Once Di Matteo has come back from holiday on Wednesday. Chelsea FC are expected to confirm Roberto Di Matteo as Chelsea's manager this week. Chelsea appointed Di Matteo as Interim manager following the sacking of Andre-Villas-Boas. The former West Brom manager took over the Chelsea job and won Chelsea the FA Cup then 3 weeks later Chelsea's first ever Champions League title as he lost just three out of 21 matches to restore much-needed pride to Stamford Bridge. The Chelsea board are making the right decision Di Matteo should be our full time manager.
I am happy about this! He has earned his appointment in the best way possible. I suspect a lot of Blues were mulling over all sorts of continental managers who might have ended up in the hot seat! But RDM did it and what matters now is that he accepts the position! He is a true Blue and whatever happens now I will live with, for richer or poorer! RA --you done good mister....and my guess is you wont regret it!
He has earnt the opportunity for a shot but I am not totally convinced. His league results were as poor as AVB's and whilst people say it was 'too many games in a short period' the fact is that we should always be involved in many games at the end of the season as that is when semis and finals are. It is not an excuse and indeed points more to why he shouldn't be manager than should as he couldn't navigate us through the league and cups at the same time. I hope more than anyone that I am proved wrong.
Understand your point CPofL, and there is a concern about the results in the Prem, but you have to understand the position RDM was put in. Firstly when appointed, the league was already gone, the only way he could save our season was through the cups. He did that, by sacrificing our position in the Prem. (Regarding the team selection for the latter matches). It was his only choice and a huge gamble that paid off for him. The job for us now is to get behind the team shout for all you are worth, we have a great squad, lot's of young talent coming through, the right player's being bought. The future's bright, the futures BLUE
I am personally very happy with this decision. For the first time in years we have a manager all the players respect, a manager who inspires maximum effort from his teams, a manager who on 4 occasion got his tactics spot on and defeated arguably, far better opposition, and against all odds. Great credit must also go to his assistant Eddie. For the first time in years we also seem to be buying players we need, not just names for names sake. We actually look to be building a team for the long haul. In my opinion , next season especially, we need to do 2 things. Firstly, concentrate on the 2 most important goals. For me PL and CL. No team in Europe has been strong enough to win everything, and that includes us. To do so compromises too much. Secondly, use the season to REALLY bring through 2 more of our youngsters, so they can be experienced enough to step up, as Bertrand did so brilliantly. Robbie can do this. And finally, now he seems to get the big picture, pray that our owner shows the patience and confidence in the manager to let him do his job of slowly fading the older players out and seamlessly bring on the new ones, using the strengths of both groups for the best interests of our team. Can't wait , the future is Blue.
Don't agree with the league performance thing CPofL. He had three competitions to juggle and made a few sacrifices during Premier League games and I'm guessing the players were too, you have to also bare in mind we were the only club competing in every competition available to English clubs when DM came in. Comparing it to AVB is wrong because he was the one who ****ed up in the first place and left it to Robbie to fix.
I agree Chelsea's league form was mainly due to AVB's poor management and he left things in a right mess for RDM. Di Matteo proved how great a manager he is in the Champions League which was our priority.
We all seem to be missing the point about the strength of the squad. This was the weakest squad since RA took over and at least two of the weakest players have now left. Robbie took over after the January window had shut and in my eyes worked wonders with what was available to him. Anyway, there has been no statement from the club so it's all conjecture at present.
Great news if true. Re league form, as everyone else has pointed out, we had a pretty weak squad, injuries, suspensions and 3 comps to juggle. We propritised the cups and thankfully it worked out. He deserves a full season and with a few new additions and weaker players moved on, we'll be stronger next season no doubt.
Various reports that this will either be a one-year deal or longer term but with an option for either party to break it after 12 months. How is this good news? RDM will be dogged with speculation that he's keeping the seat warm for Guardiola while he takes his year long break. Expect constant media stories along the lines that RDM doesn't have full control/the players are uncertain about his future/he's being undermined by Roman etc etc. If he doesn't start well in the Premier League, it'll be even worse. I love Robbie to bits, but I wish he'd stuck two fingers up to Roman and walked away after the CL final. That way he remains a Chelsea legend and could probably walk into 90% of management jobs elsewhere where he won't have to put up with all the bullshit he'll get with us. I don't want to see him hounded in the press the way AVB was this season, but sadly that's exactly what I can see happening.
One things for sure--Robbie will not be short of job offers, and RA knows that--so the deal would have to be as interesting as the sort of things he might be tempted to elsewhere! I'm sure Serie A clubs will be begging him!
One year, two year or three year contract wouldn't really change things though. Unless we're doing well there will always be speculation regarding the manager position given Romans history of hiring and firing. The only way to keep the press quiet is to keep winning!!
A 3 year contract (with no "get out" clause) offered within days of winning the CL final would have sent a strong message that RDM was Roman's man. Sure, it wouldn't stop ALL the speculation, but it would have given the players and the staff a firm indication that Robbie was here for the foreseeable. A 1 year deal (in whatever guise) almost a month after our CL win and following heavy links with Guardiola sends out a very different message. We all know that Roman wants Pep long term and this move has all the hallmarks of a short term fix about it. Let's be honest - as fans, we'd be kidding ourselves if we genuinely believed that Robbie is Roman's no.1 choice for the job. I really hope he can do enough to banish any talk of other candidates, but realistically what would that be? Probably nothing less than the league title or a successful defence of the CL. He'll certainly have to keep us comfortably in the top 4 all season as well. I just fear that the knives will be out, and we all know how certain elements within our squad behave when they sense weakness in the manager's position. Let's not kid ourselves that it will be any different with Robbie.
This is what should have happened after the CL final. About time is what I say. The future's blue. KTBFFH.
