Just heard Roman has sacked RDM after 262 days in charge. Pretty harsh considering he won the FA Cup and CL in one season. Will Guardiola want to take the job if he knows he'll be sacked if the team go on a bit of a dip in results. Not if he's got an ounce of common sense. Benitez is being touted to come in for the interim but that's only to get Torres firing on all four cylinders so RA doesn't look a complete twit for buying him. Sad for football really and our neighbours up the road.
How ridiculous, although not unexpected. He was only given the job because he won the Champions League, he was always going to go after a few bad results. Who do they get in now? Actually it doesn't matter, they won't be around long.
Redknapp for Chelsea? Stranger things have happened. I agree that, having appointed him, to sack him now is very harsh. That said, I always thought he was the wrong appointment, even with a Champions League win to his credit. He was Mr Right Now rather than Mr Right. When AVB left, they needed someone to put the rebuild on hold and steady the ship with the old guard. Di Matteo did that incredibly well. We'll never know how much of that was down to him and how much was down to him not being AVB but he was the man who did it so credit is due. For the rebuilding, he just didn't have the experience and was the wrong man for a long term appointment, which is what Chelsea really needed to make last summer. Who should they turn to? Their former player Mark Hughes may be available soon. I hear he's very ambitious.
Good, and correct, summation Captain. I assume Chelsea are going to splash out in the January window and want the new man in before that. Guardiola seems to be the favourite but he might not fancy the risk, especially with the Man United job about to come up. I suppose this gives QPR an option over 'Arry - an incentive even to give Hughes the shove. Edit: Just had a thought. It could be our rotten luck to play each of the other West London clubs within days of them appointing a new manager.
Main points covered but till you get rid off players like Terry, Lambard etc. Chelski's long-term view is downwards. Too much player power in the dressing room. Roberto made a point that Chelski's form dips before Christmas which was the case the last two seasons too. He should have taken care of that!!
I think you're being a bit over-critical of RDM, Captain. I get the impression he had a lot of 'luxury' players bought for him over the Summer (all those flair 'hole' attackers and not one striker?) so the team wasn't entirely his and was left to make the most of what he had. Then when Terry, Lampard and Cole get injured at the same time his side go on a bad run. He won the CL last year fair and square - Mourinho and the rest couldn't manage it! Agree he was the wrong choice for Chelsea though, not enough experience and he was never RA's first choice. So, how about RDM to QPR? I can see it...
I think Di Matteo is a good manager, I just didn't think - because of the experience factor - that he was the right choice. Give him another five years or so cutting his teeth at smaller clubs and he could well be a good manager of a Champions League side. The best thing he did at Chelsea was to make the call that they had to put their trust in the old guard last season. That was absolutely the right thing short term, but it was never going to be an option as an ongoing strategy. RDM to QPR? It could happen. It would be interesting if it did.
The way they run their club is a joke, isn't it? Empty, hollow, money-driven. Got to feel for the clubs like Fulham who see their London rivals continually bought by men like Abramovich.
Not sure if you're trying to be funny Reverend but I suspect you're trying to be ironic. However, ;et me guess, almost 3900 posts, from Carrickfergus, you must be a Liverpool supporter. Epicurus, Voltaire and the mercurial Barton! I'm more of a James Joyce fan myself - He Who Hath Glory Lost should remind most football fans he wrote it with Liverpool FC in mind. £50m for Carroll reminds me of pots, kettles and black or did I get the tone of your comment all wrong.
Much has been said already so I'll just add this little thought: aside from managing England, this has to be the worst managerial job in the EPL. Stating the obvious, Roberto delivered silverware and was sacked, thus any would-be manager who takes this job can expect much the same. So I echo Cavingawin's thoughts on this. The only way a top manager takes this job is with a HUGE parachute payment if (when really) he sacked.
No, being sincere - was looking across all the boards at the various reactions, not just on this one. It must be irritating to see clubs around your own like Chelsea and QPR get bank-rolled and move further away from any historical identity. My location is rather meaningless, also... can't help being born into a family of Liverpool supporters! Football culture in NI is quite unique, also. Everyone supports an English team - many without following an Irish league team (due to sectarianism, violence, poor quality). You're the first person to notice the Barton joke also!
Not sure why Guardiola is so sought-after; he won everything with the best team in the world, then bottled it when they lost a couple of games. Look at how Barca have carried on after him! Either Tito Viennetta is a genius as well or the team pretty much manages itsself. The only real advantage to Guardiola is the possible draw he has to other (Barca) players - will Messi want to win everything year in, year out with Barca and never experience another league? If not, you can guarantee he'll be looking at where uncle Pep is.
I'd pretty much agree with that - it's a big risk. Messi owes Barca a lot - his health and career included. Think he could stay for the duration.
Disagree entirely. You say Guardiola's success was only down to Messi, yet Guardiola was the one who molded Messi into the player he is now. Guardiola's work with the Barcelona youth team brought through some great talents such as Messi, Busquets, Pedro, Tello etc. Guardiola took over a Barcelona team in ruin after Rjikkard (spelling) had threatened to derail them and did very well not only to steady the ship but to take them onto the next level.
Retweeted: Global Job Security Index shows Chelsea manager has now dipped just below Mexican Drug Cartel Police Informer
Utterly insane, this is why will never be consistently good. Must be a nightmare for the players, juyst get used to one style of football and it changes again.
The fat waiter is back! I didn't say Messi was the only reason, rather he had the golden generation to end all golden generations playing for him. Until he does a Woy, i.e. makes a bunch of has-beens and misfits perform better than the sum of their parts, then he's unproven. Like I say, if Pep is a genius, then Tito Villaneuve is one too. Even Sparky could keep Barca mid-table!
You can only manage what you are given Bidley. Guardiola had a world class set up at Barcelona so obviously his job was easier than many others, but you could say that RDM had a world class team at Chelsea and failed, but does that make him a bad manager? The only teams Guardiola is going to go to are world class teams, so probably in your eyes, he will never have proven himself, even if he does well at another world class team.
