nateevs:

Will he have a mountain to climb? Absolutely. How does he deal with the egos? I have no idea.
We have to give him a chance. However, if it all works out, it could be bliss!.

codeb:

He speaks good english and that is a plus, hopefully the board will provide him with funds to bring in players. Villas-Boas will definitely succeed.

debosky:

Are you saying Carlo didn't speak good English?

He'll crash and burn. . . .unless Roman is willing to give him more than one or two seasons.

nateevs:

Naysayers like Debosky and Sharon will come back saying "we knew he was brilliant, we were only speculating". I am bookmarking this page as I speak.


Abramovic triggers a manager's buy-out-clause of 15m (the most expensive in living memory) and you think he will tell him, "Dude all the money for transfer went into bringing you here".

You think AVB (and I like that by the way) will leave Porto where he is adored, loved by the fans and players and take a risk with a big job without having a guarantee of certain transfer targets to help with his goal.

Chamotex believes if he doesn't deliver, he will be sacked. What in your definition is "deliver"?

Dude will have poo loads of money to spend (not that I like that). And average managers like Avram Grant have proven that you may need a great deal of tactical input to finish in the top four. Let alone someone who has worked with a core of the players, worked in the league, knows the league and scouted opposition teams and managers  for several years. Plus someone who is tactically sound, young, fresh and plays good football.

Goodness, he knows the already how Wenger and Fergie play even before he signed.

He already knows what makes Lampard tick, Drogba, Terry, Cech, Mikel, Essien. He does not need to watch a back log of tapes to know how they play, he knows that already. He watched and "obviously" learnt how Jose motivated them. He saw things he may not like to replicate e.g Boring, negative football. He also saw things he knows will work. He already knows what system the players like. He already knows the strengths and weaknesses of a chunk of the players.

While he may not hit the ground running, there is nothing to suggest that he will be fired if he doesn't. *Please bear in mind that by hit the ground running, I mean winning a trophy* Top four finish will definitely guarantee him a job for another year while he builds on his experience.


No one knows what Roman is thinking. Maybe for once, he is thinking long term. So for stpuid statements like "He'll crash and burn", "I'm willing to bet he won't last a season in the PL", I say keep watching while another dude walks in and steals the show. . . Again!.

Brilliant Managers are already wary of how he could exploit what he knows. These arm-chair analysts are already predicting doom.

nateevs:

Naysayers like Debosky and Sharon will come back saying "we knew he was brilliant, we were only speculating". I am bookmarking this page as I speak.

Abramovic triggers a manager's buy-out-clause of 15m (the most expensive in living memory) and you think he will tell him, "Dude all the money for transfer went into bringing you here".

You think AVB (and I like that by the way) will leave Porto where he is adored, loved by the fans and players and take a risk with a big job without having a guarantee of certain transfer targets to help with his goal.

Goodness, he knows the already how Wenger and Fergie play even before he signed.

While he may not hit the ground running, there is nothing to suggest that he will be fired if he doesn't. *Please bear in mind that by hit the ground running, I mean winning a trophy* Top four finish will definitely guarantee him a job for another year while he builds on his experience.

He already knows what makes Lampard tick, Drogba, Terry, Cech, Mikel, Essien.

Brilliant Managers are already wary of how he could exploit what he knows. These arm-chair analysts are already predicting doom.

Ibime:

@ Nateevs,

I've learned not to ascribe the virtue of "rationality" to Abramovic.

Every decision RA has made at Chelsea has been irrational so don't be surprised if Villas Boas gets sacked after 3 months. Hehehehe.

coogar:

i love your optimism. . . .

however, chelsea fc are a different ball game. to thrive in chelsea, a manager must deliver(trophies, titles, glory, etc). the fact that abramovic triggered a buy-out clause means nowt. . . .he must create an enabling environment for this young manager to thrive - and that is letting him build his own squad, buy his own players, etc. mourinho was able to do that and his brilliance helped him to achieve all what he achieved.

since mourinho's departure, roman has been a bit tight with money. no other chelsea manager had the luxury jose had in terms of revamping the squad and this is why the ones after him have failed in a way. we all know roman is obsessed with the european trophy and that is a step too high for villas-boas with monstrous clubs like barcelona, real madrid, man utd etc still in europe.

you don't need an oracle to see where this might end for the rookie . . . .roman comes from a different world(despite his passion for football). in roman's world, when you are paid to do something - you must deliver results. if you don't, there's no reason to keep you. this ruthlessness is what made him a stinking billionaire and he will not make a u-turn because he wants to help the career of a portugese rookie. . . .villas-boas must deliver for chelsea or face the firing squad(like ancelotti, avram grant, hiddink)

One would think Roman is some logical guy the way you talk. . . we all know he's a whimsical owner who will get whatever he wants. The buy out clause is insignificant - it probably doesn't fuel RA's yacht in a year.

