A lot of the flak has been focused on Maurizio Sarri in recent weeks – but what about the person who hired him?
Chelsea have been without a director of football since Michael Emenalo left in December 2017, so the de facto power to hire and fire managers has been with Marina Granovskaia.
It is her who presumably selected Sarri, and it is she who is increasingly coming under scrutiny for her choice.
READ MORE: Marina must find director of football before she ends up paying the price
CaughtOffside cite reports in the Times that the behind the scenes power player, who has worked her way up to be Roman Abramovich’s most trusted lieutenant when it comes to running Chelsea, is falling out of favour because of her choice of the intransigent Italian tactician.
She has a lot of credit in the bank to lose, but this is a misstep that may damage her reputation.
To be fair to her, this shouldn’t really be her job – perhaps her focus now should be on finding a new director of football to take the heat off her.