At what point do Chelsea say enough is enough?
I am all for giving a new manager some time when he first comes into the club, but over the festive period especially I have begun to wonder, when do you then call time on a manager? Is it when the results are consistently bad, or when the team misses out on trophies or is relegated? Is it when they lose the dressing room, fans and media or even their behaviour making them seem like a thoroughly unpleasant character.
I began to write this article mainly with Chelsea in mind. The club I have the softest spot for in England is also the club who goes through managers like the real Ronaldo goes through pies. It has become a familiar sight since the departure of the Special One, and you can argue even dating back to the tinkerman himself, to see the club in disarray and questions over the future of a manager.
AVB has come under such pressure since day one, with the defence in disarray, players banned from the first team and pundits sacked from Chelsea TV at his request all making things even harder for the young manager, aptly nicknamed Bambi.
Comparisons with Mourinho stopped a while back, with the Tesco value version failing to keep anywhere near the defence Mourinho did, and being downright inept when it comes to dealing with the British media.
For their part Chelsea are said to be giving AVB time to rebuild and restructure an aging side, and I fully agree that the Chelsea manager – who ever that is – has to be given this at least for the next couple of years.
Yet I do not feel that the manager should be AVB. Results aside – and they have hardly been good – he has shown a total lack of class in the way he deals with people who differ in his opinion and has been – rightly in my opinion – called petty, narcissistic and vindictive. Baring a departing Anelka from any club do over Christmas says it all.
Do Chelsea want a man like this at the helm – more importantly can a man with such a chip on his shoulder keep on Abramovich’s good side for an extended period? I doubt he could bar the billionaire owner from the first team car park!
Likewise another under fire manager who has been given time and seemingly the backing of the owners is Steve Kean, who may have pulled a couple of shock results out of the bag but promptly set his team up to lose at home to Stoke and make Peter Crouch look on a level with Leo Messi. Cue the fans dissenting again.
Yes, I have my doubts over Kean’s tactical and managerial ability, I feel he is more like a Steve Clarke – suited to being a coach and a fantastic one at that. Yet all that aside, a man who is under greater pressure than AVB – especially from fans who have vilified him in a cruel and persistent manner has dealt with it about as differently as you can get. Say what you like about Kean as a manager but as a person he comes across as thoroughly likeable and kind. If I was a Blackburn fan I may feel differently, I know my brother does, he wants Kean’s head on a platter, yet the support from fellow managers for Kean (let’s overlook the fact they are all Scottish) is overwhelming – no one has said much for AVB.
It is not just results that will determine how long a manager can stay, and even if results were good, yet his attitude the same, I would still have doubts over AVB’s character and suitability to rebuild the Chelsea team. In reality the only losers here are the Chelsea fans, who give their support, time and money to the club despite all of this, and if my inkling is right, the boos in the latest home defeat won’t be the last we hear this season at the Bridge.
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What a load of rubbish. A team with aging players who are quite petty and have been responsible for getting rid of previous managers has now been given a younger head strong Gaffer. The new boss has said that he only wants those who are committed and the ikd guard need to learn to rotate in the twilight of their career. Every true football fan with an ounce of knowledge understands this and yet some people still write tripe like this article being critical of a team in major transition. Boring! What a waste of reading time!
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Rebecca Knight Reply:
January 4th, 2012 at 1:03 am
the article does not disagree with cfc being in transition. chelsea need to badly get rid of the old guard and i do not agree with the player power that has blighted the bridge for so long.
I have an issue with the lack of respect avb has shown a variety of people in the squad who have done nothing wrong, the media and indeed cfc tv.
Alex is a very good defender – if terry had been told to leave i could have understood this due to his conduct and influence. Alex on the other hand is devoid of all of this.
To bar anelka from the xmas do is petty as is ordering a pundit to be sacked for a disenting opinion.
I agree with new players and youth, not to mention the rotation. I do not agree with a total lack of respect and class that has been displayed on multiple occasions by avb.
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Wholeheartedly disagree with this article.
For too long Chelsea have had weak personalities at the helm, managers that bended to the whim of the playing staff.
AVB is headstrong and ruthless, like most good managers. All he needs to add to that is success and silverware, but he needs time for that.
I’ve no doubt Jose would mercilessly boot out the same players AVB is looking to get rid of. The squad is a mess and it’s the worst we’ve possessed in a long time.
Too many old fogeys that aren’t motivated, just happy to pick up their lucrative wages.
