Chelsea co-owner Todd Boehly believes that passion among the fanbase is both ‘good and bad news’ as he scrambles to steady the ship at Stamford Bridge. Supporters and former players have started voicing their anger against the boardroom as the Blues splutter to the end of a second consecutive disappointing season.
Frank Leboeuf, who spent five years at Chelsea in the prime of his career, was raging after watching his former side draw 2-2 with Burnley on Saturday, with Boehly and the boardroom bearing the brunt of the criticism.
“Sorry, but the people on the board have destroyed this club,” the Frenchman told ESPN. “That’s what you have to face. As long as you don’t have people to rely on, meaning experienced players, you can’t build anything.
“It’s unprofessional and unfair to the people who love this club. I’m fed up. 10-men Burnley should have won the game. I want to congratulate the fans for still being able to go to Stamford Bridge to watch that.”
Boehly, along with co-owner Behdad Eghbali and director Jose Feliciano, were mocked up as clowns on stickers spread around Stamford Bridge last month. Extortionate transfer spending has failed to yield results on the pitch, and Mauricio Pochettino could become another managerial casualty this summer.
Speaking on the recent hostility, Boehly told Forbes: “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.
Blues fans will hope that things are in order long before then. The club has splashed nine-figure sums on Enzo Fernandez and Moises Caicedo over the past 18 months, but they remain on course for a second consecutive bottom-half Premier League finish.
Saturday’s draw at home to Burnley was particularly damning. The relegation-threatened Clarets twice came from behind to snatch a point despite being at a numerical disadvantage for more than half of the match.
