Villas-Boas Needs Longer Than a Season, Roman!

New dream team? Villas-Boas and his coaching staff

With many players returning to their respective clubs this week to begin the rigorous pre-season fitness regimes that will undoubtedly rid them of all holiday thoughts, Chelsea's players will return to their Cobham base with a renewed sense of optimism following the ludicrous sacking of Carlo Ancelotti on the final day of last season. Despite the Italian's take-notice European record at AC Milan and a league and FA Cup double in his first season at Stamford Bridge, Roman Abramovich was dissatisfied by Chelsea's failure to win any silverware in 2011. The Russian oligarch has waved his wad of cash again to pinpoint the man he believes can replicate the great José Mourinho's domestic success, but surpass his semi-final woes in Europe.

As fate would have it, he has chosen another Portuguese and former protegé of the Special One, Andre Villas-Boas, formerly a scout when Mourinho ruled over these parts, and subsequently went on to manage Académia de Coimbra and Porto in his home country. His stint with the latter brought him tremendous plaudits and recognition by the European elite for an unbeaten league season in which they finished 21 points clear of Benfica. Throw in a Portuguese Cup and a Europa League triumph and you can see what motivated Abramovich to fork out £13.3 million for his services. Villas-Boas is breaking records even before his Chelsea team have kicked a ball in a competitive match. He is not only the most expensive manager in history but is, at 33, the youngest manager in Premier League history (the same age as Didier Drogba). Quite some feat when you also consider he had never played football professionally - highly unusual for any coach.

Apparently at Chelsea reputation now counts for very little. Inability to deliver on the big stage will cost a manager his job regardless of past triumphs, something that Ancelotti, Scolari, Avram Grant, and even Mourinho himself will testify to the high heavens. A record of five managers in seven years does little to disprove the notion that Abramovich is a very impatient man. What he covets more than anything is that elusive big-eared trophy that Barcelona currently have locked away in the catacombs of the Nou Camp.

With plenty of time (and more money) Villas-Boas can stamp his brand of football on the club and transform them into the force they have only sporadically been in the past four years. He possesses the charisma and enthusiasm that will be vital to reviving the club's fortunes in Europe. Key squad players such as Lampard and Drogba are in the autumn of their careers, and Abramovich must let Villas-Boas buy players of his own accord for that classic blend of youth and experience with a view to replacing the old guard. He must not intervene in the transfer market as he has done so in the past (the acquisition of a certain Spaniard smacks of it, and we all remember the shambles that was Shevchenko). Of course, having swamped the club with his own personal fortune Abramovich will feel he has the right to do what he wants, and this is acceptable to an extent but it should not be to the detriment of the team or the manager. If Chelsea fail to win any silverware this season Villas-Boas should not pay for it with his job. As has been repeated and proven countless times, stability is the first foundation for success. It would be a shame if Abramovich's ego and lust for footballing domination blinded him to this crucial ideal.