Chelsea make job vow to Euro hero Di Matteo
CHELSEA insist interim manager Roberto di Matteo is a serious candidate to be appointed to the role permanently after transforming the Blues from a team in terminal decline to Champions League winners.
Saturday’s penalty shoot-out victory over Bayern Munich at the Germans’ own Allianz Arena earned the club a first ever European Cup and a second trophy of Di Matteo’s brief reign, following the FA Cup.
The Italian may reasonably wonder what more he could have done, yet owner Roman Abramovich is thought keen to hire a more high-profile candidate, such as former Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola, to overhaul the club.
It raises the prospect that Di Matteo could be released despite succeeding where even Jose Mourinho failed, but chairman Bruce Buck has promised the former Blues midfielder has not been ruled out already.
“Robbie has done an amazing job. He has enabled the players to get back the confidence they used to have. He has really got them performing,” said Buck, as the team paraded their trophies around west London in an open-top bus yesterday.
“We’ve put [the manager’s job] aside for the last six or eight weeks, concentrating on Barcelona, the FA Cup and Bayern Munich, but I think now we have to sit down and figure that out. Roberto is certainly in the mix, he’s done a great job and has to have serious consideration.”
Former England head coach Fabio Capello has withdrawn from the running to be Chelsea’s next manager, while Tottenham’s Harry Redknapp, former Blues chief Mourinho and Guardiola have also been linked.
Di Matteo took over following the sacking of Andre Villas-Boas 10 weeks ago, with the club facing a European quarter-final last-16 exit to Napoli and their hopes of finishing in the Premier League’s top four crumbling.
The former West Brom and MK Dons manager could only finish sixth but ensured Champions League qualification in the most satisfying manner possible, by making Chelsea London’s first kings of Europe.
Di Matteo has repeatedly refused to discuss his future in public, while the club are also facing a dilemma over veteran striker Didier Drogba, whose contract expires in the summer.
Drogba, 34, underlined his enduring value by scoring Saturday’s 88th-minute equaliser.