For the last few weeks I’ve been intending to publish a piece on the merits of keeping Roberto Di Matteo as Chelsea manager.

Doing so now might appear reactionary after the excellent result against Barcelona, but if I begin by prefacing the entire article with the notion that his body of work as manager – at least in terms of ‘just’ results – isn’t close to being top of the reasons why, it might go some way to assuaging those notions.

Undoubtedly though, he is riding the crest of a wave after a sensational past few days and now, more than ever, Chelsea fans will be firmly backing the 41 year-old Italian to become a permanent fixture in the Stamford Bridge dugout.

His record is eerily similar to that of Guus Hiddink when the Dutchman acted in the same capacity a few seasons ago, with just one defeat to his name, a strong performance in the Champions League and a spot in the FA Cup Final.

Few would have a problem with Roman Abramovich handing the job to Hiddink, but when you consider the work Di Matteo has done with what is arguably a weaker squad, he certainly stacks up on this front.

Nicely juxtaposed with the charlatan Andre Villas-Boas, rather than attempt to assert his own style and demands upon the team from day one, Di Matteo knows the value of remaining understated, and more importantly understands the strength of the tools at his disposal.

Yes, Chelsea have some players who are getting older, and perhaps they’re not quite what they once were. However, that does not, in any circumstances mean that they have nothing left to offer.

Di Matteo has brought cohesion, balance, unity and a collective direction back to the club when it was most needed. These are simple qualities easily adhered to and ones which are easily continued should he get the permanent stewardship of the club.

The process of ‘overhauling’ the first team squad has been underway for two seasons now, and will continue this summer. Critics will level a lack of experience in the transfer market against Di Matteo, but at Chelsea, this is less of an issue as it might be at other clubs.

It’s well known that a group of half a dozen or so men working under the title of the ‘Football Board’ drive the club’s transfer activity and whilst the manager has a certain input, he is, for most intents and purposes, a coach.

If Di Matteo has been able to achieve short-term success with this squad, it stands to reason that he is well placed to take the next step with new players to work with.

His time at West Bromwich Albion also may apparently work against him, but previous accomplishments should be well down the list of criteria to be considered. A former World Cup winner failed spectacularly in 2008, whilst Villas-Boas fared little better despite very recent and relevant success.

Mourinho and Ancelotti came very well qualified and proved to be just that, but equally, the club somehow found itself in its sole European Champions League final under Avram Grant of all people. The right person will be the right person because of their leadership and coaching qualities, not what they might have won before.

Pep Guardiola at Barcelona is a perfect example of someone who was very clearly the right hire despite having almost no notable coaching experience. Whilst it would be foolish to suggest that one example speaks for everyone, Guardiola in particular leads me into my next point, one which is worth considering for the long-term future of Chelsea.

Guardiola understands Barcelona. He grew up there, he played there, he has been a Culé for almost all of his adult life. Managerial longevity is growing scarcer by the season, and whilst the days of a reign like Sir Alex Ferguson, Arsene Wenger or David Moyes may no longer be relevant, the former player may very much be the way of the future.

Di Matteo understands Chelsea. He is one of very few people involved in the playing side at the club who have experienced pre-Abramovich and current Chelsea. It might sound clichéd and it definitely isn’t something which is always positive, but it helps create an identity, something the club has lacked since Mourinho (and arguably still identifies most with his approach).

Managers with a connection to their club appreciate the small details; the use of the academy, the development of home-grown players as a part of the team’s core, the importance of the backroom staff. Eddie Newton’s return may have been a secondary story but he is an excellent coach who has played a big role in this season’s revival.

Mourinho’s entourage were all adept in their roles and brought something to the table, something their manager would often take on board. Christophe Lollichon aside, those who have filled the seats on the bench since 2007 have either been promoted to fill a gap or have been sycophantic yes-men with little remit but to agree with the boss.

How valuable Steve Clarke appears in his absence. How appreciated Newton has been since his return. Di Matteo didn’t have to bring his long-time assistant with him, but he appreciates the value of colleagues and appears to believe that a collaborative effort is a successful approach.

At the end of the day this is as speculative as it gets, but if we come back down to the raw facts, we’ve seen that Di Matteo has gotten exceptional results in a short period of time simply by utilising players in their best roles.

