Jose Mourinho developed the core group of players who are now returning to Chelsea’s staff. Who better to prepare the way for John Terry and Frank Lampard to someday manage at Stamford Bridge?
In all likelihood, Chelsea will be looking to revamp their managerial lineup during the coming summer. Maurizio Sarri has come and done enough to leave with his head held high, but not enough to have instigated the changes he believed were possible.
He was up against it from the outset. In simplistic terms, his ideology may work in some leagues, but not the uber-competitive Premier League.
Sarri was pragmatic enough for the league but in the wrong places. That stoic stubbornness to stick with the same players, even though they are clearly not playing well, would have been better suited in the defensive phase, with a touch of bus-parking.
Thou shall not pass. One man for whom that was a mantra may be of benefit to Chelsea right now.
Of course, Jose Mourinho is not everyone’s plate of peri-peri chicken.
If Sarri is to leave at the end of the season, there could be no one better than Mourinho to come in and start the integration process for Chelsea’s next appointment.
A combination of Frank Lampard, John Terry, Jody Morris and Petr Cech will almost inevitably play a major part in Chelsea’s future. Who better to oversee that than a man who, despite falling out of favour with the faithful in 2015, knows the club and its complicated workings inside-out?
Lampard and Morris are enjoying a good deal of success in their first season in management with Derby County. A potential place in the Premier League awaits them.
Would it be fair of Chelsea to come knocking on the door at Pride Park to prise the two away should they make the top flight? Would it be fair on either of the two ex-Chelsea men to tempt them with the juiciest of management carrots?
Surely, both Derby and, indeed, they themselves deserve a shot at taking their team to the next level.
Let’s hypothesize for a minute. Derby get promoted and Chelsea let Sarri go. Lampard desperately wants to manage Chelsea but being the man he is would also like to carry on with the job he believes is unfinished with the Rams. Meanwhile, Aston Villa face another season in the Championship. John Terry, having completed his first season as a coach with the Midlands side, gets the call from Roman Abramovich to return to his boyhood club alongside his former Portuguese manager.
For Terry, this is an offer he simply cannot refuse. What better combination for Chelsea than their erstwhile former boss along with his blue-blooded former captain.
Lampard gets another season or two to really hone his managerial skills and, once Mourinho has had his regulation two years in charge, Super Frank can slot into his seat.
That does, however, leave the question of where Terry goes when Mourinho’s time is up. The assumption is he’ll want to manage Chelsea, and one day he may well do just that. A career in football management can be a long one and Lampard will eventually move on as well.
There’s no reason Terry couldn’t follow Mourinho to his next appointment – most likely the Portuguese national side – before once again rocking up in SW6 for his turn in the hot seat.
Pass the salt.