London – Chelsea supporters can boo as loudly as they like on Saturday –they’ve paid their money after all. But the first thing to say is that pretty much everything Rafa Benitez said was right.
He was undermined at Chelsea from day one by the bizarre decision to invite him to take charge, only to chop his legs away with the title of Interim Manager. Benitez said it was a “massive mistake”. So did we all. The Spaniard’s complaint that a section of supporters have created a toxic atmosphere at the club is also correct. Whether it actively undermines the performance of the team is a matter of debate, but the jeers, banners and mood of seething animosity generated certainly cannot help. At best, they are a distraction; at worst, a huge disincentive.
Yet Benitez was described as having set off on an “uncontrolled rant” in midweek for repeating what every observer, journalist and objective fan has been saying since he walked through the door. It wasn’t some wild tirade. It was a carefully measured two fingers to idiocy of his situation. But the resulting ire of some Chelsea supporters is just as illogical as much of what has happened at Stamford Bridge this season. The fans slaughtering Benitez appear to be strangely unhappy that he has actually noticed it and reacted. Funnier still, they seem offended that he is offended, I think. It’s all a bit confusing.
So, the stadium will boil with self-righteous indignation from fans who don’t like their manager, and they will call for the dismissal of a man who has already said he is going soon anyway, which essentially proves his point. For some, his departure cannot come soon enough, but what would Chelsea gain by removing Benitez now? If owner Roman Abramovich makes another catastrophic call, then the likelihood is he will have to replace his caretaker boss with a nightwatchman, otherwise known as Nosferatu stunt double, Avram Grant. How is that any better?
Benitez is right about something else, too. Many decisions taken at Chelsea of late have been nothing less than “massive mistakes”, ranging from horribly damaging race rows to strange sackings. The only certainty is Abramovich will walk into the Chelsea boardroom any day now and announce: “I’ve changed my mind.” The reply should be: “Will it work any better this time?” At least it would be, if the assembled suits had any sense or balls. Abramovich is always changing his mind, and the workings of the owner’s brain are a constant subject of speculation. He stares out from the back of his executive box, rarely betraying emotion, unless it is to hail a performance by (former) striker Fernando Torres, the £50 million albatross he has hung around the neck of a succession of bosses.
Usually, Abramovich wears his trademark Forrest Gump expression, seemingly clinging to the belief that football “is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get”. Whatever it is, you can be pretty sure he will bite half off, spit it out and put the rest back, hoping no-one notices if he buys an even more expensive selection next time.
But the fans hankering for the return of Jose Mourinho or Roberto Di Matteo appear to forget who fired those managers in the first place. Their memory also blots out the fact that Abramovich put the Spanish boss they despise so much where he is now. Andre Villas-Boas was another who wasn’t considered capable enough. The young tyro dared to threaten the old guard at the club and was hounded out by that cabal and many of the supporters haranguing Benitez now.
But having been betrayed by Abramovich’s decision to cave in to their demands, I’m sure that AVB is thoroughly enjoying his tussle with Chelsea for a Champions League place right now.
So who is next? Gus Poyet has been mentioned; Gianfranco Zola, too. Ray Wilkins is even in the betting, the same Wilkins who mystifyingly was fired by the club in the early hours. Mourinho, as ever, is on the list. He makes sure of that. But why not just give the job to John Terry. “Captain, leader, legend” says the banner. Let’s see what he’s made of?
Terry is reportedly the man fronting up to Benitez on the training ground, or urging the club to extend the contracts of other players on the books, or being cast as the man who “runs the dressing room”, the character any incoming boss needs to get onside if he wants to survive. One adoring internet fan page describes Terry as: “The man who bleeds blue, the man who is a walking-talking symbol of the club itself – Mr. Chelsea.’Why not try him? Let’s see how the dressing-room politics work then when Terry’s in direct contact with Abramovich about his own job, rather than someone else’s. Let’s see how long Mr Chelsea’s marriage lasts. – Daily Mail