Football can be as complicated as you want to make it, but is at its most successful when simplified as much as possible. There is a lot to be said for that, and it’s something that the Italian’s predecessors have apparently forgotten.

Yet at the same time, subtle tactical nuances have been evident throughout his brief spell, displaying a learned understanding of the modern game and where each opponent’s threat lies. Utilising Ramires as a left winger last night to dampen the threat of Daniel Alves is the most recent example of a seemingly small move going a long way towards success.

If Di Matteo is prepared to go forward as he has done since March, he’s arguably favourite to keep his job. He’s certainly a leading candidate.

Plus, he’d come cheap. That’s always worth a point or two in his favour…

Shortly before Christmas, off the back of a poor run but following qualification for the last 16 of the CL, this column wondered if the season could turn out to be something special (see Special Ones Too). And it certainly has, but not in a good way. A slew of defeats, players who don’t seem to be bothered about putting in a shift but are only too happy to collect their 000s of Ks every week, and continued reports in the media of problems in the dressing room culminated in yesterday’s abject performance at West Bromwich Albion, resulting in the dismissal today of Andreas Villas Boas, less than 9 months after his appointment as Chelsea manager.

As someone who has never received football coaching in their life, it is difficult for me to comment on the mechanics of a performance. All I see is players passing the ball. Whilst I’m au fait with systems and styles, like a typical woman, I prefer incidents to statistics. In spite of being there, I couldn’t tell you who scored our goals in the 3-2 defeat at Man Utd in September, but I remember Ian Marshall of Leicester pulling a hammy whilst trying to nutmeg Albert Ferrer in front of the still unroofed West Stand and getting celery chucked at him in about 1999. So I’m not really the one to say whether AVB didn’t know what he was doing on the tactics front. All I know that he failed to pull on a shirt in any of our games recently. Whilst the buck stops with the manager, our players have to look at themselves in the mirror and ask themselves how much they have contributed to letting the fans down.

It is not the first time player power has hastened the demise of a manager at Chelsea. As long ago as 2000, Gianluca Vialli lost the dressing room, and at the time when a revised Bosman ruling was being threatened resulting in contracts no longer being worth the paper they were written on, Ken Bates and Colin Hutchinson were presented with a “him or us” ultimatum by a number of players (this was confirmed to me by the respected Italian journalist Giancarlo Galivotti several years ago). Whilst Franck Leboeuf attracted most of the opprobrium directed at the players on this occasion, he was certainly not the only one involved and even tried to offload the blame on Gianfranco Zola – in a radio interview on the day of his last game at Chelsea, he commented “Gianfranco has much more power at Chelsea than me”. Indeed, Vialli’s own comments on Twitter today hint at a frosty relationship with the club’s new caretaker manager, Roberto di Matteo.

Stories about player unrest have abounded in the press recently, usually attributed to a “senior player”. I hope whoever he is, he will now expend his energies for the rest of the season in galvanising his team-mates to get their fingers out. The decision to appoint di Matteo as caretaker manager until the end of the season is an indication that Chelsea have a clear target in mind but need to wait until the end of the season. Were that not the case, either Benitez or Capello, both free agents, would have been appointed today. Given Jose Mourinho’s very public visit to London last week, combined with news of a further alleged visit on Monday, and information provided by a source to this column that Mourinho and Abramovich had dinner at a top London hotel last week, last week’s article “Return of the Special One” may yet prove to have been barking up the right tree.

As usual, the ones suffering most at this time are the fans. I know people who set off for Albion at 6am and reckoned they weren’t going to get home till midnight. Approximately 1600 hardy souls travelled to Napoli two weeks ago. As I write, Chelsea lie fifth in the premiership and no doubt there are those amongst the inter-continental support (and possibly one or two in the UK) who have decided that the club are so last decade, and transferred their support elsewhere. These are the very people that our CEO is keen on cultivating at the expense of those who invest their time and emotion, not to mention maxing out their credit cards, on supporting CFC in the flesh and not through the medium of their television.

