The pressure has increased on under-siege Chelsea manager Claudio Ranieri with chief executive Peter Kenyon labelling the season a "failure". Chelsea coach Ranieri has led the club to their most successful season in 49 years, culminating in a second-placed Premiership finish and a Champions League semi-final appearance.
However, while Stamford Bridge chief Kenyon thanked the players and staff for their efforts at a dinner for supporters last night, Ranieri's future is still clouded in doubt.
According to the Evening Standard, Kenyon told the audience: "I'm on record on this and you should look at what John Terry said. He as club captain feels the players have failed.
"I've been around enough footballers who've thrown away their runners-up medals because they're not proud of them," he added. "Finishing second in the league and reaching the semi-finals of the Champions League is a good achievement and thanks to everyone involved in that, the players and the staff.
"We've had a good season but are not where everyone at Chelsea wants us to be. We want to do better than this next season and better than that the season after."
Ranieri is being forced to play a waiting game by Chelsea. Although the Stamford Bridge boss has for some time described himself as a "dead man walking" he does not know officially whether Saturday's Premiership clash at home to Leeds United will be his last at the club.
His only consolation is that he is on a long contract and will be entitled to a hefty pay-off if he is sacked once the season is over.
Kenyon added yesterday: "There has been no decision taken on Claudio Ranieri and no new manager appointed.
"We conduct our discussions privately with Claudio and are not about to change that. If you do not believe me that's unfortunate. The decision will be taken over the next few weeks."
Whether or not Ranieri is around to oversee it, there is set to be a flurry of transfer activity at the club, just like last summer.
"The budget has not been set yet but players will be coming in, players will be going out," said Kenyon. "We will bring in a number of new players this season and have to bring them in early so they can be integrated into the squad.
"We do not just bring players in because we like their name, it's about making the team better."
Former Chelsea chairman Ken Bates believes the club's owner Roman Abramovich has made manager Claudio Ranieri suffer "the death of a thousand cuts" by never admitting whether he faces the sack this summer.
Bates, whose controlling stake in the London club was bought by Abramovich last July, had a ruthless reputation where his managers were concerned - sacking Gianluca Vialli in September 2000 despite the Italian winning the FA Cup four months earlier.
However, the outspoken septuagenarian - now looking to invest in Sheffield Wednesday - insists he never left the threat of dismissal hanging in the way Abramovich apparently has.
"I've sacked a few managers in my time but I've done it 'bang - out'. I haven't done the death of a thousand cuts - if you want to change your manager, you change your manager. There's a way to do it and a way not to do it," Bates concluded.
