Danny Murphy has denounced Todd Boehly’s ‘naive’ decision to sack Thomas Tuchel as Chelsea boss.
The club announced on Wednesday morning that they had parted ways with the manager following the 1-0 loss to Dinamo Zagreb in the Champions League on Tuesday night.
A statement on the club’s website read: “On behalf of everyone at Chelsea FC, the club would like to express their gratitude to Thomas and his staff for all their hard work during their time at the club. Thomas will rightfully have a place in Chelsea history having won the Champions League, Super Cup and Club World Cup in his time here.
“As the new ownership group reaches 100 days since taking over the club and continue their hard work to take the club forward, the new owners believe now is the right time to make this transition.
“Chelsea’s coaching staff will support the squad in training and preparing for our upcoming games as the Club moves quickly to appoint a new head coach.
“There will be no further comment until a new head coach is appointed.”
It is understood the decision was made by Boehly ahead of Tuesday’s Champions League exit, and the shock defeat in Croatia had no impact on Tuchel’s exit.
Danny Murphy joined talkSPORT to react to the news and said the German’s departure just six games into the new season was a rash done by a man who is new to the game.
Speaking on White and Jordan, Murphy said: “Todd Boehly gave Thomas Tuchel the signing of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang on the last day because he worked with him, he supported him and he wanted this man, then the owner told him, ‘you can have Aubameyang’.
“So I don’t think when he made that decision before the deadline he thought he was going to get rid of the manager.
“I personally think this result is a huge factor for them to push the button, and that’s the naivety of this owner. He doesn’t understand football.
“I’m not sure we would have that conversation now if they won 4-0, that’s my belief.
“I think sometimes a bad result, especially with someone who doesn’t understand football, can get sensationalized in their head and think, ‘God, we have a problem if we lose games like this’.
“I think it’s too early, it’s my instinct. I think it’s a knee-jerk reaction to a game last night that they dominated and would have won nine times out of ten.
Simon Jordan, however, expects the club to already have a plan in place, despite what he also sees as a rash decision to fire a top-notch manager.
“They obviously have someone lined up, they made a decision – I wouldn’t have sacked Tuchel unless there was a compelling reason,” the talkSPORT pundit added.
“It’s a seismic decision to remove a guy who is clearly a top-notch manager, who has done great things for Chelsea over the last 18 months.
“The bottom line is that they would have a plan in place, and there has to be something more to that, it’s not just a ruthless owner going through what he sees as the landscape of football.
“Regardless of all that, it’s not a big boy thought.
“Unless there’s something really material going on behind the scenes that we don’t see, then I don’t see why I would have fired him.”
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