Will the real Abramovich please stand up?
POPULAR wisdom has it that Chelsea manager Andre Villas-Boas is facing his moment of truth, but the next week promises to tell us at least as much about the man who hired him, Roman Abramovich. Villas-Boas swept into Stamford Bridge in the summer at a cost of £28m armed with a reputation as the next Jose Mourinho and crucially, it seemed, with the remit to mastermind a long-term project. Gone were the days of Abramovich dispensing with managers even if they finished in the top two; the Blues’ billionaire owner was ready to try another way and Villas-Boas was resoundingly his man.
A few months on and such idealism looks endangered. Their Premier League title challenge long since dead, Chelsea have now slipped out of the Champions League places and Abramovich is keeping a closer eye. The Russian has been a regular visitor to the club’s Cobham training ground this month and spoke to both manager and team on Sunday when they were called in for an extra training session.
It has got people wondering: is Villas-Boas about to become the seventh manager to depart since Abramovich took over in 2003?
Should Villas-Boas lose his next two fixtures, Chelsea would be heading out of Europe and, barring a swift turnaround, doomed to finish the season trophyless and out of the top four. Blues fans are already vocalising their concerns while Villas-Boas has had to contend with suggestions of discontent among senior players and media criticism of his sensitivity.
It is hard to avoid the feeling matters are reaching a crossroads. Victories over Birmingham on Saturday and Napoli three days later ought to be enough to stave off talk of the sack temporarily. Anything else and we will learn whether Abramovich really has developed a new-found commitment to continuity for its own sake, or whether it was a fancy as fleeting as some of his appointments.