Chelsea ‘have let the fans down’

Chelsea let their supporters down by failing to secure European qualification on the final day of the Premier League season, Calum McFarlane admitted. 

The Blues ended a disappointing campaign with a 2-1 defeat at Sunderland, where Wesley Fofana was sent off.

They finished ninth in the Premier League table and will not be in European action in incoming manager Xabi Alonso’s first season at the helm.

“The feeling in the dressing room is obviously of disappointment,” McFarlane said.

“We wanted to win today and make the best of a bad situation and get into the Europa League. We weren’t able to do that. We didn’t get the performance we wanted, or the result.

“The message to the fans—we’re as disappointed as them. We’re gutted that we couldn’t do it for them.

“They’ve been brilliant this year. They’ve really supported us, especially in the last couple of weeks when we’ve needed to win games.

“You felt their presence and unfortunately, we’ve let them down today. We weren’t able to put the performance in that they deserve.

“It’s quite a disappointing end to the season. We should be finishing a lot higher up the league.

“For me, with this group of players and the talent we have, we should be in the Champions League.

“We’ve been too inconsistent at times this year, and it’s ultimately cost us.”

Chelsea’s disciplinary record has been poor all season, with Fofana’s dismissal for two bookable offences leaving them with 10 men once again.

And McFarlane admitted: “It’s definitely an issue. It’s definitely a problem.

“I think we’re by far the team that’s got the most red cards in the league. If you look at Arsenal, for example, who have won the league, I don’t think they had one red card.

“So it doesn’t help to have that many red cards. It’s definitely something we need to look at and improve for next year.”