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SORRY NOT SARRI
Chelsea are in worst state of Abramovich era under Sarri and stars want him out… he MUST go but there’s nobody to replace him
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IT was the chant that told the full story, brutal and blunt.
Two words, repeated: "F*** Sarriball!
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"F*** Sarriball!
"F*** Sarriball, F*** Sarriball, F*** Sarriball!"
Chelsea fans have never been backwards in coming forwards when it comes to their managers.
Jose Mourinho was a living God, in both his manifestations. Even when it was going to hell in a handcart, they blamed the players.
Likewise, Carlo Ancelotti, heralded as a hero.
And Antonio Conte, despite the clear reality that last season was the end of the Chelsea affair.
On the other side, Avram Grant knew he was not going to be popular.
Luiz Felipe Scolari and Andre Villas-Boas recognised they had lost the fans.
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As for Rafa Benitez, he never had them — told he was unwanted from the moment he was installed.
Not that Rafa the Gaffer really helped himself when he had a blast back.
But, surely, nothing that has happened in the Roman Abramovich era was on a par with events at Stamford Bridge on Monday night.
And if Maurizio Sarri does continue to limp on, undermined, weakened and on managerial life support, it will only be because Chelsea cannot find anyone else to replace him.
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The scale of the scornful animosity towards Sarri was remarkable, all the more so because those two words say everything that needs to be said.
Those who take their places in the Matthew Harding Stand and elsewhere are Chelsea, through and through. They bleed blue.
But they are now unable to find any reason to support the Italian. They have lost hope, heart and health.
Sarri arrived with some doubts, mainly based on his lack of trophy success despite building a Napoli side that played football the right way.
When he signed Jorginho from his former club, beating off Pep Guardiola to land his man, the fans were buoyant.
Swapping the unpopular Thibaut Courtois for young Spanish goalkeeping sensation Kepa Arrizabalaga was also seen as a positive.
Yet Jorginho has become the stick by which Sarri is regularly beaten, with his continued determination to stick with his pet player and shift N’Golo Kante out of his preferred slot beyond perplexing.
It appears obstinacy for the sake of it.
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As was the deployment of Eden Hazard as a false nine before the belated on-loan arrival of Gonzalo Higuain, although the Argentine looks like he did not expect to be parachuted into a battle-zone.
Then there is his continued like for like changes, failure or unwillingness to utilise the talents of youth products Callum Hudson-Odoi, Ruben Loftus Cheek and Ethan Ampadu, the unswerving faith in Marcos Alonso.
Now Kepa is taking the hits as well. Then again, after conceding four at Bournemouth and six at City, maybe the Spaniard is simply shell-shocked.
The inability to switch things up has echoes of both Scolari and AVB.
Indeed, the only big difference is that those two predecessors fell out with the big stars of the Chelsea dressing room.
Sarri has frustrated his players but not alienated them. He has, instead, severed every link with the supporters.
But while the obvious next step would be to ditch another Chelsea manager — whether before Sunday’s Carabao Cup Final against City or after the midweek home derby with Spurs - the lack of an alternative is a huge issue.
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AVB was replaced by his assistant, Roberto Di Matteo.
A club legend who, somehow, galvanised a bedraggled mob and got them to win the FA Cup and the Champions League, on Chelsea’s greatest night.
Sarri’s No 2 is also one of the club’s finest.
But while nobody in football has a bad word to say about Gianfranco Zola the person, his various managerial spells have not been conspicuous successes.
And he is, it might be argued, at least an accessory to the current crimes.
It is hard to believe Frank Lampard and Jody Morris would walk out of their first managerial gig, at Derby, with a dozen or so games to go in the Championship promotion race.
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John Terry, too, is still learning the ropes — not always easily — under Dean Smith at Villa.
And while it increasingly seems likely that Zinedine Zidane will be Blues boss in August, expecting the Frenchman to step in now is somewhat unrealistic.
Of course, there is a bloke available. He certainly knows the club, too.
Jose for a third time? No, don’t think so. He’s burned too many Stamford Bridges.
All in all, it’s a right old mess.
But at least there will be no need for the camera crews to do vox pops of the Chelsea fans over the next few days.
They’ve already given their verdict, in those two little words.
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