Mauricio Pochettino delivers honest assessment of his relationship with Chelsea fans after malicious 'f*ck off' chants at Brentford game

Chelsea drew 2-2 with Brentford on Saturday, but during the game, the Blues' away fans chanted "f*ck off Mauricio" and also labelled owner Todd Boehly a "c*nt" in remarkable scenes of open rebellion at the Gtech Community Stadium. Pochettino, though, has maintained that he has a "good" relationship with Blues fans, and insists he did not hear the x-rated chants.

Per The Athletic, Pochettino said: “I’ve been told but I didn’t hear. It was difficult for me to understand but it’s normal. We were losing 2-1 and it’s about expressing their frustration. I am responsible as the head coach. I’m not worried. We need to accept this relationship. Someone asked me ‘do you feel the love from the fans?’ No. What can we expect? We need to build the relationship and between the coaching staff and the fans, you build the relationship through winning games.

“At the moment we cannot match the expectation, and if we cannot match the expectation are we going to ask for love? Normally in football you pay with the frustration as the coach or the people above. I don’t ask for anything. I’m going to continue to work to try to change this perception and win games. We have now one week to prepareNewcastle, to try to win and keep pushing."

Chelsea remain marooned in the bottom half of the Premier League table, in 11th, and are actually closer to the relegation zone than the top four. The Blues have won as many games as they have lost this season but they do remain in with a chance of silverware, as they are playing Leicester City in the FA Cup quarter-finals in two weeks.

Every game will feel like a must-win fixture for Pochettino now, and they face Newcastle next, before playing Leicester in the FA Cup. It remains to be seen what the reaction will be if the Blues lose both games.