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#2 He only won the Premier League last season
Okay, so Roman Abramovich is no stranger to firing managers who’ve slipped up not long after seeing success. Carlo Ancelotti was disposed of just one season after winning the Premier League title, even though his side finished second, and Roberto di Matteo didn’t even last a full season despite winning the Champions League.
But let’s be honest, the decision to fire Ancelotti was disastrous, as Chelsea didn’t succeed in the league after getting rid of him for another four seasons. Whether Abramovich has learned from this mistake is up for debate, but he’s clearly no fool, and to sack Antonio Conte now would essentially be a repeat of the exact same mistake.
One poor(er) season simply doesn’t make someone a poor manager. Literally less than a year ago Conte was being hailed as a genius for being able to take basically the same Chelsea side that finished 10th in 2015/16 to the Premier League title, despite only making four major signings. He innovated a new style for Chelsea – utilizing a three-man defence and turning Victor Moses into a dangerous wing-back – and swept the board.
Firing him now would basically be akin to ignoring his accomplishments at Stamford Bridge, and that’d be ridiculous. Surely it’d be smarter for Chelsea to write off this season and simply trust Conte to right the ship next season? After all, this is a Premier League-winning boss we’re talking about.
