Premier League 
/ Ralph Ellis / 05 March 2012 / 1 Comments 
Who will be the next Beautiful Stranger Roman Abramovich beckons to the Chelsea hotseat?
"Chelsea have stumbled from one regime to the next simply because everybody knows that if you don’t like this boss, you won’t have to wait too long for another one to come along."
Eight managers in eight years since Roman Abramovich bought Chelsea tells its own story. Ralph Ellis looks at the situation at Chelsea and other examples of Chairmen getting involved in first team affairs.
I've a favourite but rather obscure song by 1970s folk singer Pete Atkin called "Beware of the Beautiful Stranger". Given that warning by a gypsy at a fairground, he complains that it's too late because he's already fallen for her sultry charms.
Undeterred the gypsy tells him to gaze in her crystal ball to see the lady in question, who turns out, indeed, to be a complete stranger. "Hello," she says. "I'm the one you'll meet after the one you know now. There's not room inside here to show you us all - but behind me the queue stretches right down the hall."
The lyrics, written by Clive James before he got more famous as a chat show host, go on to warn that for the damned "there is always a beautiful stranger". I'm sure it wouldn't suit Roman Abramovich's musical tastes, but he could have done with hearing the song and its message.
Chelsea's owner is on the hunt today for his eighth manager in as many years and you wouldn't fancy the next one to last too long, either. The joke is going round the internet is that he's already been sacked to save everybody time and money.
The billionaire confronted his players yesterday and warned them of sweeping changes in the summer. Yet that is the problem. It should be only the new manager who can decide what changes among the playing staff are needed. Chelsea have stumbled from one regime to the next simply because everybody knows that if you don't like this boss, you won't have to wait too long for another one to come along.
Match of the Day's highlights package suggested Chelsea had the best of their 1-0 defeat at West Brom on Saturday but then lost to a late goal. I was there and the reality was they were a mess - ill-disciplined, lacking effort, and with morale so poor that only half the team bothered to stay on the pitch to acknowledge the travelling fans.
The players have got rid of AVB, so now expect a bounce back in performance. Odds of [1.78] for them to win away in the FA Cup tomorrow night against a Birmingham side who are beginning to look tired are more than generous. And [2.8] for them to make up the three points by which they lag Arsenal and collect a top four finish also looks like an opportunity. But it will be in spite of the influence of Abramovich, and not because of him.
When the owner is calling the shots, rather than trusting his football manager to get on with his job, it creates an atmosphere of uncertainty that damages the team. Until this weekend Roberto Martinez has looked capable of digging out another survival campaign for Wigan because of the stability at the club. But after Saturday's 2-0 defeat by Swansea, owner Dave Whelan told the world that he wanted to meet with Martinez to question his team selection. The balance has been disturbed and the Latics are far more likely to justify their status as [2.44] favourites to finish rock bottom as a result.
Wolves were in trouble from the moment owner Steve Morgan went into the dressing room and delivered his own rollicking to the players. The departure of Mick McCarthy followed, and following a 5-0 thumping at Fulham people are wondering whether Terry Connor's time could be cut short too. You can lay him at [1.32] in the next Wolves manager market even though it pays out if he is still in charge in another eight games time. Morgan's actions have created that uncertainty.
At Queens Park Rangers, owner Tony Fernandes asks his Twitter followers to suggest players he should sign, and on Saturday went into the crowd to hear their views on tactics and team selection. In theory that is all very admirable, but with gossip that a lot of the players don't like the new hard training under Mark Hughes, it undermines his regime. A 1-1 draw with Everton shifted them out of the bottom three but a tough fixture list means the Hoops are still [1.88] to go down. You'd have thought Fernandes might have learned a bit about how not to do things from last night's fly-on-the-wall documentary of the Flavio Briatore era!
Uncertainty never helps. Tottenham's 3-1 home defeat by Manchester United means a ten point lead over Arsenal, who won 2-1 at Liverpool, has been cut to just four since Harry Redknapp became hot favourite for the England job. In three weeks the FA haven't made their move, but Spurs chairman Daniel Levy hasn't tried to offer Redknapp a new contract, either. Tottenham, once matched at [1.2] for a top three finish, are now [1.74].
Mario Balotelli will be disciplined by Roberto Mancini if he is found to have broken a club curfew, even though he scored and played brilliantly in the 2-0 win over Bolton that kept City top of the table. Mancini has had complete support from his club's mega-rich owners right through the Carlos Tevez saga, giving him authority to deal with more minor transgressions. It's one of the key reasons why City remain two points clear in the race for the title.
They seem to have looked and learned from Chelsea's mistakes. Abramovich, meanwhile, will go on searching for his next beautiful stranger.
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