Chelsea’s owners, BlueCo, are facing further criticism after Gary O’Neil accused the club of “tainting” recruitment at Ligue 1 side Strasbourg and questioned the club’s culture.
The former Wolves and Bournemouth boss was appointed in January after Liam Rosenior moved to Stamford Bridge and is looking back on two final defeats last month as the club crashed out of the Coupe de France and the Conference League.
Criticism of the club’s performance bears striking parallels with doubts about Chelsea’s current state, with the Blues’ recruitment, managerial instability and general lack of direction among many sources of anger from supporters.
Chelsea are ninth in the Premier League after sacking Rosenior in April after just three months and have not won since March 4 in the league.
Fans of both clubs came together in a protest against BlueCo – a consortium led by Clearlake Capital’s Behdad Eghbali and investor Todd Boehly – outside Stamford Bridge before the Blues’ defeat by Manchester United in April.
Strasbourg have won six of their 14 league games under O’Neil but defeat to Nice in April and two legs against Rayo Vallecano ended their hopes of silverware and their last chance of qualifying for Europe next season.
The manager believes that recruitment during the January transfer window weakened rather than strengthened his squad.
Striker David Datro Fofana and defender Aaron Anselmino are on loan from Chelsea while the powerful Mamadou Sarr, who spent the first half of the season on loan at Stamford Bridge, was brought back to west London.
Ecuador international Kendry Paez has also had his season-long loan cut by Chelsea and was soon loaned back to Argentina’s River Plate.
“I need two midfielders,” O’Neil said following Sunday’s 1-1 draw with Angers, L’Equipe reported.
“The owners want to give me a way to do next season, but we have to improve the culture at the club, the quality of the players and the depth of the squad.
“We were distracted by the transfer window in January. We weakened instead of improving the squad.”
Recent Chelsea manager: Xabi Alonso, Andoni Iraola
Of course, the next big decision BlueCo have to make is finding Chelsea’s next manager, with Calum McFarlane not expected to be given the role on a full-time basis.
Fabrizio Romano shared an update on his YouTube channel this week, confirming rumors that both Xabi Alonso and Andoni Iraola are being considered.
Interestingly, he also revealed that the Bournemouth boss has been rejecting offers from elsewhere in Europe in the hope of landing the big Premier League job.
“He (Iraola) is rejecting proposals from abroad because he wants to continue with the Premier League. He wants to be the manager of the Premier League next season.
“So Andoni Iraola will be ready, ready to get another chance behind Bournemouth in the Premier League next season.”
Meanwhile, Xabi Alonso is reportedly already giving his Chelsea transfer plans, find out more about that here.
Xabi Alonso prioritizes Chelsea transfer with talks ‘going well’
The former manager of Real made it clear.
