kind of impact Frank can have on an individual, as he scored 20 Premier League goals last season, and there's the potential that he could develop Nicolas Jackson into a 20-goal a-season striker, especially if he's being supplied by Cole Palmer.

Overall, hiring Frank is a risk, and it gives a slight similarity to the appointment of Graham Potter, but there’s no doubt he’s an “outstanding” coach, as dubbed by pundit Troy Deeney, who could help rebuild the club.

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By
Tom Lever

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Chelsea are reportedly planning talks with yet another manager after sacking Mauricio Pochettino, it has emerged, with Todd Boehly eyeing up a potential move.

Chelsea working through manager shortlist

It has been quite the week for Chelsea fans. After ending the Premier League season with a fifth straight win against Bournemouth, Mauricio Pochettino parted ways with the club by alleged mutual consent following an end-of-season review, before Manchester United shocked the footballing world to lift the FA Cup against heavy favourites Manchester City.

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The result bumped Chelsea down from Europa League football to a pair of August fixtures to qualify for the UEFA Europa Conference League, Europe's third-tier competition won by West Ham in 2023 and set to be contested by Fiorentina and Olympiacos this time around.

All the while, speculation has been flying as to who may arrive in the Chelsea hot seat come the new season, with the Boehly-led ownership now looking for their fourth permanent manager in their two-year stint in charge of the club.

Chelsea managers under Todd Boehly

Thomas Tuchel

Graham Potter

Mauricio Pochettino

Bruno Saltor

Games managed

7

31

51

1

Win %

43%

38.7%

53%

0%

Points per game

1.43

1.42

1.78

1

The likes of Kieran McKenna, Jose Mourinho, Thomas Tuchel, Thomas Frank and Roberto De Zerbi have all been considered and discarded, while Leicester City's Enzo Maresca has also held positive talks over the weekend and is now close to a Stamford Bridge move. However, a new candidate has emerged, and it could be the most bizarre one yet.

Chelsea keen on Xavi

That comes courtesy of a report from Portugal, which claims that the Blues will hold talks with former Barcelona boss Xavi Hernandez to "evaluate the possibility" of him becoming the new man in the dugout at Stamford Bridge.

It had been expected that Xavi would remain Barcelona boss after finally making a U-turn in his decision to leave the club, a stance he had initially outlined midway through the season.

However, in a shock twist, the club then decided to sack the Spanish coach, and are on the verge of appointing Hansi Flick to the vacant Camp Nou role in place of the 44-year-old.

Xavi, who has a reputation for being an attacking coach, would certainly fit the criteria for the new Chelsea boss, with the Blues owners "determined to snare the next big thing in coaching and help steer that eventual manager to the top", something that they deemed Pochettino unfit for.

But it seems an altogether unlikely move given the Spaniard's recent difficulties with the Barcelona board, for which he ultimately paid with his job. The Blues may be on the hunt for a more calm presence in the Chelsea dugout who is happy to work in the head coach rather than manager role, with Maresca seemingly the favourite to take charge as it stands.

Brighton are looking to bolster their ranks on the cheap this summer, and are ready to exploit another English side's problems with Financial Fair Play to do so.

Uncertainty surrounds Brighton

Struggling in the Premier League by their own lofty standards this season, the Seagulls nonetheless head into the summer with plenty of uncertainty around the AMEX. Chiefly, that speculation surrounds manager Roberto De Zerbi, who has been linked with a move away almost since he arrived at the club.

Previously linked with vacancies at both Liverpool and Barcelona, Xavi's decision to stay coupled with Liverpool's move for Arne Slot appears to have put pay to that.

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However, other clubs are still lurking, and the likes of Juventus, Manchester United and Chelsea could all be on the hunt for a new manager before the new season begins. On the pitch, the Seagulls are braced for interest in striker Evan Ferguson, but it has very much been a season of rebuilding after losing all of Alexis Mac Allister, Moises Caicedo and Leandro Trossard in the last 18 months.