Did all this knowledge prevent him and his boss from being unceremoniously sacked?

Not only is this naive, it's outright daftness - there's nothing to suggest he'll be fired?

Blimey, a world cup winning coach was fired and there's nothing to suggest some 33 year old, wet-behind-the-ears JM wannabe will get sacked?

Was Scolari outside the top 4 when he got fired?

Carlo won the first double in the club's history, gets sacked for coming second and there's nothing to suggest he'll get fired?

The ONLY certainty is that he will get fired.

As a glorified match recorder? Even the kit men at Chelski can claim to know what makes Lampard and co tick. Does that make them good managers?

Which brilliant managers? The guy who got his coaching badge with him and now coaches Hibernian? Brilliant indeed.

debosky:

Aight Nateevs, I was yanking your chain a bit, but surely you don't believe he won't get fired for simply finishing top 4??

Even you can't have such a brief memory. . .

nateevs:

I said that but with a caveat. If he finishes in style. Like he nearly misses the title. However playing very good football.
If he does not win anything and we don't play good football, then it's difficult to see him being around.

nateevs:

You are just like a typical opposition fan and a British journo who like to indulge in their own self-proclaimed drivel that Roman is one ruthless, son of a b.itch who has no clue about football and won't hesitate to fire any manager for no apparent reason.

Yes it is widely reported that the Champions League is seriously coveted on this side of town, Roman till date has not fired a manager for not winning the CL. The "hate-Chelsea" campaign has fed everyone with garbage claiming Roman fires manager after manager for not winning the CL. They don't report as frantically though that Roman also loves beautiful football.

Jose , though very successful, was bad PR for Chelsea. Jose spent a lot of money and most of the football was effective but lacked style and panache. They fell out and he was gone. Jose will fall out with most people!. Not because he did not deliver.

Avram Grant. Do I need to write about him. I remember Sharon telling me in 08 that Avram was one of the best managers in the PL. FF to 2011, All I have to say is refer to your Pompey and Hammers dossiers! Dude was a stooge. A stop gap. A cold and inept supposed manager. Need I explain anything. He was not fired because he didn't win the CL, he was fired because he was shite!

[b]Scolari [/b]was going to bankrupt Chelsea. The self-sustenance by 2012 policy was in full force. PK promised Roman after all the money he's spent, we would be self-sustained by 2012. We slipped out of the top four and could not cop 3 points even if the opponents did not turn up. It was farcical. Fans like me was clamouring to keep him, in hindsight though, it was a fabulous decision. What the media never said was Chelsea was carrying the highest ratio of turnover/wages and participation in the CL was pertinent to Chelsea's financials. That explained why he was gone mid-season and not end of the season. We were still in the CL. He was fired because he appointment turned out to be a threat to Chelsea. Not because he did not win the CL.

Hiddink came in to steady the ship. He was not fired. It's funny how you even add him to your list of managers who were "fired". See what I mean?

Carlo Ancellotti's case was a little different. Finished his first season with a double. Played good football and finished the season in style breaking all sorts of records. But it was not all smooth. At some point mid-season, it felt like the Scolari effect was upon us. He were slipping away. Thankfully we recovered and won the double. The second season was not the same. Off to a flying start, looking cool and rosy and like we were going to walk it, we lost to at home 3-0 to Middles-borough. Chelsea's worst defeat at home in 10 years. It was down hill from there. For most times during the season, CA never looked like he had what it took to recover. It was the same playing style, like for like substitutions, predictable set-up for the whole season. It doesn't take a genius to work out how dire we were when Utd despatched us 3 times convincingly in a matter of weeks even though all we had to do was win the our remaining games. We did not even put up a fight. And he had no answers.

At some point, Wolves had a better win ratio than Chelsea. We went from 9 pts ahead of 2nd place to 15 pts adrift of 1st place. We lost 24 points in a handful of games. Chelsea's worst start to a season in 20-something years. That was relegation form and had Arsenal and Spurs not capitulated, we would have been 5th and out of the CL.  At that point, it was clear to all and sundry that CA was not the future. He had to go. He got fired because we were dire.

