Since signing a deal to buy Chelsea in 2003, Roman Abramovich has earned a reputation as an impatient man.
He employed no less than 12 managers during his time at the club, and he’s rarely been afraid to get rid of one of them once the results start to go down. You usually don’t have a lot of time on Abramovich if you don’t win.
Let’s take a look at the success rates of every manager during the Abramovich era.
Games played: 55
Points won: 92
PPG: 1.67
It was a roller coaster ride under Frank Lampard.
The returning club legend has led a young Chelsea side through some real abysmal highs and lows, but at the end of the day the numbers don’t lie. When it comes to points per game, no Chelsea boss has done worse than Lampard.
Unlike the others, Lampard at least has time to try to change things. He has promised eventual progress, but whether he will have time to do so is another question.
Games played: 27
Points won: 46
PPG: 1.70
Formerly presented as the future of management, Andre Villas-Boas did not live up to this hype during his brief stint at the head of the Blues.
13 wins, seven draws and seven losses were bad enough to earn him the start seven months after arriving at Stamford Bridge.
Bringing in Villas-Boas was one of the most painful financial mistakes Abramovich ever made. It took £ 13.3million to buy him back from his contract at Porto (a world record at the time) and then an additional £ 11million to terminate his contract earlier. Yikes.
Games played: 23
Points won: 42
PPG: 1.83
The man recruited to replace Villas-Boas, Roberto Di Matteo took control on an interim basis, but earned the full-time job after leading Chelsea to shock FA Cup and Champions League glory in 2012.
Eight months later, however, Di Matteo was looking for a new job.
It wasn’t his league form that was the biggest problem – Chelsea were third with 24 points in 12 games when he was sacked – but rather the fact that the reigning European Champions were humiliatingly excluded from the League champions in the group stage.
Games played: 38
Points won: 72
PPG: 1.89
A figure that divides Chelsea folklore, there are sections of the fan base who think Maurizio Sarri hasn’t had enough time and others who feel he has had too much time.
Sarri led Chelsea to third place in the 2018/19 season, but fans weren’t impressed with his footballing style, and their audible frustration ultimately proved too much for the Italian.
Nothing sums up Sarri’s Chelsea better than a four-week spell at the start of 2019, in which they lost 2-0 to Arsenal, 4-0 to Bournemouth and 6-0 to Manchester City, with a victory of 5-0 on Huddersfield lost in the middle.
Inconsistent.
Games played: 34
Points won: 66
PPG: 1.94
You’ll be hard pressed to find a more popular Chelsea manager than Guus Hiddink.
The veteran Dutchman has never been a permanent boss, but rather the man brought him to stabilize the ship after two separate seasons of chaos. He arrived in mid-2008/09, before returning in 2015/16.
Hiddink lost only once in his first tenure at the club, but 11 draws in 21 games in his second spell brought down his PPG.
Games played: 25
Points won: 49
PPG: 1.96
Luiz Felipe Scolari’s tenure at Stamford Bridge is considered one of the most disappointing spells of the Abramovich era.
Known for his love of fast and attacking football, Scolari has arrived and won ten of his first 13 games, but at which point behind-the-scenes issues arose. Scolari’s approach had upset many of Chelsea’s biggest names, and the atmosphere around Stamford Bridge quickly turned toxic.
In total, Scolari has lost just four Premier League games to Chelsea – Liverpool, United, Arsenal and Liverpool again – but it was a 0-0 draw with Hull City that ultimately pulled the trigger.
Games played: 26
Points won: 51
PPG: 1.96
This one was just a mess from start to finish.
Fans were unhappy to see Di Matteo sacked and were on the verge of livid when Liverpool legend Rafa Benitez, who had previously criticized Chelsea in the media, was brought in to replace him.
He managed to win the 2013 Europa League with Chelsea and led the Blues to third in the Premier League, but his time at Bridge was never going to last long.
Games played: 76
Points won: 157
PPG: 2.07
A victim of Abramovich’s ruthlessly high standards, Carlo Ancelotti won a Premier League / FA Cup brace in his first season and finished second in the league in the second year, but that wasn’t enough.
He built a dominant team that shattered goal scoring records. Their 103 goals scored and their difference of +71 were records broken only in 2017/18 Manchester City, while their total of 68 goals at home remains intact.
Bad times were rare, although the £ 50million deal to sign Fernando Torres was definitely a weak point for Ancelotti.
Games played: 38
Points won: 79
PPG: 2.08
The only man on this list who was not hired by Abramovich, Claudio Ranieri was the man in charge when the Russian billionaire took control in 2003.
Leading the Blues to second place this season at the helm of the new owner, Ranieri has benefited from signings from Damien Duff, Joe Cole, Wayne Bridge, Claude Makelele, Hernan Crespo and a handful of others.
However, nothing less than perfection would have been enough for Abramovich, who still planned to replace the Italian with a successful name for the second year.
Games played: 76
Points won: 163
PPG: 2.14
Antonio Conte broke records in his debut season at Chelsea, winning 30 games and winning the 2016/17 Premier League title. The future was supposed to be bright.
He signed a new contract after the first season, but Conte lost part of the locker room support soon after, and he finished fifth in his sophomore year, which saw his head roll.
Some of the animosity was a little harsh, though his decision to text beloved striker Diego Costa and tell him to make one didn’t go over well.
Games played: 212
Points won: 464
PPG: 2.19
In all areas except PPG, Jose Mourinho is right to consider himself the greatest manager in Chelsea history.
Mourinho won two Premier League titles and lost just eight league games in his first three years at Bridge, but a slow start to the 2007/08 season and a series of clashes with Abramovich saw Mourinho politely invited to leave. through the exit door.
He returned to add another Premier League title in 2014/15, but the following season netted nine losses in 16 games. In contrast, he lost just 18 of the other 195 games he was responsible for.
Incredibly, he let Chelsea flirt with relegation at the end of 2015, when the decision was effectively pulled from Abramovich’s hands.
Games played: 32
Points won: 74
PPG: 2.31
The man brought in to replace Mourinho for the 2007/08 season was Avram Grant, an underqualified man who was generally believed to have secured the post due to his close ties to Abramovich.
What was supposed to be a disaster ended in one of the most impressive years in the club’s history. He didn’t win a trophy, but Grant led Chelsea to second place in the Premier League, Champions League and the League Cup. If John Terry hadn’t slipped while taking this penalty, he could have been a European champion.
He was fired at the end of that season and has since spent time in England with Portsmouth and West Ham, with whom he has never managed a PPG over 0.89.
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