The points-per-game of every Chelsea manager in the Roman Abramovich era - ranked
By Tom Gott
Since completing a deal to buy Chelsea in 2003, Roman Abramovich has earned a reputation as somewhat of an impatient man.
He has employed no fewer than 12 managers during his time at the club, and he has rarely been afraid to do away with any of them once results start going downhill. You don't usually get a lot of time under Abramovich if you're not winning.
Let's take a look at the success rates of each manager in the Abramovich era.
12. Frank Lampard
Games Played: 55
Points Won: 92
PPG: 1.67
It's been a real rollercoaster ride under Frank Lampard.
The returning club legend has led a youthful Chelsea side through some real highs and some abysmal lows, but ultimately the numbers don't lie. As far as points-per-game goes, no Chelsea boss has performed worse than Lampard.
Unlike the rest, Lampard does at least have time to try and turn things around. He has promised eventual progress, but whether he'll get the time to deliver that is a different matter.
11. Andre Villas-Boas
Games Played: 27
Points Won: 46
PPG: 1.70
Once billed as the future of management, Andre Villas-Boas didn't live up to that hype during his short spell in charge of the Blues.
13 wins, seven draws and seven losses was bad enough to earn him the boot jus seven months after he had arrived at Stamford Bridge.
Bringing in Villas-Boas was one of the most painful financial mistakes Abramovich has ever made. It took a reported £13.3m to buy him out of his Porto contract (a world record at the time) and then a further £11m to terminate his deal early. Yikes.
10. Roberto Di Matteo
Games Played: 23
Points Won: 42
PPG: 1.83
The man brought in to replace Villas-Boas, Roberto Di Matteo took control on an interim basis but was deservedly handed the full-time gig after steering Chelsea to shock FA Cup and Champions League glory in 2012.
Eight months later, however, Di Matteo was looking for a new job.
It wasn't his league form which was the biggest problem - Chelsea were third with 24 points from 12 games when he was sacked - but rather the fact that the defending European champions were humiliatingly dumped out of the Champions League at the group stage.
9. Maurizio Sarri
Games Played: 38
Points Won: 72
PPG: 1.89
A divisive figure in Chelsea folklore, there are sections of the fanbase who feel Maurizio Sarri wasn't given enough time and others who feel he had far too long.
Sarri led Chelsea to third in the 2018/19 season, but fans were not impressed with his style of football, and their audible frustration ultimately proved too much for the Italian.
Nothing sums up Sarri's Chelsea better than a four-week spell in early 2019, in which they lost 2-0 to Arsenal, 4-0 to Bournemouth and 6-0 to Manchester City, with a 5-0 win over Huddersfield lost in the middle.
Inconsistent.
8. Guus Hiddink
Games Played: 34
Points Won: 66
PPG: 1.94
You'll struggle to find a Chelsea manager more overwhelmingly popular than Guus Hiddink.
The veteran Dutchman was never a permanent boss, but rather the man brought in to steady the ship after two separate seasons of chaos. He came in midway through 2008/09, before returning in 2015/16.
Hiddink only lost once during his first tenure at the club, but 11 draws from 21 games in his second spell caused his PPG to plummet.
7. Luiz Felipe Scolari
Games Played: 25
Points Won: 49
PPG: 1.96
Luiz Felipe Scolari's tenure at Stamford Bridge is seen as one of the more underwhelming spells in the Abramovich era.
Known for his love of fast-paced, attacking football, Scolari came in and won ten of his first 13 games, but what's when behind-the-scenes issues came in. Scolari's approach had upset many of Chelsea's biggest names, and the atmosphere around Stamford Bridge quickly became toxic.
In total, Scolari lost just four Premier League games at Chelsea - Liverpool, United, Arsenal and Liverpool again - but it was a 0-0 draw with Hull City which ultimately saw the trigger pulled.
6. Rafa Benitez
Games Played: 26
Points Won: 51
PPG: 1.96
This one was just a mess from start to finish.
Fans were unhappy to see Di Matteo sacked and were borderline livid when Liverpool legend Rafa Benitez, who had previously bashed Chelsea in the media, was brought in as his replacement.
He managed to win the 2013 Europa League with Chelsea and led the Blues to third in the Premier League, but his time at the Bridge was never going to last long.
5. Carlo Ancelotti
Games Played: 76
Points Won: 157
PPG: 2.07
A victim of Abramovich's ruthlessly high standards, Carlo Ancelotti won a Premier League/FA Cup double in his debut season and finished second in the league in year two, but that wasn't good enough.
He built up a dominant team who shattered goalscoring records. Their 103 goals scored and +71 goal difference were records broken only by 2017/18Manchester City, while their total of 68 goals at home still stands untouched.
The bad times were rare, although the £50m deal to sign Fernando Torres was definitely a lowlight for Ancelotti.
4. Claudio Ranieri
Games Played: 38
Points Won: 79
PPG: 2.08
The only man on this list not hired by Abramovich, Claudio Ranieri was the man at the helm when the Russian billionaire took control in 2003.
Leading the Blues to second place in his one season in charge under the new owner, Ranieri benefited from the signings of Damien Duff, Joe Cole, Wayne Bridge, Claude Makelele, Hernan Crespo and a handful of others.
However, nothing short of perfection would have been good enough for Abramovich, who was always planning to replace the Italian with a blockbuster name for year two.
3. Antonio Conte
Games Played: 76
Points Won: 163
PPG: 2.14
Antonio Conte smashed records in his debut Chelsea season as he won 30 games and stormed to the 2016/17 Premier League title. The future was supposed to be bright.
He signed a new contract after season one, but Conte lost the support of some of the dressing room soon after, and he ended up finishing fifth in his second year, which saw his head roll.
Some of the animosity was a bit harsh, although his decision to text beloved striker Diego Costa and tell him to do one didn't exactly go down well.
2. Jose Mourinho
Games Played: 212
Points Won: 464
PPG: 2.19
In every field apart from PPG, Jose Mourinho is right to see himself as the greatest manager in Chelsea history.
Mourinho won two Premier League titles and lost just eight league games across his first three-and-a-bit years at the Bridge, but a slow start to the 2007/08 season and a series of clashes with Abramovich saw Mourinho politely invited to leave out the exit door.
He came back to add another Premier League title in 2014/15, but the following season brought nine loses from 16 games. By contrast, he lost just 18 of the other 195 games in which he was in charge.
Incredibly, it left Chelsea flirting with relegation by the end of 2015, at which point the decision was effectively taken out of Abramovich's hands.
1. Avram Grant
Games Played: 32
Points Won: 74
PPG: 2.31
The man brought in to replace Mourinho for the 2007/08 season was Avram Grant, a man who did not hold the required qualifications and was widely believed to have got the job because of his close bond with Abramovich.
What was supposed to be a disaster ended in one of the most impressive years in club history. He didn't win a trophy, but Grant led Chelsea to second in the Premier League, Champions League and League Cup. Had John Terry not slipped when taking that penalty, he might have been a European champion.
He was dismissed at the end of that season and has since spent time in England with Portsmouth and West Ham, with whom he never managed a PPG of over 0.89.