Chelsea Fires Di Matteo

[citizenerased]

No way Jose goes back to the Chavs after it was roman who fired him mid season.

And I think Pep is smart enough to stay away from that situation.

They've apparently made up since then and has been trying to get him back for a while now. The main problem last time was a power struggle with Avram Grant and that Dutch Guy (Arsenen?), but they are both gone now so it would be easy for Jose to get the control he wants without having to shake up the club again.

And Pep wants to manage in London, not a much better place then Chelsea, apart from maybe Arsenal if it's true that the money is there, but Wenger is just being stubborn.

[Bigpapa42]

Fucked up situation.

On one hand, its not a surprise. At all. It always seemed like a reluctant hire, with Abramovich really left with no choice after Di Matteo did a great job in the second half of last season. No one felt like RDM was Abramovich's guy or had his confidence. So getting rid of him at the very first sign of "trouble" is really just par for the situation.

Still, fucked up. Winning the Champions League last season should have bought RDM a bit of leeway but nope. Abramovich has unreasonable expectations and no manager in the world is going match those.

Benitez is a good manager. Not a great one. I can't see him delivering what Abramovich demands, not for any length of time.

The problem is with Abramovich himself. Its not just limited to unrealistic expectations in terms of results, but also in playstyle. He wants exciting football that oozes class. He wants Barcelona on the pitch. But there are any number of issues there from - from the reality of what it took to build the Barcelona side to the fact that what works in Spain does not necessarily work the same in England. Not to mention the probability of Abramovich having some input into player selection, at least in terms of having favorites. Its a series of contradictions.

No matter how long Benitez lasts, Chelsea will manage to land another "name" manager. Why not? World class players, lots of money to spend, plus the manager will get paid well. Everyone recognizes it as a "no win" situation for a manager so its not like getting fired eventually will kill their reputation. Sign a three year deal for millions a year, get canned after one, get paid for two more. Not a bad deal.

Don't see Mourinho coming back. The player problems went beyond Mourinho butting heads with members of the Chelsea front office. The club buying Shevchenko was all Abramovich and that was a major sore spot. Its not like Abramovich was constantly dictating every buy, but he obviously has influenced a few. It also seemed like Abramovich disliked the relatively defensive style that Mourinho favors. Just don't see that happening.