"Last six seasons" mate. Obviously his spending elevated them to what they are and made them Champions, however he's knee-jerked at every dip in form since falling out with Mourinho. In fact, I'd argue that the only reason we didn't see such huge reactions when Mourinho was around was because he gave Abramovich little opportunity for them. Looking back, RA still interjected himself and voiced displeasure whenever the team wasn't performing to his liking. I seem to recall a minor dip in form during that time, which caused Abramovich to make an impromptu locker room visit to address the (non-)issue.
Mourinho famously waged a media campaign against Abramovich one week when Kenyon was away in China. He also made it pretty clear that Terry was the guy who stabbed him in the back and did for him at Chelsea.
Sacking Di Matteo should hardly count as a surprise. Unless you are extremely naive and/or can't differentiate results and performances.
It's not a surprise that he was sacked considering how much of a joke a RA-run Chelsea is but the question is when will it stop and how unfair it was considering their Cup Double last season should have bought him far more time than just less than half a season. A true joke indeed.
i'm not giving him any credit for the CL run, that was good fortune. his 6th place finish in the league, 25 points behind city and united, is a better indicator of where he truly stood. a CL run without anything to show for dometically is just pure luck, like liverpool with rafa. there was no RDM project or philosophical change at chelsea, he inherited hazard and oscar and played them. that's all he did. there's no injustice here, RA sacked him before the annual pre-xmas collapse.
Yesssssssssssssssssssssssssss!!!!!!! Appointed interim manager!!! In other news, Michael Owen looking hilarious for Movember:
now THAT is funny. he couldn't sell RA on removing the interim tag, though. he's basically the 3rd choice behind pep and mou this summer for the job he currently has.
The only downisde being that it's 'til the end of the season. Gotta think that Guardiola is taking over in the summer now.
Benitez good manager though. Wouldn't laugh if off. Good to see City be adventurous in Europe again. Not sure it will pay off but good to see an English side playing outside its comfort zone for a change.
adventurous = a seriously crazy bordering on stupid lineup against a counter attacking side. Who knows maybe it will work considering how inconsistent real have been. But there's nothing smart about this lineup from mancini on paper.
I'd argue that the criteria in your second sentence is what led to him being hired in the first place. Terry may have been the final straw, but might I remind you that Shevchenko was a point of contention, as was the appointment of Avram Grant as a Director of Football. Any outspokenness on Mourinho's part was due to Abramovich's apparent need to interfere with the team. In any case, given that a key factor in Terry becoming probably the most overrated centerback in the history of the game was Mourinho pairing him with Ricardo Carvalho, that's another indicator that RA and the Chelsea board should have left Jose to do his job.
i think sirmanc just loves anything that has a continental feel, preferably spanish. mancini has the perfect side for a 4-2-3-1 and it worked really well for city last year. aguero up front, tevez roaming in the hole, nasri and silva cutting inside, barry staying back and yaya running all over the damn place. there was no need to switch things up.
I dont hate him, I dont even care about him. Every argument except yours is that it is bad on RA part, not good on manager part that he was some kind of football genius that was wronged, so my rationalization about him as a manager does hold up as you refrain from answering. I am not even rationalizing RA decision as it is his play thing not a real football club.
He still has not answered to why copying Spanish style of play is a good thing. It is not continental, we Germans have never played like that, never have Italians French or Dutch, our best teams have extraordinary attacking patterns and defensive stability.
so i'm not the only one that saw that? lol he often talks about strikerless formations like it's inherently a superior tactic. it is... when messi is the false 9. hazard? not so much.