AVB Fired By Chelsea

When Andre Villas-Boas was hired to be the new coach at Chelsea last June, it appeared that he was going to carry on the rich tradition at Stamford Bridge. However, dissension in the ranks and a 1-0 loss yesterday to West Bromwich Albion that knocked the team into fifth place of the Barclays Premier League was the final straw for billionaire owner Roman Abramovich as AVB was sacked today. The new interim coach will be former Chelsea midfielder Roberto DiMatteo.

At the time, this hire seemed like a no-brainer. Villas-Boas was a former assistant coach at Chelsea during the tenure of Jose Mourinho at the club. Last season, he led Porto as they won the UEFA Europa League. Chelsea was so impressed with his coaching that he was hired to a long-term deal for 13.3 million pounds.

Now, that money has gone down the drain due to the firing. The surprising thing about his stint at Chelsea was how quickly he lost support from the players. The animosity became so prevalent within the club that Villas-Boas benched Frank Lampard, Michael Essien, and Ashley Cole in their Champions League loss to Napoli a couple of weeks ago.

It will be interesting to see how Chelsea will respond to this firing as they quickly have to move forward. On Tuesday, the Blues will be playing in the 5th Round of the FA Cup against Birmingham City. We will see if Chelsea's experience brings the squad back to the forefront or if the core group of the club is past their prime.