As Chelsea head towards what is surely going to be another managerial sacking after another bad result for Maurizio Sarri, we thought we’d run through the Blues’ most successful tacticians under trigger-happy owner Roman Abramovich.
We are *not*, however, going to include Ray Wilkins and Steve Holland in this, both of whom took charge of just one match in between some firings and hirings, and notching up 100% win records that distort things somewhat.
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We’ve also combined the two separate spells of Jose Mourinho (and Guus Hiddink, but he didn’t make the top five, though his first spell would put him top).
So, here’s the top five, giving some idea about the names Abramovich parted with too quickly.
Oh, and while you’re here, why not answer my Twitter poll on this very subject?
Chelsea fans – if you could go back and stop Abramovich sacking ONE manager, which would you choose?
— Mark Brus (@MarkBrusCOS) February 19, 2019
5) Carlo Ancelotti – 61%
Won the double in his first season, and then out the door less than a year later. With hindsight, sacking Carlo Ancelotti doesn’t make any more sense now than it did then.
This is made worse by the fact that the Italian went on to win league titles in two more countries, as well as a third Champions League title with Real Madrid to add to the two he picked up at AC Milan before he rocked up at Chelsea.
In short, Ancelotti is a trophy-winning machine, and his sides don’t even have to play dull, unwatchable football to get there. What were you thinking, Chelsea?
4) Jose Mourinho – 63%
Okay, his first spell was better than his second, but it’s little surprise to see Jose Mourinho still makes the top five.
The Portuguese is, of course, also the club’s most successful manager in terms of trophies won, with no less than eight pieces of silverware delivered across both stays at Stamford Bridge, including three league titles.
He may have rubbed them up the wrong way since his time at Manchester United, but surely a decent number of Chelsea fans would still welcome the Special One back in a heartbeat?
3) Maurizio Sarri – 64%
Yes, he’s not been at the club for as long, but Sarri is still up there in third in terms of win percentage after 27 victories in 42 matches in charge.
That’s better than the likes of Andre Villas-Boas, Roberto Di Matteo and Rafael Benitez managed across a similar time frame, and in a different era you’d imagine his Chelsea side would be much closer to the top of the Premier League for it.
Some perspective on a man who really isn’t doing as bad a job as it might seem despite recent eye-watering results.
2) Antonio Conte – 65%
It still feels like only yesterday Antonio Conte rocked up to Chelsea in a summer dominated by talk of Pep Guardiola and swept his Manchester City team aside to stroll to the Premier League title in some style.
Yet things quickly turned sour for Conte that following summer and it was perhaps right that he and Chelsea parted ways by the end of it.
Still, the Italian tactician showed what a ruthless winner he was by landing himself an FA Cup winners’ medal in his last game in charge, and he’s second on this list with an impressive 65% matches won.
1) Avram Grant – 67%
Make of this what you will, but Avram Grant is surprisingly top of the pile here after that spell in charge of Chelsea in 2007/08.
Few remember the Israeli tactician as one of the Blues’ great coaches, but he did steady the ship in quite impressive fashion after Mourinho’s first exit, leading the west Londoners to their first Champions League final, which they were one John Terry slip away from winning.
He’s not done much since his time at Chelsea, but there’s still a decent case for saying he was sacked too soon.
Though you could say that about pretty much every name on this list…with Sarri probably soon to join them.