Chelsea have sacked manager Roberto di Matteo today ( November 21, 2012), barely six months after the latter guided them to their 2011/12 Champions League trophy in Munich after beating FC Bayern on penalties. The decision came after successive losses to West Bromwich Albion in the league and Juventus in Europe , with the Blues announcing that he had parted company with the club on their official website. The loss to Juve left Chelsea on the brink of elimination in the Champions League, which would make them the first defending champions in the era of the modern UCL not to make it to the knockout stages of the tournament
Di Matteo also won the FA Cup for the Blues, although they lost the European Super Cup to Atletico Madrid. Chelsea were also top of the Premier League last month following a win against former manager Andre Villas-Boas’ Spurs, but have now slipped to third behind the two Manchester giants.
Di Matteo managed Chelsea a total of 42 times, winning 24, drawing nine and losing nine. His 23 PL games in charge is the third lowest for any manager in charge of the Blues, with only David Webb and Guus Hiddink managing fewer.
Chelsea manager Roman Abramovich has now sacked eight managers since his acquisition of the club, with many failing to even last a single season at the Bridge.
Pep Guardiola is said to be his first choice, with Rafael Benitez a strong second option, although the names of Laurent Blanc and Harry Redknapp have also been floated around in the media.
Non SENSE
just non SENSE
Beats me why any football manager, who wants to retain his sanity, would want to work for the rich, but childish control freak, Abramovich. It won’t happen, but it wouldn’t it be great if all the managers on his shortlist decided to boycott this arrogant Russian plonker by telling him to shove his job? As he so likes to dictate what players the manager will buy, or even field, perhaps he should personally take over the reins for the remainder of the season. That would be really interesting to watch.
Pedro
That is just messed up!
Abramovich is not displying a good leader, firing Di Matteo is a sign of an ingrate. Why would Man City not also sack Mancini, last year he did escape group stage and even now worse, still the man is in charge of the club. Any manager taking the job has no job, Abramovich should do the job himself.