I think the last time I felt so low about a manager was, surprisingly, the day Ruudi was sacked (when Jose left I was in an emotional maelstrom, and when Luca was sacked I was so ill that if Ken Bates had turned up to announce the news in person I probably wouldn’t have turned a hair). However, we Chels are a resillient lot. Whilst I’d be surprised if we sell out Birmingham away, the faithful will be out in force and giving 100% of their passion to the cause. Let’s hope the players can do the same.

 “They seek him here/they seek him there/those Frenchies seek him everywhere/Is he in heaven?/Or is he in hell?/The demn’d elusive Pimpernel”
The Scarlet Pimpernel – Baroness Emma Orczy

The arrival of The Special One in London this week on a not so secret visit has sparked a frenzy of speculation amongst the media, who are linking him with not only every post at the top end of English club management but also the national team job.  We at The Chels aren’t averse to a good speculate ourselves, and if you look behind the pictures, a pattern is starting to emerge.

1. Other than the widely circulated pictures of fans he bumped into on his visit, it emerged on Twitter yesterday (I know, I know, but it’s amazing how much useful stuff gets in to the public domain via that particular medium) that the man pictured with Mourinho is called Mark Foley.  Mr Foley is allegedly employed by Chelsea FC in a role which assists club staff in sourcing accommodation.

2. Chelsea TV showed a “Best of Jose” compilation last night.

3. The club yesterday announced that they would be touring the US next summer.  Jose’s pre-season tour of choice.

Coincidence?  Possibly. 

Today’s stories in the media have reported that Jose told fans on Tuesday that he wasn’t returning to Chelsea.  However, when Sir Percy Blakeney was quizzed as to whether he was Scarlet Pimpernel, he denied it.  Of course Jose isn’t going to cough up that sort of information.

This week’s events have further ramped up speculation as to where his Specialness will be plying his trade next season.  One thing pretty certain is that it’s unlikely to be Madrid.

Derek McGovern of the Mirror, a man whose “tips” are usually so wide of the market he really should be had up under the Trades Description Act, says William Hill are offering 3-1 for the Bridge to be Jose’s next stop.  For once, he might be on to something.

Follow me on Twitter @BlueBaby67

Let’s get the obvious out of the way first.

This is a controversial subject of which I know many feel strongly about. However, the aim behind writing this is to encourage people to think beyond the superficial and ask questions of their opinions. It is not in any way, shape or form intended to patronise.

The Director of Football role is something of a curiosity in England. Commonplace across Europe, it hasn’t quite become part of the culture on these shores, and it’s there where the problem begins.

Much of our football is deeply rooted in the past. Whether that’s a good thing or a bad thing is up to you, but it means certain there are some prevalent views as a result due in part to the average age of the football supporter and the football writer.

The manager is supposed to be autonomous, seeing all and knowing even more. Some of the great characters of the game have been bullish, confident, controlling sorts who became iconic for their achievements.

It also acts as something of an extension from the alpha-male world football once was. For years, decades even, a drinking culture persisted throughout the English game based heavily on male pride. That’s without getting into the hard-nosed game (particularly) of the 1970s where Ron Harris, Norman Hunter and contemporaries were revered for their ‘no-nonsense’ approach.

With this mentality in place, the manager is therefore expected to be in full control of ‘his’ club, for a man who doesn’t command the authority of all around him should have no place running a football team, right?

It’s here where the problems really begin. Because your typical non-player has had a career playing the game, ‘outsiders’ are looked upon suspiciously. After all, you can’t tell others to play the game if you haven’t yourself.

Consider Arrigo Sacchi’s famous quote however. A man with no discernible playing career, the Italian is one of the most successful coaches of all time. When doubts were raised as to his suitability to manage Italy’s biggest clubs, he was quick to point out that to be a jockey; one doesn’t have had to have previously been a horse.

The most prominent Directors of Football come from a range of backgrounds; from successful footballers Uli Hoeness, Txiki Beguiristain and Frank Arnesen through to the likes of Damien Comolli and Pantaleo Corvino, who didn’t kick a ball in anger.

Yet you only have to look at how the much-decorated Arnesen was received at Chelsea to realise it’s about more than just whether they played the game.

The English (largely tabloid, but not exclusively) media help perpetuate the myth that Directors of Football cause instability; that at the first sign of problems on the pitch, there must be friction behind the scenes. The DoF is the obvious target for their ire, for they have little to no idea of what the job entails.

