Chelsea stars in revolt against Mauricio Pochettino’s axing as Nicolas Jackson and Moises Caicedo break rank to post their disbelief – after players found out about it on social media

A number of Chelsea stars, including striker Nicolas Jackson and Moises Caicedo, the club’s record British signing, appear to have expressed their dissatisfaction at the club’s parting ways with manager Mauricio Pochettino.

Chelsea announced on Tuesday evening that the Argentine manager would leave the club by mutual consent after 11 turbulent months at Stamford Bridge, following a sixth-place finish in the Premier League.

Pochettino was subjected to an internal review after the end of the season by co-sporting directors Paul Winstanley and Laurence Stewart, as well as co-controlling owner Behdad Egbhali, with talks on Monday and Tuesday ultimately announcing the 52-year-old’s departure. .

The former Tottenham manager had one year left on his contract and despite an uneven season, the strong finish to the season – which saw the club remain unbeaten on five occasions in the Premier League – suggested Pochettino’s plans were gaining momentum amid a greater cohesion in the team.

The outgoing head coach was described as a remarkable man-manager by a number of his players, and in the wake of Tuesday night’s decision, some took to social media to share tributes to Pochettino in a special way.

The manager said goodbye to the club on Tuesday after eleven months in west London

The 52-year-old helped develop his players under difficult circumstances last season

Jackson, who moved to Chelsea from Villarreal at the start of the season, took the strongest position, first posting a photo of himself and his former manager, simply captioned with two emojis of a man putting his face in his hands.

His second Instagram Story caption read, “I love you coach. I wish we could stick together more (hand-over-face emoji).

“But may God continue to bless you and your family. Thank you for the advice and support, you are a true lion and a fighter, I wish you all the best (heart emoji).”

Jackson struggled for form at times and suffered from an unfortunate record of near misses. Jackson finished the season with 17 goals in all competitions, surpassing club legend Didier Drogba’s record of 16 in the first season of 2004–05.

Jackson appeared to suggest that Pochettino’s management had been crucial in achieving his numbers, with the coach often receiving support on behalf of his players throughout the season.

Late last month, Mail Sport reported that plans to sack Pochettino would risk a dressing room backlash over their relationship with the manager, who has been a compassionate figure at Cobham.

Jacksons expressed his regret that he could no longer work under his head coach

The forward also shared a post from Pochettino from November, highlighting his attributes

As if to underline the lost relationship, Jackson re-shared a post that Pochettino had posted to his own Instagram account in November, which featured an image of himself alongside Jackson, Enzo Fernandez and Marc Cucurella.

“Extremely proud and happy of the players for the attitude and the results they achieved in two difficult games this week,” Pochettino wrote after the 4-1 win against Tottenham and the 4-4 draw against Manchester City.

‘It is very satisfying to go to an international break with this feeling, although I would prefer if we had another match sooner!

‘We want to build something special @Chelsea and this is exactly the way we want the players to perform and feel.

‘We have had some high and low moments already this season and the players are showing everyone that they are capable of competing with any team. Thank you everyone for continuing to show so much support for the team (fist bump emoji).”

Despite often suffering from a lack of clinical edge, Jackson finished the season with 17 goals

Caicedo heralded an exceptional ‘person and coach’ in his Instagram tribute to Pochettino

The Ecuadorian is another player who has improved dramatically throughout the season

Caicedo is another player who appeared to regret his club’s decision, and one who has similarly endured a tortuous journey through west London following his blockbuster £115million transfer in August.

After a successful debut for West Ham, with the midfielder conceding the match-winning penalty after coming off the bench, Caicedo has taken time to relax at Stamford Bridge.

But as the season has progressed, Caicedo – who played in 35 Premier League games in his debut season in blue – has distinguished himself as one of the standout players in the side, capping off a brilliant finish with an astonishing wonder goal against Bournemouth in the last day of the season.

Caicedo posted a photo of himself shaking hands with Pochettino and wrote: ‘Sir! It was a pleasure (tearful emoji).

‘I wish you all the best for the future! What a person and what a coach (blue heart emoji).’

Mykhailo Mudryk thanked his outgoing manager ‘for everything’ when news of his departure broke

Pochettino is said to have spent time boosting the Ukrainian’s confidence after a difficult start in west London

Mark Cucurella, meanwhile, shared three shocked emojis in his social media response, while Noni Madueke (right) added an apostrophe to his post

Cucurella seemed shocked by the news, sharing three wide-eyed emojis with the message: “Thank you for everything sir. Good luck in the future (blue heart emoji).

Other players including Premier League Young Player of the Season Cole Palmer, Noni Madueke, Carney Chukwuemeka and Mykhailo Mudryk – with whom Pochettino is believed to have taken time to build the winger’s confidence – all shared their own tributes and thanked the manager .

One star reportedly happier with the news is forgotten man Malang Sarr, who liked the club’s announcement post on Instagram while training with Chelsea’s youth teams after being deemed surplus to requirements.

Controlling the player row could be a challenge for the club, who are thought to have withheld the news from the squad, with one player’s representative saying his client was ‘devastated’ by the decision, and there the rest of the world found out at the same time.

Mail Sport reported on Tuesday evening that Pochettino probably wanted to have more say over the signings at the club and over the players he wanted to keep. Both Trevoh Chalobah and Conor Gallagher, who have been used heavily this season when available, are believed to be earmarked for sale by the Chelsea hierarchy.

Pochettino is said to have had to deal with the likely departure of academy graduates Conor Gallagher (right) and

Despite finishing in the European places, another season would have been without Champions League football and silverware for the Argentine

Missing out on silverware despite reaching the Carabao Cup final and failing to secure a Champions League place are also believed to have been factors in the rift between the club and their head coach.

Chelsea will now look for a suitable replacement for Argentina, looking for someone ‘young and progressive’ in an overloaded management market.

Early candidates thought to be in line include Ipswich’s Kieran McKenna, who led the side to back-to-back promotions and a return to the Premier League, Stuttgart’s Sebastian Hoeness, and Girona manager Michel.