While Chelsea managers have never traditionally lasted long in West London, there have been a number of top names who have come through the door to take over in the 21st century.
Most have had the opportunity to work alongside an incredible group of players, with the best arguably being the club’s top scorer in history, Frank Lampard.
The England international is seen by many as the best player in the club’s history. Gianfranco Zola picked Lampard in his best team made up of players he has played with in his career, which also included Diego Maradona.
Lampard dedicated his Champions League win to Roman Abramovich, who had certainly given the financial backing needed for the Blues to succeed in modern football.
He may not have been his biggest fan though a few years earlier, when the owner at the time made the tough decision to sack Jose Mourinho as Chelsea boss.
Frank Lampard left in tears when Jose Mourinho was sacked
‘The Special One’ had won two Premier League trophies in his time in charge as well as a number of domestic trophies, however with the Blues falling behind Manchester United at the top they believed a change was necessary.
John Obi Mikel has shared that Lampard was the player who took the news the worst, saying on the ‘High Performance Podcast’ that he was left in tears when the news was broken to the players.
He said: “He came in and he said ‘listen, I’m sacked, I’m leaving. It’s not your fault, it’s just results weren’t going our way anymore, and the club decided that they wanted to make a change.’
“You could see everybody – I remember Frank was in tears. I’d never seen Frank cry like that. Frank was really, really close to Jose, he was his man. I people think Jose’s close to JT, but Frank was his boy, his first son we called him. Everybody was in tears. The dressing room was like someone had passed away, it was so quiet. He came around and shook everybody’s hand.”
Chelsea’s underrated Jose Mourinho replacement
After the decision was made to fire Mourinho, Avram Grant was handed the job until the end of the campaign, where his contract was also terminated.
The Israeli manager didn’t lose a game at Stamford Bridge in his time there, and helped lead the Blues to their first Champions League final where they were defeated on penalties by United.
Grant has the best win-rate of Chelsea managers, and despite only lasting less than a season boasts a very impressive record at the helm.
His impact pales in comparison to Mourinho’s though, with Chelsea fans desperate for the winning mentality to return to their club after three years without a trophy.
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