Chelsea chiefs are said to be closely monitoring Antonio Conte's situation at the club
Gus Poyet says Chelsea can’t afford to sack Antonio Conte before their ‘massive’ Champions League clash with Barcelona, and should wait until the summer to change their boss.
Conte’s immediate future at Stamford Bridge now looks in serious doubt following Wednesday’s shock 3-0 defeat to Bournemouth at Stamford Bridge.
The Italian boss has reportedly been unhappy with the club ever since the summer after missing out on a number of transfer targets, and their business over January seems to have caused more concern.
Chelsea’s search for a back-up striker dominated the headlines throughout the window and they eventually signed Olivier Giroud from Arsenal for £18million on deadline day.
But with Michy Batshuayi sent on loan to Borussia Dortmund and Alvaro Morata injured, it meant Conte was without a recognised striker for the Bournemouth game and the Cherries took full advantage.
It has long been rumoured that Conte will look to leave the London club at the end of the season, but reports after the stunning defeat have suggested the Chelsea hierarchy are closely monitoring the boss and could even cut their ties with the Italian before then.
However, Poyet insists that would only upset the team more, with valuable silverware still up for grabs in the FA Cup and Champions League.
“It doesn’t look right from outside,” the former Blues midfielder told the Alan Brazil Sports Breakfast.
“Obviously we don’t know what is happening inside, but this is not coming from the last month, this is coming from the summer.
“I think Conte had a clear idea of what he wanted to do, but unfortunately it was not possible to create in terms of players coming and leaving.
“That created a little bit of insecurity, things were changing, the team was not performing, Man City are flying, and then you put that all together and you get what happened yesterday.
“You can say that it’s only one game, but it’s a game that can hurt them a lot."
Asked about Conte’s current situation, Poyet added: “I would leave the manager until the end of the season.
“It’s very important not to create another issue with another manager, with another system and another mentality ahead of a massive Champions League game.
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