The fact is, Chelsea have had a host of top class managers at their club since Mourinho and they have sacked them. They even sacked Mourinho after all he had accomplished for them. So either all of the managers were not good enough or there is some other problem. Who has the most direct impact on the outcome of a game? The players. If this many managers have failed to create a winning Chelsea team, then that should tell you something. The players are the problem. The core of the team is old and decaying and simply not as good as it used to be in the Mourinho era.

They brought AVB in for a multi-year project and they let him go far too soon. Torres was already a misfit before AVB and continued to be one after his arrival. Terry is just not as good as he used to be and Luiz is error prone. Drogba is good, but he's not the same as he used to be and Sturridge is still too young and poor makes poor decisions. Mata and Ramires have been bright spots, but Meirelles and others have been mediocre.

AVB fielded younger players...and they lost. When he fielded veterans they still couldn't win. RA is a terrible owner, most players on Chelsea can't own up to the fact that they simply suck this season (I've watched many of there games, including the last one and it was atrocious and had nothing to do with AVB...they simply sucked on the pitch). Now they have Di Matteo, even more disliked, allegedly, than AVB was by some of the players. I will never support Chelsea again after this charade.

I was sad when I first heard AVB was sacked by Chelski but atfer thinking about it for a while, I'm glad because this setback will only make AVB stronger. Chelski will continue to appionment new managers every 6, 18 months whatever? and sack them until roman abramovich him self finally leaves Chelsea. Going back AVB he is still a very young manager with so much to offer. Perhaps a return to Porto to start things off again? and then perhaps a move to a top club in Spain or Itlay? What ever AVB does he will be a success again. Who ever goes to Chelsea to manage needs to know a few things, 1. to stay on good terms with the likes of Terry, Lampard, Drogba and Cole 2. To be in contention to win the premier league until the last of the season. 3. to win the C L, Abramavich is so obessed with 4. To keep selecting the tired ageing legs of Terry, Lampard and Drogba. 5. to put up and shut up with the idiotic behaviours of John Terry and Ashley Cole both on/off the field. Now thats a tall order...

look AVB is a self proclaimed god in his eyes. He flew the nest to early not realizing that is was the wing that took him to the sky and not his coaching. In porto he had everything Hulk and Falcao made him what he is. You want proof? look at porto now with a coach that no thinks should be there. Outside of falcao this porto team is still in first. AVB sorry to say it wasn't you it was your players. You could put a monkey coaching porto and they will still finish top 2.

I hope this guy fails at every 'project' he takes on and please keep him away from our national team. Unlike Bento, AVB doesn't know how to deal with the so called cancer players (ask carvalho why his cancerous ways got him no where).

Rediculous decision yet again from Abramovich, a joke of a football club owner who thinks he can just buy success. I love it when I see that it fails, and they still have no Champions League win and look worse now than they've done in years. This proves that football still has a soul and it's not all about money, money, money!!!

What was the point of bringing in AVB, paying all that money for a young ambitious manager, and then not even giving him a full season to establish his influence on the team? Surely it was a long-term plan getting such a young manager in? And what timing, the club still in with a chance of finishing in the top 4, a crucial second leg against Napoli in the Champions League just a week away...and now they expect to do all this with an interim manager? Best of luck!

Anyway I have a feeling he won't return to Porto very soon. They are favourites to win the Liga now anyway and if they do, then Vitor Pereira will surely keep his job. However if our Seleccao fails at the first hurdle at the Euros this summer, then AVB has to be seen as a contender for the national team. I am fully behind Bento for the Euros and hope we can do well under him...but we also know how our federation usually acts...and they would likely sack him if our Euros campaign ends real early. Domingos Pacienca is another possibility. But first let's see what happens this summer, I still think we can do something good in the tournament, but if we don't and Bento goes...it's good to know we have two good possibilities to suceed him.

A tin pot league that has helped produce the best manager in the world and the 2nd best player in the world!

