This picture that suggests Chelsea fans are turning on Todd Boehly

Disgruntled supporters venting their feelings against chairmen and owners of football clubs is nothing new, although less common than jeers directed at managers, teams and individual players. But an owner having a go back, as Todd Boehly of Chelsea appeared to do after Saturday's 2-1 home defeat by Brighton & Hove Albion, marks something of a departure even in the chequered recent history of goings-on at Stamford Bridge. Even Ken Bates usually directed his ire via his programme notes.

The directors' box at Stamford Bridge was always a haven of calm under Roman Abramovich, an occasional flicker of emotion across the Russian's usually impassive features when in attendance during the early years of his ownership as exciting as it got. And with the sustained success that his investment brought, complaints were few.

But fans above the owner's box in the West Stand were pictured leaning over the parapet above Boehly's seat to express their frustrations during and after Saturday's game and he is clearly remonstrating back with them.

In fairness, the American is probably just as frustrated with performances on the pitch as the supporters are, in view of his consortium's investment of approaching £5 billion. The long-term plan he imagined when shelling out £21 million to bring Graham Potter and his staff from Saturday's victors in autumn last year is in ruins, a fact that must have stung even more as Brighton outplayed his expensively-assembled squad with a team built on a relatively small budget and with the second-lowest wage bill in the Premier League.

When interim head coach Frank Lampard made a desperate and ultimately unsuccessful quadruple substitution in the second half, it must have set some sort of record in the transfer values of the eight players involved: the four hauled off – Raheem Sterling, Enzo Fernández, Christian Pulisic and Wesley Fofana – alone cost £281.5 million.

Any suggestion that Boehly might already have tired of an investment that has turned very sour very quickly is surely well wide of the mark, however. He overpaid to buy the club, but his view was surely on the returns from future TV deals and the possible return of a European Super League in some form.

Assuming that Boehly is in it for the long haul, what now? A roof over the directors' box? He could always sack Lampard, who, after all, has a 100 per cent losing record in his second reign, albeit only after three matches. But better surely to wait until Tuesday's home second leg against Real Madrid and hope for a miracle that the former club hero was surely re-hired to deliver.

Brighton are enjoying the best season in their history, but still want more.

Boehly, of course, probably aspired to something similar when he tempted Potter from Brighton in autumn, paving the way for them to hire De Zerbi. It is that approach that Chelsea need now.