Collymore’s column: Most one-sided FA Cup final ever, another poor decision from Chelsea and more

In his exclusive column for CaughtOffside, former Aston Villa attacker Stan Collymore discusses some of football’s biggest talking points, including why the FA Cup Final will be the most one-sided ever, the shambolic way Mauricio Pochettino has been treated, why the Premier League needs a salary cap and how Gareth Southgate has got his England selection spot on.

—

Pochettino leaving is the poorest of decisions from Todd Boehly

It’s a bit weird isn’t it, after the bizarre season that Chelsea have had, spending millions of pounds, the kids not working out… and then they start to get results towards the end of the season, everything’s looking good and Mauricio Pochettino goes and has dinner with Todd Boehly and you think it’s all going to be alright, but before you know it the manager’s gone.

My understanding is – from a couple of people I know at Chelsea – that Pochettino basically wanted more control over things but the Chelsea hierarchy were like ‘the structure is the structure. This is the way that we want to do it. We’re more than happy with you having your input, but ultimately there’s other people at the club that we’ve employed who we want to do their jobs and be empowered to do their job.’

So my opinion is really simple.

Chelsea had a coach that’s really good with youngsters and who was starting to develop a style of play to be honed and refined. Putting things into perspective, Villa would appear to have had a 10 out of 10 season on the face of it, and finished only five points ahead of Chelsea who apparently had an awful season. I think it just goes to show how much potential there is in that Chelsea team.

It should be the least the least shocking news in football when a Chelsea manager gets the sack, but on this