It’s safe to say that Rafa Benitez’s spell at Chelsea has not been his most successful one, nor the most well-received by the club’s faithful. The sacking of double-winning ex-Chelsea player Roberto Di Matteo was a very unpopular one, and hiring a manager who had a strong rivalry with the club during Jose Mourinho’s time atChelsea was even less popular.
The Spaniard could, however, have dispelled the doubt surrounding his impending term at the West London club, and eased the pressure off himself by taking his obviously talented squad on a good run of form and challenging the Manchester clubs for a top two spot. He did neither, and the fans continue to show their dissatisfaction with his underachievement.
According to The Guardian, Benitez claims his relationship with Abramovich is ‘excellent’, and confirmed that he would be staying until the end of the season, stating that his critics would not need to worry about him as he will leave when his contract expires. That leaves the door wide open for the next question – who’s next? Benitez’s post has been linked heavily to the likes of a dramaticMourinho return, or possibly Malaga’s Chilean manager Pellegrini. What’s for certain is that Abramovich’s trigger happy tendencies mean that nothing is for certain when it comes to a Chelseamanager’s job. I mean, he fired a manger for winning the Blues their first ever Champions League trophy, for goodness’ sake. No-one is safe.