It's only the Fail but they're plumping for Rafa.

Please God no.

One thing's for sure, regardless of whether we like it or not, there's going to be a lot of speculation about the Chelsea job, and it's going to start turning into a frenzy unless we start picking up points and quick.

That's the nature of the beast I'm afraid, and when you've sacked as many managers as Chelsea, it's only to be expected.

Expect Robbie to have to field a lot of questions at his next press conference. City next. I really hope the boys are up for it.

Edit: The Guardian are running with the story too. Please tell me it ain't so ..

Double edit: The Sun are running with it. They're all bloody running with it. Hopefully they're all copying each other.

Edited November 21, 201213 yr by Davey Baby

and the sun....no smoke without fire...looks all over for robbie...sad

If that's true, it is a mistake.

Robbie took over and we went on to win the FA cup and then the Champions League (something, we've been told, Roman has wanted for a very long time). We had some big changes during the summer and started the season quite well. Before we hit our slump, we had 9 wins and only 2 losses in 13 games. Not too bad. In the league it was seven wins and a draw in our first eight games. I'd call that bloody brilliant.

So even though we've hit a rough patch I think it would be wrong to kick Robbie out.

And it's not like we've been crap in every game recently. Nor has it been easy opponents. Two games against ManU, one we won and the other was lost because of some dodgy refereeing. We played really well against Liverpool but failed to kill the game. Twice we've faced Shakhtar whom have proven to be a really good team, resulting in one loss and a win.

We are far from perfect and there's quite a few things that we need to fix, but sacking Robbie already would be overreacting. A knee-jerk decision by Roman.

I'm not saying Robbie is a great manager nor that he will lift us to the sky, making us win many trophies in the years to come. He might not even last until his contract is up. But give him some more time. If we continue going downhill, then maybe think about it in january, but don't rush this.

Also, if we're going to make some changes, then why not start with the squad. Bring in atleast one player who can score, because at the moment it feels like Ivanovic or Cahill is our biggest threats up front. Mata as well of course.

Adding players like Hazard, Moses and Oscar is great for any team, but it won't help much if we don't have anyone for them to assist up front.

Finally, if we still sack Robbie and bring someone in temporary, then what happens if that person manage to win the league and the FA cup, or indeed the Champions League. It would put the board in the same situation as with Robbie.

P.S. What is Hiddink doing nowadays? If we're getting anyone on a temporary basis, then I want him.

I would be supremely annoyed if this turned out to be true... I'm as gutted as most are about the loss in Turin but...

Sick on the floor

I find it sickening that this is happening again already, I don't have any defending left in me for the abuse this club gets and deserves if another Manager is sacked after showing hes got what it takes.

No Manager out there would have done better with the players at his disposal and the squad is two or three players away from being very very good while younger than its been for years.

Most teams stick by their manager until it really becomes impossible to keep them. We sack them as soon as we get a hint of bad times.

Though one can't say that it hasn't helped us at times. Hiddink came in and won us the FA cup and almost knocked out Barcelona in the CL (we all remember that game). Robbie handed us the FA cup and the Champions League.

There are few things more dreadful than dealing with a man who knows he is going under, in his own eyes, and in the eyes of others. Nothing can help that man. What is left of that man flees from what is left of human attention. Baldwin, James

Edited November 21, 201213 yr by CFCCAN

Thing is though other than a Jose return there's nobody that comes off the top of my head that I'd want. No to Rafa and no to Pep.

Edit: Actually I would welcome Prandelli, great manager.

Edited November 21, 201213 yr by timetowaste

so we have a young manager who likes to play attacking football and has the respect of the 'egos' and there's talk of sacking him. I firmly believe the main problem is up front and the pressure to get Torres firing, I think he would have gone for someone else but for Romans desire for him not to flop.

Rafa as short term, really? He will do worse than RDM as RDM is doing the best anyone can with the players we have so if we are waiting for Pep why not just stick with RDM who has everything bar a striker he needs to succeed, he's even got Mikel to play well the team spirit is there just not a end product.

