Today In History: Chelsea Sack Andre Villas-Boas After Eight Months In Charge
Chelsea sacked manager Andre Villas-Boas after just eight months in charge on March 4, 2012.
The Blues had just fallen out of the top four following a 1-0 loss to West Bromwich Albion and were also trailing 3-1 to Napoli in the UEFA Champions League round of 16 first leg.
Villas-Boas was 34 at the time and was coming off the back of an impressive season at FC Porto, where he won an unprecedented quadruple, including the Europa League and Portuguese League.
But he endured a fractured relationship with some of Chelsea's senior players, who were almost his age and player power reigned supreme at Stamford Bridge in the end.
In a statement, Chelsea said: “Unfortunately the results and performances of the team have not been good enough and were showing no signs of improving at a key time in the season.
“The club is still competing in the latter stages of the UEFA Champions League and the FA Cup, as well as challenging for a top-four spot in the Premier League, and we aim to remain as competitive as possible on all fronts.
“With that in mind, we felt our only option was to make a change at this time.”
Chelsea replaced Villas-Boas with club legend Roberto Di Matteo, who led them to win the FA Cup and UEFA Champions League for the first time in the club's history at the end of the season.
