Roberto Di Matteo has been sacked by Chelsea. Five months and two days after lifting the Champions League in Munich, Roman Abramovich has succumbed to his itchy trigger finger and given the manager the sack.
Di Matteo took over the helm at Chelsea at a time when the club were in turmoil. Following the disastrous reign of Andre Villas Boas, Chelsea were languishing in the Premier League and on the verge of a Champions League exit. Di Matteo was placed in temporary charge and although failed to turn around their league form, went on not only to qualify for the Champions League Quarter Finals but go on and win the whole thing. Not only this, but Di Matteo helped add another FA Cup to the clubs trophy cabinet. And yet here we sit a mere five months down the line and the Italian has followed the vast number of Chelsea bosses to be removed by the impatient Russian. So what is the reason this time?
It is clear that Chelsea’s form has nosedived in recent weeks. From a couple of months ago when they were being lauded for expansive and successful football they are now looking like a frail, fragile team. Once again they are on the verge of an embarrassingly early Champions League exit following defeat by Juventus which takes matters out of Chelsea’s hands. Their league form has tailed off but still they sit in third within touching distance of the leaders. Hardly a crisis is it?
Roman Abramovich places emphasis on the Champions League more than any other competition. Last year he replaced Andre Villas Boas before their second leg against Napoli and they progressed in the Champions League. This time round their chances of qualification look similarly slim. Maybe the Russian believes that a change of manager will produce the same turnaround. But he has sacked the man who won them the competition last year! Surely that deserves a bit of loyalty. But it is widely believed that Abramovich shares the view of most of the footballing world that Chelsea’s success in the competition last year was a fluke. The incredible amount of fortune that saw Di Matteo labelled a lucky manager seems to have run out and the results have worsened. Maybe that is why he is heading out the door.
Perhaps the main reason for his departure though is the fact that Abramovich never wanted him in the first place. When he took over from Villas Boas it was only because he was already there as assistant and even then four or five other candidates turned down the role before it went to Di Matteo. At the end of the season, even after the Champions League success, it took Abramovich a couple of months to offer the job to Di Matteo as nobody else would take it. The spectre of Pep Guardiola always seemed to loom large over Chelsea as he was the man they wanted and will be back in management at the end of the season. Di Matteo always appeared to be a man who was just holding the job, waiting for the moment when he was eased out the door. That moment has come earlier than he expected.
So is Di Matteo unlucky to be sacked? I would say very much so. Is it unexpected? Not at all. His record is superb as Chelsea boss and virtually any other chairman would have kept him on. Chelsea under Abramovich doesn’t work like that. There is no loyalty shown to any manager no matter how good a job they have done. Chelsea are a club who court controversy. It follows them round and every time the club makes itself a little more undesirable. Every Chelsea manager has to manage the problems that the club brings off the field as well as the team on it. The squad is full of huge egos who at times dominate the manager. Di Matteo did a valiant job of trying to juggle all this and yes won the Champions League purely on luck but won it none the less. This morning Chelsea have made themselves an even more unattractive proposition for prospective managers, but money talks and whether it will be Guardiola, Benitez or another who ultimately takes charge, they will do the job looking over their shoulder, waiting for Abramovichs’ swinging axe.
