Shutting the stable door after boss has bolted

BOEHLY BOASTED OF STABILITY BUT BLUES' ₤1BILLION PROJECT IS NOW BACK TO SQUARE ONE

- ALAN SMITH

STABILITY. That was the word used by Todd Boehly when discussing Chelsea at a business conference in Qatar last Wednesday.

Later that same evening, boss Mauricio Pochettino navigated a young but improving team to a fourth straight win that all but sealed European football after a season away.

By the Friday, Boehly was wining and dining the club's manager, with the Argentine reflecting later: "If I invite you along, and you and me have dinner, it's not for bad things. I don't believe that."

But the brief statement communicating Pochettino's departure after less than a year at Stamford Bridge was instructive because, well, there was no mention of Boehly (above). The decision to part ways with Pochettino came following two days of meetings held by co-owner Behdad Eghbali and sporting directors Paul Winstanley and Laurence Stewart.