Top Stories

Chelsea fire Di Matteo due to recent struggles

Roberto Di Matteo has become the latest victim in Chelsea’s seemingly never-ending coaching carousel.

A day after Chelsea suffered a 3-0 Champions League loss to Juventus that put them on the brink of elimination in the group stage of the tournament, the Blues fired Di Matteo on Wednesday. Di Matteo led Chelsea to a Champions League crown and FA Cup victory while serving as interim manager and he had only been in charge on a permanent basis since June.

Chelsea’s recent struggles, however, have forced management to cut the Italian’s time short. The club released a statement citing that recent poor results (Chelsea have only won twice in their last eight matches across all competitions) and performances made the board and owner feel that ‘a change was necessary’ so as to ‘keep the club moving in the right direction’ as they enter a crucial part of the season.

The club is soon expected to make an announcement regarding the appointment of a new manager.

What do you think of Chelsea firing Di Matteo? Did the Blues act too hastily? Who should be the next manager?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. Well at least he lasted longer than Mike Brown this season. Maybe RDM was trying to run the Princeton offense as well. That would explain the struggles of Torres!

    Reply
  2. I don’t know why people say that you would have to be crazy to take the manager job at chelsea. I likewise think managers at chelsea have nothing to worry about. Pep or any other great coach that goes there will get a great paycheck and likely only have to coach there for a season or two at the max and get paid for 3 or 4. When they do get fired early, nobody will blame the manager, but crazy tinkering Roman instead.

    So to recap. If I’m a highly respected coach, I take the job in a heartbeat. Big pay for likely a short stint and my reputation is likely to stay intact as Roman will take the fall for tinkering with the team prematurely. Sounds great to me, Hopefully I get fired in time to enjoy an early summer on my yacht.

    Reply
  3. This is so disappointing. Love or hate Chelsea, it’s hard not to like Di Matteo (as a coach and a player). Chelsea is still a very talented team, they’re just a lot younger than they were when they won the UCL. Di Matteo should have been given a longer chance.

    In closing, Roman is a megalomaniac with a god complex.

    Reply
  4. I supported Chels for several years and still love the players, but this kind of madhouse stuff led me to switch support to Swans.. The owner is loony. I had had enough when he let Ancelotti go on the bus back at the end of the season.

    Who’s next on the revolving door? Benitez? That’s a joke.. He wants Pep now and will throw loads of money at him as well.

    Reply
    • You ‘switched’ support? Seriously? this is a joke right, rules of soccer support: 1) you never, never, never switch to another team, ask a Leeds fan.2) You never, never, never, never admit it when you do, ask a Leeds fan.

      Reply
      • Limey,

        You forgot one important fact. We are Americans and these English teams are not in our blood, we just so happen to enjoy the game of English soccer.

        So, for an Americans to change allegiance to another English team tells you that it’s not in our blood. These teams are not from our neighborhoods, we just love the game. We despise the Chelsea ownership because of his looney behavior and almost unexplainable psychotic temperament. The organization of Chelsea is horrid.

        If he were changing MLS teams then that would be a different story.

  5. Hmmmm whoever starts David Luiz in the middle, doesn’t stock up more Fs and CBs should be fired. Hazard has been a great pickup but it’s actually a flawed team of limited depth. Very good with Mata and Hazard, not very good in other places. Not enough F quality and if any CB gets hurt the next ups are awful. The irony is DiMatteo patched this up well enough to win silverware last year but the team is very vulnerable to injuries and Torres’ mercurial form.

    That being said, Chelsea will obviously beat the Danish team, get to 10 points, and it will come down to the other result. If Shaktar wins at home and Chelsea does their job, they go through and don’t have to worry about GD.

    Reply
    • I hope Shakhtar and Juve play to win and have an entertaining game, but it is more likely that both teams will play not to lose. Juve is on the road and will likely sit back and play for a draw to advance. Shakhtar does not have much incentive to push the numbers forward since they already qualified and will top the group with the draw.

      Reply
  6. How can any manager be expected to build his team the way he wants/needs/fits his style of coaching when he isn’t given any time? IMO a successful club really needs to give a manager 2-3 seasons to even just implement his vision and tactics. More to start being successful with it.

    But as a Fulham fan, this couldn’t have happened to a more deserving club

    Reply
  7. How can any manager be expected to build his team the way he wants/needs/fits his style of coaching when he isn’t given any time? IMO a successful club really needs to give a manager 2-3 seasons to even just implement his vision and tactics. More to start being successful with it.

    But as a Fulham fan, this couldn’t have happened to a more deserving club 😉

    Reply
    • Sorry Ives, but every time (probably about 1 out every 5 times I post) one of my comments is moderated, I’m just gonna repost the same comment again with a little difference. I’ve seen “moderation” take half a day so I don’t feel like waiting. Truth be told I absolutely detest moderation on this site. It just destroys the flow.

      Reply
  8. Seems like a very poor decision. Di Matteo was doing just fine, and you’d have to think if they still had Drogba they’d be doing a lot better.

    Reply
  9. Any manager for Chelsea will be on edge wondering from day to day if they have a job. It’s not a position any manager will desire. I suspect it will become increasing difficult for Chelsea to hire competent management and this may ultimately lead to a decrease in winning team.

    Reply
  10. Would Pep really want this job? It seems that any successful coach would steer clear of this job. If both Mou and Ancelotti, who have won at the greatest stage (champions league) were shown the door, it doesn’t matter who you are…the same fate awaits.

    Reply
  11. RDM to NYRB! I kid…

    Was clear that Roman never wanted to give RDM the job, so he was just waiting for any slip to pull out the sack. I’m sure he’s already in NYC, throwing pebbles at Pep’s bedroom window. Problems at that club are deeper than the manager, tho.

    Reply
  12. Wow! The money aside, the job of Chelsea manager has to be one of the worst in football. (And, damn do u fellas get up early to hustle us the soccer news. Respect!)

    Reply
  13. It doesn’t matter what manager Roman wants to trot in. Until they “fire” Fernando Torres, Chelsea will be stuck in neutral.

    Reply
    • Umm dude RDM played without a striker for like the first 70 Min. Torres came off the bench and they were already down a goal or two. Sure he hasn’t been putting the ball in the net very consistently but as of late RDM’s tactics have been inconsistent.

      Reply
      • He scored three goals, of which, he was tied with six other players.

        Let’s even throw in the memorable goal against Barcelona that paved the way for Chelsea to advance to the Champions League Final.

        Another fun stat-line: He started zero of those matches. That should be an impressive stat then as a result, right?

        Unfortunately, it’s not. It simply highlights that countless managers in recent years simply can’t rely on him and refuse to depend on Fernando because he’s a headcase that still believes he’s great.

        If not for Roman paying 79 million dollars, he wouldn’t even be in the discussion for the match day roster. At this point, I think you’d be hard pressed to find any club in the world willing to take Torres at 10% of that transfer fee.

        Yes, THAT top goal scorer at the EUROs. He’s garbage.

  14. Couldn’t this have waited until after they bomb out of the Champions League in a couple weeks? Seems like it just makes it worse with the Torres issue as the icing on the cake.

    Reply

Leave a Comment