Sympathy for Roman Abramovich

There’s a rough old whiff emanating from Stamford Bridge these days, and the source of the stench is Roman Abramovich, the Chelsea owner. Roberto di Matteo, the manager he sacked last week, was the eighth dismissed since he bought the club in 2003. That’s quite a turn-over, even for an oligarch who likes to get his own way, but getting rid of di Matteo is significant because the Italian delivered the prize most coveted by Abramovich, the European Cup. Not even José Mourinho could get that into the Chelsea trophy cabinet. When it comes to football, the world is not enough for Roman Abramovich. In fairness to the unshaven money machine, I know people who have worked for him, and they have nothing but admiration for his kindness, charm and generosity. Seriously.

To be the manager of Chelsea, even an interim one like Rafa Benitez, your CV has to display a major European trophy (Champions or Europa League), and/or a title in one or more of the major European Leagues (Spain, Italy, Germany — Holland or Portugal at a push), and/or the World Cup and/or the European Championship. It also helps considerably if you haven’t been sacked by Abramovich before. It’s a narrow field and not one that is going to overly stretch the executive search department at Stamford Bridge.

But if you want to be the man whom the man who already has every-thing really wants, the final piece of the jigsaw is that you have to be able not just to win everything, but to win it playing like Barcelona. In short, the best thing one could place beneath the Abramovich Christmas tree is a Pep -Guardiola-shaped parcel.

Has any out-of-work football manager ever been in a stronger position? Guardiola sits in Manhattan enjoying a well-earned sabbatical and he can pick and choose the suitors he sees.