As has been widely reported in the football world, Chelsea will be looking for a new manager come the end of the season. Some bookmakers and football pundits have mentioned John Terry as a potential candidate albeit partly in jest. The more I think about it though, the more I begin to think that the absurd may just happen…
Ultimately I think there are four main factors that are likely to be at play.
1) The Chelsea job isn’t as attractive now as it has been in the past
For years the Chelsea job was one of the most coveted in European football. After all, they were one of the biggest spenders in Europe, regularly challenged for silverware both domestically and in Europe, and had a squad containing some of the best payers in the world. Now though, Chelsea is regularly outspent by PSG and Manchester City, is no-longer guaranteed Champions League football, and has an ageing squad that ultimately requires a major overhaul. Given all that, the Chelsea job really isn’t as attractive as it was even 2-3 seasons ago.
Ultimately, Chelsea can no longer attract the calibre of manager that they once could, meaning that they’ll almost certainly have to the give the job to a young and relatively inexperienced manager. Appointing Terry as manager suddenly starts to feel a lot less outrageous.
2) Abramovich’s desire to make an appointment popular with the fans
Over the past season, the Chelsea board have made several decisions that have angered many Chelsea fans. First of all there was the sacking of fan’s favourite Roberto di Matteo, then there was the appointment of Rafa Benitez, and adding to all this has been the perceived unwillingness to provide Frank Lampard and Ashley Cole with new contracts.
Abramovich may feel under pressure to go on a charm offensive with the Chelsea fans and is possibly why ex-legends such as Gus Poyet and Gianfranco Zola are being so heavily linked with the Chelsea job. However, John Terry would most certainly be the appointment that would play most to the hearts of Chelsea fans. If Abramovich decides that he needs to improve his own image, then appointing John Terry becomes a very logical choice.
3) Abramovich’s relationship with managers
Over the ten years that Abramovich has been in control of Chelsea, the club has had ten different managers. That is a very high turnover under anyone’s definition. Chelsea are very much becoming like Real Madrid (or a less extreme Blackburn Rovers)in that managers can only really expect their appointments to be very short term, regardless of their reputation. This will undoubtedly put many managers off the job, especially as it’s obvious that it’s going to take at least 2-3 seasons to rebuild the currently ageing squad.
Abramovich may therefore have little choice but to make an internal appointment and with his relationship with Terry having seemingly improved in recent months, picking the skipper as manager may not be so far-fetched.
4) The John Terry camp
All the rumours about John Terry becoming the next Chelsea manager could end if Terry himself declared that he had no interest in the job. However, it seems that the John Terry camp is doing nothing of the sort. They seem to be doing everything in their power to make Terry appear more authoritative and the real leader of Chelsea. You only have to think of his lobbying for a Frank Lampard contract extension and his remarks in a recent interview where he stated “I would do anything for Chelsea. We all want to win things and we must give these fans something to cheer and fight for.”
Perhaps I’m reading too much into it but this instinctively has the feel of someone of someone trying to bolster their position within the club – maybe the Terry camp is preparing for a shot at the top job?
At this stage, John Terry clearly isn’t a front-runner for the job this summer. In my opinion, Mourinho or Poyet are the two most likely candidates but there’s a real possibility that Chelsea may fail to land neither. If the Man City job becomes available then the Special One may opt for that for instead while Poyet may want to stick with Brighton if they secure promotion at the end of the season. If those two are out then Terry may suddenly be the only man that fits all the criteria that Abramovich is likely to look for in his new manager…
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