Following the sad news for Chelski fans that yet another of their trophy winning managers Robert De Matteo was given the old heave-ho for crimes he had yet to commit, it can come as no surprise that ex-Barca legend Pep Guardiola is being touted as a future glutton for punishment once newly installed Rafa Benitez’ short-term contract expires at the end of the current campaign.
As each Chelsea boss has departed the scene during the last 9 years the Russian Oligarch has been in power, it sprung to mind that what we have been witnessing is not an audition for the role of X-factor judge to sit in while Simon Cowell suns himself up in the French Riviera, but an audition for the role of Blofeld – the archetypal James Bond adversary.
You can just picture the Blues owner on a BBC documentary sitting there instructing his no.2 to eliminate the manager responsible for the unacceptable failure to carry out his latest mission, all the while, stroking his feline friend as the camera never pans up to reveal the face behind the voice….
Added to this scenario are the sheer number of minions that work under the Russian Billionaire owner all eager to please and save themselves from being part of the cull that each managerial disaster brings. To name but a few, Bruce Buck, Ron Gourlay, Eugene Tannenbaum, David Barnard, and Mike Ford all of whom are regularly seen voicing their view on the current and future direction of the club, but with a slight air of unease.
Whilst Benitez will be under no pressure (dare we say it?) to deliver in the short term, he may prove successful come the end of the season and deliver at least one of the five trophies Chelsea are still in with a shout for.
Therefore, can we expect to see an extension to his tenure?
This of course is a question that only the Spaniard himself can answer as he knows only too well the price of failure at Liverpool where the pressure was less intense, but as many would argue, took the Anfield club backwards leaving eventual England boss Roy Hodgson to pick up the pieces and we all know what happened there.
Should Abramovich decide to bide his time and play his trump card in the summer by throwing his roubles at securing the services of Guardiola, one can assume the Barca legend would have a little longer than most to fulfil his mission, if he chooses to accept it.
After Pep, there can be no other top coaches left in the world for him to tap up, apart from Arsene Wenger or Sir Alex Ferguson.
Who knows, perhaps there is a budding manager out there waiting to fill the role of ‘007’ and see off Abramovich in true espionage style.
Ever since he swept into West London back in 2003 to buy the Blues from Ken Bates for a sum of £130m, I’ve always felt that that one day, he will just take off without explanation and not look back to worry about what he’s left behind apart from just a few remnants of what was once his plaything which he eventually got bored of because no one else was willing to play by his rules anymore.
For Eccentric Billionaires like Roman….The World Will Never Be Enough.
Ryan Colley