That has reflected in their performances, with De Zerbi's side comfortably beaten by Manchester City on Wednesday night and having won just one of their last five Premier League games, leaving them 11th in the table and six points outside a spot for next season's European competitions.

The likes of Carlos Baleba, Simon Adingra and Julio Enciso are all very much stars for the future, but they are yet to be able to perform consistently for the Seagulls, while Brighton's season has been hampered by injuries to Kaoru Mitoma, Solly March and Jack Hinshelwood.

Now, they look set to try and bolster their ranks with some much-needed additions.

Brighton looking to Leicester FFP woes

That is according to Football Insider, who report that the ever-savvy Tony Bloom is keeping a close eye on Leicester City with a view to a potential move for midfielder Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall. The Englishman has been in excellent form this season, and has long been a star in the making. Even after his debut for the Foxes, Brendan Rodgers hailed him as "outstanding", and he has not looked back since.

"I thought Kiernan was outstanding," said Rodgers back in 2021. "He wanted to prove a point, he was aggressive and he took on the burden of the game. "He knows the position that we want him to play. He has good energy and good athleticism.

"I've said about him improving on the ball, but he can give us that bite in midfield and he was a catalyst for the second half."

Now spearheading Leicester's attempted return to the Premier League, Dewsbury-Hall has attracted no shortage of interest in his services, while Leicester City themselves need to sell to comply with FFP.

Selling a homegrown talent would be the easiest way to balance the books, and the report claims that Brighton are "planning to submit a new bid" after seeing an effort to sign him in January turned down.

The Foxes demanded around £30m to let him leave in the winter, which Brighton were unwilling to match, but despite having three years left to run on his contract the midfielder may be available for less this summer as Maresca's side battle to avoid a points deduction.

On just £20,000 per week at the King Power Stadium, he could prove to be a low-cost addition with plenty of upside for the Seagulls should they find a way to get a deal over the line.

Rangers fans and media members have wasted no time in laying into one of their stars after their chance of winning the Scottish Premiership title took perhaps its final blow on Saturday afternoon.

Celtic on the verge of the title

Heading into their clash with Rangers on Saturday, Celtic knew that should they avoid defeat they would have one hand on the Scottish Premiership.

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Their 2-1 victory in the latest Old Firm derby has left them on the verge of success though. While not yet mathematically confirmed as Champions, they lead Rangers by six points with two games left to go, while they also boost a seven superior goal difference than their title rivals, meaning that they would need to lose both of their final games and see Rangers win heavily to stand a chance of reversing the top two in the division.

The Scottish Premiership as it stands

Played

Won

Drawn

Lost

Goal Difference

Points

Celtic

36

27

6

3

59

87

Rangers

36

26

3

7

52

81

It will see Brendan Rodgers complete a title win that at times this season has looked unlikely, but a poor spell of form from Rangers has effectively handed the trophy on a plate to their rivals, and this game continued on that theme.

A fiesty encounter, the game turned on one moment, and Rangers fans and pundits wasted no time making sure they made their feelings known.

Lundstram branded a "disgrace" vs Celtic

Rangers podcasters and media members have taken to Twitter/X in their droves to aim their ire at midfielder John Lundstram, who endured a torrid afternoon at Celtic Park. The ex-Sheffield United midfielder put the ball into his own net seven minutes before half-time to see his side fall 2-0 down to their Glasgow rivals, though an effort from Cyriel Dessers pulled them back into proceedings.

But that chance disappeared on the stroke of half time courtesy of Lundstram, who was given his marching orders in first-half stoppage time for a poor challenge on Celtic's Alistair Johnston, which VAR correctly deemed a red card challenge.

It capped an awful game for Lundstram, who managed just 16 passes in midfield, lost possession seven times and won just three of his 10 duels. Rangers podcast Heart and Hand labelled him an "absolute disgrace", while he was branded "absolutely woeful" by 4 Lads Had a Dream

The midfielder is out of contract this summer, and Philippe Clement admitted last week that the chances of him penning a new deal are increasingly slim.

“There is nothing official around that. I am not naïve, the longer that things last the more possibility that other people step in. But for the moment apparently the water is too deep between the two sides," he explained.

