Rumours and whispers swirl around Stamford Bridge. Speculation about the manager intensifies. Roman Abramovich has another burst of one of his sporadic episodes of attention and intervention. The club he bought to bring him Champions League glory is in danger of missing out on qualifying for the tournament that so mesmerises him.
Chelsea has been here before, so many times during Abramovich’s nine year reign. It’s the same old circus but different clowns. Substitute Andre Villas Boas for Luiz Felipe Scolari or any of the other six managers who have been shown their way out of the revolving door at Stamford Bridge and you could be watching the same story unfold.
This time the story should have a different ending. If Abramovich is intent on building a club for the future then Villas Boas should be allowed to continue as manager. He is barely seven months into a monumental task – rebuilding an aging side and replacing them with one moulded in his likeness, not that of his former mentor and boss Jose Mourinho.
Abramovich should remember that is why he paid Porto such vast amounts in compensation for poaching their highly successful young coach away. Pampered players, past their prime and used to wielding far too much pressure and influence over the owner and the direction of the club, may not like it but they will have to get over themselves for the good of the club.
Seven months is not long enough to give anyone, let alone a manager confronted with such a huge burden. Villas Boas is looking towards the future and for once Abramovich should be too. The club is not doing all that badly, considering it is going through a prolonged and period of transition. The team may lie outside of the coveted Champions’ League positions but it is only one point worse off than this time last year so all is not lost.
The quest for the holy grail continues unabated. The Blues face Napoli in the knock out stages of that competition next week and although a trip to Italy is a tricky enough prospect Chelsea are also in the fifth round of the FA Cup but Championship side Birmingham stand in the way of progression on Saturday. It is a tie that has the potential for an upset but it’s not the hardest of draws.
Frank Lampard, a key figure in the dressing room, is reported to be unhappy with his treatment by Villas Boas. It must be hard to come to terms with taking instruction and advice from a manager who isn’t even a year older than you. Surely Lampard, with all his reputed intelligence, can see that Villas Boas treatment is for his benefit. Sir Alex Ferguson’s selective use of Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs prolonged their careers at the highest level.
Villas Boas is striving to build a young, dynamic team that plays football according to his vision but his use of Lampard suggests that the older generation still have an important role to play. The older players in the squad don’t appear to share that vision and are unwilling or unable to embrace it. On the pitch the sight of them carelessly losing possession and misplacing tackles has infuriated and disheartened in equal measures this season
The one player who has continued to shine during these difficult few months is Juan Mata. Villas Boas’ first major signing has been at the heart of all that has been good about Chelsea these past few months. He is the creative spark who can ignite Chelsea in the future. The manager’s other young signings - Oriol Romeu and Romelu Lukaka - have both shown promise for the future.
The Special One continues to be a spectral presence, hovering over Stamford Bridge like Banquo’s ghost at Macbeth’s feast. The only manager who has ever come close to replacing him in the affections of the fans and players was Guus Hiddink and he had the good sense to hightail it out of London after rescuing the club in 2009 and guiding them to FA Cup glory. It seems that Mourinho haunts his protégé’s every move. Reports this week suggest that some players still loyal to their former general text him regularly.
These relationships can only undermine Villas Boas and are detrimental to the well being of the team. For the sake of the future it is time to lay Mourinho’s ghost to rest and finally move on with André Villas Boas.