I feel a bit sorry for him. It was a thankless task taking over a Chelsea team in which the ageing lychpins Terry & Lampard hold too much sway.

It doesn't help that he's a similar age to them, and used to work at Chelsea in a lowlier capacity. I bet it pains them to take orders from him.

a number of times since last summer. No takers. If rumours are to be believed, he also wanted shot of Terry but was overruled by Gourlay and Buck.

He saw all this coming way in advance but was torpedoed beneath the water line by those above him. Since Mourinho, Chelsea have effectively been run by Terry, Lampard, Cole and Drogba and yes men like Wilkins.

Will be a terrific manager at any other club.

Beyond the trophies, is a dressing room that can't be tamed.

Clique-ridden, full of major egos and talents on the wane.

I'm sure AVB is a fine manager, but he never had a chance in this job. As soon as he wobbled he was always going to be eaten alive by the big beasts of the Mourinho era.

It also doesn't help the club that every manager they appoint is sacked within two years. Why bother bringing through young players or planning for the future when it'll be someone else's problem next year?

Never mind, I'm sure they'll spend another £100m in the summer and all will be well.

I think he's got the makings of a top manager, but he needs to clear out the older players, which he's trying to do. Truth is, he inherited a bit of a mess: a team whose spine all pretty much shot it at the same time.

Ashley Cole was dropped yesterday for criticising the coach to his face, which is pretty much typical of the way Chelsea stars have behaved for years. Mourinho is a brilliant manager, but he's a short-termist, and it's his style of management that's laid the foundations of the current collapse. No player should be 'untouchable', and Chelsea need a complete overhaul of how the entire club works, let alone the first team.

Personally, I think he'll be sacked this week, which is a shame. He needs the full 3 years to actually build a proper team. One of the problems is that Chelsea are not, as some proclaim, a 'massive club'; they're nowhere near Man U, Juventus, Liverpool, Milan, Barca, Madrid, Bayern, etc. Short-term success has fuelled the illusion and raised expectations, but the key to long-term success is knowing when to steady things and regroup.

1. You need a proper beard; what you're sporting at the moment is neither fish nor fowl. Grow it long enough so that food gets trapped in it
2. You're a bit skinny and look frankly gay. Get some real ale down you and bulk up a bit
3. Belted raincoats are for European metrosexuals. Go on eBay and buy yourself a 1980s Pink Floyd tour jacket

AVB was talking to him and explaining what he wanted and it was obvious to me that Cole wasn't listening and didn't give a flying one.

he's doing a great job. In fact, the whole club is doing a great job. I hope it continues for the next few years.

Ray Wilkins in the photo to the right of AVB.

I've had a lot of harrassment! JT's done himself an injury. Mmmm. And Frank's done a whoopsie on the sofa!

for the Top 3 London clubs all having new managers at the start of next season?

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/chelsea/9097754/Chelsea-...

AVB supposedly confirmed this as being genuine. It confuses the hell out of me.

Absolutely zilch to like about the England failures.
Not much to like about Chelsea, period.
Never has been really.

My theory about his appointment is that he's probably the only guy in Europe who is as ugly/who is more ugly than Abramovich.....and that's ugly.

Inspector Clouseau when I saw the raincoat. No beret required.

Jim White is a reader of the Word blog, specifically threads started by Dave Amitri, it would seem.

The clothes, apparently, made the man. And the man they made was one of substance, of authority, a thoroughly modern manager, yet with a traditional twist.
Who could not be impressed by a geezer that sharp?
On Wednesday night, Mourinho’s successor in the Chelsea dugout did not quite strike the same figure. As he fretted on the Naples touchline, Andre Villas-Boas gave an altogether different impression.
In his mac with the belt tightened up under his ribs, he echoed a significantly less impressive style icon. He looked like the Frank Spencer of football. Once that idea had formed in the mind, it became very hard to shift it.

I don't really like Chelsea, but I'm glad they won today.

This is mainly because I've been hacked off by Kevin McCarra's constant spinning against AVB on 5-Live. He's obviously got the ear of one of the odious malcontents (Cole? Lampard? Drogba?) and is openly talking about stuff that should really have stayed in the dressing room.

McCarra is coming across as a pathetic lickspittle, living off the tasty morsels thrown to him by spoilt bastard millionaire footballers who are well past their prime. What a way to make a living.

Shame on you, sir.

I give him 48 hours tops.

Oh yes.
'We're not laughing at you, we're laughing toward you.'
Boing, boing, indeed.

