Just as many fans still meandered through the concourse and to their seats, Chelsea’s dreadful run hit a new low.
Taiwo Awoniyi was left unmarked and given the freedom of Stamford Bridge to score for Nottingham Forest inside two minutes, sparking joy from the travelling support in their corner of the Shed End.
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The cheers were heard once again in the 15th minute once Igor Jesus dispatched his penalty, and also when Awoniyi scored another shortly after half-time on bank holiday Monday afternoon.
Even after a moment of brilliance from Joao Pedro, who scored an excellent bicycle kick in stoppage time, Chelsea’s hopes of qualifying for the Champions League were all but crushed at full-time.
They were beaten by a Forest ‘B team’ fighting for Premier League survival.
Bereft of hope and desire, Chelsea have lost their last six Premier League matches, five of which they played without scoring, a run of form that they last set from October to November 1993.
Luckily for the Blues, a 1-1 draw against Liverpool ensured they wouldn’t slip to a seventh consecutive league defeat, a run they had not endured since the 1952/53 season when they finished 19th in the First Division.
Joe Shields, Sam Jewell and Paul Winstanley, members of the failing sporting leadership team, were in attendance earlier this week to watch what was the latest on-pitch embarrassment in a another dreadful Chelsea season.
Nearly four years into their ownership, BlueCo have a damning legacy of overseeing a once competitive club’s decline despite a staggering transfer spend of around £1.5billion.
Their consistent stubbornness over signing young players they hope will either contribute to the team, or impress enough so the club can make a profit when they’re sold, is almost an insult to the fanbase.
“Chelsea are actually two windows into a four-window strategy,” David Ornstein told NBC Sports in December 2023, before adding that any judgement on their recruitment should way until September 1, 2024.
Well, that time has elapsed, and the co-sporting directors Winstanley and Laurence Stewart have little, if anything, to show for their efforts as Chelsea pull away from English and European football excellence.
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However, even though BlueCo and the sporting leadership team have undoubtedly been ineffective amid poor signings and a managerial merry-go-round, the players cannot shy away from this mess.
Blues singing the blues
March 7 marked the last time Chelsea won two consecutive matches in all competitions, which was when they denied Wrexham of another chapter in their ‘Hollywood story’ in the FA Cup fifth round.
Since then they have lost to Paris Saint-Germain, Newcastle United, PSG again, Everton, Manchester City, Manchester United, Brighton and Forest across ten matches.
Chelsea actually played relatively well in that first match against PSG until, at 2-2, an error from Filip Jorgensen allowed the Parisians to score the first of three goals late on in their Champions League win.
They then conceded two goals during the opening 14 minutes of the second leg to end their hopes of a miraculous yet unlikely turnaround, and things only got worse.
City showcased why they are Premier League title contenders, and Chelsea are light-years behind them, with a ruthless performance, before United scored and won with just a single shot on target.
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Defeat to Newcastle, sandwiched between the PSG ties, included a series of missed chances from inside the area, whilst Everton simply cut them apart at Hill Dickinson Stadium.
But the most alarming performance of all came against Brighton as it appeared as though the players simply downed tools and lacked any willingness to halt their alarming deterioration.
Liam Rosenior selected a back three, which handed their opponents plenty of space out wide to win a corner and score the opener with only three minutes on the clock in the 3-0 victory.
Rosenior felt the effect of their fifth consecutive league defeat with no goals scored just a day later when he was sacked, and it was soon revealed that he was nicknamed a ‘substitute teacher’.
This sort of immaturity, which is understood to have come from a senior player, means it’s no surprise that the team have faltered.
Regardless of personal opinions on a head coach that many felt was out of his depth, this lack of respect is something that should never exist at any professional club, let alone one of Chelsea’s stature.
A lot of talking has seemingly taken place off the pitch rather than on it, which is the complete opposite of what the reality should be for a group of players who have regularly flattered to deceive.
Chelsea were still in contention to qualify for the Champions League at this point, although personal agendas may have got in the way of the club’s overall success judging by their performances.
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And now they may have to settle without any European football at all next season, a prospect that they have brought upon themselves.
