Roberto Di Matteo: Why Chelsea Would Be Making a Huge Mistake to Look Elsewhere

Consider the scenario: Your failing boss gets fired and it's decided you're the man to take over his duties—at least in the short term.

The money is great, but the chance of success is small. The business is struggling and a good number of your most valuable employees are on the brink of mutiny. You stand to inherit a lot of problems.

The CEO is satisfied you can handle the gig, but you can be pretty sure he's already lining up candidates to replace you.

There are, after all, far more experienced and attractive alternatives out there. It will just take time to buy them out of their contracts.

Keeping you at the helm would be a decision at odds with everything the CEO has done before at the company. And you'd seriously have to go some ways to even be in the running.

First up, you're going to have to change everybody's perspective of you in a matter of days. You're not "one of them" anymore. You're the boss. You make the decisions. And, to make this work, it's imperative you have their respect.

It's quite a leap, but it turns out the employees are so pleased to see the back of the old boss that they welcome you with open arms. They're desperate for a new start and they like you.

It's a good start. And it's only going to get better.

Seventy-seven days later, you find yourself surrounded by your jubilant team, celebrating the greatest success in the company's history—the second notable coup of your short reign—and with your CEO poised to deliver his victory speech.

The only problem is, he keeps getting interrupted. So heady is the mood in the camp that his employees are singing over his words. 

They're singing about you. They're singing that you want you to stay on.

This very scenario is currently playing out for Chelsea FC.

Roberto Di Matteo would be one of the unluckiest managers in football history if Chelsea decided to look elsewhere next season.

Whoever is available, at whatever price, owner Roman Abramovich would be making a mistake if he tried to land a big fish and let Di Matteo swim away.

It's not just about winning trophies. Di Matteo has won over the players—and as Chelsea proved in the Champions League this season, the battle of hearts and minds can count as much as that of legs and feet when you're playing for high stakes.

Frank Lampard said he wanted to win the final against Bayern for Di Matteo. When the deed was done, he urged Chelsea to keep him on: "He took us from a struggling team maybe going out of the Champions League and we won it, so look at that," Lampard said. 

Petr Cech was another to call for Di Matteo's permanent employment. “He’s done enough to get the job but now it’s up to the board to decide," Cech said.

The board have yet to make up their minds. Some are reporting Abramovich is considering offering Di Matteo a one-year extension—with one eye on the potential return to management of former Barcelona boss Pep Guardiola in 2013.

Others say Di Matteo will leave this summer. The Daily Express claim Abramovich thinks Di Matteo was "lucky" to win the Champions League and isn't convinced.

Here's what Chelsea's chief executive had to say on the matter, as per the Daily Mail:

"

We now need to sit down over the next week or two, or however long it takes, because we have to do what's right for the club. I know the fans will be pushing for Robbie. We're going to look at the season, look at what worked for us, look at the mistakes we made and put them right and take it forward.

"

There aren't many in the anti-Di Matteo camp, but those who are will cite his poor Premier League results against the stronger teams during his reign.

Chelsea lost against Manchester City, Liverpool and Newcastle on Di Matteo's watch.

Yes, and they also beat Barcelona over two legs, won the FA Cup and downed Bayern Munich in their own backyard to make Chelsea European champions for the first time in their 107-year history.

If you bring a new manager in now, you have to be prepared to start all over. And when you're dealing with fragile egos and a seriously demanding boss, that's a risky strategy. 

Fabio Capello may well be more proven, but he's not proven at Chelsea. Guardiola, should he even consider the job in a year, would be entering a vastly different world to that he inhabited at Barca.

Di Matteo knows the club, he knows the players and he knows how to get the best out of them. Is it really that hard to make a decision?

I'm not one to give orders to an oligarch, but come on, Roman—give the man the job.