Roberto Di Matteo has been sacked and to say that none of us are surprised by this piece of news, would be fairly accurate. I think someone summed it up yesterday; when you lose the away support the way he did, there is never long left.
That reports were coming out yesterday that he was told, sort of had us all expecting this news today.
And it's not like it was really a surprise. Although at the same time, it was. What I mean by this is why would anyone give that amount of money to a manager and sack him so soon?
Don't get me wrong, I expected another season in this League with Di Matteo, but that was something I thought before I started to see his football. I thought the appointment was a mistake because of his history and our need. His formations and tactics didn't help him and playing the way he did, was very odd.
But again because for me this is a really important part, why would you give someone so much money if you never really had faith?
We can change the game
Ironically, I believe this is a fantastic opportunity for the owner and CEO to do it right this time and hopefully they would have learnt a lot.
And for sure it's easy to buy into a manager and be sold by his words. People in football are confident people. It's easy to see why Di Matteo got the job and I don't think you can blame anyone for giving him the chance. I've written a few times that it was calculated and I fully expected this to happen if we got to this place. I didn't want it to get here though.
But we really are doing this at the right time this season. The new manager wont have a transfer window and I hope that the owner and CEO quickly decide that if transfer budget for January is a pre-requisite of the new manager, then they shouldn't be considered. And I know many will think that drastic, but we need a manager that can manage and get the best out of possibly the best squad in the League.
I'm not saying we don't bring in a player in January, but it can be no more than one. Too much change isn't good for a squad or team and what is most important now is that we get a manager that gets these players winning games and has the confidence to do this, with a history of doing it. I still believe we can finish top two because there are a lot of games left and with this squad, anything is possible.
So, thanks Roberto. Now over to the CEO and owner and here is the question of the day; should Steve Clarke have a chance of the job if he wants it?