Chelsea 'want Juande Ramos if Jose Mourinho is sacked' - report
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Updated 16/12/2015 at 14:20 GMT
Chelsea are reportedly considering the interim appointment of Juande Ramos if the club do sack Jose Mourinho, according to The Times.
Juande Ramos on the bench for Dnipro
Image credit: AFP
Ramos, who won the 2008 League Cup for Tottenham when beating Avram Grant’s Chelsea in the final, is currently out of work after leaving Ukrainian club Dnipro last season.
[WHAT THE PAPERS SAY: Mourinho 'WILL be sacked' as players turn against each other]
The Times says owner Roman Abramovich is “extremely reluctant” to sack Mourinho despite a disastrous run of form which has left the club one point above the relegation zone with nine defeats in 16 league games.
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However, according to the paper, Ramos has emerged as a shock contender to step in, along with Dutchman Guus Hiddink who won the FA Cup in an interim role for Chelsea in 2009:
The owner fears that the manager’s damaged relationships with some players are irreparable. In that context there is a growing belief at the club that just about any experienced manager would improve the players’ morale and lead to an upturn in results, enabling Chelsea to climb from their current position of 16th in the Premier League, just one point above the relegation zone. Ramos has emerged as a potential short-term fix if Abramovich concludes that Mourinho’s relationship with Chelsea has reached breaking point.
The Times says Mourinho’s future is being discussed by the Chelsea board on Wednesday, with debate centering on whether to sack him or give him the chance to manage the side against Sunderland at the weekend.
The Times’ story comes as a real surprise, although Abramovich was fearless when appointing Grant as a caretaker and also Rafa Benitez in the 2012-13 season, neither of whom would have been the choice of fans.
Ramos, for all his success at Sevilla where he twice won the UEFA Cup, would be a similarly left-field choice as his reputation has diminished after failed spells with Tottenham and Real Madrid.
However, he is known as a tough individual and was said to have alienated Tottenham's players with his training methods and ban on tomato ketchup.
Our view
Well, this is a bolt form the blue. The Times gave their story the big build-up on Twitter and it didn't really disappoint. Ramos would be a perplexing appointment. He has been out of the game for a period of time and isn't fondly remembered in England. If appointing Benitez was bad enough, getting rid of Mourinho to bring in a man sacked by Tottenham would hardly be well received by Chelsea fans. But then again, Abramovich has consistently shown that when it comes to such appointments, the feelings of the fans aren't his top priortiy.
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