One step forward, two steps back
Chelsea’s first match post-Rosenior was the FA Cup semi-final against historic rivals Leeds United, who were on a seven-match unbeaten run in all competitions.
The blue half of the Wembley Stadium stands arrived with a lack of confidence, but left pleasantly surprised as Enzo Fernandez sent them to the final against City on May 16 with his first-half header.
They weren’t sensational by any means, and it looked as though the occasion got the better of Leeds on the day, but when it comes to the cups, the result is more important than the performance.
On the face of it, Chelsea’s players looked committed to righting their wrongs against Leeds, who took four points off them in the league earlier in the season.
This may have done little to dismiss the theory of them downing tools in Rosenior’s final match though, as it was clear that they were willing to put in the hard yards and take a step closer to silverware.
Imagine if they produced these levels throughout the entire season rather than picking and choosing when to turn up, especially when facing adversity.
The fans make the effort up and down the country week in, week out with their hard-earned cash – can the presumably talented players consistently return the favour on the pitch?
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Judging by the Forest defeat, apparently not, with the players failing to capitalise on what should have been a statement win at Wembley and leaving their own supporters deprived of delight yet again.
No Palmer, no party
One player who has declined in quality this season, among the many, is Cole Palmer, who was once the Chelsea talisman that scored and assisted for fun following his bargain £40m move from City in 2023.
He bagged 40 goal contributions and the club’s Player of the Year award in his first season, with 32 goals and assists coming in the next to make him an early contender to play for England at the World Cup.
But he is set to miss out on replicating these tallies in their final four matches of the campaign as the 24-year-old sits on ten goals and three assists.
In fairness to Palmer, the beginning of his season was impacted by a groin injury, as well as a fractured toe that occurred in a household accident in November.
However, barring the first-half hat-trick he scored against Wolves, his drop-off in front of goal has been a big factor in Chelsea’s inability to get results and compete for trophies.
It is important to stress that Palmer is not alone in this, although the difference in standards from this season compared to those in his first two make him stand out.
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Alejandro Garnacho has scored one league goal in 1,267 minutes since joining from United, whilst Liam Delap has netted on just two occasions this season across 38 appearances in all competitions.
Trevoh Chalobah, Wesley Fofana and Tosin Adarabioyo have been error-prone in the backline, and even Marc Cucurella has been a shadow of his former self at left-back.
Come on, give them something
With three games left to play, many fans will have already checked out for the season, even if they have a cup final to contest next week.
Chelsea can also still secure Champions League football by finishing sixth, although Aston Villa would have to end the campaign in fifth and win the Europa League.
Tottenham Hotspur are their penultimate league opponents on May 19, and there is still a possibility that a win against their rivals could push them over the edge in the relegation battle.
If this was to become reality, then it would be a small but notable step towards rebuilding the connection between the players and supporters.
The fans not only booed against Forest, but many also left way before the full-time whistle as a comeback looked increasingly unlikely.
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Victory against City in the FA Cup final would also go a long way, but there is also an argument that it would simply paper over the cracks.
In past years, Chelsea fans had players such as Frank Lampard, Eden Hazard, Didier Drogba and Ashley Cole that they could regularly rely on, even when things got tough.
Before them, it was Dennis Wise, Gianfranco Zola and Marcel Desailly, to name a few, whilst their stars of the 1960’s included Bobby Tambling and Peter Osgood, who has a statue outside the Bridge.
Nowadays, aside from club captain Reece James and maybe some of his fellow Cobham graduates, who can they call upon to dig them out of troubled times and restore hope for the future?
This Chelsea project is not working, regardless of what the arguably arrogant owners have convinced themselves to believe despite the glaring issues that every man and his dog can see.
But at the same time, when it comes to matchday, it’s down to the players to perform and show why they deserve to earn tens and even hundreds of thousands of pounds every week.
It’s probably easier said than done, but ignore the noise off the pitch and show some quality on it, make the fans justify why they should continue to spend their time, money and energy to watch you play.
Some of these players may already be looking ahead to moves away in the summer and if so, whilst you’re still at Chelsea, at least make it look as though you care.
Is that too much to ask?
