Chelsea players will want Mauricio Pochettino to start NOW, says Stephen Warnock

With the news indicating Mauricio Pochettino will be joining Chelsea next season, NBC Sports pundits Stephen Warnock and Robbie Earle wondered if the Argentine should start managing now.

The Blues currently sit 11th in the table – tied on points with cross-London rivals Crystal Palace – and are well outside of any chance of playing in Europe next season.

Warnock in particular said that the team needs a change and that interim head coach Frank Lampard hasn’t proven he should coach at this level.

‘I think the industry is a very stats driven industry at the moment,’ Warnock said before kickoff. ‘I wonder whether there’s a part of that where he looks at and goes, it’s quite broken at the moment at Chelsea. I don’t want that to affect where where I start. 

‘But I go into… take me into the locker room as a player and I go, “I want a manager in now. I want to know where I stand as a player, whether I’m part of the club moving forward or whether I’m going to move on”. Because I also put myself in the position of a new player coming into the club. 

NBC Sports’ Stephen Warnock advocated for Mauricio Pochettino to take over Chelsea now

Pochettino was revealed to be the next coach of Chelsea for the start of next season

‘Mauricio Pochettino rings up in the summer and goes, “I’d like you to come in” and I’d be thinking, has it changed? Is there improvement there? What’s gone on? 

‘At least now, give yourself a month until the end of the season or a few weeks, whatever it is, to try and change the culture of the club and change the word around Chelsea Football Club – that he’s come in and he’s got himself and he’s got an iron fist and he’s ruling the roost at Chelsea and starting to change things and get the mentality right.

‘I just look at it and think it’s an easy cop out. And I listen to the talk of Frank Lampard and the respect for a Chelsea legend. He’s not good enough. 

‘He’s simply not good enough to do the job. So get the man in who is good enough to do the job, who you’re employing.’

Meanwhile, Earle wondered whether or not Pochettino was already at the club monitoring players and wondering how they may fit in his system.

‘I just wonder if there’s a situation where he’s influencing things from the background without going into football. 

‘And why I say that: I was doing the teams yesterday. Edouard Mendy started in goal for Chelsea. First Premier League start since before the World Cup. Wonder if Potter’s gone, “Let me have a look at him.”

Warnock also said that Lampard is ‘simply not good enough’ to continue to coach the Blues

‘Over the next few games Felix and Sterling started in the team. Sterling got a couple of goals. I wonder if he’s having that influence, but maybe at arm’s length, maybe not being seen.

‘Totally agree with Stephen in that if he walked into the training ground, then one day next week, I’ll guarantee you, training goes up 20 [or] 30 percent because the boss is in. You’re now accountable. 

‘And the other big thing I’d say for Potch, I hope he’s had a good rest, because he’s got some work to do going in the club. By the way, the first thing he’s got to do is deal with the noise around Chelsea and quiet it down. 

‘Stop the noise, stop the gossip and start building a football culture about one of the biggest clubs in Europe.’