The Chelsea coaching turnstiles have churned once more.
The Blues have become somewhat notorious in recent years due to the high turnover rate at the managerial position. Since Roman Abramovich took over the club in 2003, there have been seven different Chelsea managers. That's seven managers in eight years, or a new manager every 1.14 years.
Yes, yes, there are outliers. For instance, the stat above includes Ray Wilkins - an acting manager for all of one game in 2009 after Felipe Scolari got the axe. The shocking number, however, is the outlier on the other side: Jose Mourinho. Mourinho lasted longer than any other Chelsea manager under Abramovich: an entire three years and three months. Despite bringing great success to the club (including two Premier League titles in 2005 and 2006, one FA Cup in 2007, and two Carling Cups in 2005 and 2007), he and Abramovich had a reported falling out, and the two split company "by mutual consent".
Next up was Avram Grant, who took the club to the Champion's League Final in 2008 - Grant's first season. Blame John Terry, blame the weather, blame the pitch, but that fateful penalty miss which saw bitter rivals Manchester United trot home with the Champion's League title was too much for Abramovich to stomach. Grant was terminated three days later. Total time with the club: eight months.
Felipe Scolari would be Chelsea's next victim, who was sacked mid-season due to a poor run of form. Total time with the club: seven months.
After a one match interim run with the aforementioned Ray Wilkins, Guus Hiddink stepped in to finish out the 2008/09 season. He earned the club an FA Cup before returning to the Russian National Team gig full time. Total time with the club: three months.
Carlo Ancelotti succeeded Hiddink, who was relatively successful for The Blues. He led Chelsea to the double in 2010, earning both the Premier League crown and the FA Cup. Unfortunately for Ancelotti, Ambramovich doesn't take well to early Champion's League exits and second place Premier League finishes, especially when they're both at the hands of Manchester United. Ancelotti was sacked only hours after the club's final match of the season - a 1-0 loss to Everton at Goodison Park. Total time with the club: one year, 11 months.
Which brings us to Andre Villas-Boas. The Portuguese wunderkid is merely 33 years old and looks as though he should still be on the pitch, not the sideline. In 2010/11 he led Porto to a remarkable season in which they won the Primeria Liga by 21 points without losing a single match. He also won the Europa League (the baby brother of the Champion's League) and the Portuguese Cup. Remarkable, yes, but if we've learned anything over the years it's that Abramovich will not settle for second best. Villas-Boas will need to produce, and produce quickly if he wants to remain in London.
I've set the over/under for his tenure at two years. What are your thoughts? Vote in the poll at the right of the page and leave your comments below.
I'm taking the under.
