Graham Potter held crisis talks with his back-room staff on Tuesday to thrash out a plan to improve Chelsea's calamitous form.
The Blues are on the brink of dropping into the bottom half of the table after winning just one of their eight Premier League games since the turn of the year. They hit a new low last Saturday when Potter and his players were booed off after a 1-0 defeat at home by rock-bottom Southampton.
Chelsea were forecast to challenge for silverware ahead of the season and club supremos, led by Todd Boehly, stumped up another £300million on transfers in the January window. Despite seeing no return on their investment so far, Blues chiefs are standing by Potter for a number of reasons.
The Englishman is desperate to transform Chelsea's fortunes and held what was described as a 'strategy meeting' at the club's Cobham headquarters earlier this week, according to the Evening Standard. Potter - who is the bookmakers' favourite to be the next Premier League manager sacked - and his coaches arrived for the meeting determined to strike a winning formula and discussed how they will bring this about after picking over the bones of their chastening loss to the Saints.
There will be no quick fix for the west Londoners, especially as their next fixture is a trip to arch-rivals Tottenham in the league on Sunday. One of the many issues facing Potter and his coaches is the low morale of a squad devoid of confidence after their torrid run of form.
Chelsea players were given their scheduled two days off after their defeat by Southampton and have plenty of time to prepare for their game against Spurs, who have risen into the top four and are targeting Champions League qualification.
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The report adds Boehly is expected to be in attendance at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium this weekend while co-owner Behdad Eghbali will watch the games against Leeds and Borussia Dortmund the following Saturday and on 7 March respectively. Both members of the hierarchy were at Stamford Bridge last weekend to witness the toxic reception to Chelsea's bland display against a team staring down the barrel of relegation.
Boehly and Eghbali remain determined to stick to their long-term plan for the club, having bought Chelsea last May before replacing Thomas Tuchel with Potter just over three months later. Tuesday's talks were not the first time Potter has been forced to instigate a no-holds-barred meeting this season.
The former Brighton boss spoke to four senior players in January, ahead of a 2-1 defeat by Fulham. Given Chelsea have been knocked out of both domestic cup competitions and will require a miracle to finish in the top four, the Champions League represents their only chance of silverware this season and they must overturn a 1-0 aggregate deficit as they host Dortmund in early March.
