Chelsea stars ‘disgust’ at Pochettino departure revealed as ‘sh*t hits the fan’ on WhatsApp

Will Ford
Chelsea Pochettino
The Chelsea players were 'disgusted' by Pochettino's departure.

Chelsea players were ‘devastated and disgusted’ by Mauricio Pochettino’s departure earlier this week, with the news said to have ‘ruined’ any good vibes built in the squad at the end of the season.

Pochettino left the club by mutual consent on Tuesday after the Chelsea owners became convinced that the Argentinian could not work effectively in the club’s structure.

The former Spurs boss led the Blues into Europe with a fine run of form at the end of a campaign in which he struggled with an inexperienced squad and significant injury problems.

But the owners reportedly thought Pochettino deserved some of the blame for those injuries and were also unimpressed by his ‘antiquated’ training sessions and his public criticism of co-sporting directors Laurence Stewart and Paul Winstanley.

WhatsApp backlash

The players became aware of Pochettino’s departure shortly before the 7.18pm announcement on Tuesday according to the Daily Mail as rumours on social media prompted messages between themselves and agents on WhatsApp.

There was a ‘what have they done?’ vibe to many of those messages, while ‘another used the words “sh*t” and “fan” to describe a reaction of devastation and disgust from their client’.

It’s claimed Pochettino’s departure has ‘ruined’ the feel-good factor built through their fine end of season form and although there had been talk for a while of his possible exit, the players reportedly saw that as little more than ‘newspaper talk’.

“Have a good summer,” were Pochettino’s simple words after the end of the season, with all parties assuming he would be leading them on their tour of the United states in a couple of months time.

MORE ON POCHETTINO AND CHELSEA ON F365
👉 Mauricio Pochettino to Man Utd makes perfect sense in a summer where little else does
👉 Predicting 10 more Chelsea mistakes this summer: McKenna, Jackson, ‘the next Enzo’ and…
👉 Chelsea or Man Utd the most stupid in Mauricio Pochettino farce?

No word from the owners

The report also claims there is ‘surprise’ from the squad that they are yet to hear from Winstanley, Stewart or the owners Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali as they seek to understand why the decision had been made despite clear progress being made, and what the plan will be moving forward.

The Chelsea players’ love of Pochettino – famed for his man-management skills – was clear on social media after the announcement, and Kieran McKenna or whoever replaces him at Stamford Bridge will have to go some to build similarly strong relationships with these stars.