Sunday 20 May 2012

ROMAN , DO NOT LOOK PAST ROBBIE...

I am enjoying  Roberto Di matteo's incredible personal triumph . The very fact that he has conquered against all odds ; and  has become the one who achieved the missing piece of Roman Abramovich's trophy puzzle . I am not surprised Chelsea claimed the champions' League prize , it was destined. I had likened this scenario in my last blog ( hypothetically then ) to the unlikely events in The Euro 92' Championship  ( Denmark's fairy tale victory ) and Greece's incredible achievement in winning Euro 2004 .  Add to that list of fairy tales - Chelsea : champions of Europe 2012 .

When Roberto Di Matteo broke his leg playing for Chelsea 12 years ago , i was sad for him ,  and then Chelsea manager Claudio Ranieri . Even sadder when his playing Career had to end as a result of the injury.  But   it's all come full circle now with  this " unlikely set of circumstances " ( refer to my previous blog )  being a self-fulfilling prophesy . I  certainly feel very happy for the man - someone i see as a nice bloke , a good man manager , and one with an infectious enthusiasm and aura , last but not least : tactically competent .

So ,  what does Chelsea's owner reckon , after having this long standing desire come true.... not even the great Mourinho surmounted the champions League conundrum this fast for the owner after spending hundreds of millions in player  purchase in over 3 years of stewardship . What Roberto Di Mateo has helped the owner do is to conclusively banish the ghosts of The Special one not only from Chelsea's boardroom , but also from the players'  lockers . No longer shall it be that success could only come via mourinho's currency. The Club can now lay claim to another layer of success in the aftermath.

The big question now is : what happens next ? Di matteo cannot be sacked because he is only an interim  manager still contracted as assistant manager ; for a fact his stature has been enhanced courtesy of  his FA Cup and Champions League successes ,  those in power at the Club must realize they have to keep him . With speculation that Fabio Cappello is interested in the job , I would offer Roman a simple piece of advice : Roman , Robbie will save you not only wasted millions , but potentially worse , the specter of being the laughing stock of European foot ball - as a man who has sacked so many managers ,  blown fortunes in consultancy , and severance packages , and mad enough NOT to make full time manager the one who brought him success at the quickest , and the cheapest , and in unprecedented circumstances . That's a fact . Do you want to tempt fate? Check out Chelsea's final premier league position - 6th .  Talk about buying into flawed decision making ! With Robbie , even if you are not convinced ; even if you had some big-wig lined-up , you could offer him a year's contract,  with a modest pay rise , spend little , or nothing on transfers for 2012-13 season , keep your aging stars for another year , there is life left in them , and as Robbie has proved , he is just the man to maximize the gains of your investment on the playing side. A Year on " trial " is the least everyone deserves , especially common sense .  Heroes sometimes unexpectedly emerge - Liverpool may find an answer to their questions if madness prevails at The Bridge.

2 comments:

  1. You are right about retaining mateo as the full time manager now because of his tremendous achievement within short period of time,but I don't think Chelsea is going to do so because they don't see him as big enough manager to attract the type of player they wanted. I have known that Chelsea is going to do it after they went past Barcelona in the semi's they had so much luck, though they were determined as a group as well and that reminds me of Liverpool in 2005. You can see what it meant to abramovich as well the guy really deserved it, he shown commitment spent hundreds million of pounds I'm really happy for them

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  2. Thanks for your comments , and analysis , Demmy . Certainly R D M has left Mr. Abromovich with a nice problem here.... I reckon he has not come to any conclusion yet ; though the longer it takes for them to make an announcement , the more likely it will be R D M . However , we must learn from the situation with Harry Redknapp : Those who employ soccer coaches always have a different criteria from the fans and players .

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