Chelsea to turn to former manager to replace Mourinho?

09 November 2015 09:58

Chelsea have made contact with potential replacements for Jose Mourinho with top candidates being former managers Roberto Di Matteo and Guus Hiddink as well as ex-Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers, according to the Sunday Express.

The pressure has mounted exponentially on the Chelsea gaffer as poor result continue to come in, most recently a 1-0 loss to Stoke City.

Mourinho wasn’t present for the game as he was serving a one match stadium ban, he was however there in spirit as hundreds of Chelsea fans turned up wearing Mourinho masks and standing with cardboard cut-outs of the absent manager.

Despite his absence many have still blamed Mourinho for the poor performance and now Chelsea are preparing a replacement for him.

Roberto Di Matteo was Chelsea’s assistant manager under André Villas-Boas but following AVB’s dismissal he took over as caretaker manager. Whilst in the job he guided Chelsea to victory over Bayern Munich in the Champions League Final.

He was dismissed in the following season following a decline in form that included a 3-0 loss to Juventus. Di Matteo most recently managed Schalke but resigned after they failed to qualify for the Europa League, finishing sixth in the Bundesliga.

Another former Chelsea man to be linked with the caretaker manager job is Guus Hiddink. Hiddink is a very experienced manager who has had no fewer than twelve different jobs in his career. He took over as interim manager of Chelsea in 2009 following the sacking of Luiz Felipe Scolari.

Although many players asked him to stay, reportedly John Terry, Petr Cech and Michael Ballack, he returned to his post as Russia manager at the end of the 2008/09 season.

Most recently he managed the Netherlands, taking over from Louis Van Gaal after the 2014 World Cup and but left soon after and was replaced by current Netherlands boss Danny Blind.

Another surprising name to be thrown into the hat is recently sacked Liverpool gaffer Brendan Rogers. Rogers made his name in the Premier League as manager of Swansea and held Liverpool to second in the league in 2014, finishing only behind Chelsea.

However after a poor run of results in both the Premier League and the Europa League he was replaced by Jurgen Klopp.

Source: DSG