Blues fans here in the Tavern are yet to get excited this season after seeing the defending champions struggle to re-discover their title-winning form.
Having gone through 7 managers over the course of the past 7 years it’s not been the most secure of jobs, with failure becoming the norm for previous men who tried to conquer the Bridge.
But Antonio Conte can’t be faulted for his first-season in charge of the club after bringing them a Premier League title.
However, with anything less than an improvement being regarded as a failure, there was immense pressure on the Italian heading into this season with fans wanting to make sure that it wasn’t just a one-off.
Now, almost halfway through the 2017-18 campaign, there’s been a few contributors towards their drop in form in the Premier League, with Manchester City’s dominance being one thing that’s getting out of hand.
Nevertheless, with Antonio Conte looking like missing out on back-to-back Premier League titles, here’s a look at THREE reasons as to why Antonio Conte should fear for his job in 2018.
Poor title defence
Of course, winning a title is great for any club but it’s how you improve from then on-wards that really shapes your side.
Antonio Conte has continued the long cursed trend of football managers that have failed to retain the Premier League title for Chelsea, since Jose Mourinnho managed to in 2005.
With not even a place in the top 4 guaranteed for Chelsea, major improvements are going to be required with the likes of Roberto Di Matteo suffering the axe in the past when in better positions than the Italian.
Diego Costa knock on effect
There’s no doubt about it, Antonio Conte couldn’t have won the title in his first-year at the club if it wasn’t for Diego Costa.
The Spanish striker was influential in their rise to Premier League stardom having scored 20 goals and assisted 8 for his teammates, but it was the management of the striker during and after the season that’s caused criticism for Conte.
After informing the attacker that he wasn’t a part of his plans during the summer, this caused a huge shock to the faces of many Chelsea fans scattered around the Tavern, and now by looking at how this season has gone it just goes to show how bigger mistake this has been.
Therefore, if a solution isn’t found in the upcoming transfer window then he may just be walking on a very thin line.
Abramovich’s awkwardness
There’s always the added pressure of the hard to please Roman Abramovich behind every manager that enters the fold at Stamford Bridge, with him enjoying being heavily involved in everything that goes on with the club.
Indeed, it’s already known that Antonio Conte has made his opinion felt about his lack of say in transfers that have occurred so far, with the significant sale of Nemanja Matic being made without the consent of the manager, prior to the start of his title-defence.
So with no great relationship between owner and manager, combined with the drop in results that Conte has produced this season, you wouldn’t be surprised to see Abramovich suddenly pull the plug at some point in the New Year.
Blues fans, thoughts?
