Ranking every Chelsea manager under Roman Abramovich

In July 2003, a relatively unknown figure, a Russian billionaire named Roman Abramovich, bought Chelsea Football Club in a £140 million deal. The announcement came out of thin air, mostly due to the rapid nature of the takeover. However, this ownership change altered the fortunes of a struggling club in England and made it a world-beater. A club that had last won the English top division title in 1955 went on to win five Premier League trophies, two Champions Leagues, two Europa Leagues, five FA Cups, three League Cups, a UEFA Super Cup and a FIFA Club World Cup during the 19 years under Abramovich’s ownership.

However, with all this success came a lot of drama as the club adopted a chop and change strategy under the Russian owner’s guidance. This leadership direction came with a lot of criticism from both fans and pundits who claimed the strategy lacks stability, which was somewhat true as none of the managers could afford even a slight drop in performances.

At the end of the day, there is a fundamental reason as to why a total of 14 managers took their place on the Stamford Bridge touchline during Abramovich’s 19 years in west London. In terms of accolades, the Portuguese manager Jose Mourinho is the best manager to have ever coached the Blues in their history. Other than the legendary Portuguese manager, a number of big names have sat on the hot seat in the past, such as Carlo Ancelotti, Antonio Conte, Luis Filipe Scolari and Thomas Tuchel. While some have delivered, others have failed to live up to the expectations.

The new ownership is set to be finalized and take over in the coming weeks, so we saw it fit to take a look back at all the managers who have served under the Russian billionaire and rank them according to their performances: