Unreasonable sackings of high-quality managers.
Roman Abramovich has had four quality managers in five years. What does that indicate about the stability of the team?
Despite Claudio Ranieri initially leading Chelsea to their best ever finish in the 2002-2004 seasons, he was deemed unsuitable to take them to the next level.
Jose Mourinho was arguably one of the most successful coaches in the history of the club, yet Chelsea parted with him after tensions rose behind the scenes.
More recently, Avram Grant took Chelsea further than they've ever been in the Champions League, and to their best ever finish without actually winning the EPL—and still got sacked.
No South American World-Cup-winning manager has done exceeding well in the EPL till date. So what will be the fate of Scolari, if they continue to lose the really important matches in this manner? Will he be the latest to succumb to the whims of the Roman?
Lack of support for players and staff
All Chelsea employees are doing at the moment, is saying ‘Da’ to the man with the money. They are looking at the wrong end. Jose Mourinho, for all his myriad faults based on arrogance and disguised by charm, could never bring himself to say ‘Da’. Maybe that’s why he left.
Roman has become legendary for his lack of respect or support for his staff. Focused on trophies, he’s not given much importance to the rebuilding process itself.
The Youth Academy has been totally ignored. There won’t be any wave of homegrown talents in the near future to take over when the seniors falter.
As Ferguson pointed out, the average age of the London team was around 30, which means major reconstruction will have to be made after a couple of years’ time. Forging a new squad takes time, money and patience.
Roman is now short of all three at present…
More emphasis on short-term goals.
Roman came into the picture wanting to emulate Sir Alex Ferguson. But he seems to have conveniently forgotten that it took the better part of a decade for Ferguson to create the side that won the Treble.
And Fergie had the complete loyal support of his team owners.
Roman wanted immediate results and was sorely annoyed when he didn’t. He wanted the EPL title. When Ranieri took them close, he was sacked. Mourinho won Chelsea two Premierships, but left because Roman would settle only for a Champions League victory. Avram Grant brought Chelsea to the brink of that victory in Moscow. But he too was thrown out as Chelsea narrowly missed the EPL.
Roman Abramovich is one of the world's richest men and he wants trophies. He wants short-termism. He wants to win tomorrowSuccess is obviously not to be achieved in just a few years. But he hasn’t realized that yet. And so the Men in Blue are perilously close to finishing as also-rans in the League.
But now if Roman were to vacate the place of Head Honcho, who will take that spot?
Even after reading all the above damning evidences against Roman, you cannot deny that he was the one who totally commercialized the Premier League. His takeover of Chelsea at a time when Thierry Henry-led Arsenal were dominating the scene, provided the kick in the behind for both Manchester United and Liverpool to improve themselves.
He single-handedly made the EPL the most watched soccer league in the world. It would not be easy for Chelsea to survive without the Roman, even if some other millionaire were to take charge.
I predicted in a previous article that Liverpool would come back strongly when Torres returned. And it proved to be right. What I, and most Chelsea fans themselves feel is, Chelsea is no more a clear-cut contender for the League title. They could always be lurking in the background to cut in if Liverpool or United ever falter in the two-horse race to the top. That is not impossible, but only slightly improbable.
Roman must look forward to creating a better team for the next season. Proper judicious use should be made of the transfer window. And my sincere hope is that Roman would sensibly allow Scolari to continue managing the team in his own way. This is only his first season as an English manager. Even Alex Ferguson did not achieve any outstanding laurels in his first three or four seasons at Old Trafford.
If Roman would only put his mind and wallet to making the team stronger by bringing in younger talents and nurturing them, by allowing the manager and staff to make their own decisions, and by supporting his players totally in spite of defeats, the team from the Blue area of London would be confidently back on track to regaining their lost pride and glory this coming season.
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