Rafa the gaffer should give Blues a miss

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Benitez has spoken of his desire to manage a “top club” after Andre Villas-Boas was sacked by owner Roman Abramovich on Sunday. The departure of Villas-Boas came after Chelsea’s 1-0 defeat at West Bromwich Albion a day earlier, which left the Blues fifth in the Premier League and increasingly in danger of missing out on a Champions League qualifying spot.

Benitez is currently available and in the running for the job on a permanent basis but I feel he should stay well away from Stamford Bridge.

The former Liverpool boss demands total control of transfer policy and can you see that happening in west London? I can’t.

Abramovich seems to be an owner who increasingly involves himself in the transfer policy of the club, which ultimately undermines the manager.

Jose Mourinho had won two Premier League titles with Chelsea (2004-05 and 2005-06) using a 4-3-3 system with Didier Drogba leading the line. But in the summer of 2006, Chelsea signed striker Andriy Shevchenko from AC Milan for £30.8million and midfielder Michael Ballack on a free transfer.

Abramovich had been after Shevchenko for a while and those two signings undermined Mourinho, who had to try and accommodate two big-name players into an already successful side. This interference strained the relationship between Mourinho and Abramovich, and ultimately led to the departure the club’s most successful manager.

Would Benitez have his signings dictated by the club’s owner? I don’t think he would stand for it and ultimately it would end in tears.

If Benitez had full control then Chelsea would be an ideal club for him, but he is not going to get that under Abramovich.

The departure of Villa-Boas is a real shame. He is a young manager who was handed a monumental task at Chelsea, namely to continue to deliver success while building a new team.

The problem at Stamford Bridge is that Drogba, Frank Lampard and John Terry run the dressing room and it is hard for any manager if he does not have those players on side. Perhaps Villas-Boas did not manage the senior players well enough but players still have to accept the manager’s decisions.

In the end, player power won, but I think things will be shaken up in the summer. Drogba is out of contract and has so far not been offered an extension, while Lampard will only have a year left on his current deal. Terry may be the only player of that triumvirate left at Stamford Bridge at the start of next season.

What is so surprising about the long list of managers who have sat in the Chelsea dugout since Mourinho left in September 2007 is that the one manager who can work with an owner like Abramovich – Carlo Ancelotti – was sacked at the end of last season.

Ancelotti managed AC Milan from 2001 to 2009 and was happy to work under owner Silvio Berlusconi, who has a penchant for bringing in star players such as Ronaldinho. Ancelotti won the double in his first season at Chelsea (2009-10) but was massively undermined by the departure of his assistant Ray Wilkins in November 2010.

Wilkins was reportedly told of the decision not to renew his contract at half-time during a reserve team match at the club’s training ground.

Wilkins was the link between Ancelotti and the players and is it any wonder Chelsea didn’t win a thing last season after his departure? Wilkins’ exit rocked the club at the time, and they have never really recovered.

Abramovich needs to interfere less and let the manager manage. If he had done that earlier, maybe Mourinho or Ancelotti would have already delivered his Holy Grail….the Champions League.