Roman Abramovich has been an enigma; he is known to pull the trigger on managers far too easily. Everything looked hunky-dory when Jose Mourinho was in charge of Chelsea.
The self-proclaimed ‘special one’ won back to back titles with the club but something went a miss and he was gone in the wink of an eyebrow. No Chelsea manager has been as successful as Jose Mourinho was during his time at Chelsea.
This hire and fire policy of the owner has been criticized by several football pundits: why would a manager with a proven track record want to join Chelsea knowing that he would be gone in an instant should the club lose a few important matches?
Roman Abramovich is also believed to have pursued Pep Guardiola for the Chelsea job but Pep chose Bayern Munich because there is more stability there.
Rafael Benitez has been far from impressive since his arrival at Chelsea. Fernando Torres looked a rejuvenated man after Benitez took over. The Liverpool connection started working for a few weeks but then it was back to square one. Benitez was sagacious enough to sign Ba from Newcastle United; the striker scored on his debut and has been scoring freely since his arrival at the club.
Rafael Benitez is convinced that he would stay for longer and also wants a new contract. "This Chelsea team have enough quality and they're a good squad, but the circumstances of this year have been difficult," said Benitez
"This is a top side and if they continue doing things in the right way they will always be challenging for trophies, but it has been tough for me so far.
"If you analyze all the managers (at Chelsea), how many had a pre-season here? Not me. How many managers have spent massive money here? Not me. How many managers have played in Japan in the middle of the season and have some players injured and some at the African Nations? Only me."
The gaffer could lose everything should Chelsea bow out of the FA cup. The Blues will face Brentford in an FA Cup Fourth Round replay after both sides drew 2-2 on Sunday afternoon. Benitez would be gone before he knows it should Chelsea suffer an exit.
Here is a video which shows the response of the Chelsea faithful when Benitez first took over:
