The bombshell that Emma Hayes, the astonishingly successful Chelsea Women’s manager, will be leaving the club at the end of the season is still sending shockwaves around the game.
It’s also closely related to the men’s team in that Hayes’ departure is being seen as a failure on the part of people like Paul Winstanley, who have been explicitly tasked with continuing the success that the women’s team are having, just as much as trying to bring that success to the men’s team.
Nizaar Kinsella has today posted an interesting piece which claims that the Blues offered to quadruple the superstar coach’s wages – but were turned down. Hayes is apparently looking for a better work-life balance, something that coaching an international team will allow her to do (although given it’s the USA team, it sounds like a lot more time on planes).
This sounds a lot to us like a leak from the club, showing that they did everything in their power to keep Hayes, and that her departure was effectively for reasons they couldn’t control.
