Calum McFarlane has apologised after Chelsea failed to qualify for European football, saying the side had ‘let the fans down’.
Wesley Fofana was sent off as the Blues slumped to a 2-1 defeat away at Sunderland on the final day of the season. Victory at the Stadium of Light would have been enough to qualify them for the Europa League, but they instead make the long journey back south empty-handed having finished tenth in the Premier League.
The Blues took a paltry four points from their last nine league matches of the season, and as a result will play no European football in their first season under new manager Xabi Alonso.
Interim boss McFarlane will stay with the club in Alonso’s backroom staff, and apologised to supporters at full-time for falling short on Wearside.
“Disappointing end to the season,” he said, in a characteristically blunt assessment of Chelsea’s final day performance.
“With the talent we have, we should be in the Champions League, but we've been too inconsistent and it's ultimately cost us.”
It has been a tumultuous season at Chelsea, who dispensed with two full-time managers in Enzo Maresca and Liam Rosenior, prompting multiple senior players to publicly speak out against the club’s hierarchy.
Rosenior’s departure in late April left the club fighting an uphill battle to get back into Europe, but a grim run in interspersed with defeat in the FA Cup final left their place in Europe to be decided on the final day.
“We wanted to win today, make the best of a bad situation and get into the Europa League. We didn't get the performance we wanted,” McFarlane continued, reflecting on Chelsea’s trip to the Stadium of Light.
“The message to the fans – we’re as disappointed as them and we’re gutted we couldn’t do it for them. We felt their presence, and unfortunately we’ve let them down. We weren’t able to put the performance in that they deserved.”
