Results seem to have disappeared with the assistant manager
There have been whispers on Chelsea message boards that the Blues’ season entered a decline when assistant manager Steve Clarke left for West Ham in September.
Last month, our amigos at chickendinner demonstrated that Chelsea’s home form was far worse without the number two, but their respectable away form discredited the Steve Clarke exit theory. Back then, however, Chelsea had yet to play any of last season’s top six, so after recent visits to Everton and Manchester United, it seems like a good time to re-examine the state of play:
Steve Clarke’s last seventeen league games at Chelsea
Wins: 11
Draws: 6
Losses: 0
Points per game: 2.29
The seventeen league games since Steve Clarke left
Wins: 9
Draws: 5
Losses: 3
Points per game: 1.88
So, Chelsea fans, is Steve Clarke as important as the statistics suggest? Let us know with a comment below…
*For these statistics, the away game against Manchester City that occurred two days after Steve Clarke’s resignation was tendered has been ignored. The reason for this is that he wasn’t involved on matchday, but was almost certainly involved in the preparation.*
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1 response so far
1 Craig // Jan 13, 2009 at 3:15 pm
The departure of a No 2 often has a negative impact on a team, as we found at West Ham found when Peter Grant left Alan Pardew. The no 2 is often a lot closer to the players. Steve Clark was Mr Chelscum so the impact is probably much bigger than normal. Unlucky boys! You’ll probably have the last laugh tho when you take both Zola and SC back at some point in the future!