Abramovich's grand plan fails as Pep chooses Bayern - What next for the Chelsea owner?

After months of speculation, it has emerged that Pep Guardiola will, rather unexpectedly, manage Bayern Munich from the start of the 2013-14 season, replacing Jupp Heynckes. This news comes completely out of the blue and it does leave the grand plans of owners of some clubs in tatters, most notably, those of Roman Abramovich.

Roman Abramovich’s attitude towards managers is well known. He cannot sacrifice short-term results for his long term plan of making Chelsea the most entertaining and talented club in the world, which means he is still looking for a manager who can provide him both, simultaneously. If viewed from his perspective, the sacking of Roberto Di Matteo makes sense. There appeared to be a change in the style of play employed by Di Matteo for the better, but it took a hit on results. What followed is an all too familiar story. In spite of making a really decent effort to make the team play with pace and flair, which is what Abramovich wanted and no previous manager could accomplish, Di Matteo was sacked for a poor run of results which also ended their Champions League defense. That is justified from Abramovich’s perspective (a desire for achieving short term goals, while simultaneously implementing the long term plan), but what do we fans feel?

The following is a part of the official statement made on Chelsea’s official website chelseafc.com on the 21st of November -

“Chelsea Football Club has parted company this morning with Manager Roberto Di Matteo.

The team’s recent performances and results have not been good enough and the owner and the Board felt that a change was necessary now to keep the club moving in the right direction as we head into a vitally important part of the season.”

Let us briefly analyze this statement bit-by-bit. “The team’s recent performances and results have not been good enough”. So this means, to survive as Chelsea manager, one needs to consistently produce the results, backed up with strong and convincing performances. Now to the next bit – “The owner and the Board felt that a change was necessary now to keep the club moving in the right direction”. This is somewhat nonsensical and has a feel of familiarity in it. We have been hearing something along these lines for the last 9 years or so, a template repeated too regularly. Perhaps the board feels sacking the man in charge will produce a knee-jerk reaction from the players and improve results. Then, one would get the impression that producing consistent results is what the Chelsea board thinks, is ‘moving in the right direction’. In a nutshell, this statement makes fans feel that changing the manager upon hitting a poor run of results will take the club forward! (then managers like Wenger should have been sacked years ago!) Now, the last bit – “as we head into a vitally important part of the season” indicates that the Chelsea board considers the months of November and December as a really important period. So what have we learned from this statement made about two months ago? The manager needs to produce the required results every game, especially ‘at a vitally important part of the season’, or else, he is out. Nothing new, is it?

How The Guardiola Plan Went Wrong

Now moving over to Pep. Even though Di Matteo won the Champions League, he was just not the man Abramovich was looking for. Why else would the owner delay appointing him on a permanent basis in spite of winning his most coveted trophy? Roman approached Pep in the summer and his offer was rejected. Thus, very much against Roman’s wishes, RDM got the job, and a few months later, got the boot. Now Roman Abramovich, still in intense pursuit of Pep Guardiola, thought he could approach and persuade the Spaniard yet again into taking charge immediately. This is where part of the plan again went wrong. Still, Pep could not be convinced, and remained true to his resolve. So, for the first time ever, Roman was left in no man’s land, with nobody willing to take up the post of manager at Stamford Bridge. So confident he was in himself, in landing Guardiola, that he dispensed with the services of his Champions League winning manager without even a hint of willingness coming from Pep’s side. Guardiola’s rejection left him shooting in the dark for a manager, and Rafael Benitez was the only high profile manager available on the market. Here played out a case of a manager desperately in need of a job, no matter where, and a club desperately in search of a manager! Roman’s hand was forced.