Rome was not built in a day Roman, have patience in RDM and RDM will reap rewards, if it wasn't for RDM there wouldn't be Mazacar or the possibility of getting knocked out of the champions league because we wouldn't be here. Or having a chance to get Falcao.

So please stop pulling the trigger, in my mind he's the best manager since Mourinho that wants to stay and look how much we have regretted losing Jose

Not sure who is to blame for yet another November slump. Which players are the bad eggs this time?

We know what roman is like though. I doubt he really wanted Robbie to be here for the long term (hence a one year deal with the option of another deal). Now he will be doing his best to get Pep to agree to join us. Really doubt that would help though.

I just don't think that Robbie is a very good manager, as much as I like him as a bloke and respect the motivation he gave the players last season to win the CL that's truly what I believe it was, his man management at that time was amazing. Long term he's just not the right man for us and before people jump on me and say it's a kneejerk, I didn't want him appointed in the first place but I understood that we pretty much had to.

Robbie took over and we went on to win the FA cup and then the Champions League (something, we've been told, Roman has wanted for a very long time). We had some big changes during the summer and started the season quite well. Before we hit our slump, we had 9 wins and only 2 losses in 13 games. Not too bad. In the league it was seven wins and a draw in our first eight games. I'd call that bloody brilliant.

I think we may have over hyped how good these wins were. Look at all the teams we have beaten, they have either had a patchy start to the season or have been poor. Now look at the results that we have lost or drawn. City beat us with a bit of luck in my opinion, Athletico Madrid ripped us apart because they are bang in form, QPR have been awful all season so i don't know how they got a draw against us, Shakhtar out classed us and they were in great form, Man United despite getting help from the ref were in decent form and they beat us, Swansea have been in decent form and they got a draw against us, Liverpool's form has got slightly better and they got a draw against us, West Brom have been in great form and they beat us, Juventus have been in great form and they beat us.

We have won 1 game against a side that were in good form, Shakhtar at home, and that was a really lucky win. The point i am making is every time we come up against a side in good form we lose or draw. And every side we beat are in patchy or poor form, that is very worrying.

I think he is very tactically aware though, look at last season AVB tried attacking pressing football and when Robbie came in he changed the play and motivated us to win. He's a very good man manager is respected in the club, and now he's got the players in, apart from a redhot striker, they are playing fast attacking exciting football.

This is a knee jerk completely, without him we would be like Spurs relying on 1 man in Mata in attack, outside the top four, before we won the cl last season if you told me that our midfield is one of the brightest in the world and we were challenging for the title I would probably have laughed.

Our inability to win against sides in form is about the chances, they have strikers, RVP Falcao Suarez Long, who are in form themselves and convert chances, we don't currently have that striker and that is because we all, myself included, willed Torres to come good and he hasn't and has spurned big chances against a few sides.

I know times have changed but in SAF early years united were mid table and he's arguably the best manager in history. This team is progressing and Robbie is doing a great job and knows what he is doing

Edited November 21, 201213 yr by zolawannabe25

Beaten Chelsea talk to Rafael Benítez

Rory Smith Turin

Roman Abramovich, the Chelsea owner, has been in direct contact with Rafael Benítez to assess the Spaniard’s interest in becoming the club’s manager until the end of the season should Roberto Di Matteo be dispensed with in the coming days.

Di Matteo finds his position under the most intense scrutiny this morning after seeing his side — initially shorn of Fernando Torres, who was dropped in favour of playing Eden Hazard in an unfamiliar attacking role — torn apart by Juventus in Turin last night.

Chelsea’s 3-0 defeat, thanks to goals from Fabio Quagliarella, Arturo Vidal and Sebastian Giovinco, and Shakhtar Donetsk’s victory over Nordsjaelland in the other group E game, leaves the club in danger of suffering the ignominy of becoming the first cup-holders to be eliminated at the group stage.

To have any chance of avoiding that fate, Chelsea must beat the Danish champions at Stamford Bridge in two weeks’ time and hope that Shakhtar overcome Juventus in Ukraine. Should results not go in their favour, Chelsea will find themselves in the Europa League come spring.

