Coyle best bet in sack race as Ramires stands by Chelsea boss
Published:The money has poured on Andre Villas-Boas to be the next Premier League manager to lose his job after Chelsea’s inconsistent Christmas and New Year results, but the smart money may still be on Owen Coyle.
Villas-Boas was backed into joint favourite at 11/8 after Chelsea’s surprise home defeat to Aston Villa on New Year’s Eve and the pressure has barely eased despite victory since at Wolves.
One win in five Premier League games will hardly be classed as acceptable form by Chelsea management and supporters, but the club still sits in the top four of the standings.
This will be the minimum that all associated with the club will expect come the end of the season, but Ramires believes that Chelsea will get nowhere if they keep firing managers every time a bad spell of results is witnessed.
Villas-Boas is already the fifth different manager to take over the reins at Stamford Bridge since Jose Mourinho parted ways in September 2007.
Ramires said: “If Andre leaves, someone else will come – and if it keeps going on like that, we won’t get anywhere. The players know what Andre has done for the club.
“It’s an injustice to make the manager the one who’s responsible for everything that happens with a team. He’s doing what he can until the players go on the pitch.
“We’re trying to do what he wants but, unfortunately, there are times when we won’t win. We’re not playing badly.”
The fact that owner Roman Abramovich had to pay such a hefty compensation sum to appoint Villas-Boas from Porto in the summer is another reason why it will be hard to sack him.
Therefore, with Bolton bottom of the Premier League and almost certain to lose their best player in Gary Cahill in January, a new manager may be necessary to attempt to boost morale in the camp for the second half of the campaign.
Coyle is 5/2 in the Premier League odds to be the next boss out and a defeat at Everton in their next outing may prove the final nail in his coffin.