No one mentions that Roman is in search of a balance. A manager who doesn't need to spend a lot to win trophies. Yet plays beautiful football that typifies the club. Roman is a quiet fella, so he wants a manager that gives the club good PR.
Yes he wants the CL as widely proclaimed, there's no precedence to suggest that previous managers have been fired for not delivering the it. He's hired a plethora of supposedly experienced managers and they have not come up with the goods. Perhaps it's time to be radical and different. That could explain the appointment of AVB.

And stop that crap talk of Roman being tight with cash. We just recovered from a mid-season 75m transfer. Now we chasing Modric at 25m, Lukaku and De Bryune at a deal worth 20m, AVB 13m, VDW 15m, Neymar 30m. That's over a 180m in just under 6months and you are talking about being tight.

Keep preaching doom.

but i am very sure chelsea will ruin villas-boas young career by sacking him abruptly. the dude is not ready for the sharks in the english media yet.

FBS:

Mo ni go on soun! 

FBS:

Anyone who says Jose made Chelsea play "bad/negative" football is talking dodo. Yes I said it.
We were "perfect" in the league and once we scored its bye-bye to other teams. How can that be bad?
Our wingers were FLYING! Robben, "Arugbo" a.k.a Duff . . .heck even JC was on FIRE!!!

Going forward, AVB it is!
Looks very much like a mini Jose to me but at the same time, very much his own man at 33. (kai, why I no take football seriously huh? )) 

but with Falcao rumored to be coming, this one na striker-overkill ooh! midfielders nko?

Anyways, RA is ready to spend, who is we to complain?

Mo ni go on soun! 

debosky:

Scolari was stylish for quite a while before fading, even Carlotti was arguably the most stylish - the number of goals Chelski were scoring at the end of 09/10 and early 10/11 was the height of style, yet that didn't save him.

Like I said earlier, without trophies he is doomed, just like every other Chelski manager that has gotten fired.

It is unreasonable to think Roman is suddenly interested in a coach he'll allow to stay if he comes close but doesn't win, when all the previous managers have been sacked for not winning.

His age notwithstanding, he wouldn't have been hired if not for his trophy winning at Porto - if he fails to deliver one in his first season, I'm afraid he'll be sacked just like the rest of them.

debosky:

Secondly, if Jose was negative, we can as well expect his protege to be negative too, afterall what he spent his time at Chelski doing was studying other teams in order to find ways to nullify them.

nateevs:


If only you cared to read, you come back with this crap.
The only manager who was sacked at Chelsea for winning nothing was "No one" . . . Not a single one.
All of you are doing guess work.

You think Roman believes every Manager has to win something? If you think you do, why don't you tell us about your contact. Everything is just plain deductive reasoning. Every single manager had a reason they were sacked.

To support your skewed argument. You talk about the fair things the manager did at their time. Yet you fail to point out their failures because you know that will immediately discredit your assertion that he fired them all for the same reason. Was Jose fired for not winning as well. Yet he was fired.

Was Wilikins fired for not winning trophies? Infact, Wilkins was fired when everyone though we would walk the league.

Scolari did not finish the season. It was not clear whether he would or would not win anything. It is daft to suggest he was fired for not winning things when he left in February. We were in the league, the FA Cup and CL. And according to you "we had not dropped out of the top four" at the time.

Which leaves us with only Avram Grant who but for an unfortunate slip by JT would have won the CL. You think he was fired because JT slipped. This is ridiculous. How can anyone talk about what they don't know like it's gospel.

If Jose, Grant, Scolari and Wilkins were not fired for lack of trophies, that immediately renders your argument useless. And your assertion that Carllotti was fired for not winning any trophy is bollocks to begin with.

debosky:

AngeliMaga to n'pin re o ju re da oh!, It's Porto's time to collect no retreat no surrender oh.

How on earth can ANYONE say Jose was bad PR for Chelski

How many shekpe boys would be following Chelski if not for the trophies they won? How many fans would Chelski have outside of England if not for the trophies won by JM?

Secondly, if Jose was negative, we can as well expect his protege to be negative too, afterall what he spent his time at Chelski doing was studying other teams in order to find ways to nullify them.

I didn’t say ALL managers are fired for not winning; however the number of coaches fired for not winning is not insignificant

debosky:

It is unreasonable to think Roman is suddenly interested in a coach he'll allow to stay if he comes close but doesn't win, when all the previous managers have been sacked for not winning.
His age notwithstanding, he wouldn't have been hired if not for his trophy winning at Porto - if he fails to deliver one in his first season, I'm afraid he'll be sacked just like the rest of them.