He's left Chelsea, according to TalkSport. Roberto Di Matteo's in charge for the rest of the season.

Come back Special One - and bring your cool overcoats.
You won't see Morinho in a belted mac.

Never saw Moz as much of a fashion guru. Suddenly seeing him in a whole new light.

and then basically dictating the terms of business in microscopic detail to everyone in the reporting line. The owner's thought to be a sharp guy but it's his paucity of fresh thinking in relation to executive appointment that kills me: we hired a smart, young manager from Portugal clad in head to toe Zara, so let's get another one in. Abramovich continues the pattern, alternating Lusophones with Italians and the odd crafty Dutchman. Most bizarre behaviour, particularly as it's the dressing room that needs to be stripped down and rebuilt with a quickness. Not too quick, though, as this Gooner needs more laughs at the expense of his neighbours with the 5-2 against Spurs being the eaten bread that's now forgotten.

I was glad to get of the Black Country on Saturday. Those accents just get me so confused. Thankfully Roberto had been there and told me it was full of strange customs. Evidently on any given Sunday local parks are full of men in flat hats walking skinny dogs called "Whippets".
I told him that I just wished I could whip some enthusiasm out of our lot on the coach back to London.
Lampard kept going on about "Dancing On Ice". I told him comments like that were not going to get me the sack! Evidently the Irish girlfriend was on the mobile to him, discussing the revealing frock she would be wearing the next day. She seemed concerned that the temperature of the ice rink studio would affect her nipples.
Drogba had taken over the table at the back of the coach that Terry usually reserved for his supply of top shelf literature. He was spreading out his Tarot cards to begin the latest prognosis on the future of his beloved Chelsea. Strange that every card revealed he should be given a new 5 year contract by Abo.
The normally safe and quiet Czech keeper Cech was having one of his panic moments. Having just returned from a trip with his international chums he was downhearted due to some joker telling him he only wore that silly hat because he was going bald!
I only wish that Spaniard flop Torres could score for me. He's another one who seems pre-occupied with his hair. He went all highlight crazy in an effort to revisit those glory days at Liverpool. Sadly all it means is that the Greek hairdresser in the Kings Road is making a bloody fortune pulling tin foil through his locks.
I really thought Sturridge would get me out of this mess.Unfortunately ever since he decided he wanted to go to the Ukraine and Poland this summer his ability to do anything approaching a goal has deserted him.
Thankfully Luiz helps me get through the journey down the M1 chatting to me in my mother tongue. His tactical insights are so helpful. Even though we pay him as a defender he has this ability to be all over the place. He tells me that the Greek hairdresser is getting a bit worried that the English climate is doing absolutely nothing for his perm.I don't know for certain if this could be a subtle hint he may want a transfer.
Somewhere near Watford Gap I ask Roberto to check on Essien who seems too quiet. He tells me it's ok because he has gone back to sleep again. I am getting concerned about this as he played like that at the Hawthorns. I only hope his idea of relaxation with the ladies is not taking over his life again.
By the time we reach London some of the Cole Crowd are planning their exploits for the night. It always amazes me that Cole can run in a game given his tobacco intake, as soon as we say our goodbyes he lights up. Only last week I challenged him to give it up, but he said his ex-missus smoked 40 a day and it hasn't hampered her career.
I was just getting into my motor when the mobile went off. It was my lord and master Abo telling me he wanted to see me at the Bridge the next day. Suddenly that bottle of Matteus and the Piri-Piri Chicken waiting at home seemed a bad idea.
I woke up on Sunday refreshed, even if 'Goals on Sunday' made me sound like someone with a bigger crisis than the Greek nation. I tell myself it is only a game as I get in the lift to the master suite on the Third Floor.
Abo is sat pensive in his swivel chair looking even more unshaven than he did the last time our paths crossed. I remarked that I'd even been supportive to him by going with the facial hair appearance. He had watched the game at West Brom on his computer via some dodgy website that had offered contact with beautiful Russian girls as well as the game. He told me by half-time he had arranged to meet one of them on his next visit to inspect his gas pipes.
After an offer of a coffee that I declined, he told me I was sacked and I would be paid £25m. I apologised that I was joining the rest of his cast-offs Big Phil,Carlo,Jose and the ex-missus.
So here I am worse off than the average winner of the Euro Lottery and facing potential employment back in my bankrupt motherland.At least I don't have to go back to Birmingham on Tuesday for that FA Cup tie replay. Just then the mobile goes off and the Sports Editor of 'The Sun' asks if its true I want to buy Portsmouth.
How do they get these stories?