A year ago today Andre Villas-Boas was sacked by Chelsea. At the time there weren't many tears shed by the Blues faithful. Twelve months on, however, and things look very different.
Villas-Boas is currently riding the crest of a wave at Tottenham, guiding Spurs into third in the Premier League after Sunday's north London derby victory. Meanwhile, over in west London, there is unrest and upheaval as Rafael Benitez's hugely unpopular reign at Stamford Bridge rumbles on.
Here we take a closer look at the last 12 months and wonder – was sacking Andre Villas-Boas the biggest mistake Roman Abramovich ever made?
Time's up Andre
On March 4, 2012 Abramovich pulled the plug on Villas-Boas' 257-day reign at Chelsea. A run of one victory in seven matches was the final straw for the Russian billionaire, but it was Villas-Boas' ultimately unsuccessful attempts to replace the Blues' old-guard that cost him his job.
Abramovich appointed the untried Portuguese in the summer of 2011 with the task of breathing new life into the club. He wanted the former Porto boss to implement a more attractive style of play and start to shift out the likes of John Terry, Frank Lampard, Ashley Cole and Didier Drogba. In the end, though, it appeared the Russian failed to have the courage of his convictions and never offered Villas-Boas the support he needed to take on such a powerful group of players.
Champions League glory
Against all the odds, a series of backs-to-the-wall performances steered the Blues to an historic May night in Munich. Caretaker manager Roberto Di Matteo guided Chelsea to their first Champions League trophy after beating Bayern on penalties in their own back yard. Andre who?
A new opportunity arises
A month later, across London, Tottenham took the surprising decision to part company with Harry Redknapp despite only missing out on Champions League football courtesy of Chelsea’s heroics in Germany. Everton manager David Moyes was the early bookmakers favourite to take over, but Spurs' chairman Daniel Levy takes a big gamble and opts for AVB. The majority of Tottenham supporters were, at best, sceptical and reports suggested that even the players were unhappy about the appointment.
Steady start
For both Villas-Boas and Roberto Di Matteo, by now installed permanently as Chelsea manager albeit on just a two-year contract, the campaign started in fairly positive fashion. However, as the winter approached things began to unravel at Stamford Bridge.
Another one bites the dust
Di Matteo received his marches orders in November following a 3-0 Champions League defeat to Juventus. The decision appeared incredibly harsh given Di Matteo's success in Munich just six months earlier. In truth though, the Italian's time in charge always looked likely to be brief. Pep Guardiola was Abramovich's first choice and the Russian was widely thought to be expecting to appoint the former Barca coach once his football sabbatical was up in the summer of 2013. To this end, Abramovich installed Rafa Benitez as an 'interim' manager in charge until the end of the season. The only problem was no one, it seemed, had told Guardiola who subsequently announced he was to join Bayern Munich for the 2013/14 campaign.
Rafa ride for Benitez as AVB's stock grows
The decision to appoint Benitez was doomed from the start given the Spaniard's comments about Chelsea fans while in charge at Liverpool. The Blues supporters had never forgiven him for his barb at the 'flag-waving' Stamford Bridge faithful. The relentless booing of Benitez was in stark contrast to the affection Villas-Boas was beginning to be shown at Spurs. A footballing philosophy that was never given a chance in west London was reaping its rewards at White Hart Lane as the season reached the halfway stage. An excellent festive period helped Spurs cement their place in the Champions League spots.
All hail king Bale
While Villas-Boas has given Tottenham a new shape and firmed things up at the back, the Portuguese has also benefitted from having the Premier League's most in-form player in his ranks. In the 11 games since Christmas Gareth Bale has scored 11 goals, keeping Tottenham well clear of their north London rivals Arsenal. Unlike the majority of the Chelsea squad, Bale clearly enjoys working with Villas-Boas – crediting him for his development this season.
Benitez's breaking point
Already well known for his rants, Rafa unleashed arguably his most explosive outburst following Chelsea's FA Cup victory at Middlesbrough. The Spaniard slammed the Blues fans who constantly boo his every move on the touchline, telling them they are damaging Chelsea's chances of finishing in the top four. Not satisfied with that he went on to criticise the board's decision to name him only as 'interim' manager. As if we didn't already know once he had questioned Roman, Benitez also confirmed he will be on his way at the end of the season.
New Kings of London?
Tottenham's north London derby triumph on Sunday not only stretched their lead over Arsenal to seven points it also moved them above Chelsea into third. Whether they have the gumption to finish the job off and finish top of the London pile by the season's end remains to be seen. What can't be doubted is that, at this moment in time, they are the most fluent and consistent side in the capital. And the man responsible for that change is the same one who was unceremoniously dumped by Ambramovich 12 months ago.
His club may be the champions of Europe, but in just over two months' time that title will be someone else's and the Blues will be hunting for their 10th manager of the Abramovich era. As Petr Cech pointed out, it's hard to argue with the Russian's hire them and fire them policy when you look at the Stamford Bridge trophy cabinet. But Blues fans must wonder what stable, long-term success could have been built had Roman, for once, stuck to his guns and given Villas-Boas the time to implement his ideas. A glance across London suggests it could have been something special.
~Metro » Football | Metro UK~Read more... A year in the life of Andre Villas-Boas: From Chelsea zero to Tottenham hero
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