Having picked up a straight red card, he will now be suspended for the remainder of Rangers' games this campaign, which means he could well have played his last game for the Ibrox outfit. Based on the reaction to his performance today, there will be few Rangers fans complaining.

Eoin Morgan has been making “the best out of a bad situation”, enforced by the coronavirus pandemic, spending time with his three-week-old baby. Had things been normal, Morgan would not have been at home, he would have been part of the Kolkata Knight Riders squad in the IPL.Reflecting on a remarkable year for him as England’s white-ball captain, Morgan said that the 2019 World Cup final had lifted the profile of cricket in England in unprecedented fashion.”I think the journey that we went on is probably the most exciting. In 2015, the embarrassing nature in which we were bundled out of that World Cup and the journey we embarked on to try and change the brand of cricket that we played with a new group of extremely talented players over the course of four years – it’s brilliant,” Morgan told .

Morgan on the reverse-sweep and his playing role:

“The more experience that I’ve got, I find myself batting in that middle order and hopefully being there at the end. It’s probably one of the better skills that I do have and probably over the last two years, it’s been at its best.
“I started playing reverse-sweep when I first came to London as a 16-year old and signed up at Middlesex. Playing at Lord’s, the boundaries were very short square of the wicket and they are really long straight. When I played in the first team as a 17-18 year old, trying to clear the long straight boundary at Lord’s was very difficult for me. So I started playing a lot more sweeps just because they were more effective at our home ground. I sort of drilled the reverse-sweep and swept for as long as I could. The reverse-sweep has been one of my favourite shots because it’s been so effective over the years.”

“It sort of culminated in last year’s World Cup. The final was the most dramatic game of cricket and the best game of cricket that probably has ever been played which contributes to the hype of it. But I think one of the great things about it was on the day of that great game of cricket was, it’s always now associated with the longest ever Wimbledon final that was epic as well. It helped us in growing cricket outside of the normal bubble that we’re already in to a different audience, and for us at home it has lifted the profile of the game like we’ve never seen.”Straight after the World cup win was the Ashes series which was absolutely amazing to watch. Australia thoroughly deserved to win it [the series was drawn with Australia retaining the urn] but again, the dramatic nature in which the whole series unfolded really did attract the whole country and sort of galvanised one of our biggest rivalries in sport. It was fascinating to watch and I thought it was a great year for us, cricket-wise.”Morgan was also looking forward to a second stint with Knight Riders, having played for the franchise from 2011 to 2013. He will reunite with good friend Brendon McCullum, the two having first built a friendship when they were team-mates at Knight Riders. McCullum is now the head coach of the franchise.”I think his contribution not only to New Zealand cricket but to world cricket really took the front in 2015 with their campaign – throughout the 2015 World Cup,” Morgan said. “They really did, I suppose, transform the fate of a nation and the hope of a nation in the way that they played. They played aggressive, positive cricket but also in a way that wasn’t in your face the whole time. It was really good to watch, it created a huge amount of attraction and I think majority of the time actually the way that they play and the manner that they play overlooks the skill level that they produce.”And I think Baz is the reason for that turnaround. I think he has had a huge input in the way they’ve played and in all formats as well not just white ball. I suppose it makes that move to KKR all the more sweet when he’s head coach. I think if we see any similarities in the impact that he’s had as a player and as a captain on his coaching, the impact will be monumental. I really do think he’s changed the landscape of cricket and the attitude of the way people play.”Morgan was also looking forward to learning from Dinesh Karthik, the Knight Riders captain.”While I’m here to help, I also want to learn as much as I can from him. There are a lot of dynamics about being a captain when you’re playing in India that I don’t know about, I’ll be picking his brain the whole time,” Morgan said. “I’ll naturally be myself and try to give as much as I can just like the rest of the international players. But it’s going to be fascinating to see how and when we get to play and how the competition lines up. Because everybody is going to come out of isolation extremely excited, rearing to go, batting, bowling, fielding the whole lot.”