Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich is set to axe Ashley Cole this summer, after the left-back continued to question manager Andre Villas-Boas.
According to the Sun, the Chelsea owner is losing patience with Cole, and other members of the squad, as they look to undermine the manager’s planned revolution at Stamford Bridge.
Ashley Cole and Frank Lampard were both demoted to the bench against Napoli on Tuesday, and both argued with the manager over the decision, with Cole apparently saying that Chelsea will never win anything if they continue with Villas-Boas’ tactics.
Lampard has also fallen out with the Portuguese boss this season, after initially struggling to convince him he was worth a place in the team. The England international has since returned to play a key part, but at 33, he knows he isn’t guaranteed to play next season – under Villas-Boas, or anyone else.
Abramovich brought in Villas-Boas this season to oversee a Chelsea rebuild, but the Blues have struggled, with players failing to adapt to new tactics as well as costly individual mistakes.
The usually impatient Chelsea owner has shown Villas-Boas a level of respect so far though, perhaps realising that changing manager almost every season is doing no-one any good.
I think that, given time, Villas-Boas will turn Chelsea into a great team. It seems Abramovich is going to give him until the end of the season at least. In the summer Villas-Boas can continue his re-building, offloading the likes of Cole, Lampard and John Terry, who might look at their own individual performances before questioning the manager’s tactics.
A full pre-season will also give the Chelsea squad a chance to work on their style and one or two more signings will definitely put them back challenging for the Premier League title.
Villas-Boas will have to make sure that he qualifies for the Champions League though. Finishing outside the top 4 might just test the owner’s patience beyond the limit.
