Reuters Soccer Blog
World Soccer views and news
Forget Mourinho, it’s time for an Italian job at Chelsea
After sacking Avram Grant following the club’s first Champions League final, nothing at Chelsea should surprise us.
But Jose Mourinho possibly going back as coach? Even in the wacky world of Stamford Bridge, it is surely just paper talk and fantasy.
Mourinho is a shrewd man and he will know as well as anyone that coaches very rarely succeed in a second stint at a club. (See our blog from when Kevin Keegan was reappointed at Newcastle.)
The dynamics of Chelsea are also very different from when he took over in 2004.
Back then, Claudio Ranieri had already laid the foundations of a Premier League-winning side. Arjen Robben and Petr Cech were signed for the next season before Mourinho arrived. The Portuguese also had bags of cash to bring in Drogba, etc etc.
Vlog on the pitch – Do semis offer last chance for Rijkaard and co?
Has it reached the stage where a Champions League semi-final is not enough to safeguard a coach’s job?
Avram Grant, whose Chelsea side visit Liverpool in their first leg on Tuesday, is under pressure despite his team stil having an outside chance of the Premier League title.
Should Rijkaard have his parachute ready?
It was just like old times for me covering Frank Rijkaard’s press conferences either side of Barcelona’s Champions League win over Schalke, as another Dutch coach got the Louis van Gaal treatment from the media.
I was based in Barcelona when Van Gaal finally called it quits at the end of his first spell at the club and listening to the Catalan press and radio hounding out the former Ajax man was at times almost painful.
