Chelsea chairman Todd Boehly has encouraged fans to have faith in the process as the pressure on the owners continues amid the club’s ongoing struggles.
The west Londoners had another difficult afternoon on Saturday as they were held to a 2-2 draw by 10-man Burnley at Stamford Bridge, leaving the team stuck in 11th place in the Premier League table.
Surprisingly, Chelsea are now closer to the relegation positions than the top four, and their hopes of qualifying for Europe next season are diminishing every week.
Manager Mauricio Pochettino has come under criticism, as have the players, but the primary focus of criticism has been Chelsea’s ownership, BlueCo – the consortium led by Boehly, Clearlake Capital, Mark Walter, and Hansjorg Wyss.
Despite spending over £1billion on new signings since taking control of Chelsea from Roman Abramovich in May 2022, the approach of recruiting young, unproven players has yet to yield any rewards.
That has led to a growing opposition from supporters towards BlueCo, with fans even starting a campaign to remove them, which involved printing stickers with the owners shown as clowns alongside the words: ‘Get them out – we want our Chelsea back’.
The Chelsea Supporters’ Trust also wrote a strong letter to Boehly and Behdad Eghbali last month warning that a lack of clear direction could lead to ‘irreversible toxicity’.
But Boehly, who has been the subject of increasingly loud, rather vulgar chants from the Chelsea faithful, is still convinced that the club are on the right track and has now urged fans to keep the faith.
Speaking in an interview with Forbes, Boehly said: ‘We just need to let the process develop and give them the time to go from being unbelievable individual players with great skills to fold into a team.
‘The good news is people care so much. And the bad news is people care so much.
‘That leads to times when they’re frustrated with the team and the owners. I get that, but we just have to continue to stay the course.’
Chelsea, who were beaten by Liverpool in the Carabao Cup final, could still claim silverware in the FA Cup – though face a challenging semi-final against Manchester City – but that may not be enough to placate an increasingly agitated fanbase.
‘The current mood amongst supporters is critically low and cannot be ignored,’ read a recent statement from the club’s Supporters’ Trust. ‘The feeling that the club has become a ‘laughing stock’, both on and off the pitch, is growing.
‘The Chelsea Supporters’ Trust regretfully believes that we are close to, if not already experiencing, a significant shift in supporter opinion that could result in irreversible toxicity, almost irrespective of results on the pitch.
‘Unless the situation improves, this seems likely to manifest itself in more targeted chanting, especially at televised games, and quite possibly more organised, overt and impactful forms of protest by some sections of the fanbase.’
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