Football Diary
by Patrick O'Connor
THE Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich must thinking that football is a puzzling sport.
Since taking over the Stamford Bridge club nine years ago, the Russian has coughed up million and millions of pounds and has casually sacked a host of high-profile managers for failing to come up with the present he wants the most – a Champions League trophy.
Then along comes an assistant, a No.2, installed as a interim manager following the sacking of 'golden boy' Andre Villas-Boss three months ago.
And what does the former West Brom boss Roberto Di Matteo do but win both the FA Cup and the Champions League, the latter in a penalty shoot-out over Bayern Munich on their own ground.
There has been plenty of speculation that Di Matteo won't get the job permanently, that Abramovich and his colony of cronies and hangers-on, have got their heart set on another piece of bling, another manager who has done the rounds of Europe's glitzy clubs.
After the Munich triumph on Saturday night, Di Matteo remained diplomatic.
“My future is not important. Whatever the club decides I will respect. You know that what we discuss with the boss [Abramovich] we don't discuss publicly. It is irrelevant because, as I have said in the last three months, I have been happy with the arrangement and whatever the future holds I will accept.”
He added: “Football is crazy and unpredictable and I don't think anybody could have predicted what has happened in the last three months. I feel great and I'm pleased for everyone connected with the club.”
As I write this column, no public comment from Chelsea as to who will be their next manager.
Liverpool fans, trying to take in the sacking of cult hero Kenny Dalglish, must have shook their hands in sadness after listening to the Wigan owner Dave Whelan after he had confirmed that he had given permission to Liverpool to speak to the Wigan manager Roberto Martinez.
The Liverpool owners Tom Werner and John W Henry are based in the United States and the Anfield club is also looking for a new director of football, a chief executive and a director of communications.
“The Liverpool hierarchy is non-existent at present, “ said Whelan. “We played there about three months ago and there was not one soul in the boardroom. There doesn't seem to be any heart in the club. I was a little disturbed because to me Liverpool is one of the great football clubs. There's no heart beating in the club. You've got to put the heart in Liverpool.”
Scousers throughout the world must be weeping at those words.
Another great club facing uncertainty is the mighty Manchester United. According to the Daily Mail newspaper, latest figures have revealed that they lost £71million to financial obligations imposed by owners the Glazers over the last nine months.
The Mail reports that while United's accounts say gross debt has dropped by £61.2m from £484.5m to £423.3m - a 12.6 per cent reduction - this is countered by the club's cash reserves falling from £113m to £25.6m, a reduction of £87.4m. This means United are £26m worse off than 12 months ago.
Not a good scenario when faced with the immense spending power of arch-rivals and Premier League title winners Manchester City.