FOR starters, long time readers of this column know I’m not among Jose Mourinho’s army of apologists. Yes, I admire his huge achievements and regard him as one of the most successful club managers of all time. It’s just that I totally disapprove of some of his ways and sayings.
But putting that aside, and judging the man purely on his team’s recent performances on the pitch, I think it wouldn’t make sense to sack him now. To be honest I thought he should have gotten his P45 long ago. But somehow Blues trigger-happy owner, Roman Abramovich, has surprisingly continued to resist the temptation to pull the trigger on the caustic Portuguese tactician.
And I think it’s a wise move not to rid himself of the club’s most successful manager of all time just yet. That’s despite their 1-0 reverse to Stoke City at the Britannia Stadium. And it was the defeat to Stoke that told me everything was not lost at the Bridge.
Chelsea thoroughly outplayed the hosts and certainly deserved something from that match. The performance of the boys made nonsense of the talk that Mou might have lost the dressing room. The Blues fought with every ounce of their strength though hard luck meant they left the Britannia empty-handed.
With his team still prepared to die for him on the pitch and the fans still solidly behind their manager as they bombarded the Britannia with numerous Mourinho effigies and masks, the Special One looks in a strong position as opposed to many opinions.
And looking at their remaining BPL fixtures before the winter window opens in January, I’d like to think Chelsea should start climbing the log, slowly but steadily whoever is in charge of the Blues. They have seven BPL matches between now and the New Year – four of them at home namely: Norwich (Nov 21), Bournemouth (Dec 05), Sunderland (Dec 19) and Watford (Dec 26).
Judging by their recent performances, Chelsea should clinch maximum points from these “easy” home fixtures, and if they can nick three points from their three difficult road trips toTottenham (Nov 28), Leicester City (Dec 12) and Manchester United (Dec 28) they should be comfortably perched in mid-table before delving into the transfer market in January to address a couple of grey areas.
No, they are not going to win the league; they will not even make the Top 4. But they could make some remarkable recovery between now and the end of the season to finish in a respectable spot, probably the Europa League spot like Borussia Dortmund did last season when they climbed from the bottom of the log to as at mid-season to clinch a Europa League slot. And Chelsea are not even bottom of the log, remember?
So sacking Mou now will not change anything drastically in my opinion. And it could be very expensive even for a billionaire like Abramovich. It could also be counter-productive, especially as there are no better quality managers out there right now.
At any rate, should Mou and his team fail to reach that modest target of 15 points from their next seven matches, the axe could fall at the end of the year, giving the new manager a fresh start with the luxury of the entire January window to address the problematic areas.
For sure I think Mou has earned the right to a stay of execution at the Bridge till the New Year, at least for his name, for his achievements, for what he’s done for Chelsea, for the support he still enjoys with his boys and the Blues fans. Yes, I think Mou deserves to be given more time to see if he could sort things out. What do you say, ye Blues faithful?
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