If that becomes the case, it is almost unthinkable that Di Matteo will remain in place. The Italian, of course, retained the post that he initially inherited on a temporary basis from André Villas-Boas in March only because Pep Guardiola turned the job down in the summer.

Abramovich is minded to make one more attempt to coax the former Barcelona coach to Chelsea midseason; if that fails, and Chelsea are eliminated, he will turn to Benítez, the former Liverpool manager, at least until the end of the campaign. At that point, he would return, once again, to Guardiola. The Spaniard was sounded out by Chelsea nine months ago, as Abramovich prepared to sack Villas-Boas, but could not agree terms with the club.

Chelsea were prepared to offer only a four-month, temporary deal, but Benítez was determined to hold out for an 18-month contract. Then, though, discussions went through Marina Granovskaia, Abramovich’s trusted personal assistant. This time, the contact has been between the two men direct. Although his Liverpool connections do not make him a natural choice in the eyes of many fans, Benítez is seen by Chelsea’s hierarchy as the one manager capable of eliciting the best from Fernando Torres. So poor has the Spaniard’s form been — he has scored only once in eight games — that Di Matteo, despite an injury to Daniel Sturridge, elected to start with Hazard at the tip of a revamped formation.

Di Matteo took full responsibility for the defeat last night, maintaining that he should bear the blame rather than his players, but insisted that he felt he was not only correct to drop the Spaniard, but that he is confident he will not imminently become the seventh managerial casualty of Abramovich’s reign.

“We are all in it together,†the Italian said. “I am responsible for the results. I’m responsible for the performance. It’s a negative evening for us. If anyone has to take the blame, it’s me. I selected a team I was convinced was the right team to win against Juventus, or get at least a draw, so the blame belongs to me.

“I was convinced it was the right selection, which is why I decided that. My conviction was 100 per cent to go with this team. Mathematically, qualification is still possible. While there is hope, we try. At the moment, I am here, and I think I will be for the future.â€

This guy has got good links with Liverpool and more importantly good links with Benitez.

Edited November 21, 201213 yr by Sheva

Sky Sports News â€@SkySportsNews

Sky Sports News understands Roberto Di Matteo expects to lose his job at Chelsea after Champions League defeat to Juventus. More on #SSN

Details

Rafa? Please no!

This just spells of disaster all over the place. If RDM were fired, and Roman would go after Pep, why would Pep even want to come here? One blip and he could be gone!

Our managerial rotation is making me dizzy.

Yes, we could be eliminated from the CL. Yes, we've taken our usual November lull. Still, I don't think RDM should be fired in November. This just smells bad all the way around.

Yet again the press know all about a man they have never spoken to, what he's thinking, what he's going to do next. Be honest putting Doughnut man in the frame is not rocket science, he's looking for a job and is peeing up every lamp post outside every ground in the country hoping some one picks up on his scent I'm only surprised Sven hasn't been mentioned.

WELL if you dont fancy Benetez, lets say so loudly here and on the clubs site.....BENETEZ......NO THANKS

Over my dead body!

We need to get behind RDM at the Citeh game & make it clear we don't want Rafa.

The people to blame are the one's who thought we could survive with 2 (average) strikers.

Please god no, not Benitez.

so we have a young manager who likes to play attacking football and has the respect of the 'egos' and there's talk of sacking him. I firmly believe the main problem is up front and the pressure to get Torres firing, I think he would have gone for someone else but for Romans desire for him not to flop.

Rafa as short term, really? He will do worse than RDM as RDM is doing the best anyone can with the players we have so if we are waiting for Pep why not just stick with RDM who has everything bar a striker he needs to succeed, he's even got Mikel to play well the team spirit is there just not a end product.

Rome was not built in a day Roman, have patience in RDM and RDM will reap rewards, if it wasn't for RDM there wouldn't be Mazacar or the possibility of getting knocked out of the champions league because we wouldn't be here. Or having a chance to get Falcao.

So please stop pulling the trigger, in my mind he's the best manager since Mourinho that wants to stay and look how much we have regretted losing Jose

Absolutely 100% this.

If I could do one exchange in the January window it would be to swap Abramovich for Sheikh Mansour. At least their billonaire knows when to leave well alone.

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