Egotistical, Disrespectful, Conceited Chelsea 'Stars' To Blame For Villas-Boas' Sacking

There is a well known saying that 'respect should be earned, not given in life.' It is utterly absurd. Why someone might think that they can start off on such a negative footing with any new person they meet, seems simply ludicrous.

Respect is something that every person deserves the right to be given from the very start, particularly when you do not know them very well, but with the reserved right to be taken away if abused or taken advantage of.

Yet the horrid notion of new individuals having to 'earn respect' when thrown into the unmerciful lion's den that is Chelsea football club, was plainly exposed at the weekend, after Roman Abramovich finally brought down the guillotine on manager Andre Villas-Boas.

Aged just 34, the Portuguese is just making his first tentative steps into the world of management, despite possessing a hugely impressive CV from his time in charge of Porto.

It was nothing short of disgraceful that Abramovich decided to finally call time on his short-lived reign as Chelsea manager, therefore.

Villas-Boas often talked about the 'project' he was running at Stamford Bridge, bringing in a number of young and exciting players, whilst also promoting members of the youth set-up to his first team squad.

"A radical clearing of the decks is in order, but the question of who has the guts to do it remains unanswered."

In turn, it seemed perfectly acceptable among supporters that some of the more senior players at the club, such as Frank Lampard, Didier Drogba and John Terry, would begin to find their first team chances increasingly limited.

In an article today, the former Chelsea defender, Alex claimed that Villas-Boas never showed Frank Lampard the 'respect' he deserved, having spent 10 years at the club.

Of course, it would be impossible to comment on what goes on behind closed doors, but what seems so patently obvious is that actually, the person with the lack of respect in that particular relationship is none other than Frank Lampard.

Just a few weeks ago he publicly announced that he was confused at Villas-Boas' decision not to include him in his starting line-ups, and spoke of how he had grown 'frustrated' with what the manager was doing.

Well unfortunately, Mr Lampard, aged 33, you are no longer the centre of attention at Chelsea, and it is about time you and your colleagues began to show some of that respect you seem to be demanding to your managers.

Just looking at the list of recent Chelsea bosses is like reading a who's who of the best coaches of the last ten years, all with an impressive accumulation of honours between them. Yet not one of them seems to have been shown even the slightest ounce of respect by Messrs Lampard, Drogba and Terry.

You could tell that Villas-Boas, who cost Chelsea £13m in compensation and that again in wages, was overseeing a transitional period at the club that would soon see them rising to the top of English football once more. The disrespectful Roman Abramovich, like all his players, of course, was unable to see that and once again chose the short-term solution.

Whilst such conceited players with their egotistical disregard for managers continue to inhabit Chelsea Football Club, their demise will continue. Of course, the same offenders seem to be responsible for England's lack of success in recent times. A radical clearing of the decks is in order, but the question of who has the guts to do it remains unanswered.

Speaking as a pundit for ITV's coverage of the Birmingham versus Chelsea game last night, Roy Keane commented on the Tom-foolery of players like Lampard during the warm-up.

“It's childish... they've just let their manager down,” Keane said. “They should be focusing on trying to win a game of football here tonight. All that carry on reflects what mood must be in the camp. I keep going on about pride, they've let their manager down badly and yet they're carrying on like that in the warm-up.”

Keane often comes out with some controversial comments, but on this occasion, hardly a truer word could have been said.

It is an embarrassing state of affairs at Chelsea. The players and owner continue to make the same mistakes and quite frankly it seems impossible to see why any good manager would ever want to be associated with that club.

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Villas-Boas Is Still The Man For Chelsea

Recent poor form combined with last night's crushing 3-1 defeat to Napoli has left many wondering how much longer Andre Villas-Boas is going to be in a job for. As is always the case at Chelsea, there has been no public backing for the manager from their very silent owner.

Indeed, the night started so well for Villas-Boas and his men – Juan Mata toe-poking a close range volley past the Napoli keeper to give them a 1-0 lead midway through the first half. But by half-time the home side had over-turned the deficit and it was 2-1.

The second half saw relentless pressure from Chelsea, but as was the case with Manchester City merely a few months ago, they were simply unable to break down their opponent's defence and were inevitably hit on the counter attack to give the score a more convincing look.

"Look at Fernando Torres – no one is talking of sacking him with his £50 million price tag."

Many will now be questioning whether Villas-Boas can continue in his job, with talk of him having lost the support of a number of players, but the fact is, it would be simply foolish to sack him now.

The first and, in my opinion, the most abundantly obvious reason not to call time on the Portuguese's time in charge is the quite staggering amount of money Roman Abramovich lavished in trying to bring him to the club. After all his success with Porto, the Russian oligarch shelled out £15 million, no less.

It broke all records for compensation paid for a manager. At that cost, you do not want to be pulling the trigger less than 12 months later. Look at Fernando Torres – no one is talking of sacking him with his £50 million price tag.

Of course, money is not the only reason Villas-Boas should keep his job. Whatever anyone says, he is a very good young manager who undoubtedly has a bright future in the game. He was the man all Chelsea fans wanted in charge, so make the most of having him.

It is true, Chelsea's Champions' League hopes hang in tatters right now, but unlike Arsenal, the situation is still salvageable. Likewise, their current standing of fifth in the Premier League does not make good viewing for fans, but they must accept this is a transitional phase for their side.

Many of the players who were such a big part of their success four or five seasons ago have either left or are now well over 30. The Frank Lampards, the Didier Drogbas, the Ashley Coles are simply not the players who can bring success back to Chelsea.

Villas-Boas' transfer policy, therefore, has been shrewd. He has brought in the likes of Juan Mata, Gary Cahill and Romelu Lukaku in an attempt to add a bit of youth to his ageing side. Furthermore, adopted a more inclusive approach to young players like Daniel Sturridge who were already at the club.

The final point I will make, though, is success takes time – whatever Manchester City and Chelsea fans of old will tell you. Villas-Boas simply cannot walk into Chelsea and undo all the problems that were already there. He is a good manager, but he is not a magician.

Just one look at the team he fielded against Napoli last night proves that this is not 'his team', most of the players were already at the club and the manager cannot be blamed for their mistakes. In 18 months time perhaps we will be able to look at the Chelsea team and say whether Villas-Boas is doing a good job.

Until then, he must absolutely keep his job. It would be a mistake to let him go, and I could really see it coming back to bite Chelsea one day. The club need some solidarity and some structure, the chairman needs to back his manager.

If they do that, maybe, just maybe, success for Chelsea is not too far around the corner.