Premier League
Chelsea’s turbulent recent managerial history
Chelsea have new ownership but the ruthless strategy employed by former owner Roman Abramovich when it comes to hiring and firing managers appears to have remained at Stamford Bridge.
Just over three months since a consortium headed by American Todd Boehly completed a 4.25 billion pounds ($4.86 billion) takeover of Chelsea, Thomas Tuchel has been fired.
Like many of his predecessors, Tuchel delivered silverware into the Chelsea trophy cabinet, winning the Champions League just four months after taking over in 2021.
But just like them that proved no guarantee of lengthy employment at the west London club.
Here is a list of Chelsea’s last six permanent managers and the circumstances of their exits.
JOSE MOURINHO (June 2013-Dec 2015)
Mourinho delivered the Premier League title on his return to Stamford Bridge and the League Cup but things went sour quickly for the Portuguese the following season.
A run of nine defeats in 16 league games left Chelsea 16th in the standings, one point above the relegation places, and Mourinho appeared to have fallen out with top players such as Eden Hazard and Diego Costa.
After a his last game, a defeat by Leicester City, he said his work had been “betrayed” by the players.
GUUS HIDDINK (Dec 2015-June 2016)
The popular Dutchman was installed as interim manager, having performed a similar role in 2009 in the wake of Luiz Felipe Scolari’s sacking.
He stabilised the club, going on a 12-match unbeaten streak in the Premier League although Chelsea could finish no higher than 10th. He left on good terms at the end of the season.
ANTONIO CONTE (July 2016-July 2018)
The Italian seemed like the perfect fit to revive Chelsea’s fortunes and did not disappoint.
He won the Premier League and FA Cup in his first season in charge but Chelsea were unable to maintain that level and the following campaign they finished fifth to miss out on qualification for the Champions League.
Conte had looked a disgruntled figure for much of the 2017-18 campaign, moaning about a lack of squad investment, and was sacked weeks before the start of the new season.
MAURIZIO SARRI (July 2018-June 2019)
Conte’s replacement enjoyed a record 12-match unbeaten start to the Premier League season to win over some of the sceptical fans but he was never popular with the Chelsea faithful.
His “Sarriball” tactics were often criticised as confusing for the players, yet Chelsea finished third and also beat Arsenal in the Europa League final.
Sarri’s exit was relatively harmonious as he took over at Juventus while Chelsea hired club great Frank Lampard.
FRANK LAMPARD (July 2019-Jan 2021)
The club’s record goalscorer was a popular choice as manager despite him having relatively little experience.
Lampard, restricted by the club’s transfer ban, offered opportunities to the club’s youngsters and managed to seal a top-four finish in the Premier League.
However, Chelsea appeared to be going backwards the following season despite some high-profile signings and was offered no special treatment as he was fired in January.
THOMAS TUCHEL (Jan 2021-Sept 2022)
While fans were shocked at Lampard’s departure, Abramovich acted quickly to hire the German who had taken Paris St Germain to the Champions League final before falling out with the club.
His impact was stunning as Chelsea reached the Champions League final four months later and beat Manchester City.
The following season he won the FIFA Club World Cup but could not challenge Manchester City and Liverpool domestically.
He looked aggravated during a patchy start to the new season despite huge squad investment, but his exit was a huge surprise.
-Reuters
Premier League
Joe Aribo’s goal not enough to Southampton’s suffering
Joe Aribo scored a goal for Southampton on Saturday,but it was not enough to curb the club’s miserable run as they succumbed to a last-minute defeat by Leicester who snatched victory by 3-2.
Leicester scored three second-half goals to come from behind and stun 10-player Southampton, denying them a first Premier League win of the season.
The result means Saints have set a club record for the longest winless run in their entire top-flight history, having failed to emerge victorious from any of their last 21 Premier League encounters.
Inside five minutes, Joe Aribo had crashed a header onto the crossbar and inside seven minutes, the hosts had taken the lead. Kyle Walker-Peters led the charge after a quick free-kick and dropped the ball off to Ryan Manning, who squared for Cameron Archer to coolly slot in and send a wave of both relief and belief around St Mary’s.
Premier League
Leicester fight back to clinch 3-2 win and extend Southampton’s suffering
Jordan Ayew scored in the 98th minute as Leicester staged a second-half comeback to earn a 3-2 win at Southampton in the Premier League on Saturday, with the 10-man hosts setting a club record of 21 matches without victory in the English top-flight.