In appointing Benitez, Roman further increased the disturbing gap between the boardroom and the fans. This left Chelsea’s fans in a catchy situation, because they could not direct the ire at the owner who has brought them so much glory. Hence they chose to direct their frustration at their newly employed ‘interim’ manager (and have not stopped it yet). Still, they had some reason to hope, as Pep hadn’t committed his future yet. Was this the next course of action for Abramovich till the end of the season – somehow get this season done with Rafa (and that means, as mentioned earlier, get consistent results) and lure Pep in the summer with a mind-boggling contract? That seemed to be the case. However, with the recent confirmation that Guardiola’s future lies in Munich, Roman Abramovich’s grand plan is in ruins.

What next for Chelsea FC?

So what must be the further course of action?

Whoever is appointed in the summer, it is very likely that it will not be Rafael Benitez. What was once an impregnable fortress has witnessed defeats to QPR, Swansea, and draws against Fulham and Southampton under the Spaniard’s stewardship, not to mention 5 goals conceded and 10 scored (this is rather misleading as 8 of them were scored in a single game). The chants of “Rafa Out”, “fat Spanish waiter”, “you are not wanted here” and the boos have not helped lift the atmosphere either. Even if Rafa manages to win something for Chelsea (the most likely and possible one being the FA Cup), fans will still not back him completely. Their hatred toward Rafa from past experiences will never subside. Even if offered a contract, Rafa is most likely to turn it down, as he has taken this ‘interim’ job merely to advertise himself to other bigger clubs in the summer. Rafa will definitely walk-out at the end of his contract (whether he manages to stay at least till then is another intriguing point of debate, and we haven’t even started on Fernando Torres yet!).

So who are the contenders? With Pep’s future confirmed, expect the same media circus surrounding the future of Jose Mourinho. As the poll here indicates, fans would love to see Jose Mourinho at Stamford Bridge. While a return would be romantic, Mourinho may still not be able to transform Chelsea’s style of play as he is known to be a manager who favours defensive solidity over attacking flair, which somewhat contradicts the owner’s long term plan. Then what other options does Abramovich have? Will the next Chelsea manager, whoever that may be, achieve the required results and help move the club in the ‘right direction’?

Abramovich wants Chelsea to be, to play and to be considered the “best”. While this commitment to such an ambitious long term plan is commendable, he must understand that trying to implement such a project takes time. The appointment of AVB and his sacking 8 months later, despite repeated public backing from the owner himself, creates a confusing impression about him. Short-term goals need to take a backseat if he is really serious about implementing the long term plan. So is that it for Chelsea then? Will the cycle of hiring and firing go on and on, unless Roman Abramovich loses interest (which is unlikely), or unless they find THAT manager – one who wins games week-in week-out, and plays beautiful Barcelona-esque football?

“Implementing the long term strategy without compromising the short term targets” – is that what a manager must do to survive at Chelsea FC? Can they ever get such a manager? No matter what riches are available to spend, the competition, the pressure, and the quality of opponents is just too good for realizing such an ambitious project. Roman intends to find that ideal manager, one who produces sexy football and wins every game from his dugout. The existence of such a manager is highly doubtful. Perhaps Guardiola could have been that man. Perhaps he could have brought more fans to the club. Perhaps he could have eclipsed Mourinho in the hearts of Chelsea fans. That is certainly not going to happen in the near future. Another big-name manager will be appointed, and will most likely be sacked months later with the same official statement following it. That ideal manager could have been Carlo Ancelotti, Jose Mourinho, AVB, Roberto Di Matteo, or even Avram Grant. If only Abramovich could have shown a little more patience!

Knee-jerk reactions only cause more harm than good. We know just how much you love the club, how every calculated risk you have taken has paid off, but isn’t CFC already famous more as ‘Coach Firing Club’ than ‘Chelsea Football Club’? Is this what we want for the club we support, to forever be associated with words like ‘instability’ or ‘crazy owner’? Please show a little more patience Roman, a little more. It is not going to hurt. Even Sir Alex never won anything in his first 3 years at Manchester United. Show a little bit of it, and you might finally find that ideal manager you have been looking for all along, rather than being content with ‘interim fat waiters’ who just cannot win league games at home.

Some patience is all we ask for. Please listen to the fans, for once at least!