"By him getting fired he now has the plausibility that players went against him form the beginning and refuse to play his way." So he didn't have control of the locker room? Having control of the locker room is one of the first, most basic qualities of a manager. Ancelotti won with these players, and JM won with players who were arguably worse (Joe Cole, Damian Duff, etc.). Although the Chelsea job is a poisoned chalice.
Honestly, the only suprising thing is AVB lasted this long given his poor results. Personally, I think AVB is over-rated. One good year at Porto (and let's be honest, the Primeira Liga isn't that great) and suddenly he's the next JM. Please! He isn't even in the league of JM, or Gus Hiddink, etc.

Also JM is not a traitor! He has gone on the record as saying he wants to coach the Seleccao. In fact, before bento got hired, JM asked real madrid permission to coach the NT on a caretaker basis, but madrid refused.

Although the outcome looks predictable people are crazy to say he shouldn't have gone.
Plenty of British pundits had and continue to come out and say how he should have leaned on the veterans leaders. If you heard any of AVB's press conferences he always referred to the project. Meaning he had an understanding with Abram that the club needed to be turned over. AVB's biggest issue, like Scolari's, Grants and Ancelotti to an extent was that those veteran players he needed to turn over poisoned the squad and buried him.
Like I said, AVB will be fine after this. I disagree in him coming back if he could get a big gig again. The fact is that Porto is never going to pay as much as others. He's a good manager who will be fine. He's also too young to be the Seleccaos manager.
For those who say he was crazy for leaving, you're insane. Nobody would have turned down that kind of money to go to Chelsea. Ths wasn't China that offered the cash. It was a big EPL club. All of us would have done the same.

Could he be in at Benfica if JJ is fired?

He should never have gone there in the first place.

We all saw what happened to Ancelloti and Mourinho.

He went for the $$, and he left Porto too soon. This is what you get for jumping in the deep end, too quickly. Sometimes people drown, instead of learning to swim.

Since Roman Abramovich bought Chelsea FC in the summer of 2003 he has now sacked a total of 7 managers;

1. Claudio Ranieri (10 months)
2. José Mourinho (39 months)
3. Avram Grant (8 months)
4. Luiz Felipe Scolari (7 months)
5. Guus Hiddink (3 months)
6. Carlo Ancelotti (23 months)
7. André Villas-Boas (9 months)

The Villas-Boas' deal (buy-out clause, salary, pay-off etc) meant Chelsea paid £42M for the 39 games he managed. The equivelant of £11,705 per minute in the dugout. That works out at over £1M per game.

There is no doubt in my mind that Villas-Boas will go on to become a great manager, but Chelsea have some serious issues that need addressing immediately.

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This was the best thing that could have happened to AVB. Let's all be clear and realize that hey weren't going to win anything his season and a top 4 finish is looking more and more unlikely.
Due to the circumstances; older/aging squad that needs to be turned over, those same players fighting him all the way, an inpatient owner that needs CL money due to FFP rules, new tactics, etc... By him getting fired he now has the plausibility that players went against him form the beginning and refuse to play his way.
He now will be able to come out still looking ok for any team that may want him. He will also be able to cash in on his contract. It would have been worse for him should he have stayed and failed to reach anything.

As for Chelsea, I would live if Rafa was brought in. He's another guy that interviews well, but has accomplished nothing. Before you mention Liverpool take a look at how he won. He won with others p,ayers and once he set up the squad they failed. I would love for him and Chelsea to fall flat on their face once again.
A lot of talk of Abram going after Pep, but I think that Pep will just use that to drive up Barca's price. If Pep was to leave, it would be a troubling message for Barca. In my opinion it means that he has an aging squad and is unable to, for whatever reason, change it over. Keep in mind that Barca has one of the highest wage bills in the world, if not the largest.
I also hope that Mourinho goes nowhere. Near Chelsea again. But him purchasing the house clearly shows the possibility. The Spurs don't have the money to support him or the needed change over. Arsenal has shown to be hesitant to pay out the money as well. Abram would be eating a lot of crow if Mourinho goes back as well. We'll see.

As for AVB he'll be able to sit back and see how the leagues unfold. He'll have plenty of offers throughout.