TODD BOEHLY appeared to row with Chelsea fans as tensions remained high at a toxic Stamford Bridge.
The new co-owner was in the directors’ box for Saturday’s 2-1 defeat to Brighton.
Chelsea took the lead through Conor Gallagher’s deflected strike but the Seagulls battled back thanks to a Danny Welbeck header and Julio Enciso’s thunderbolt.
And a fired-up Boehly was pictured gesticulating and seemingly arguing with frustrated Blues fans.
The American billionaire engaged in conversation with the disgruntled supporters as they leaned over the barrier from the tier above and made their feelings clear.
He and co-owner Behdad Eghbali then went into the home dressing room to talk to the squad for an HOUR after full-time as the winless run extended to six matches.
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Things have not gone to plan for Boehly since buying Chelsea from Roman Abramovich for £4.25billion last May.
Despite spending £600million on new players, the Blues are on to their third manager of the season, slumped 11th in the table and set to be dumped out of the Champions League.
Chelsea lost 2-0 away at Real Madrid, despite Boehly boldly predicting a 3-0 win in the Bernabeu for his goal-shy side.
One fan joked Boehly was saying: “Don’t blame me. It was James Corden who picked Frank Lampard,” following SunSport’s exclusive revelation of the comic’s influence.
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Another dubbed one of the angry fans leaning over as a “legend in my book”.
Saturday’s result – defeat No12 in the Premier League – meant interim boss Frank Lampard has lost all three games since returning to Chelsea and replacing Graham Potter until the end of the campaign.
And the Chelsea caretaker was in no mood to sugar-coat their latest low ahead of Tuesday’s daunting Champions League second leg against Real Madrid.
Lamps said: “It wasn’t good enough. All the basic parts of football — to fight, to run — we were short on.
“I’m disappointed on every level. The better team won — and they could have won by more. It’s a really good Brighton team so we must give them credit.
“But in the basics of football we were short — a yard short, a tackle short, a fighting duel moment short.
“When that’s not right you’re not going to win games. We have to address that very quickly, because that’s not a Chelsea performance.
“I didn’t like what I saw today. I’m not going to try to dress that up in any way. I don’t think the players would expect me to.
“There should be a feeling when you play for Chelsea of pride involved.”
Chelsea, 11th in the Premier League, are now a whopping 34 points behind leaders Arsenal.
And both Boehly and Lampard must be under no illusions about how big a task the interim boss has on his hands.
Lampard said: “It’s not for me to talk about where the lack of intensity and aggression is coming from. But it’s for me to try to get to the bottom of it quickly and change it.
“The things that are a must in a performance for Chelsea at Stamford Bridge against Brighton — who can play — are sprints, recovery runs, getting up to people and recovering.
“And then when you get the ball, to stick to ideas you want to stick to.
“We came away from that, the capacity wasn’t there. We certainly have work to do.”
Brighton’s travelling faithful revelled in completing an emphatic double over the West Londoners, following the 4-1 thumping in October.
They taunted Lampard as a “s*** Graham Potter” in a cheeky swipe at his nightmare start.
And they even chanted: “You’re getting sacked in the morning.”
The Brighton fans were in top form – just like their heroes on the pitch – as they also burst into a hilarious chant calling Cody Gakpo “one of our own” following a blunder on the big screen.
As for Chelsea, it was a miserable afternoon with only goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga walking away with any credit.
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And the result could have been even worse as the away side were denied yet another penalty by a questionable VAR call.
Referee Robert Jones and VAR official Chris Kavanagh failed to award a spot-kick despite Christian Pulisic handling the ball in the area.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
