What Kenyan Chelsea Fans Think Of Shock Tuchel Sacking

It came hours after Chelsea lost 1-0 to Dinamo Zagreb in the UCL group match.

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Sep 7, 2022 - 16:37 Updated: Sep 3, 2023 - 00:22
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What Kenyan Chelsea Fans Think Of Shock Tuchel Sacking
Former head coach, Thomas Tuchel. /FILE

Earlier on Wednesday, September 7, Kenya and the whole world of football was shocked by the decision of English Premier League club, Chelsea, to part ways with head coach, Thomas Tuchel.

The club praised Tuchel who was brought in as a replacement for Frank Lampard in January 2021, and during that time he has managed to win the club's second UEFA Champions League trophy and its first FIFA Club World Cup.

It added that the new owners, led by Todd Boehly, thought it was the right time to make the transition. It came hours after Chelsea lost 1-0 to Dinamo Zagreb in the UCL group match.

An image of Stamford Bridge, the home of Chelsea Football Club. /SPORTS ILLUSTRATED

"On behalf of everyone at Chelsea FC, the Club would like to place on record its gratitude to Thomas and his staff for all their efforts during their time with the Club. Thomas will rightly have a place in Chelsea’s history after winning the Champions League, the Super Cup and Club World Cup during his time here. 

"As the new ownership group reaches 100 days since taking over the Club, and as it continues its hard work to take the club forward, the new owners believe it is the right time to make this transition," the statement read in part.

Notably the decision also reverberated across the club's loyal fanbase in Kenya, as a section of fans had mixed reactions over what can be termed as a knee-jerk reaction after just six games into the 2022/23 football season.

"Now with Chelsea having a coach that will stay with us for long is rumours, if Tuchel could not, we will forever be a sacking club.

"Chelsea is not a team of getting lucky with experiments, we want world-class coaches, we are a stepping stone.

"I'm really disappointed the sacking does not make sense to me. He just got his players. Time is always key this is too soon," some of the fans revealed while speaking to Viral Tea.

Chelsea’s coaching staff will take charge of the team for training and the preparation of its upcoming matches as the club moves swiftly to appoint a new head coach. According to Sky Sports, the club has been given permission by Brighton and Hove Albion to speak to Graham Potter, who was expected to meet Boehly on Wednesday afternoon.

It is thought Chelsea have made it clear they are prepared to meet Brighton's exit clause figure. The club are also keen to speak to Mauricio Pochettino and Zinedine Zidane, who are both out of work.

Boehly axed Tuchel in a face-to-face meeting just three months after completing his takeover of the club. Sky Sports revealed that Chelsea had been considering this decision for some time and it is not a knee-jerk reaction to Tuesday's Champions League defeat to Dinamo Zagreb which co-owners Boehly and Behdad Eghbali both attended.

Tuchel lost his job because of an increasingly difficult relationship with the owners, who were willing to try and make it work with the German but it proved to be not possible. He also had an increasingly difficult relationship with some players which is not unusual and happens at most clubs.

Boehly is still acting as the sporting director having booted out director Marina Granovskaia, chairman Bruce Buck and technical and performance advisor Petr Cech this summer in a complete overhaul of the Roman Abramovich era.

Chelsea invested a one-window Premier League record of £273m to revamp Tuchel's squad this summer, bringing in Wesley Fofana, Kalidou Koulibaly, Marc Cucurella and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.

The club sits sixth in the Premier League with 10 points following wins over Everton, Leicester and West Ham, a 2-2 draw against Tottenham and defeats at Leeds and Southampton.

Before Chelsea, Tuchel had a stint at Paris-Saint Germain (PSG), which had fired Pochettino on Tuesday, July 5. 

Christophe Galtier was unveiled as his replacement. Pochettino has followed sporting director Leonardo out of the Parc des Princes to show that PSG's ownership would not put up with another UEFA Champions League failure.

Despite the club not stating reasons for Pochettino's departure, their Champions League exit to Real Madrid in the round of 16 was the turning point in the campaign that made the head coach's job tenuous.

Former PSG manager Mauricio Pochettino. /TWITTER