My thoughts...

To start with I'm quite butt hurt about the sacking of AVB, and im writing this article over a glass of alcohol, because I truly believed in him and his ambitions for the club. He was the first manager to mount a proper revoulotion after Jose. He was given a certain task which was more than winning, he was asked to create a new team. He was given the funds and options infront of a barricade which was FFP. This shows the faith Roman Abromovich(RA) showed in him. But he failed, it was obvious that the train was going to crash if we had sticked with him. But with the same players we are now playing like a different team, when was the last time Drogba performed like this under AVB? Lampard had his on and off matches but now he is showing consistency.

Chelsea's three vastly experienced generals, skipper John Terry at the heart of the defence, Didier Drogba marauding up front and Frank Lampard's masterful in midfield, all produced performances that were all too rare under Villas-Boas.

Did AVB lose control of the dressing room.. YES he did. Do I have proof about that, NO I dont have proof but any person who has at least a bit of common sense would understand that. Did AVB deserve this, no. He was a manager who loved the club, a manager who slept overnight in the training ground trying to find a solution. He had the ambition to be the best, but that ambition was shattered by the old guard who thinks that this is their club, this is their territory to control. Its alright believing in the club and etc, but its not their territory to control. They should understand that they are just a piece of an art that far more bigger than they could imagine. Its a shame when the artist becomes a slave of the paint brush.... but AVB pushed against this. He knew that he could achieve results for maybe one season... but where was this headed at? No where, it was going to be another train crash, AVB knew it. RA knew it.. thats why he was assigned.

Villas-Boas had been his(RA) instinctive appointment. Whereas Mourinho was recommended by the agent Pini Zahavi, Luiz Felipe Scolari’s case had been pushed by former chief executive Peter Kenyon and Carlo Ancelotti had been championed by the former sporting director Frank Arnesen, it was Abramovich who came up with the idea of Villas-Boas, who he remembered fondly as Mourinho’s highly-rated scout.
Abramovich had invested much in Villas-Boas — not least the £13million to release him from his contract at Porto — and it was the owner who had sat the manager down and explained the 'project’: the removal of the Chelsea old guard, who he believed lacked motivation, and the creation of a young and 'hungry’ team playing attractive, attacking football.

RA has his own standards... he wants to win no doubt, every one of us wants to win. But he did give a lot of leniency to AVB, otherwise he wouldn't have survived this long. But letting go of the Champions League is a boundary that cannot be crossed because of many reasons which include financial reasons and player release clause reasons. He knew what was going on in the dressing room and he knew that AVB was not to take the full blame for the downfall of Chelsea. But AVB cannot do anything because the old guard has a firm grip on the control and if they feel like going down, apparently they will take down the club with them. If they are believed to be safe and sound the performances will be fine. Was AVB a ruthless manager who just ignored them the old guard, to a certain extent yes. But he tried his best to blend in the old guard and make the transition smooth.. but everything went in vain. Because the dressing room morale is vital to a team sport and if the morale is down it affects all the players in time. And the old guard started their own revoulution and achieved their tasks. They fear RA more than anything, the minute RA comes for a personal visit they show a positive performance.

The fact that Abramovich personally met Villas-Boas is testimony to the regard in which the Russian holds him. He is understood to be distraught that things did not work out for the 34 year-old. The only other manager he has sacked in person is his friend Avram Grant, who was called to the owner’s home after the 2008 Champions League final. Claudio Ranieri, Luiz Felipe Scolari, Ancelotti and even Mourinho were not afforded that courtesy. But then Villas-Boas was selected by Abramovich, rather than recommended by agents and advisers. The Chelsea owner felt sure the Portuguese could emulate his former mentor, Mourinho.

Villas-Boas was called in and sacked by Abramovich, who apologised to him. The remainder of his contract, around £8 million, was paid in full even though Abramovich did not need to under its terms. It was another sign of the owner taking the blame although he then turned on the players who were told in no uncertain terms they were at fault and were all playing for their futures.

