Sixth place secured after five consecutive victories, two trips to Wembley and one gifted showman given a platform he’d been denied in Manchester. Mauricio Pochettino’s first season at Chelsea ended with promise, suggesting that this mess – the club’s desire to buy every player on Big Website’s Next Generation list – could perhaps still be untangled, the Argentinian’s lemons finally working. But This Is Chelsea Football Club We’re Talking About. Logic has rarely applied at Stamford Bridge in recent years, which means Pochettino can’t switch off his phone for the holidays, his job apparently under threat.

Always on the hunt for a shiny new toy, the shopaholics at Chelsea have added Kieran McKenna to their wishlist as a potential replacement for Pochettino, the Ipswich wunderkind (in manager years) having taken the Tractor Boys back to the Premier League after consecutive promotions. Brighton, who have an actual vacancy after Roberto De Zerbi’s departure, are trying to lure the 38-year-old down south, presumably selling themselves as a club that actually like having someone stick around for at least a year. Then again, history tells us that a stint at Brighton could make McKenna even more attractive to Todd Boehly and co.

We seem set for a summer dominated not by the movement of players but of managerial moves across the continent. Jobs are now up for grabs at Bayern Munich and Juventus, two giants searching for a resurgence after domestic downturns. Meanwhile the will-he-won’t-he drama continues at Barcelona; having U-turned on his initial decision to leave the club at the end of the season, Xavi has been forced to respond to reports he could still be shown the door marked Do One by the club. Add in the uncertainty around Erik ten Hag – Manchester United have also joined the queue for McKenna, who they’ve got a history with – and a high-profile managerial merry-go-round awaits.

De Zerbi, Thomas Tuchel and Max Allegri are men fresh out of their last adventures, but will any side entice names who have been having a breather? José Mourinho must surely be itching for it four months on from leaving Roma, while Antonio Conte hasn’t worked since lobbing grenades in a press conference at his Tottenham players last year. How about Zinedine Zidane, who’s had three years off? That dashing suit-and-tie look has been missed on the sidelines. And who will have the gumption to make the boldest move of all, to ignore the Do Not Disturb hanger and wake Jürgen Klopp from his afternoon nap? David Moyes remains, too, though presumably only until West Ham ring him up for another crack at it.

“These are difficult calls, you are talking about players who are very good players who have been an important part of what we have done. With Marcus [Rashford], I feel players in the same area of the pitch have had better seasons, it’s as simple as that. Hendo has given himself every chance, the determining factor is the [knack] he picked up in the last camp, he missed five weeks and he just hasn’t been able to get to the intensity since the games since then. He is a fantastic professional and it was a difficult call to make” – Gareth Southgate explains why he axed two big names from his provisional England squad for the Euros. Hopefully Henderson’s Euros-ending knack wasn’t caused by that performative pressing at Ajax.

Thanks to our friends at the Guardian Print Shop, we are giving away more David Squires cartoons. To enter, just write us a letter for publication below. We will choose the best of our letter o’ the day winners at the end of each week and that worthy winner will be given a voucher for one of our top, top cartoonist’s prints. And if you’re not successful, you can scan the full archive of David’s cartoons here and then buy your own. Terms and conditions for the competition can be viewed here.

Further to your paean to Ian Wright (yesterday’s Football Daily), he once came into a school where I was chair of the Schools Trust. He came to visit the special needs unit which he was supporting. As he signed in, I told the receptionist look after this man, he played for the greatest football club ever. Ian smiled and then I said ‘Glasgow Celtic’. Wrighty collapsed in laughter. Great man as well as footballer” – Danny Sullivan.

I do think you missed some of the better parts of Dan Sucu’s justification for appointing Neil Lennon as the new Rapid Bucharest manager (yesterday’s News, Bits and Bobs, full email edition): ‘I am convinced that we will no longer have players who demonstrate their speed at three in the morning from the disco or on the ski slopes, or who show up to the team with extra pounds than the optimal weight. I am also convinced that next season the physical preparation, commitment and determination of our team will be at a significantly increased level compared to the season just ended.’ Just about the only thing the team might lack then appears to be, say, ability?” – Ken Muir.

Send letters to [email protected]. Today’s letter o’ the day winner is … Ken Muir, who now has the chance to win a David Squires cartoon from our print shop at the end of the week. Terms and conditions for all this can be viewed here.

Like a cartoonist Candyman, say David Squires’ name that many times and he’ll produce a new strip, here on the end of the Premier League season.

The former Germany defender Karl-Heinz Schnellinger, who played at four World Cups, has died in Italy at the age of 85.

Tony Mowbray has stood down as Birmingham City manager as he targets making a full recovery after major surgery for an unnamed illness.

Scotland’s upcoming Euro 2025 qualifier against Israel will be played at an empty Hampden following intelligence over “planned disruptions”.

Morecambe directors have warned the League Two club faces a “catastrophic outcome” unless the current owners agree to sell up.

Nottingham Forest have waved cheerio to Felipe, Cheikhou Kouyaté and Wayne Hennessey after their contracts expired.

Mo Salah sounds like he is well up for the Arne Slot era at Liverpool. “We know that trophies are what count and we will do everything possible to make that happen next season,” he roared on social media abomination TwiXer. “Our fans deserve it and we will fight like hell.”

And perhaps because he wears a club cap well, Vincent Kompany is a surprise candidate on the shortlist for the Bayern Munich job.

Toni Kroos will call time on his outrageously good career after Euro 2024. The Germany midfielder with seemingly laser-guided boots, confirmed that the Big Cup final against old foes Dortmund would be his final match for Real Madrid and that he will play his last-ever match at the tournament in his homeland. “My career as an active footballer will end this summer after the Euro Championship,” he sobbed. “As I have always said: Real Madrid is and will be my last club. I am happy and proud, that in my mind I found the right timing for my decision and that I could choose it by my own. My ambition was always to finish my career at the peak of my performance level.”

Bayern Munich’s Magdalena Eriksson is on deck for the latest edition of our sister email, writing to remind everyone that Leverkusen aren’t the only undefeated champions in Germany this season.

From sorting Mo Salah’s future to wooing the Kop: Arne Slot’s Liverpool in-tray. Here’s Barney Ronay on why the former Feyenoord is a gamble worth taking and Oussama Idrissi, who played under the Dutchman, on why he’s a perfect fit to replace Klopp at Anfield.

“A huge loss”: fans have their say on Jürgen Klopp’s departure from Liverpool.

Our Premier League 2023-24 review content is not done yet, baby. Here are our writers’ best and worst moments from the season – and if it’s a big quiz you want, then get stuck into this.

Were Big Website’s Premier League predictions accurate? Erm, not entirely.

How a slogan pinned up by Pep Guardiola in October fired Manchester City to history. By Jamie Jackson.

And Canada boss Jesse Marsch gets his chat on with Joe Callaghan about how the USA USA USA missed out by not appointing him and much more, man!

To a trendy London gala in October 2003 and a man whose name is a byword for fashion, alongside Giorgio Armani.