Caretaker taking care of business

After so much hype about a young, talented coach coming to one of the Premier League's biggest clubs, not much can be taken out of Andre Villas-Boas' ten months at Chelsea..

Sure, he never got the time he probably deserved, which is surprising given the situation at hand just over eight months ago. One of few top coaching talents below 40-years-old in world football, Villas-Boas was one of few for a very good reason; he was up to something. His fantastic 2010-11 season with Porto brought a league title, a Taca de Portgual (the Portugese equivelant of the FA Cup) and, of course, a UEFA Cup win, propelling him into limelight. From our country's coverage of the latter stages of the UEFA Cup, we learnt of his age (33 at the time), character, even his lack of a career in professional football. But he was wanted and fresh off the back of the controversial sacking of Carlo Ancelotti, Roman Abramovich's Chelsea came calling. This was for the second time as the London club employed him as a scout between 2004-2007. Paying £13.3 million in compensation to Porto, he was set to shake things up in an attempt to give Chelsea that elusive Champions League win. But, as we all know, something went wrong.  

Villas Boas- gone in months

The losses, they came. The wins came too, but most were about as convincing as three 18-year-olds in Lacoste tracksuits holding up a bottle of Grey Goose, claiming they won't share it for hygiene reasons, when really it's for the risk of the unwitting civilian copping a mouthful of Highland Spring's finest. In the early stages, questions were asked about his selection policies after losses to title rivals Manchester United and Arsenal. The form dipped further, with Chelsea hovering in and out of the top four. Suddenly, his young age that made him seem like a long-term investment became a reason for fans to blast his inexperience. Similarly, his lack of a professional footballing career was picked up on as a weakness more than a unique fact. Nicolas Anelka and Alex left amdist speculation of dressing room fallouts and, soon enough, after an away loss against West Brom, Villas-Boas was sacked not even a year after he started. One of few things he can take out of his experience is that he didn't spend £50 million on Fernando Torres.. but neither did I, neither did you. It serves barely as a consolation.

Roberto Di Matteo was named as caretaker manager in a move that outraged Blues fans. So many questions were asked: Why pay out another hefty compensation figure to sack the man you paid a fee to get? If there was no one lined up, why not just keep Villas-Boas? These never got answered but there are another couple of ways you could look at it. You could take the sacking as a happening determined by events behind-the-scenes, even if you probably won't ever know exact reasons for this. If you think about all of the little things along the line - the rumours of various fallouts that everyone dismissed - you could put the sacking down to a broken relationship between chairman and manager rather than the form. The other? Well, you take Roberto Di Matteo as Chelsea's real Villas-Boas.

Di Matteo- the second coming

At 41, the former Chelsea midfielder is only seven years older than his predecessor. With over four years of coaching experience under his belt - three as a manager - Di Matteo is now viewed as exactly that in the footballing world; a coach more than a player. Although some sections of the press put Chelsea's Villas-Boas/Di Matteo saga in the same category as the one that unraveled at Wolves three weeks previous, you only have to look at the results to see how ill-judged that prediction was. Di Matteo managed his new side to a win away to Birmingham in the FA cup, followed by another victory at home to Stoke in the league before coming up to face the toughest fixture of his managerial career yet: a last-16 Champions League tie v. Napoli, Chelsea needing to better a 3-1 scoreline from their loss in the previous leg to progress. A few days later, to say he passed with flying colours would be an understatement and a lazy use of a cliche. A 4-1 win after extra-time at Stamford Bridge helped overturn what could only be described as a royal hiding in Naples. The performance saw passion, grit and class that fans claim hadn't been seen all season. With the sublime trio of Ezequiel Lavezzi, Marek Hamsik and Edinson Cavani operating in full-flow for Napoli in the 1st leg, it would be harsh to say that Di Matteo had cleaned up the mess left by Villas-Boas. However, nothing can hide the fact that all three took to the pitch for the 2nd encounter. So, overall, at least he's got the fans on his side for another week.

Abramovich- plans remain unclear 

If given the time, there's no reason as of yet why Di Matteo can't turn into a top manager. However, he hasn't got time to do anything but deliver in these early stages. Realistically this is probably it. The 10 games that he has now to turn around Chelsea's disasterous season is the time scale he's working with, that's at best. It's the playing equivalent of having a fairly valuable asset on the bench, who's been moaning a little bit in the press about his lack of games - so have the fans because they want to see him play - taking him and telling him he's starting in the next game due to an injury crisis. He's got a month to prove himself. This isn't necessarily to say that Chelsea have done a bad thing by throwing him into the deep end, though. At least they've given him a chance.

Anyone could be excused for thinking that the decision to appoint Di Matteo was forced on Abramovich; coming in harmony with having to sack Villas-Boas. A decision had to be made straight after the West Brom game to satisfy the fans, who had been speculating about possible appointments for weeks. Whether or not Abramovich thought he was doing this for the supporters is unclear, but maybe he's seen something in Di Matteo as an assistant that many haven't. There has been a lot of joking about on Twitter this week about Chelsea's new boss being a yes man however, early signs, I believe, have been good so far. Another win at home on Sunday against Leicester will see the Blues through to an FA Cup semi-final which could lead to another significant confidence boost going into the last 10 league games and Di Matteo, against all odds, possibly staking a claim for a longer contract. If they give him time, that is. If not, you know I'll be scratching my head.