Leicester moved up to 13th in the standings with nine points from eight matches, while Southampton fell to 20th – level on points with Wolverhampton Wanderers, who face champions Manchester City on Sunday
“It’s just unbelievable, that’s why we play football. We didn’t have a good first half,” Ayew told Sky Sports.
“Second half we got ourselves back together and attacked the game properly. It’s just an unbelievable feeling.
“It’s a good step forward to move up the table. We’re going to continue fighting and it’s not going to be easy so well done the lads and everyone.”
Having failed to win in their last 13 matches in the 2022-23 season when they were relegated, Southampton are without a win in the Premier League since they beat Leicester in the same fixture in March 2023.
Southampton shot out of the blocks and took the lead in the eighth minute when Ryan Manning squared for Cameron Archer to finish a sweeping counter-attack, before midfielder Joe Aribo added to their tally with a side-footed effort.
Leicester defender Wout Faes nearly scored a spectacular own-goal five minutes into the second half by sending a diving header straight at his own keeper Mads Hermansen, who spared the Belgian’s blushes with a deft save.
The visitors grew into the contest in the second half and created some half-chances before pulling one back in the 64th minute.
Buonanotte turned in a cross after a driving run from substitute Abdul Fatawu and the goal signalled the beginning of Southampton’s unravelling.
Minutes later, Vardy was denied on the line by an excellent Aaron Ramsdale save, but Leicester were awarded a penalty after a VAR review found that the forward was held back by Ryan Fraser.
Fraser was sent off and Vardy stepped up, blasting his effort past Ramsdale to equalise.
Leicester smelled blood and pushed forward in their quest for a winner, which came deep into stoppage time when Ayew’s low shot went through a sea of bodies and crept into the bottom corner, breaking the hearts of home fans at St Mary’s Stadium.
-Reuters
Premier League
Manchester United ease pressure on Erik ten Hag with win over Brentford
Manchester United eased a bit of the pressure on their embattled manager Erik ten Hag with a 2-1 come-from-behind English Premier League victory over Brentford at Old Trafford on Oct 19.
The Red Devils had come into the match in 14th place on eight points with just two wins from seven games – their worst start to a campaign since 1989-90.
Reports had suggested the United hierarchy, including co-owner Jim Ratcliffe, chief executive officer Omar Berrada, sporting director Dan Ashworth and technical director Jason Wilcox had a long meeting earlier in the week, with ten Hag’s future on the agenda.
In the pre-match press conference on Oct 19, the Dutch manager accused segments of the media of “creating stories, creating fairy tales, bringing noise, bringing lies” regarding his future.
But things looked iffy for him again when Brentford opened the scoring in the fifth minute of first-half added time, when centre-back Ethan Pinnock lost marker Diogo Dalot and powered in a ferocious header past Andre Onana from a Mikkel Damsgaard corner.
Ten Hag and Matthijs de Ligt remonstrated with the touchline officials after the defender was made to leave the field before the set piece as blood was pouring out of his head. He had sustained the injury after a coming together with Kevin Schade after 10 minutes.
Ten Hag and his assistant Ruud van Nistelrooy were later booked for their protestations.
But when all was said and done, it marked the seventh time United had failed to score in the first half in eight Premier League matches this season.
The Red Devils’ best chances in the first period had fallen to Alejandro Garnacho.
Once, he forced a near-post save by Mark Flekken, but with his two other opportunities, more could be expected from the Argentinian winger after he was picked out by a lovely cross-field pass from Marcus Rashford and some good hold-up play from Rasmus Hojlund.
But the 20-year-old Garnacho remained confident and two minutes after the break, he finally found the net to register his second league goal of the campaign.
Rashford produced another excellent delivery for his fellow winger, this time his deep cross found Garnacho at the back post and he responded with a first-time side-foot volley into goal.
It was the marked the start of a second-half resurgence from the Red Devils which kept Flekken very busy.
But he could not deny United their second. United captain Bruno Fernandes played a neat round-the-corner flick to Hojlund, who dinked the ball over Flekken and into goal on 62 minutes.
It was his second goal in three starts this term, after missing the start of the campaign owing to a hamstring injury he picked up in pre-season.
United could have gone 3-1 up six minutes later, when Onana’s goal kick found an overlapping Dalot bear down on goal, but Flekken managed to foil him.
But in the end, the Red Devils did not need the cushion of another goal as they got their first win in six matches.
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