Yesterday I wrote an article about the sacking of Andre Villas-Boas as Chelsea boss and today I’m going to turn my attention to his potential replacements.
With Roberto Di Matteo in charge until the end of the season we probably won’t find out who the new Blues will be until the summer. Here are a few of the names being linked with the job:
Jose Mourinho
The Real Madrid boss is a hero at Stamford Bridge after inspiring the club to two Premier League titles.
However a falling out with owner Roman Abramovich led to his exit and it’s hard to see the two making up to allow Mourinho to return to the club.
His appointment would go down very well with the players and fans alike at Chelsea though. The Portuguese boss is still in touch with some of his former players and I’m sure he would have their full support.
Mourinho has expressed his desire to return to the English top flight this summer, despite his Real Madrid team looking like a formidable force. He is clearly unsettled in the Spanish capital but a return to the bridge seems unlikely.
Pep Guardiola
The Barcelona boss has won every trophy you can win with the Catalan club, both as a player and manager. He always likes to keep his options open by only signing one year contracts at Barcelona. He has also stated in the past that he would like the challenge of a new culture and admitted he admires the Premier League.
The question is does he really want to leave one of the best ever club teams to join Chelsea? I don’t think this would be the right time for Guardiola to leave the Nou Camp. Real Madrid look set to clinch the La Liga title and I’m sure he would want to leave Barca on high, rather than a low.
He has been linked with the Manchester United job when Sir Alex Ferguson retires and I just can’t see him leaving behind Xavi and co. to try to revive Chelsea’s flagging fortunes.
Rafa Benitez
The Spaniard seems to be current favourite for the job with the bookmakers. Benitez was a massive success in Spain with Valencia before joining Liverpool and winning numerous trophies. His most recent furore into management was an unhappy stint at Italian giants Inter.
He didn’t even last a full season after he replaced Jose Mourinho at the San Siro. Benitez still has a house in England has stated that he would like to work in the Premier League again. A worry for me would be the fact that he never actually won the Premier League title with Liverpool.
It also seems that the former-Liverpool boss wouldn’t prove a popular appointment with the Chelsea fans.
Guus Hiddink
A few weeks ago the affable Dutchman would have been red hot favourite for the job. Unfortunately for Chelsea he has just taken over at mega-rich Russian club Anzhi. The former-Holland boss had a very successful stint as temporarily Chelsea boss and would be a popular choice with the players.
However it looks unlikely that he is just going to walk away from the Russian club after such a short spell in charge. A case of bad timing for the Blues, because I think he would have been a really good appointment.
Roberto Di Matteo
The current incumbent has a chance to impress Roman Abramovich. His mission will be to try to guide the Blues into the Champions League positions this season. Di Matteo is a folk hero at Chelsea and maybe that will allow him more leeway with the fans.
Di Matteo is a very inexperienced boss at this level though, having managed West Brom for less than a season in the top flight before being sacked. I think he would have to do extraordinarily well to get the job on a permanent basis. I just don’t think he has the experience to be handed the job on a permanent basis.
Experienced
The next Chelsea manager will be someone with lots of experience at the top level of the game. The experiment with rookie boss Andre Villas-Boas failed, so now they need an experienced boss to help the club progress.
Whoever takes the post will have a job on their hands trying to refresh the squad and deal with the expectation levels at Chelsea. It’s a hard job but I’m sure lots of big name bosses will be eying the role. I’m also sure that Chelsea will be very careful with their next appointment and maybe this time they will get the right man for the job.
Who will be Chelsea’s new permanent boss?
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