Instead of educating themselves on the intricacies of the role and how it has worked successfully in tens, if not hundreds of cases worldwide across many sports, they choose the easy way out and criticise.

Supporters then have an easy scapegoat with which to direct their frustrations, and the vicious cycle of misunderstanding is complete. Look at the fates of Arnesen, Comolli at Tottenham, Gianluca Nani, David Pleat, Avram Grant and others in our domestic game.

Fans are quick to dismiss the media when they don’t like what’s being said, but are equally as swift to lap up opinion which backs up a pre-conceived notion. It’s a tad hypocritical to slate a journalist one minute and then cite him/her when supporting a point of view.

Michael Emenalo is set to be thrust into the same company, with rumours of his promotion to the role this week. The Nigerian remains a vastly unpopular figure at Stamford Bridge, but the foundation for the dislike appears to be unfounded, or at the very least misplaced.

After something of a nomadic career, the Nigerian international has taken in roles on both sides of the Atlantic and at different levels. Few of these have been notable to the casual follower, and, naturally, suspicion arises as to whether he is ‘qualified’ to work at one of the biggest clubs in the world.

This is where things become somewhat ironic, however. Andre Villas-Boas has just been welcomed with open arms despite being of similar ilk to his colleague. With no playing career, the Portuguese has accrued experience and qualifications at a tender age and, after just one season in charge of a club people have heard of, he takes the hot seat in London.

“Ah, but he worked with Jose Mourinho and learned from Bobby Robson, he comes from good stock” is the retort. Perhaps, but one suspects that had Chelsea hired Borussia Dortmund’s Jurgen Klopp (a 44 year-old with an unremarkable playing history), for example, there would have been similar optimism about the future.

Guus Hiddink is believed to be the long-term target for the role of Director of Football, but he has exactly the same amount of experience in the post as Emenalo does. What makes him more qualified for it? His managerial career, of course.

We’ve also heard claims that Villas-Boas will be ‘hands-on’ and ‘his own man’ because of an erroneous report that Chelsea announced him as ‘manager’ instead of ‘first team coach’.

They did exactly the same with Carlo Ancelotti, and furthermore, Villas-Boas has no issue working with others:

‘I have no problem working with a director of football or technical director. The main thing is not to put somebody there to disrupt the manager, the main thing for us is to build on the future and put competent people in the right places and that’s what we are trying to do. We trust a lot the competences that are in and around this club, because we have a successful past of six years that shows us we are on the right track.’

Draw your own conclusions.

There are very few people who are privy to what goes on behind the tall bushes and trees at Cobham. You can speculate until the day is done, and you can comment on body language on the bench during matches, but at the end of the day, it’s churlish to claim that Emenalo ‘does nothing’ and is merely a device for Roman Abramovich to keep a close eye on things.

Nobody cared about him when he was operating solely as an opposition scout in a season where the club won the title in record-breaking fashion, and even fewer noted that when he was promoted to working with the first team squad upon Ray Wilkins’ absence, the team looked less prepared to deal with their opponents.

Was this as a consequence of Emenalo’s diminished involvement with opposition scouting? Was it because he was marginalised by Carlo Ancelotti? The answers to those questions will be guesswork at best, but they’re questions at least worth considering before going off half-cocked because the man doesn’t fit in with English football stereotypes.

We don’t have a clue as to how he’ll get on in the role, and there’s no denying that he could be a complete flop. The problem right now is that people are prejudiced against him simply based on reputation. That’s not fair.

A final note to consider is that even if he has the job title, Chelsea operate with a ‘Football Board’, which comprises the manager, the DoF, Bruce Buck, Eugene Tenenbaum, Ron Gourlay, David Barnard (club secretary) and Mike Forde (Head Technical Scout).

Decisions are taken on a consensus basis, and whilst some many hold greater sway than others, it’s incorrect to say that Emenalo/Arnesen/A.N.Other are ‘running Chelsea Football Club’.

It may not be traditional fare in England, and it may not be popular, but it’s a firmly established way of running an organisation worldwide and, for now, it’s here to stay at Stamford Bridge.

Think about things, that’s all I’m asking.