Di Matteo leaves Chelsea

BBC article is unclear, but he appears to have been sacked by Abrahamovic.

Another one bites the dust, this time a CL and FA cup winner

Was never convinced with the appointment in the first place, as their CL victory was definitely a bit on the lucky side, and the league form was poor.

But Chelsea had been fairly impressive this season, only suffering their first blip in the past few weeks.

What a joke.

I too wasn't convinced, but the guy had virtually a new team and philosophy to instill this season. It was never going to happen overnight. Should have been given at least a season.

Remember, whilst this FA Cup and CL winner has been sacked for "struggling" in Europe (they've been doing well enough in thr league),

Mark Hughes remains in a job.

Baffling

I thought this might happen last night.. Joke really.

Abramovich sacked everyone else because they couldn't win the Champions League. The next guy knows that he has to win the Champions League every season to keep his job?

The person I feel for most in all this is Gabriel Clarke.

Step up John Terry, or a Terry Lampard collimation?

Shirley Chelsea have a Plan B?

Pep Guardiola?

I shall be furious if he ends up at Chelsea. Positively furious.

Benitez currently in talks with Chelsea. That sacking was a bit harsh though wasn't it?! Literally have to win every game to stay in charge as Chelsea boss.

Maybe Abramovich thinks that if he hires Benitez as manager then he can get Torres to rediscover his Liverpool form?

Disco Benny wrote:What a joke.

I too wasn't convinced, but the guy had virtually a new team and philosophy to instill this season. It was never going to happen overnight. Should have been given at least a season.

Remember, whilst this FA Cup and CL winner has been sacked for "struggling" in Europe (they've been doing well enough in thr league),

Mark Hughes remains in a job.

Baffling

Ridiculous decision, especially while the likes of Rodgers, AVB and Hughes appear to have strong backing from their club owners. Despite the recent poor run of form, the team are only 4 points off the top and still have a (very slim) chance of qualifying for the next round of the CL. The strikers are a concern and the central defensive partnership of Luiz and Cahill has been awful, but Mata, Oscar & Hazard have linked up well and there were signs that the club was moving in the direction of playing football the way Abramovich demanded.

The only way he could justify this is if he brought in Guardiola - but would he really want this time-bomb of a job?

Bringing in Benitez would mean moving back to the days of "shit on a stick" football - the very thing Abramovich was trying to erase from the club's image.

What a joke of a club.

Disco Benny wrote:What a joke.

I too wasn't convinced, but the guy had virtually a new team and philosophy to instill this season. It was never going to happen overnight. Should have been given at least a season.

Remember, whilst this FA Cup and CL winner has been sacked for "struggling" in Europe (they've been doing well enough in thr league),

Mark Hughes remains in a job.

Baffling

Ahem AVB. He was hired to conduct a revolution and then hung out to dry. Either you postpone the revolution to this season and have a final tilt with what you have or you back the project. Chelsea did neither and got lucky. And now they hope for another dose of magic. Hope Juventus and Shakhtar go through. What's the odds on the new guy getting sacked if they fail to make it through the group stage?

Mark Hughes couldn't even win the sack race...

Despite the recent poor run of form, the team are only 4 points off the top and still have a (very slim) chance of qualifying for the next round of the CL.

@ S4P: It isn't that slim. If Shakhtar beat Juventus and Chelsea beat Nordsjaelland they both go through. Both are at home and perfectly capable of getting that result. Big problem is a draw in Donetsk would send Juventus and Shakhtar through and they could play for that. Not certain about this, but due to time zone differences are the matches in Donetsk and Stamford Bridge being played at the same time?

Disco Benny wrote:Shirley Chelsea have a Plan B?

Pep Guardiola?

I shall be furious if he ends up at Chelsea. Positively furious.

Actually, I hope he does. I want to see how much of Barca's success was down to the manager, as opposed to a core group of players and club philosophy. Perhaps Roman will realize how much time it can take to completely change a club's style. And I want to see how Pep does with limitless resources in another league... I mean, what can Pep do that Ancelotti couldn't or cannot at PSG.

