In many way ways, with defeat to Real Madrid on Tuesday evening, Chelsea's season ended. The Blues can no longer come away with any material success in 2022/23 and have little chance of any form of European qualification - an outcome few would have predicted ahead of the opening day of the term in August.
On the surface of the senior men's team there is little that can be quantified as a success for the new ownership group since they took over almost a year. With £600million invested in new playing staff it's safe to say that wasn't the plan from the outset.
There was an acknowledgment that the club were attempting to condense their transition into a shorter timeframe but with four different people in charge of the team this term, the process has been far from smooth. With 31 players listed in Chelsea's senior squad, this summer is set to be intensive in trimming the group down while still finding new players with financial fair play considerations also to take into account.
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As Frank Lampard has suggested in recent weeks, this remains the start of a process. For that reason there remains some pivotal decisions to make. Here is what the ownership group should do in a bid to turn things around.
Hire the right manager - Simply, after sacking Thomas Tuchel and committing to Graham Potter, regardless of whether the Blues qualified for the top four, before sacking him too, Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali need to once again prove their credibility. The hierarchy's vision was to put a collaborative and long term structure in place, making the next appointment a pivotal one.
Of course, it is easier said than done with conversations having already taken place with the likes of Luis Enrique and Julian Nagelsmann. It is good that time is being taken to put in the groundwork and possibly even beneficial that any new appointment is not tarred with the difficulties the final weeks of the season will offer.
Getting the right coach in charge and them backing them to make the correct decisions within the sporting structure will be crucial to projecting confidence throughout the club. The new Chelsea boss must have the personality and pedigree to quickly get fans on side but also to manage a group that could still be in uncertain situations come the beginning of pre-season.
Trust the team they've put in place - In his first summer in charge Todd Boehly took the sporting director role at the club as Marina Granovskaia and Petr Cech departed. Accusations that the US businessman was playing Football Manager accompanied significant and high profile spending as the Blues landed the likes of Raheem Sterling, Kalidou Koulibaly, Marc Cucurella and Wesley Fofana in the hopes of hitting the ground running.
Chelsea took more time over completing their recruitment team which has seen Paul Winstanley and Laurence Stewart arrive as sporting directors while Joe Shields and Christopher Vivell have also arrived to prominent roles. The likes of Winstanley played a more active role during the January transfer window, assisted by Eghbali but now the team has been in place for a matter of months and should be in control of decisions moving forwards.
This summer is even more important than the last, with a firesale of sorts required due to bulging squad that will see 20 loanees return come the end of the season. They're permission and input may be required to action deals that see the club make a lot or even cancel a contract as they did last term. Boehly and Eghbali have been willing to be ruthless if they like the outcome and that is a positive. That should now be guided by their appointments.
Speak to the fans - Everyone arriving at the club appears to allude to Chelsea's project and how exciting it is. However, in a season that has been full of disappointment, the project has become an intangible notion to those on the outside. Success will be judged on the long term but the ownership will be judged immediately and also have to turn that opinion around.
Boehly and co put in a positive impression doing the bidding process, appear to impress managers and have even impressed members of supporters groups but getting that to the wider public has been more difficult. Members of ownership have spoken to business summits but it feels like it's time for supporters to be addressed directly via the club.
With transfers not hitting the ground running and difficult season, the PR machine is nor moving in the right direction. When that is combined with leaks of Boehly entering the dressing room following a defeat, even if players and coach consider it normal, it can irk supporters. Having a closer connection could be beneficial to building some common ground, so that momentum can be built when results turn around.
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