Attention already turning to next season for Clotet as the Blues prepare to wind things down

You can never be too early to start preparing for the future.

The fact that we’re talking about the last ten games of the season is somewhat daunting, it really shows how close we are to the end of the season.

And with that comes the chance for plans for next season to start making their way in for a number of clubs, and the Blues are certainly one of them, and Pep Clotet knows that. Speaking in his press conference ahead of today’s game with Reading, the Spaniard pointed out that the next batch of games are all going to be used to get things in plans for next season.

“We want to get ourselves to a position where it is clear how we need to improve next season, that is clear what we need to tweak and adding and improving. When it comes to our position in the league, I feel pride when it comes to think about it because we picked 18 points out of the last ten matches and only Fulham picked up 21 – more than us. It is a very good position and very good work, but we stick to the mentality of one-game-at-a-time, Reading and competing for the three points.”

And he had better get his preparation spot on, because next year is going to be the real test for him.

I’ve spoken before about how this season essentially shouldn’t count when it comes to judging Clotet, because of how new he and his methods are to the club, and to a lesser extent all the things that he’s got going on above him, but when it comes to next season, we need to see a marked improvement from where we have been this campaign.

I’ve stuck up for Clotet a lot of times this season, and do think he’s done an incredible job all things considered, and with this recent run of results, even if there are one too many draws shows the progress that he can make, but that needs to continue into next season.

Otherwise all the pressure that was on Clotet earlier in the season from the fans might be making a comeback.