What next for Chelsea after Emma Hayes?

“We’ve got to kill the unicorn,” says Emma Hayes, in her audiobook of that name. “All leaders make poor decisions at some point in their careers because they are human. None of us have a crystal ball. Perhaps it’s best not to believe the hype.”

The problem is the hype around Hayes, manager of the Chelsea women’s team, is justifiable considering she has won six Women’s Super League (WSL) titles and five FA Cups in her 11 years with the London club. The very identity of the side she oversees is inextricably linked to Hayes.

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The 47-year-old, however, does not believe a leader should be seen as a “magical creature able to solve any problem”.

But what happens when such a figurehead leaves? And, in this case, the assistant, too — as is expected to be the case with Denise Reddy.

The timing of the news of Hayes’ impending departure came as a shock and there is an unfamiliar feeling of uncertainty among the Chelsea women’s team. There is no ready-made plan in place and the club are yet to start their recruitment process.

They are in no rush to do so, with the season not ending for another six months. But no one knows what the next chapter looks like.

So what now for Chelsea?

Chelsea say Hayes will leave at the end of this season, not before. Whether she will work with the USWNT during international windows between now and next May is yet to be determined. Chelsea, however, will want Hayes’ full focus for the remainder of their 2023-24 campaign.

The players were told the news straight after a dominant 6-0 away win against Aston Villa on Saturday. Sadness was the overriding feeling, especially given many of them owe their career progression to Hayes. Her departure may incentivise them to win as much silverware as possible and have one last crack at winning that elusive Champions League title. No doubt it adds more pressure and emotions will crank up a notch but the team may thrive off that.

On the flip side, players’ performances may dip.

Sir Alex Ferguson, a source of inspiration for Hayes, regretted telling his Manchester United players he was going to retire at the end of the 2001-02 season a year in advance, and ended up staying in the job until the summer of 2013.

“When the team thought I would be leaving, they slackened off,” Ferguson wrote in his autobiography. “A constant tactic of mine was always to have my players on the edge…the must-win approach. I took my eye off the ball, thinking too far ahead, and wondering who would replace me. It’s human nature, in those circumstances, to relax a bit, and to say, ‘I’m not going to be here next year’.”

Caution should be taken when replacing somebody who has been at the helm for so long.

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“Organisations outlive leaders as long as the right framework is in place,” says Hayes. Chelsea, after all, had a 100 per cent win record when their manager was absent for six weeks following an emergency hysterectomy in October last year. Paul Green, Chelsea’s general manager who shares an office with Hayes, took on media duties during that time, while Reddy led the coaching side.

“None of this is an accident,” Hayes said upon her return. “It’s been developed by us all over a long period… the environment can take care of itself.”

But with Reddy, who has been Hayes’ friend for more than 20 years, also expected to leave, Chelsea need a new manager and a new No 2.

Who could come in?

Chelsea haven’t yet approached anyone and there is not an official list of candidates. But, given their stature, the talent pool they will be fishing in is relatively shallow.

The new manager will need to have excellent people-management skills, be capable of handling big characters, rotating a large squad, having difficult conversations and making tough decisions. Hayes mastered all that and got the best out of individuals. This is not a first-time role for an inexperienced manager.

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Casey Stoney, head coach of NWSL side San Diego Wave and that league’s coach of the year for the 2022 season, is a logical candidate. A former Chelsea player who joined them at age 12 and took on the role of their player-manager on an interim basis in 2009, the 41-year-old managed the newly formed Manchester United women’s team from 2018-21.

The 130-cap England international has experience in the WSL, executes game plans well and has a similar straight-talking attitude to Hayes. The question is whether Stoney would want to return to England and take the Chelsea job, given her partner Megan and their three children have only just joined her in California.

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Elsewhere in the NWSL, Laura Harvey of Seattle-based OL Reign is another possibility. She started her managerial career in England with Birmingham City and won the WSL with Arsenal in 2011 and 2012. The 43-year-old has also coached England youth teams.

A three-time NWSL coach of the year, Harvey has plied her trade in the U.S. at club and international level. She was assistant to USWNT head coach Vlatko Andonovski in 2021 and has managed the Americans’ under-20 and under-23 teams. In July, she extended her contract with OL Reign — who could be crowned NWSL champions this weekend — until 2025, so, as with Stoney, the question is whether she wants to move back to the UK.

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Former Barcelona manager Lluis Cortes, 37, is not in a job at the moment after he decided against renewing his contract with the Ukraine women’s national team when it expired in August. Cortes had led Barcelona to their first Champions League title in 2020-21 but that summer decided to step down after two and a half years in charge. “I don’t feel I have the energy to keep leading this team,” he said in a club statement.

Recruiting from within the WSL looks unlikely.

Arsenal took a left-field approach by hiring, at the time, a relatively unknown Jonas Eidevall from Swedish club Rosengard as Joe Montemurro’s replacement in the summer of 2021.

The club will do their due diligence and remain equally open-minded. There is not one candidate who jumps out straight away and rushed appointments are rarely good ones.

Chelsea may want to hire a new manager at the start of 2024, so they can have a handover period while Hayes is still at the club, but it is unclear if she will be part of the recruitment process.

What else will change?

For Chelsea players, it will be a period of uncertainty.

Their two biggest stars, Sam Kerr and Fran Kirby, as well as Ann-Katrin Berger and Maren Mjelde, are out of contract next summer. They may not sign new deals now Hayes is leaving. Alternatively, they may be reassured when the new manager is confirmed. Equally, Chelsea may not want to offer new contracts until Hayes’ successor comes in and decides who they want and don’t want.

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It will also affect the team’s future recruitment.

For a long time, their scouting has been based on signing Hayes’ type of player. Chelsea are known to be masters of succession planning and scout players one year, 18 months, or even two years ahead of time, but a new manager may want to introduce a new tactical style.

Prospective players, whether they liked Hayes as a person or not, knew what they were getting. Most often, the manager was a big selling point for Chelsea and players joined the club because of her.

It will be very hard to replace a manager who continued to push players while also being the mother hen.

Whether it was showing motivational clips from leading U.S. college basketball coach Kara Lawson, having the squad wear Arsenal shirts in training to help them mentally with overcoming their London rivals in 2012, getting photographers to pick up on the body language of her team or giving the players greeting cards with handwritten individual motivational messages inside before a big cup final, Hayes kept things fresh.

“As a leader, you develop a distance while remaining close enough to smell their fears and sense their problems,” Hayes says in her audiobook.

Whoever comes in next has some big shoes to fill.

(Top photo: Tristan Fewings – UEFA/UEFA via Getty Images)

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