I think Pep + Chelsea + Roman is an intriguing proposition. I would love to see if Roman changes his ways if he gets his favorite "toy".

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/chelsea/9692544/Roberto-Di-Matteo-sacked-as-Chelsea-manager-live.html

Avram Grant?

who stands to lose the most from this?

give it 18 months Ryan Bertrand will be on loan at Cheltenham. From Barnsley. Obi Mikel's time is surely up.

If Rafa goes there then I'll be having a flutter on Chelsea for the title. He'll remind Torres how to score, pair Romelu with Ramires in midefield and sign Dirk Kuyt for £22m.

Makes no fucking sense, none of it. Retards.

bluenine wrote:Mark Hughes couldn't even win the sack race...

This is the same club that sacked Mourinho, Big Phil & Ancelotti so not surprised. RDM is just another gladiator receiving the thumbs down from the Roman emporer.

I fear Pep would fail big-time as whilst he is undoubtedly a top coach, the patience simply would not be there for him to give the whole club the tiki-taka philosophy.

Personnel wise, Chelsea are just a technically good DM away from being able to play something resembling tiki-taka.

And a striker I guess.

It would be interesting to see how rigid Guardiola's philosophy is. I don't expect him to install a long ball team, but maybe he would look to play at a higher tempo.

Being Chelsea manager is a great job, you only have to work for a few months and then they give you millions of pounds to go away.

Romeu and Mikel are pretty good technically. Agree on the striker though as Torres is a dud (he was never as good as advertised to begin with).

What they need is a proper CM metronome to set the tempo and consistently delivers passes that gets the AM "three" in dangerous areas.

Personally I think Chelsea (and every other team in the world) are a Messi away from being successful playing tiki-taka. Unless Messi is there scoring a record number of goals then you have possession but you don't necessarily win anything.

Chelsea should be worried about a worldwide humiliation in the Club World Cup. I wouldn't be surprised if they lost in the semis to Mexican Monterrey (or if they win it, cause they've got quality players to win).

I know English fans don't care about it, but all the rest of the world does.

Mongrel Hawk wrote:Chelsea should be worried about a worldwide humiliation in the Club World Cup. I wouldn't be surprised if they lost in the semis to Mexican Monterrey (or if they win it, cause they've got quality players to win).

I know English fans don't care about it, but all the rest of the world does.

Is it not european fans that don't care about it? Rather than just the evil English?

Kimbo wrote:

Mongrel Hawk wrote:Chelsea should be worried about a worldwide humiliation in the Club World Cup. I wouldn't be surprised if they lost in the semis to Mexican Monterrey (or if they win it, cause they've got quality players to win).

I know English fans don't care about it, but all the rest of the world does.

Is it not european fans that don't care about it? Rather than just the evil English?

Yeh, in a way. But Spanish and Italian care much more than the English (who are not evil), though less than the rest of the world.

The Spanish and Italians, as far as I know, take it as a relatively important cup, though less important then the CL and the national league, while the English take it as a friendly, mickey-mouse cup.

Deluded F*ck™ wrote:Romeu and Mikel are pretty good technically. Agree on the striker though as Torres is a dud (he was never as good as advertised to begin with).

What they need is a proper CM metronome to set the tempo and consistently delivers passes that gets the AM "three" in dangerous areas.

Yeah, that's basically what I meant. Was just a bit sloppy with my terminology. Pro Evo fans would never forgive me.

But yes, someone who's situated deep, but is technically good.

It's weird though, as for me, that's pretty much the most important position for a team. Without one, teams lack a decent outlet to their attacking players, yet in world football, there aren't "that" many of them.

Maybe if they do get Rafa, they might get Alonso. Or maybe Moutinho.

Or Lucas.

Are they saying they're going to announce their new manager today?