A New Year's Resolution for Chelsea Owner Roman Abramovich
Roman Abramovich must be wondering where it's all gone wrong at Chelsea in 2015.
Not even Nostradamus could have predicted how a team that was crowned Premier League champions in May would be caught in a relegation scrap by Christmas.
Yet here we are, welcoming in 2016 with Chelsea positioned 14th in the table and just three points clear of the drop zone.
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It's not the opening few weeks of the season. No, we've played half the campaign and Chelsea are among the biggest strugglers. They're in a relegation scrap, like it or not.
Things have to change dramatically on the pitch if Chelsea are to pull away from it all. Equally, surely the time has come for Abramovich to change the way Chelsea operate by putting an end to the hire-and-fire culture that has left Chelsea in this position.
The moment things go wrong at Stamford Bridge, the response is to rip up the mandate and start again. It has to stop, and when he sings "Auld Lang Syne" with his family at midnight on New Year's Eve, perhaps Abramovich will be suitably enlightened.
Jose Mourinho was sacked for a second time as Chelsea boss in December, meaning the Blues will have to appoint a ninth permanent manager in 13 years this summer when Guus Hiddink steps down as interim boss.
That's not conducive to long-term prosperity. Managers aren't given enough time to sustain success in west London, and now Chelsea are paying the price for it.
There was a time when Didier Drogba, Frank Lampard and John Terry guided the club through each crisis they faced, but that generation of players has gone.
By not supporting managers, it hasn't been sufficiently replaced either. In the wake of Drogba, Terry and Lampard, there's a group of talented individuals at Chelsea, but not a team.
That is why Chelsea have struggled this season. They've been defeated nine times by better teams, and regardless of the names on the teamsheet, it's been their Achilles heel.
They must plan for the future by bringing an era of stability to rediscover what has made them great this past decade or so because the feeling now is they have come to the end of the road.
Chelsea's approach has been too short-termist, allowing their rivals to capitalise at the very moment they should be dominating.
We're not talking in hindsight, either. Take this season, when the Premier League champions can come from any of Leicester City, Arsenal, Manchester City, Tottenham Hotspur or, at a long shot, Jurgen Klopp's resurgent Liverpool.
The Premier League is wide-open because of clubs like Chelsea.
When Chelsea won the title last season, they did it through the magic of consistency. While all those around them were dropping points and swapping places in the table, Chelsea were in cruise control at the top.
Mourinho's men were relentless in the way the picked up victories and pulled away from the chasing pack. They won the league with three games to spare.
There hasn't been that consistency from any club this season, which is why we have a title race that's exciting for all the wrong reasons.
Abramovich should be kicking himself. If ever there was a time to create that much-desired dynasty, now is it.
The Premier League is in transition, brought on by new TV deals that have armed even the smallest clubs to compete in the transfer market.
It's crying out for one club to step forward as the dominant force, and the new order in English football will be formed on the back of it.
But where are Chelsea? Languishing at the wrong end of the table and scrapping among themselves about who is to blame for the farce that their season has become.
Ultimately, it's Mourinho who has been the fall guy in it all. As manager, it comes with the territory, but there is a feeling he has paid the price for the instability that has been rife since he first left the club in 2007.
Let's be clear, though; Abramovich sacking managers isn't about Mourinho's recent departure. It's much bigger than that.
Like his players, Mourinho made mistakes this season. Indeed, he's made mistakes over the two-and-a-half years that he was at the club in his second spell.
Those errors have been amplified by the mayhem away from the pitch that breeds a toxic culture.
Chelsea managers, including Mourinho, are constantly looking over their shoulder, awaiting the axe, and that itself leads to decisions being about today and not tomorrow.
Is it any wonder Mourinho didn't attempt to blood more young players in his Chelsea team?
Sure, looking at his track record, Mourinho isn't a coach famed for his work with young players that have come through a club's academy. He's built his success in football by bringing experienced players together as a collective.
But it's not just Mourinho who has failed with Chelsea's young stars. No manager in the Abramovich era has come close to giving youth a chance.
Claudio Ranieri did it with John Terry, but that was pre-Abramovich's vast investment. Since that time, the Blues have paid millions for big names to deliver glory.
And here's the point Abramovich must consider more than most: The landscape has changed significantly since he arrived in English football 12 years ago.
Abramovich isn't the only mega-rich owner in the Premier League or Europe. Chelsea's ability to storm their way through the transfer market has been diluted by the likes of Manchester City and those overseas broadcast deals.
It means the competition is heightened and the value of players is at an ever-higher premium.
The way around it is to build from within.
By investing in Chelsea's youth structure, Abramovich seems to understand that. At the same time, his desire to consistently replace managers is hindering the chances of those young players coming through.
Chelsea's academy isn't average, either. They're the reigning FA Youth Cup champions and also won the UEFA Youth League last term.
Even still, interim manager Guus Hiddink hinted he won't be turning to any of those players in the short term.
At his unveiling as Chelsea manager last week, Bleacher Report asked Hiddink about his views on Chelsea's talented youth stars.
"Of course, some youth players are participating in the first-team training sessions, but I want to have first my analysis and my observations. Then we'll decide [if any will play]," Hiddink told us.
"It depends also on the development, what is going on in the next many games whether we do that, yes or no. First I must be convinced of their quality and I will then see what the situation is."
And therein lies the problem: Hiddink must be convinced of their quality.
It took Mourinho over two years of watching these players closely without giving them enough opportunities, so what hope do they have when other managers are coming and going in a shorter time?
Appointing the right manager is a big enough task, but not sacking them is just as vital.
Abramovich needs to rethink his managerial policy at Chelsea, as the club's future depends on it.
Garry Hayes is Bleacher Report's lead Chelsea correspondent. All quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. Follow him on Twitter @garryhayes
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