Di Matteo the key …

by

 

Irish international Steven Reid believes that Blues’ assistant manager Roberto di Matteo will be a key factor when the two teams meet on Saturday.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          
He spent 19 months as the manager at the Hawthorns, which saw him lead the team to promotion back to the Premier League before being harshly sacked.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             
His experience with the Baggies will mean he knows most of the players personally, and will be able to use that knowledge to help Chelsea get one over his old team.                                                                                                                                                                                                                             

Reid himself was brought to the club by the Italian, he told the Birmingham Mail: “I’m sure Roberto Di Matteo will know our lads inside out and he will know what we can do.                                                                                                                                                                                                                      

“I’m a little surprised he’s there because he’s been a No.1 for a few years with us and MK Dons before that and now obviously he’s taken more of a back seat at Chelsea.                                                                                                                                                                                                                        

Before ackowledging: “But it’s a great move for him and I’m sure he’s enjoying it.”                                                                                                                                                                                                

Whilst as manager of MK Dons, Di Matteo led the team to the Play-Off semi finals before moving to West Brom where he led them to finish second in the Championship behind Newcastle. Life in the Premier League was mixed, his team were thrashed 6-0 by the Blues early on, but his team managed to draw 2-2 with champions United at Old Trafford and beat Arsenal 3-2 at the Emirates, but he was sacked after a 3-0 defeat to Manchester City.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          

By Scott Balaam

Twitter @theshed11

 

Leave a Comment