By Andrew Warshaw
November 21 – Chelsea wasted no time appointing a successor to luckless manager Roberto Di Matteo tonight when former Liverpool boss Rafael Benítez was given the job just a few hours after his predecessor was unceremoniously axed.
But in a move that made it clear the European champions were interested in someone else in the long term – almost certainly former Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola – Benítez (pictured top), who in his previous jobs has always insisted of having total control, was only given the position on an interim basis until the end of the season.
Benítez’s stopgap appointment immediately prompted fierce opposition from scores of Chelsea fans who used the internet as well as radio talk shows to express their disdain at the club’s latest managerial merry-go-round that was extraordinary even by the standards of owner Roman Abramovich.
Benítez, 52, incredibly becomes the Blues’ ninth manager since Abramovich (pictured below) took over in 2003.
A Chelsea statement said: “The owner and the board believe that in Benítez we have a manager with significant experience at the highest level of football, who can come in and immediately help deliver our objectives.
“The two-time UEFA Manager of the Year comes with outstanding pedigree.”
The Spaniard is due to meet the Chelsea players at the club’s training ground tomorrow ahead of Sunday’s (November 25) high-profile Premier League fixture with leaders Manchester City.
Benítez joined Liverpool from Valencia in 2004 and won the UEFA Champions League in 2005, as well as reaching the final in 2007, before leaving Anfield by mutual consent in 2010.
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He has been out of work since he was sacked by Inter Milan in December 2010 after just six months in charge.
As his appointment was confirmed, the fallout from Di Matteo’s (pictured above) sacking continued, with widespread incredulity at how the man who in May brought the Champions League title to Chelsea for the first time could be shown the door after just eight months in charge, especially as Chelsea are still not technically out of this season’s competition despite yesterday’s 3-0 reverse at Juventus – and lie third in the Premier League.
David Johnstone, spokesman for Chelsea fanzine cfcuk, could not comprehend how Di Matteo, who lifted the FA Cup a mere two months after being installed as caretaker but didn’t get the job permanently until after capturing the Holy Grail of European club football, could have his two-year deal terminated so ruthlessly.
“We are bedding in new players, a new style of play,” said Johnstone.
“You can’t just take the job away from him.
“Rafa Benítez is not a Chelsea manager.
“Some people are born to play for or manage certain clubs and for us, Benítez isn’t what we want.
“I just think it’s a mad decision at a mad time.”
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