Chelsea FC sack another manager – Betting preview

This morning Chelsea FC have parted ways with Roberto Di Matteo, their sixth manager since September 2007, after his teams 3-0 loss to Juventus last night put Chelsea on the brink of a Champions League group exit.

The Ex-Chelsea manager took temporary charge of the the team in March this year, although admitting he expected to be sacked with the then manager, Andre Villas-Boas. The Italian then lead the team from the verge of expulsion from the Champions League, to champions of Europe. He also recovered Chelsea´s Premier League form to finish sixth, as well as winning the FA cup in May.

The Chelsea team had been exciting football fans across the globe this season, before a shocking refereeing show, including two red cards, and a goal scored by a player who was off the pitch, in the Chelsea goal-mouth. The game was just turning in our favour, as Chelsea had just come back from 2-0 down to 2-2 against a strong Manchester United team, and with 9 Versus 11, Man United broke the deadlock with the offside goal to take the game 3-2.

Chelsea struggled for form following on from this, with only a 3-2 win against Shakhtar Donetsk in the Champions League, and with Frank Lampard and John Terry missing a string of games, Chelsea just couldn’t turn this around. Chelsea have currently lost 3 and drawn 2 in their last 6 games, which was not deemed acceptable by the Chelsea owner.

Chelsea released a statement on the subject:

‘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.

‘The club faces a difficult task ahead in qualifying for the knockout stages of the UEFA Champions League as well as maintaining a strong challenge for the top of the Premier League while competing in three other cup competitions. Our aim is to remain as competitive as possible and challenge strongly on all fronts.

The owner and the Board would like to thank Roberto for all he has done for the club since taking over in March. Roberto helped guide us to an historic Champions League victory and a seventh FA Cup. We will never forget the huge contribution he has made to this club’s history and he will always be welcome at Stamford Bridge.

The club will be making an announcement shortly regarding a new first team manager.’

The statement suggests they have a possible replacement lined up, and with the Manchester City game at the weekend, the new manager/caretaker manager will have their work cut-out to get their input into the team by that stage.

The bookmakers suggest Rafa Benitez is favourite to succed Di Matteo, with reports suggesting he and Roman Abramovich had been in contact last summer, but with Chelsea winning the Champions League, Roberto could not logically be ousted..

The second-favourite for the job, Pep Guardiola, has reports suggesting he would be unwilling to cut-short his year-long sabbatical and would only take the job come the summer, he is also a fairly short price for the job.

With the news having not broken too long ago, the prices on managers are continually changing, with the odds of Harry Redknapp, Gianfranco Zola and Avram Grant all being shortened.

I would not be surprised to see Avram put in charge, as he would be seen as a manager who would know that come the summer, he would likely be replaced by a new manager, most likely to be Pep Guardiola.

Who do you expect to see in charge? Who do you WANT to see in charge? Anyone but Rafa!