The players have been given a warning by the 'boss' himself, because he knew who was really responsible for whats going on in the club. But what RA didnt do was do this earlier, he should have warned the players that he believed in AVB more than them and that if anyone is going to get sacked its going to be the players but not the manager himself. Roberto Di Matteo(RDM) might be achieving the results but thats only because he is dragging the team right back to where it was before AVB. He is giving control back to the old guard, basically this is just a short term solution... but probably the best idea for now. But this is not going to work in the long run. But its vital for Chelsea to carry out the proper revoulution for the club to survive, and players should be disciplined sternly and they should let know who is in control. If a player wants to manage the dressing room he should do it the right way, with the support of the manager, not against him. Thats when 'sh.it' gets real.And thats exactly what happened. To finally end off my rant, im sad. But angry more than anything else... because we lost a manager who had potential to be one of the best, a manager who had faith by RA. I love Chelsea, the players and everything about it... but sometimes we have to make sacrifices to the loved ones... the players who brought up Chelsea. Its the worst thing a fan can see, when the players we love are carving the downfall of the club that we love.

The clock may be ticking loudly on their careers but they proved against Napoli that "player power" need not be a bad thing. While Villas-Boas appeared set on revolution, the seasoned trio showed that they could be vital in Chelsea's evolution, whoever the next coach is.

The clock is ticking..

Good read infinity, I now understand where you have been.

Honestly, I don't know how much is true but I agree on the AVB potential part, that will come around to bite us.

One thing is for certain, it was the old guard or AVB, and while sacking AVB annoyed a lot of people, No one could bare to see Lamps JT and Drogs let go.

Well, in the end.. the club is bigger than anything else. They have to understand that they need to give space to new players.. TBH JT has played well enough IMO...

Yeah, JT to a lesser extent than Lampscand Drog.

I just wish our Legends made this process easier, not harder...

Abramovich paid a hefty fee to bring Villas-boas to England not only because of Porto’s success in a season in which they went unbeaten in the league but mostly for the manner in which they fathomed out that success.

A key oversight of both the owner and the tactician in trying to replicate that success at Chelsea was the difference in average age of the players at these clubs. At Porto, the average age of his starting line-up was 25 while at Chelsea, the average age of the squad he inherited is 28.5.

For AVB’s strategy to work. Chelsea would have to hurry the opposition by pressing high up the pitch. The central striker is expected to close down the opposition’s central defenders as soon as they lose the ball. At 32, chasing down opposition center backs the way Falcao did for 90 + minutes was never an option. Also, to close the space between the lines, the midfield would have to push higher so too the defence

A pressing game is synonymous with a defensive high line and while Terry and co. could push up say 5 yards from what they are accustomed to, AVB’s plan required Chelsea’s veterans to push up 7-10 yards.

Porto’s back four of Rolando, otamendi, Fucile and Perreira had an average age of 24.5 while Chelsea’s backline has an average age of 28.5. Does anyone see the problem? Playing a high line is hard enough for a defence that has only one player above 30 years old, Chelsea’s has 3 players on the wrong end of 30 and sometimes all 4 starters were 30 year olds.

His movement is very different from the players AVB coached at Porto. Moutinho and Guarin took turns going forward when Porto had the ball and neither monopolized the attacking role. In essence, AVB’s idea of a midfield trio was a defensive anchorman with two box to box midfielders ahead of him.

Lampard dominates the area in and around the six yard box and his movement is more diagonal than vertical. Those sort of players were available at his disposal and as he has shown from time to time, he’d start Romeu/Mikel with Meireles and Ramires ahead of him. That, in the eyes of Frank Lampard and other senior players was unacceptable and the relationship between manager and senior players reached a nadir.

AVB wasn’t willing to compromise much and the tired legs of most of Chelsea’s players were not able to adjust. In the end, the curtain was brought down on his reign because he was trying to teach an old dog new tricks.