5 famous managers who were sacked after they lost the dressing room

3) Andre Villas-Boas (Chelsea)

Andre Villas-Boas (L) was replaced by Roberto Di Matteo (R)

It was easy to see why clubs that were looking for a new manager were attracted to Andre Villas-Boas. After all, the Portuguese manager had won a 'treble' with Porto when they won the UEFA Europa League, Primeira Liga and Taca de Portugal in 2010/11.

He obviously reminded Chelsea of a younger version of Jose Mourinho (he'd even been his assistant under Mourinho) and saw him as the man to replace the outgoing Italian boss Carlo Ancelotti. The only problem was that he was too young. And in a dressing room filled with stars, a 33-year-old manager did not exactly inspire confidence.

Although the Blues' pre-season form showed promise (they won all games and conceded just once), big losses to Manchester United (3-1) and Arsenal (5-3) saw pressure mount. By the turn of the year, it seemed like he was only getting support from his Portuguese-speaking teammates while the English core were starting to doubt his abilities.

After falling out of the top four, he cancelled their day off and summoned all players to a meeting which was also attended by club owner Roman Abramovich. That's when the gloves came off and senior players questioned his tactics.

The final straw came when he benched Frank Lampard, Ashley Cole and Michael Essien for a Champions League knockout game against Napoli. The Blues lost 3-1 and soon he was out the door.

“There were some players who didn't want to work hard for Villas-Boas," Cole said years later. "But as soon as [Roberto] Di Matteo arrived, that all changed.”

We all know what happened next. Roberto Di Matteo took over as interim manager and led the Blues to a historic Champions League title to qualify for next year's campaign as defending champions even though they finished the season outside the top four.

"The Chelsea experience was too much too soon. I wasn’t flexible as a manager at that time. I was communicative, but I wasn’t flexible in my approach. At Chelsea the group was more important, I stuck to my methods too much." - Andre Villas-Boas