Alrick

The Demise of Andre Villas-Boas

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Andre Villas-Boas was sacked earlier today, the 5th manager to leave the club since Jose Mourinho was axed on September 19th, 2007 (not including Ray Wilkins who managed 1 game). Of these managers, AVB had the worst winning percentage…

…and it wasn’t even close. A full 10% separated AVB from the last Chelsea manager who didn’t make it a full season, Phil Scolari. (stats courtesy of thechels.co.uk)

Another shocking stat is the goal difference per game of Chelsea under AVB – a meager 0.63 which is less than half of the difference under Ancelotti and 75% less than the next worse Chelsea manager (Hiddink – 1.09). The stats are clear even though some may disagree with the decision – AVB did not have Chelsea playing anywhere close to the same level as his predecessors.

So how exactly did the demise of AVB happen? Let’s recap his time at the club…

June 22, 2011 – Chelsea pay Porto £13.3m in compensation to land AVB, fans rejoice. Some are hopeful he can have a 20 year run at the club – he didn’t last 20 months or even half of that.

August 2011 – AVB, unlike some managers before him, attempts to plan for the long-term future of Chelsea by signing the likes of Juan Mata, Oriol Romeu, and Romelu Lukaku – the first 2 have been solid first-team players, the latter still only 18 with the physique and upside to be one of the best strikers in the world.

September 2011 – After going undefeated in the first 5 matches under AVB, Chelsea lost 3-1 to United on September 18th. It was their only loss of the month.

October 2011 – Chelsea lose only once in the month of October (against QPR with 9 men) until October 29th, when they lose to Arsenal 5-3.

November 2011 – Anelka starts his last “real” game for Chelsea in a 1-1 draw against Genk on November 1st, Alex on November 5th against Blackburn. This is where I think AVB really started to lose the locker room after he froze out two players who were not only key members of the club’s success in the past but also highly respected by senior players. Chelsea won only 39% (9 wins, 7 draws, 7 losses) of their matches after the win against Blackburn, down from 59% (10 wins, 4 draws, 3 losses) before this date.

December 2011 – After a 2-0 defeat on November 29th to Liverpool, Chelsea replace Fernando Torres with Didier Drogba who rejuvenates Chelsea, guiding them to convincing wins against Newcastle (3-0), Valencia (3-0), and Manchester City (2-1). Drogba scored 3 goals combined in these matches. After a shock draw to Wigan and a respectable draw to Spurs, Drogba left for the Africa Cup of Nations and Chelsea lost all momentum, losing 3-1 against Aston Villa at the end of the month.

Alrick

Gary Cahill to Chelsea – How I Squashed the Rumors

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Gary Cahill wasn’t always destined to be a Chelsea player – with Arsenal hot on his tail only a few months earlier, the deal fell through hours before the transfer window shut – and Arsenal settled on Per Mertesacker instead. As Cahill remained a Bolton player for the first half of the season, the team struggled dramatically, hovering around the bottom half of the table. With Bolton trying to scrape together player and avoid relegation and Cahill’s contract set to expire at the end of the season, it seems inevitable Gary would be moved somewhere during the January transfer window.

Gary Cahill will be wearing blue this January

Rumors of Cahill to Chelsea really started to pick up steam when Alex was removed from training with the first-team by Andre Villas-Boas for allegedly speaking to other clubs. The delinquency of Alex coupled with injuries and suspensions to David Luiz and Branislav Ivanovic meant players such as Jose Bosingwa were forced to play alongside John Terry in the center of defense, which given Bosingwa’s defending ability (or lack thereof) is certainly far from ideal.

Here is a timeline recapping the entire Gary Cahill to Chelsea transfer saga:

December 30th – It’s announced Bolton and Chelsea agreed to a fee for the transfer of Cahill to Chelsea, confirmed by Bolton manager Owen Coyle.

December 31st – AVB confirms the fee has been agreed upon but Chelsea and Cahill’s agent were  “miles apart” from reaching a deal.

January 6th – Cahill was rested for Bolton’s FA Cup third-round trip to Macclesfield, which would have cup-tied him, sparking serious rumors the deal to Chelsea was close.