All change at Chelsea: Rafael Benitez out, Avram Grant in, Jose Mourinho back in the summer28 February 2013
Rafael Benitez will be in charge for Saturday’s game against WestBrom but Chelsea are considering replacing him with Avram Grant untilthe end of the season before bringing Jose Mourinho back as manager inthe summer.
Standard Sport understands the Blues are growing increasinglyconfident of reappointing the Special One as they weigh up their secondchange at the top this season.
Benitez is on the verge of the sackafter an extraordinary rant following Chelsea’s 2-0 win atMiddlesbrough last night when he blasted the club for only naming him as‘interim’ first-team manager after he replaced Robert di Matteo inNovember.
He
also attacked the fans for constantly chanting and displaying banners protesting against him and confirmed he will leave at the end of the season.
Chelseatoday insisted it is “business as usual” and that they view hiscomments as aimed more towards the fans rather than at the board.
Beniteztook training today but Chelsea are believed to be ready to make achange with the club in danger of missing out on Champions Leaguefootball next season.
Standard Sport revealed this week thechances of Benitez making a premature departure were “possible” asconcern was increasing at the club over results and his tactics.
Grantis in line to take temporary charge, even though he was far frompopular with Chelsea fans after succeeding the Special One in September2007. The 58-year-old stepped in following Mourinho’s sacking and ledthem to the Champions League Final eight months later before also beingfired.
Significantly, Grant was seen with Roman Abramovich in theowner’s box at Stamford Bridge for Chelsea’s FA Cup replay againstBrentford two weeks ago.
But Mourinho,
who won five trophies at Chelsea in a three-year spell, is closing in on a dramatic return.
Standard Sport revealed at the start of the month the club were
more confident than ever of bringing him back and those hopes have risen further following a series of informal conversations to sound out his interest.
Mourinhois almost certain to leave Real Madrid in the summer afterdisagreements with several high-profile players and the club’s hierarchyand will attract interest from a host of Europe’s top clubs.
ParisSt-Germain and Manchester City are willing to let Mourinho name hisprice but Chelsea believe they are moving into pole position, despitethe need to resolve a number of issues. It is believed Mourinho iswilling to work under owner Abramovich once again despite a breakdown inthe pair’s relationship leading to his sacking.
Althoughdiscussions are at a very formative stage, Mourinho is thought to haveindicated he will only return to Stamford Bridge if he can exert greatercontrol over the club’s transfer policy and has also sought guaranteesover less interference from Abramovich in team affairs.
Chelsea’s representatives have attempted to be as discreet as possible so as
not to undermine Benitez’s positionbut it is conceivable that last night’s attack on a section of theclub’s fans was prompted by his awareness of the club’s pursuit ofMourinho.
Benitez was already under strain before his outburst asthe club are in danger of missing out on a top-four finish in thePremier League.
The 52-year-old was told on his appointment thatthe priority was to qualify for next season’s Champions League. But theteam have won just three of their last eight League games and havedropped below Tottenham to fourth in the table, while Arsenal are nowjust two points behind.
To make matters worse, the club failed towin the Fifa Club World Cup and were beaten by Swansea in the CapitalOne Cup semi-final.
Benitez has the second worst winningpercentage of any Chelsea coach in the Abramovich era at just 52 percent, with only Andre Villas-Boas, who was sacked almost exactly 12months ago, below him on 48 per cent.
His record is worse than DiMatteo, who had a 62 per cent win rate, while Chelsea were just fourpoints behind the Premier League leaders (Manchester City) when theItalian departed and trail Manchester United by 19 now.
Benitez’srelationship with many of the players has deteriorated and words wereexchanged between him and the squad before training on Monday.Theformer Liverpool manager’s treatment of John Terry has come underintense scrutiny as the captain has made just six appearances sincerecovering from a knee injury and was left on the bench for the 2-0defeat at Manchester City on Sunday.
http://www.standard.co.uk/sport/football/all-change-at-chelsea-rafael-benitez-out-avram-grant-in-jose-mourinho-back-in-the-summer-8514741.html
perfect ending
