Is it time for Andre Villas-Boas to leave Chelsea?

Yesterday Chelsea suffered a 2-0 defeat at Everton in what Chelsea boss Andre Villas-Boas described as the worst display of his reign.

The defeat combined with Arsenal’s 2-1 win at Sunderland meant that the Blues dropped down to fifth place in the Premier League.

Struggling

The team is really struggling and questions are now being asked about the position of boss Andre Villas-Boas. The Portuguese boss was only appointed last summer at great cost and it hasn’t yet worked out for the ex-Porto boss in England.

Rookie

Andre Villas-Boas is very much a rookie boss and at 34 years old he is still young. Villas-Boas has been highly-rated for along time, even as part of Jose Mourinho successful backroom staff. He may have been in and around football but he is very inexperienced as a boss.

Chelsea took a gamble on the Portuguese boss and expected him to bring home trophies. However it seems that the job has came too soon for him. He may well become an outstanding boss in the future but at the moment he looks like he’s living on borrowed time at Chelsea.

I was really surprised when Villas-Bas was appointed as Chelsea boss. I thought he would be a good appointment at the time though. He is a forward thinking, intelligent guy, who looks like he could have a bright future as a boss.

The Premier League and Chelsea are a cruel mistress though and the time he requires to rebuild at Chelsea may not be available.

Inpatient

Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich has a history of being inpatient with managers. However it’s not just the Chelsea owner that is getting inpatient at the moment. The Chelsea fans are starting to question whether the rookie can turn their season around.

Villas-Boas’ appointment was greeted with a quiet optimism by the Blues fans. His lack of experience was cited as a concern though. Those doubters could yet be proved correct.

Rebuilding

Andre Villas-Boas was issued with an edict of helping the club through a transitional period. Everybody at Chelsea knew the aging squad needed changing. That was always going to take time but everybody involved in Chelsea still expected the club to stay competitive during that transitional period.

Poor

Unfortunately recent performances haven’t been up to scratch. The Chelsea players really haven’t looked good enough to represent the club in recent times. A lot of the players look stale and disinterested.

Villas-Boas stated that he didn’t feel like he communicated his ideas well enough before and during the Everton game. Unlike some foreign bosses Villas-Boas’ has a very good grasp of the English language. What I believe he meant was that he hadn’t been able to get his ideas across to his players.

Mourinho

Unfortunately Andre Villas-Boas will always have to live with comparisons to his mentor Jose Mourinho. He worked with the Real Madrid boss for along time and has had a similar managerial career path. Villas-Boas’ career has only just started, so comparisons with the ex-Chelsea boss are unfair.

Continuity

Without doubt Villas-Boas has the potential to become a great boss. As long as Chelsea finish in  the Champions League I believe that Chelsea should stick with Villas-Boas. The club can’t keep sacking manager after manager.

The Blues are in great need of continuity and maybe Villas-Boas is the man to provide that long-term. However if Chelsea don’t qualify for the Champions League then I don’t believe the Blues can afford to keep the Portuguese boss in charge.

Should Andre Villas-Boas remain in charge at Chelsea?