The Lead
Everyone—myself included, obvs—seems to manically oscillate from wanting managers who did a little worse this season than last (even within basic means regression) to get their asses sacked, and condemning chairman from doing just that.
For example, general consensus holds that Abramovich sacking Carlo Ancelotti in 2011 was bad, but City sacking Mancini at the end of this season was good. Why? Well, ineffable reasons involving the fact that Mancini seemed like he didn’t know what he was doing at times, a conclusion we made entirely based on the tiny little bit we knew of the guy from his press conferences, his substitutions and tactical formations, and his hair. Ancelotti apparently did not have those issues.
In the end it may not matter at all. Chelsea won a European Cup under a now-sacked manager in Roberto Di Matteo (do you see the Italian dots all connected here?), and this season they won the Europa League under a guy who was hauled in last minute to replace him.
Still, one wonders over the Frank Lampard one year extension, whether this was decided on the basis of his long-term performance, his fitness, his injury analytics etc. And maybe it was decided on the fact he scored a record-setting number of goals and helped the club on their way to winning a major European trophy.
The thing is, it probably doesn’t matter. This is Chelsea. The supporting cast could be entirely different next season, and there they’ll be, confounding pundits and long-game advocates on their way to glory.
