AFP - Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich is set to target top managerial figures like Pep Guardiola and Jose Mourinho as he searches for a permanent successor to Andre Villas-Boas. However, some of his former managers have warned that the Russian’s hands-on approach makes the job impossible.
Abramovich is looking for his eighth manager in five years after firing Villas-Boas just 257 days into his tumultuous tenure at Stamford Bridge. Former Chelsea midfielder Roberto Di Matteo will take charge until the end of the season, but Barcelona's Guardiola and Real Madrid's Mourinho are believed to be the leading candidates on Abramovich’s list. Abramovich is certain to try to entice one of these managerial giants with the promise of a hefty salary and substantial transfer budget.
However, there is a growing belief that the tycoon’s dictatorial regime, which has seen six managers sacked, makes it impossible to thrive at Chelsea for long. 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." Yet, Abramovich clearly feels his vast investment in the west London club gives him carte blanche to call the shots. He piled pressure on Villas-Boas by attending training sessions and questioning the manager's tactics, as well as holding an inquest with the players and manager after a 2-0 defeat at Everton.
Even Mourinho, who brought Chelsea unprecedented success, lasted only three years before having too many disagreements with Abramovich, so it is hardly surprising to hear Luiz Felipe Scolari speak in less than glowing terms about working for Chelsea during the 2008-09 season. Like Villas-Boas, Scolari was sacked by Abramovich after less than a season in charge due to losing battles with some dominant personalities in the dressing room.
Scolari, now in charge of Brazilian club 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 relationships with some players even before the coach arrives."
"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, also had a short-lived tenure after it became clear he didn’t have command over the club’s superstars. The Israeli agrees with Scolari that dealing with Chelsea’s influential power-brokers can be a major distraction. "At a club like Chelsea, you need to deal not only with football but other issues," Grant said. "I think in this case he (Villas-Boas) was lacking a little bit of experience."
Villas-Boas’s commitment to the job can’t be faulted, with reports that he slept in a Japanese-style pod at the training ground after Saturday’s loss to West Brom in an effort to maximize his time finding remedies for the crisis. However, he didn’t help himself in his dealings with ageing stars like Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba, whose egos needed massaging before being eased out of the club. His aloof management style also infuriated players, who reportedly regularly arrived just seconds before the deadline for training sessions in a bid to frustrate the disciplinarian.
In the end, Abramovich’s belief that the inexperienced Villas-Boas was the right man for the job of rebuilding the squad proved an expensive mistake. Just last June, Abramovich paid £13.3 million in compensation to buy out Villas-Boas' contract with Porto, and the 34-year-old will continue to be paid his £90,000-a-week salary for the remainder of his three-year deal unless he finds a new job in that time.
If Abramovich does manage to persuade a heavyweight like Guardiola or Mourinho to take charge, many believe he would be wise to adopt a more hands-off approach as the new manager tries to fulfill his demand for success with style.