In the wake of Andre Villas-Boas' sacking as Chelsea manager it is wondered what will become not just of him but of the Chelsea job itself. Former player Roberto Di Matteo is taking on the burden of lifting this Chelsea team and making them trudge on until the end of the season but after that will he be handed the job on a more permanent basis or will the Chelsea hierarchy give the job to someone else?
AVB was handed a squad of players who mostly were only a couple of years his junior with him being the youngest manager in the top flight. After an awful recent run of form of just three wins in their last twelve league games, Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich's patience had run out with the below-par results and performances given by the Chelsea team. Villas-Boas' failure to control a dressing room with egos such as John Terry, Ashley Cole, Didier Drogba and Frank Lampard was also a major cause in his subsequent sacking from the Chelsea job.
Speculation is rife as to who will succeed the young Portuguese manager on a permanent basis with interim manager Roberto Di Matteo using the rest of the season as an audition but since his job at West Brom which he didn't do so well in, he became an understudy to AVB and the two couldn't control the dressing room of egotistical Chelsea stars. We will see how he uses the rest of the season to his advantage and whether it puts him in good stead with his bosses.
Favourite for the permanent Chelsea role is reportedly Rafa Benitez, the former Liverpool boss has a good CV after winning major trophies (F.A cup and Champions league) with Liverpool and he is also only the third manager to have won the UEFA cup (now Europa League) and Champions League in successive seasons (behind Bob Paisley and Jose Mourinho) and he also led Liverpool to a 2nd place finish in the Premiership behind Man United and they also finished the calendar year of 2008 top of the Premier League for the first time since 1996. He is also noted as being the man who improved the form of Jamie Carragher and Steven Gerrard while at Anfield and bringing the likes of Jose Reina, Xabi Alonso and Glen Johnson to Anfield. He has been out of a job now since December 2010 after his departure from Inter Milan which was rather unceremonious after a rough start despite winning the Club World Championship he departed just six months after being given his role. Benitez is also the most realistic candidate for the job with others still in noteworthy positions at their clubs.
Next in the bookies odds are ex-England manager Fabio Capello and Barcelona boss Pep Guardiola. Capello is a good shout for Chelsea boss because he is a respected tactician in the football world and his man-management skills are good enough to be able to curb the Chelsea dressing room's egotistical enthusiasm and he publicly backed John Terry after he resigned as England manager when the F.A. took away John Terry's England captaincy. He also has a good CV boasting La Liga titles with Real Madrid and Serie A titles with Roma, Juventus and AC Milan (it's worth noting that both Serie A titles were revoked due to the Calciopoli scandal, but Capello resigned after the scandal was revealed).
Pep Guardiola is an outside shout to take the Chelsea manager job as he is currently in charge of the best footballing team in the world in Barcelona, he is a young manager with good tactical knowledge and the best squad in the world at his disposal, boasting talents such as Lionel Messi, Alexis Sanchez, Andres Iniesta and Dani Alves. If, however, Chelsea were to land Guardiola, it would be a coup which would ultimately pay off for the London side as Guardiola's CV is one of the best around, he is the only manager ever to win a sextuple (Don't laugh, that means six trophies in a season) and on top of that he has another Champions League and two more La Liga titles, he is also the youngest manager ever to win the Champions League (at the age of 37), he is now one of the most distinguished and respected managers in the world, having won all there is to win in Spain at such a tender age.
Real Madrid manager Jose Mourinho is every Chelsea fans ideal replacement for his Porto understudy Villas-Boas. The Special One's penchant for winning trophies and doing it with such commanding style made him probably every Chelsea fans favourite manager and seeing as he departed in such unceremonious style back in 2007 after a series of disagreements with Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich. After winning 6 trophies in 3 years and remaining unbeaten in all league home games (and having a 9 year home unbeaten run totaling 150 matches), Sporting Gijon broke this unbeaten run and after the match, Mourinho sportingly went into the away dressing room and congratulated the team. It is unlikely that Mourinho will want to leave Real Madrid at the moment with them being in such a commanding position in both the Champions League and La Liga, his team have this year become the fifth team ever to have won all six Champions League group stage games and it was the team's 15th consecutive win, equaling a club record set 50 years ago. Maybe Mourinho will feel he has unfinished business at Chelsea and he would certainly be the ideal candidate in many (if not all) Chelsea fan's eyes.
Who do you think will succeed Andre Villas-Boas as permanent Chelsea manager?
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