Roman Abramovich and the curse of Chelsea managers

 
Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich changed the club immediately he became its owner. The London side has won a total of six Premier League titles during the Russian’s involvement in the club. That has been followed by four FA Cup’s, three League cups, one Champions League and one Europa League trophy. However, his involvement has also seen alot of change in terms of managerial responsibility. Chelsea has had a total of 9 coaches since 2003.

 Chelsea sacked Antonio Conte and are set to appoint their 10th manager, widely expected to be former Napoli manager Maurizio Sarri. We take a look at how the 9 managers performed at Chelsea under Abramovich's ownership.

 Claudio Ranieri (2000 to 2004)

 199 Games
 107 Wins
 46 Draws
 46 Defeats

 Claudio Ranieri was already in the Chelsea dugout when Abramovich purchased Chelsea in the summer of 2003. Ranieri would last only a season under the club’s new billionaire owner who decided to end the Italian's four year spell at the Bridge, in order to bring in a certain Jose Mourinho.

 During his time in charge the ‘Tinkerman’ led Chelsea to 2nd spot in the Premier League - their then best ever finish - and the semi-finals of the Champions League. Ranieri would memorably go on to lead 5,000/1 shots Leicester to City to the 2015/16 Premier League title, with former club Chelsea finishing a distant 10th, 31 points behind Ranieri’s Foxes.

 Jose Mourinho (2004 to 2007)

 185 Games
 124 Wins
 40 Draws
 21 Defeats

 Jose Mourinho made an instant impact upon his arrival in England, with his charmable arrogance and sharp wit unlike anything the Premier League had ever seen before. The Portuguese coach was a huge hit, leading Chelsea to the title in his first season, accumulating 95 points en route, which was a record until Pep Guardiola’s Man City hit the 100 point landmark last season. Mourinho would go on to retain the title, lift a brace of League Cups and also an FA Cup and a Charity Shield.

 ‘The Special One’ sensationally quit the club in the early part of the 2007/08 season following frequent spats with Abramovich.

 Avram Grant (2007 to 2008)

 54 Games
 36 Wins
 13 Draws
  5 Defeats

 Chelsea’s director of football Avram Grant surprisingly took over following the departure of Mourinho, and would go on to pen a whopping four-year contract - the first Israeli to manage in the England. The Blues would finish the season two points behind Man United, who also beat them on a penalty shoot-out in the Champions League final, while earlier in the campaign Grant’s men finished runners-up to Tottenham in the League Cup.

 It could have been so difficult for Grant, but his failure to win any silverware cost him his job, as Mourinho disposed of his friend three days after the Champions League loss.

 Luiz Felipe Scolari (2008 to 2009)

 36 Games
 20 Wins
 11 Draws
 5 Defeats

 Chelsea went big in their next appointment, naming Luiz Felipe Scolari as their new manager in July 2018, with the Brazilian becoming the first World Cup winning boss to manage in the Premier League. However, it simply didn’t work out as ‘Big Phil’ was sent packing after seven months at the helm. On the plus side he received a whopping £12.6m in compensation.

 Carlo Ancelotti (2009 to 2011)

 109 Games
 67 Wins
 20 Draws
  22 Defeats

 Carlo Ancelotti then became Chelsea’s fourth manager in the space of just 21 months. In his first season he won the Premier League and FA Cup double, plus the Community Shield, with his troops smashing in a then record 103 league goals, while the title was secured in style - an 8-0 win over Wigan.

 The Italian finished trophyless the following season, and was ruthlessly axed.

 Andre Villas-Boas (2011 to 2012)
 40 Games
 19 Wins
 11 Draws
 10 Defeats

 Chelsea hoped that Andre Villas-Boas would follow in the footsteps of fellow countryman Mourinho with whom he worked with at Porto and Inter Milan. The club splashed out £13.3m to release him from Porto, where he had just won four trophies in a single season, a quadruple of sorts. At 33 he was the youngest gaffer in the Premier League and around the same age as a few Chelsea stars. Nine months later he was sacked due to poor results, performances and reported spats with his players.

 Roberto Di Matteo (2012)

 42 Matches
 24 Wins
 9 Draws
 9 Defeats

 Few expected Roberto Di Matteo to make much of an impact when he was placed in temporary charge of Chelsea following the departure of AVB. However, the Italian miraculously went on to lead Chelsea to their first ever Champions League trophy after a dramatic penalty shoot-out win over Bayern Munich on their own patch, while he also lifted the FA Cup.

 Abramovich then handed Di Matteo a permanent two-year deal, only to send him packing in November 2013.

 Jose Mourinho (2013 to 2015)

 136 Games
 80 Wins
 29 Draws
 27 Defeats

 After spells at Inter Milan and Real Madrid ‘The Special One’ returned to Chelsea in 2013. His first season back resulted in a 3rd place league finish and Champions League semi-final, however he won his third Premier League title the following campaign, along with another League Cup.

 Chelsea endured a shocking start to the 2015/16 season, and come mid-December he was out the door.

 Antonio Conte (2016 to 2018) 

 106 Games
 69 Wins
 17 Draws
 20 Defeats

 Antonio Conte became the third Chelsea manager to win the Premier League title, which he achieved in his very first season with a whopping 30 wins. The fiery Italian then came under pressure throughout the 2017/18 campaign during which Chelsea fell to a 5th place finish, although Conte did end the campaign with an FA Cup triumph over rival Mourinho.