Joe Cole has offered a word of advice for Chelsea fans ahead of the expected appointment of Mauricio Pochettino. The Argentine is moving closer to being named the new head coach at Stamford Bridge but faces a mountainous in-tray upon his arrival.
With the team currently 12th at the time of writing, the Blues are winless in eight and have lost five games in a row under interim boss Frank Lampard. With London rivals and title-chasing Arsenal up next things continue to look bleak for Chelsea.
The arrival of the 51-year-old is yet to be announced with final details still to be agreed but football.london understands talks are progressing well with Pochettino acting as his own agent. The tie to Tottenham is one of the reasons some are concerned about, though.
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Cole, on the other hand, has played it safe with his verdict on the move. "I understand both perspectives," he told BT Sport on Saturday. "[Zinedine] Zidane, Real Madrid, [Julian] Nagelsmann, Bayern Munich, [Luis] Enrique, Barcelona. Very settled clubs are established at the top table.
"As we see now, Chelsea are now 11th, now it's a rebuild. Pochettino, what he's done at Southampton and what he did at Spurs in terms of that, it fits.
"Then you have to put the asterisk on it, the Tottenham connection. This is the problem, if I was being asked for my advice on it, Pochettino I think does fit from what he does and what he can achieve at clubs but what they have to understand is the fans will back him and get behind him if he comes in but in turbulent time then the Tottenham connection becomes an issue."
Gary Neville, meanwhile, is optimistic of him being a success at Stamford Bridge. "I think he [Pochettino] is a really talented coach," he told The Overlap. "I think Chelsea next year could really surprise us. Pochettino will bring the club together because he will; he’s likeable, and the players will respect him enormously.
"I think he’ll do a very, very good job next season. He’ll cover a lot of the stuff that’s going on behind the scenes is my prediction.
"If they get him, I think you’ll have a very good season next year. Those players are perfect for Pochettino; they are talented and young, but they just need direction."
Cole can also see a future in which Pochettino is successful at SW6 but has a word of warning the incumbent boss.
"What I would say is he is a fantastic manager and if you take the Tottenham situation out of it he fits the Chelsea situation perfectly at the moment with the squad and that. He's a people person and you can see that with how he relates to players.
"One of the challenges the new regime has to manage is that they have to set expectations, in the last window we're talking about [Moises] Caicedo, [Declan] Rice, is Chelsea an option for those players now? We have to be honest. Who wants to come in through the door?
"It's a hell of a job. Pochettino fits but they have to be mindful of the connection to Tottenham, they have to do something very smart in how they market it. Chelsea fans also have to understand that is Zidane coming in? Yes he's a great name, resume is unbelievable. Doesn't speak English, has he taken a team over from 11th and rebuilt a broken club?
"Pochettino has done that and done it with aplomb. He does fit but Chelsea fans have to take a breather. Yes he was a Tottenham manager, put that to the side."
How matchgoing fans react to the decision now waits to be seen with social media being split on the call thus far.
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