So, it’s only June 4 and the managerial merry-go-round has already begun.
If chaos and soap operas are your thing, then Chelsea are never usually far from the headlines and that has been the case again in recent days with one former manager – their most successful ever – moving to pastures new at the same time as the West London football club announced their fifth new boss in less than two years.
Step forward Enzo Maresca who has been appointed head coach on a five-year deal.
The 44-year-old Italian, who has just led Leicester to the Championship title, succeeds Mauricio Pochettino who left the club by mutual consent a fortnight ago.
He has become the fifth manager in the two-year Chelsea ownership of Behdad Eghbali and Todd Boehly, following Thomas Tuchel, Graham Potter, Frank Lampard and Pochettino. The list does not include Bruno Saltor, who took interim charge for one game in April last year following Potter’s departure.
Pochettino ended the campaign with five Premier League wins on the bounce, a sixth-placed finish and qualification for the Europa Conference League, which was an improvement on 12th place from the previous season, so the Argentine has certainly left the club in a better, far more stable place than he found it 12 months ago.
Yet turbulence was rarely far away, the feeling Pochettino was an imperfect fit for the owners hard to ignore.
Whereas he, naturally, appeared to want greater power, including over recruitment, Maresca, who will officially begin on July 1, has bought into his role in the club’s structure and seems happy to concentrate on coaching and seeking to fulfil the owners’ ambitions.
This SBOTOP writer is unconvinced it’s an upgrade for a boss who won just four of 13 Serie B matches during a short-lived stint in charge of Parma before a highly successful season as Pep Guardiola’s assistant at Manchester City ahead of his Leicester experience.
Maresca’s managerial career basically takes in a total of 67 games, all at second-tier level.
The Midlands club will receive about £10 million in compensation for Maresca and six members of his backroom staff but it’s hard to escape the feeling that Chelsea are now shopping in the Championship aisle.
If one man’s stock is going up though – at least for now – another appears to be going down.
With the greatest of respect to Fenerbahce, a club with a passionate following and a team of real talent, why is Jose Mourinho managing in the Turkish League?
Perhaps there is a lack of suitors in the top five European leagues for the former Chelsea, Inter Milan, Real Madrid, Manchester United, Spurs and Roma boss.
On saying that, it’s still above the Saudi Pro League and Major League Soccer and Mourinho’s predecessor, Ismail Kartal, led Fenerbahce to a record 99 points last season.
Champions Galatasaray got 102 so he was harshly sacked.
At his exciting unveiling, Mourinho did look older, although that is to be expected for a man in his 60s who has the worry lines and stresses of managing in top flight football for more than two decades. That would take its toll on anyone, but he remains a winner and his time in Turkey will be anything but dull.
Of course, there really is only one story in European football this week and that surrounds a club I regard, along with Manchester United, to be the most glamorous in world football.
No sooner had they captured a record 15th European crown, Real Madrid were announcing the signing of a player who is quite possibly the best in the world.
It became apparent from February onwards that Mbappe would be heading to Madrid, although for president Florentino Perez, he was ahead of the game.
According to Relevo website, he told Carlo Ancelotti last summer that no striker would be signed to replace the departed Karim Benzema because all resources were being used to close a deal for Mbappe.
Mbappe will become Madrid’s highest earner overnight but it’s telling (and it says something about Paris St Germain’s model) that his wages will be lower in Spain than they were in France.
The good times keeping on rolling in the Spanish capital – and the managerial continuity helps too.
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