Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich looks set to target top bosses such as Pep Guardiola and Jose Mourinho as he searches for a permanent successor to Andre Villas-Boas, but some of his former managers have warned the Russian’s hands-on approach makes it an impossible job.
Abramovich is searching for his eighth manager in five years after sacking Villas-Boas just 257 days into his turbulent reign at Stamford Bridge.
Former Chelsea midfielder Roberto Di Matteo is in charge until the end of the season, but Barcelona chief Guardiola and Real Madrid boss Mourinho are believed to the leading names on Abramovich’s list.
He will promise a hefty salary and substantial transfer funds …. something offered to all six managers he has axed.
Last June Abramovich stumped up $A20 million in compensation to buy out Villas-Boas’s contract with Porto and the 34-year-old will continue to get a weekly wage of STG90,000 ($A133,000) for the remainder of his three-year deal, unless he finds a new job.
Richard Bevan, the chief executive of the League Managers’ Association, believes the situation “is a serious embarrassment to the owner, the club, the fans and the league”.
But Abramovich clearly feels his vast investment in the west London club allows him to call the shots.
He piled pressure on Villas-Boas by turning up at training sessions and asking about tactics, as well as holding an inquest with the players and manager after a 2-0 defeat at Everton.
Even Mourinho, who guided Chelsea to unprecedented success, lasted only three years before one disagreement too many.
Luiz Felipe Scolari, like Villas-Boas, was sacked after less than a season, having lost the battle with some of the more dominant personalities in the dressing room in 2008-09.
Scolari, now in charge of Brazilian outfit Palmeiras, said: “Chelsea’s culture is very different, but this move is strange – although it’s not so strange to me because of what I went through there.
“Some things are known, like the relations with the owner, who has the relationship with some players before the coach.
“Villas-Boas was a champion and he will continue to be. He needed to replace at least seven or eight players, even since I was there, but he failed.
“It will be hell for whoever succeeds him.”
Avram Grant, who succeeded Mourinho in 2007, lasted an equally short period after it became clear he didn’t have command of the superstars.
The Israeli agrees with Scolari that dealing with Chelsea’s influential power-brokers can be a major distraction.
“I think in this case he (Villas-Boas) was lacking a little bit of experience.”
His aloof management style also infuriated players, who reportedly regularly arrived just seconds before the deadline for training sessions in a bid to wind-up the disciplinarian.
