EXCLUSIVE
Simon Jordan believes Todd Boehly will learn from his mistakes after a ‘baptism of fire’ in his first year as Chelsea owner.
The American completed his takeover of the Blues on May 30, 2022 and the first 365 days in charge have not gone to plan.
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Boehly splashed out record sums in the transfer market - £600million across two transfer windows.
However, Chelsea set all kinds of poor records on the pitch as they finished 12th with their lowest ever Premier League points tally.
Thomas Tuchel and Graham Potter were sacked, with Mauricio Pochettino now on board to take them forward this summer.
And former Crystal Palace owner Jordan offered his verdict on Boehly’s first year in charge.
“Todd Boehly will have had a baptism of fire,” Jordan told talkSPORT. “He will have seen the landscape and read about the way English football is held together and not believed it. Sat in Premier League meetings then seen the way the media has reacted to his decisions and seen the consequences of his actions.
“You don’t get in a position where you are the head of a private equity firm that can facilitate the purchase of a football club for £2.5billion and not be in a situation where you can pivot and react and learn lessons from the experiences you’ve got.
“There’s nothing wrong with learning from your mistakes, it’s about not making those same mistakes again.”
Another issue Chelsea faced was their inability to score goals, despite spending more than half a billion on players.
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The glaring omission of signing a striker is an issue Jordan described as ‘lunacy’.
He continued: “You have to suggest that there were other people part of that equation as well. I don’t understand the thinking of coaches coming in and not suggesting they must have a striker in the January transfer window as a matter of course and that not being resolved.
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“It does feel like there is a bit of lunacy there. The deaf leading the blind in terms of outcomes that would make no sense to anybody because you are in a situation where you have a team that seems to be devoid of scoring a goal wouldn’t buy a goal.
“We can all see it and so can the coach and the owner and the recruitment staff.”
Chelsea finished the season with Frank Lampard as interim manager and ended up with just one win in their final 14 games.
“It’s irrelevant [they had a bad season],” Jordan continued. “They had a bad season six years ago and came back to win the league. It’s a bad season, that happens.
“I don’t believe Chelsea will continue in this situation. It could have got worse, they could have got relegated.
“If you are Todd Boehly, you are thinking ‘wow this is a lot of money to have spent to achieve nothing particularly substantial’.”
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When asked if there was one positive, Jordan said: “Not a lot. I think the players have been a disgrace, the management has been poor.
“Frank Lampard has not only diminished his reputation and wasted everyone else’s time. There were no wins.
“The only win can be that Boehly has looked at it and gone ‘I need to do things differently’.
“If he’d have got half a win this year and finished sixth in the league or got into Europe in some shape or form, then he’d have gotten away with it.
“Because it’s been so stark and glaring the challenges in the decisions he’s made and I think he’s made them for the right reason and right agenda, but they’ve not been stepped in the right balance of thinking.
“These players can’t argue they stunk the place out. Pochettino can come in and can go through them.
“He can get to the bottom line quick and get the group of players he wants. They will trade players and clean it up.
“You will see a polished Chelsea next season.”
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