Why Di Matteo's sacking shows everything that's wrong at Chelsea

Gone: Roberto Di Matteo has parted company with Chelsea

It always seemed like the impossible job for Roberto Di Matteo when he became permanent Chelsea manager in the summer.

Just how was the Italian supposed to follow a three-month spell as caretaker in which he won the club their first Champions League and an FA Cup?

Perhaps he shouldn't have even taken the job. He must have known he was no more than a stop-gap appointment from Roman Abramovich, who was extremely reluctant to give Di Matteo the job permanently despite his success.

The Russian recognised Chelsea's Champions League win was fortunate and the style of play they used to triumph did not sit well with him, and only appointed Di Matteo after Pep Guardiola rejected an offer.

However, Abramovich simply had to give the job to Di Matteo. He had delivered the elusive trophy Abramovich had been chasing for nine years, and at the very least deserved the chance to follow up that success.

A fantastic start to this year's Premier League campaign, coupled with the new expansive style of Chelsea, seemed to prove that Di Matteo was ready to build on what he had achieved.

Last night's 3-0 defeat to Juventus was a humbling one, and left the Blues on the brink of Champions League elimination, but despite a run of just two wins in eight matches in all competitions Chelsea are still just four points from the Premier League summit.

Champions League survival may seem unlikely, but a Shakhtar Donetsk victory over Juve in their final group game would more than likely see Chelsea qualify for the last 16.

Similarly, a Premier League victory over Manchester City on Sunday would see Chelsea right in the title mix, so Di Matteo was doing an excellent job at Stamford Bridge.

When you look at the challenges he has overcome in his 262-day spell, it becomes clear he deserved more time.

Di Matteo took over from Andre Villas-Boas in March with Chelsea in crisis, out of the Champions League qualifying places and on the brink of elimination from Europe's premier club competition at the hands of Napoli.

The Italian not only turned that 3-1 deficit around, he then led them to victories over Benfica, Barcelona and Bayern Munich to make Chelsea champions of Europe.

This season, Di Matteo has had to manage against a backdrop of controversy and threats, and has largely dealt with it brilliantly.

John Terry's racism case cast a huge shadow over the club, as did his subsequent four-match ban, the club's refusal to sack him and the injury he picked up against Liverpool last week.

Di Matteo has also had to deal with the idiotic Ashley Cole, who has never been far away from controversy and seems to be running his contract down at Stamford Bridge (similarly to Frank Lampard).

Didier Drogba - the catalyst of Chelsea's Champions League triumph - left the club in the summer, as did Romelu Lukaku, who could have had a key role this season but was sent out on loan to West Bromwich Albion.

The inspirational Drogba was always going to be near-impossible to replace

That meant Di Matteo was forced to rely on Fernando Torres this season, and the Spaniard has looked so uninterested and out-of-form that the manager decided against using a striker against Juventus yesterday, with Torres left to sulk on the bench.

That was Di Matteo's Villas-Boas moment. Villas-Boas dropped Cole and Lampard for the Champions League clash with Napoli and was subsequently soundly beaten, and on the face of it Di Matteo's decision not to play with a striker was equally strange.

However, you can understand his frustration at Torres, who has been simply awful for two-and-a-half years now, and the fact he had no other striker who warranted a place in the team.

Di Matteo is just another Chelsea manager who can lay the blame for his departure partly at Torres' door, with the £50million man yet another of Abramovich's signings who has refused to pull his weight.

At the same time as all this, Di Matteo has had to deal with the spectre of Guardiola, the ex-Barcelona boss on a one-year sabbatical after a trophy-laden spell at the Nou Camp.

Abramovich dreams of having Guardiola in charge at Stamford Bridge, and it seems inevitable he will try to woo him next summer, whatever Di Matteo's successor achieves in the meantime.

Because of the Guardiola dream, Di Matteo was effectively never more than a caretaker manager at Chelsea. The man who showed such great dignity deserved much, much more.

This season, he has been forced to implement a new style of play at Chelsea, something which takes a lot of time to get right.

Di Matteo had to find a way to get Eden Hazard, Oscar, Juan Mata and Torres functioning in the same team without losing defensive stability, something any manager would struggle with.

Young players with next to no experience of Champions League football were brought in by Abramovich, while Di Matteo was expected to deliver success immediately. It was the impossible job.

Villas-Boas found that out, with his reign lasting just 257 days, while Luiz Felipe Scolari lasted 13 days less than that.

Abramovich's hiring and firing is a joke and it is a wonder any manager worth his salt would want to work in such conditions. One bad run of form and you're out, regardless of the circumstances.

Di Matteo deserved to be given until the end of the season at least to get it right, but the reality is he would have been sacked whatever he achieved in this campaign.

Guardiola will be approached again next summer - or perhaps even before - as Abramovich chases the impossible dream: to create a new Barcelona in south London.

Guardiola is reportedly keen on managing in London

It is thought he was dismayed by August's 4-1 Super Cup defeat to Atletico Madrid, as Di Matteo's side were destroyed by hat-trick scorer Radamel Falcao, who has since been consistently linked with a move to Stamford Bridge.

That was the beginning of the end for Di Matteo and Abramovich has been looking for an excuse to get rid of him ever since.

How are Chelsea supposed to move forward with such a trigger-happy owner? And why would Guardiola put his reputation on the line by joining such an unstable club?

These are questions Chelsea fans must surely be asking as their club becomes the talk of football for all the wrong reasons yet again.

Abramovich may get his wish at some point, with Guardiola arriving on a white horse to save Chelsea and lead them to greatness.

But would Guardiola be spared the Abramovich axe if he had a tricky start? It's doubtful.

If managers of the calibre of Jose Mourinho, Carlo Ancelotti and the man who delivered the club its first Champions League triumph can be sacked so easily, then anyone can.

There is a lot of talk of Rafael Benitez or Avram Grant taking over until the end of the season, but why would any manager want to risk their reputation by becoming caretaker manager of a club already in turmoil?

Benitez may be able to get the best out of Torres - as he did at Liverpool - but a manager with as high a reputation as him would surely not even consider a temporary post. Also, Torres' form and effort have been so dire he simply doesn't deserve the new manager to be appointed merely to suit him.

Di Matteo will always be remembered fondly at Stamford Bridge for his playing days and for delivering the greatest night in the history of the club, but he has now fallen on his sword like so many before him.

He has gone the same way as Villas-Boas, who was also sacked after a defeat at West Brom and a loss in the Champions League to an Italian side.

Di Matteo deserved so much more and can leave with his head held high, though, and so the joke of Abramovich's kamikaze ownership style continues.