IT'S A SIMPLE AS WIN OR BUST AT CHELSEA!

Of course you are all reading articles everywhere on the situation we find ourselves in after the announcement yesterday. For the most part, it seems the focus of the media and press this morning is on a key point in the statement released by the club to the press. The point I am referring to is:

This season's performances have fallen short of expectations and the club feels the time is right to make this change ahead of next season's preparations.

If you look at our performance in the League Cup, losing to Newcastle at home then you overlook this one because and I mean no disrespect to the League Cup, the big three are the ones we want as a club season in, season out.

Our FA Cup defeat to Everton on penalties wasn't good considering we were defending our crown after winning the competition for two seasons running.

I have said it this morning and I believe it's a huge part as to why Carlo has left the club, our European performances in the knockout stages for the past two seasons has not been up to our usual standards.

Finally our League performance has been good to get us back to second in the league, but bearing in mind the games we have lost, and the way we have let them slip would only provide our owner with more reason to complain.

I think it's safe to say that we need to win at least one major trophy per season and anything less would be classed as a failure. Does this mean that winning the FA Cup and qualifying for the Champions League and making the final stages of Europe's top club competition is acceptable?. Would winning the Premier League and doing nothing in the FA Cup and Champions League be acceptable? Or would winning the Champions League forsaking everything else be acceptable to the owner and the fans?.

The way the club have dealt with managers who have not delivered what has been asked of them has been harsh and in some cases ruthless. I think we can all agree that the timing of yesterday was a shock to all of us but thinking back to how the club dealt with Scolari and Mourinho, we shouldn't be surprised really should we?

The problem we have now as we begin our search for our new manager is that what's required of you is simple. You need to deliver silverware and major silverware at that, still showing a good performance in the other competitions otherwise your out the door.

Being honest, who would want to take on the challenge at the moment here?. With a squad that is getting on a bit, with financial fair play restrictions being implemented soon and with a requirement to literally hit the ground running, you can imagine a fair few managers will think twice before even entertaining the idea.

So that leads us to the opinion of exactly who would be best suited to come to the club, shake things up to freshen up the squad and to put us right back in the frame to be challenging in ALL competitions next season?.

We don't need just a Manager with charisma or who has had some success at their club. We need someone who isn't afraid to make big big decisions and someone who is forward thinking and knows that it takes to change the course of a game tactically.

We need a World Class manager to come here, someone who would command instant respect of the players and the fans. Someone who is a great man manager to get the best out of the players and someone who is thick skinned to deal with the pressures and focus of the media by being the Chelsea manager.

That would lead us to two people. Guus Hiddink with his wealth of experience and knowledge of the game. Of course he has already been a manager of the club and has led us to FA Cup glory a couple of seasons ago after a dark spell at the club with Scolari in charge.

The problem we have is that he is committed to his contract with Turkey until 2012 and has gone on record to state that he intends to see out his contract. Could Roman tempt Guus to jump ship and most importantly of all, would Hiddink at 64 years of age, want to come and put up with the pressure of being Chelsea manager?. If you think back to when he first took over at the club, he was in a win, win situation. Any progress on where we were was a bonus for the club and he didn't have any realistic pressure at all because he was there to "help out". This is a very different situation and I really do wonder if he would want to come here.

The only other person I can really see that is World Class, has been there, seen it and done it is Jose Mourinho. You can imagine when Jose won last seasons Champions League final with Inter Milan, it was a real kick in the teeth for Roman. Jose has won the trophy he wants most and it would be foolish to believe that none of us have imagined "what if" when it comes to Mourinho.

Some people believe he is being lined up to take over at United after Fergie retires but he doesn't look like doing that for a couple of seasons and with having to deal with the best club side in the world in Barcelona, you would imagine Jose realises he has one hell of a job on to win the title for the next few seasons. In his first season Jose Mourinho's

Mourinho has openly admitted that the place he most enjoyed in his career to date was at Chelsea. He loved the players, the club and the supporters and bearing in mind the way he left the club, you have to imagine he feels as though he has unfinished business at the club.

To try and get him would cost Roman Abramovich a fortune in compensation but let's be honest here, he has paid so much already on Ancelotti, Scolari and Grant so what's the difference.

The idea of coming back to the club would surely appeal to Jose and you can bet your life he would negotiate in coming back here in a much stronger position that when he left. Would he ask for control of all footballing matters? It's a question you do have to wonder as I am getting the feeling that this is a main area of concern for the fans. They just want Roman to let go of control and deal with what he does best and leave the football to the manager. Whether or not he would do that is another thing.

The only issue and worry I have with Mourinho and a possible return would be based on his previous. After winning everything there was to win at Porto and Inter Milan he decided his job was done and moved on to a new challenge. If he came back here and won everything would he do the same but would it matter?

It really is simple as Win or Bust for whoever comes into the club. Whoever it is surely HAS TO BE right this time as we cannot see the same thing happen every couple of seasons.

The question remains, how many managers out there would realistically consider coming here dealing with the burden of expectations? Maybe someone "Special" perhaps!.

UTC, Carefree & KTBFFH.

Managers and players come and go, but the club and it's supporters live on!

KTBFFH

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