June 2008 seems like not so long ago. Why? Because it is not so long ago. And I wrote back then that the Chelsea job is a poisoned chalice. Back when I wrote that piece, Luiz Felipe Scolari seemed like he would give the vacancy at Stamford Bridge a pass. Would have good for him to have done so.
And now, just like they booted a manager during the previous season, Chelski have shown the World Cup winner the door. The familiar names are back again in the reckoning – Roberto Mancini, Frank Rijkaard, Guus Hiddink, and even Jose Mourinho.
The truth is, and Sir Alex Ferguson captured it well earlier this season, that Chelsea’s core team is probably over the hill. Any of these names will need time to fix this problem. And it doesn’t seem as if Roman Abramovich, who kicked out Avram Grant, who came within one penalty kick of lifting the Champions League, rather mercilessly, has the patience — the most important currency he can offer a top manager as the latter tries to engineer a turnaround.
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