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Rebecca Knight Reply:
January 4th, 2012 at 12:59 am
there is a difference between headstrong and totally disrespectful. Yes mourinho may have let certain players go and rightly so. I am not saying cfc do not need to rebuild. they do drastically, yet the way alex and anelka were treated is toally uncalled for – alex is a class defender. As is sacking a longstanding,respected cfc tv pundit for disagreeing with avb’s tactics.
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Eidur Reply:
January 4th, 2012 at 2:30 pm
Firstly, thank you for taking the time to reply to the comments on your article. There’s not many that bother.
I’m not saying AVB hasn’t made mistakes, he will and he’ll learn from them.
I don’t think anyone is particularly happy with the whole Alex and Anelka thing, but we can’t go on media hearsay regarding the details. We don’t know what they have done, whether it was more to do with the hierarchy at the club or AVB himself.
Can’t sack a manager off the back of rumour.
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Rebecca Knight Reply:
January 4th, 2012 at 3:18 pm
Its not just that one ‘rumour’ though, it is a whole host of things.
I would support a manager who makes mistakes but has potential, Fergie and Mourinho even make mistakes now. My issue is that I don’t think AVB has the humility to admit them and wuld rather cost the team than do this.
The transition is something that had to happen no matter who came in this season, yet there is a way to do this, and AVB has ailienated nearly everyone in a short time.
The club were never going to win the league this year, with Spurs City United all imporving but a 4th place spot is essential, especially if they wish to attract big names in the summer.
I agree with the article. AVB has made unforgivable mistakes, he, as far as I am concerned, is a weak manager-tactician. He cannot sign anyone good. I think noone wants to play for him. And the way he treated Alex and Anelca is despeakable. I think he is ruining Chelsea. Even while “rebuilding” – he had no right to lose to Villa, Liverpool, draw with Wigan and Fulham. The team has deteriorated. They play unattractive, boring football. Players, except a few, are not trying, not even pretending they care. And the ones who do care, like Torres, are not given time. How can he be in form when he doesnt play??? Instead Drogba is playing who doesnt give … Lukaku is not given ANY time. What kind of tactician is AVB????
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Brad Pinard Reply:
January 4th, 2012 at 9:30 am
Well said!
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Eidur Reply:
January 4th, 2012 at 2:35 pm
Well said? ‘Despeakable’…Really?!
AVB hasn’t signed anyone good?…Mata? Romeu? And Meireles isn’t bad for the money he cost.
Also, AVB put Sturridge straight into the side at a time when the majority of the media thought we’d do the typical Chelsea thing and send him straight out on loan.
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Rebecca Knight Reply:
January 4th, 2012 at 3:22 pm
AVB placed sturridge into the side out of little choice due to the form of the other forwards and his real issue with anelka.
I think you are fully aware of what he meant by despeakable so slightly petty to pick up on that really.
Signings aside, not playing alex – the best defender the club have is a foolish mistake, and the way he sets up with high line especially when you consider the age of the team and pace jt lacks is just tactically inept
What can one say in defense of AVB when after beating us, Villa loses to Swansea at home!!! SWANSEA!!! Wigan loses to Sunderland 1:4. At HOME. How could AVB gift those good-for-nothing teams any points at all???? Incompetence is my conclusion
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AVB will remain at the Bridge the old guard is going. UCL next year maybe….
Kean looks like he will somehow keep his job and take Rovers into Champship.THe man is clueless.
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It is not the rebuilding I have an issue with here, I fully accept cfc need time and youth to get through this period of transition. What my issue is, and what I have made clear in the article is my issue with his attitude when doing this and utter lack of class. Yes, get rid of players who you may not want, but there is a certain way to do this and AVB has evidently missed this lesson
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Avb is d right person for dem,it serves them beta,these grandfathers have formed secret carbal cult in d dressing room if manager refuses to dance to their tune,they will play him out of d club. For me,let avb sweep them out and stamp his authority to move d club forward.
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Didn’t this start out as a comment on the poor results of AVB at Chelsea? So why then did the article go off topic and descend into little more than a contrived character assassination.
If you don’t like him, that’s fine, can’t say I do much either, but if you’ve got a point, at least run with it rather than just making it up as you go along. Flawed.
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i wud agree wid dis article though i cant tell whether or not AVB is the right man or not i do believe his media handling and the behaviour towards ppl who disagree wid him is alarming and frankly dissapointing and to say dat he’d be given time for shaping a team while d team fails to even qualify for Champions league and sacking a double winer who ws also d runners up next season sounds absurd to me
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