Book review - Palpable Discord: A year of drama and dissent at Chelsea

If there were two words that came to sum-up Chelsea's abysmal last season, it was these: 'Palpable discord'.

Coming from the mouth of technical director Michael Emenalo, and describing the dressing room situation which ended in the second sacking of Jose Mourinho , they were lampooned by some, used as an ironic brickbat by others.

And those are the words Clayton Beerman has taken as the title of his debut book: a look at the rollercoaster that was Chelsea 2015-16, from a fans-eye view.

Subtitled 'A year of drama and dissent at Chelsea', this page-turner chronicles the descent through the various stages of grief at the loss of a title, a manager, and a sizeable quantity of belief in the custodianship of a club, as Blues slumped to their lowest position in a generation.

Throughout, Beerman uses the benefit of several decades of Chelsea support behind him to keep a level head.

Which is not to say, over the course of Chelsea's fall from grace, he doesn't go through the clear signs of loss: foreboding, dismay, anger, regret.

Some of the decisions that led up to the dismissal of Mourinho are beyond his comprehension – a position in which he is not alone.

But there are seldom any clearer answers once Chelsea's greatest ever manager, a man for whom he has the very highest regard, is gone.

The book is essentially an anthology of pub debates: and having personally had the pleasure, on a number of occasions, of debating in the pub with Beerman – it is as engaging, passionate and furrowed-of-brow as I had hoped to find.

I discovered, on reading the collection together, that a picture emerged of a season that perhaps wasn't so clear when it was watched in real time.

Reading the first half of the book it is difficult to avoid the conclusion that Mourinho's sacking was an inevitability that had been looming since pre-season: and there are some unspoken theories watermarked in the pages about just who benefited from that.

Video: Watch Chelsea's Premier League demise put into perspective

Though Beerman is clear towards the end that this was no conspiracy on the part of Mourinho.

By his own admission a novice writer, his style noticeably matures as the book goes on – just as the things he is called to comment upon become less rational, and more unfathomable to the fan.

Frustration with the concern of firefighter Guus Hiddik only to relatively douse down the inferno is clear and, at the very last, he asks whether the whole sordid business was worth it.

Not everyone will agree with Beerman's main stance: that Mourinho was the victim – albeit one who managed to sustain more than a few self-inflicted wounds.

But the reasoning hroughout is flawless, impassioned, and will ring true with pretty much all who lived through this worst season in recent memory.

If you experienced these events first hand and weren't quite sure what happened; if you're still mildly traumatised by the full turn of events and want some closure; or if you're still filled with rage about something that surely never needed happen, this could be the book for you.

Hopefully, now that he has the bug, this will not be Beerman's only foray into publishing. And hopefully, volume two will chronicle a more positive series of events.

More about Palpable Discord: A year of drama and dissent at Chelsea and how you can purchase the book is available here .