The managerial post at Chelsea will have the word ‘interim’ prefixed as long as Roman Abramovich is in town and the club will once again be in the market for a new boss at the end of the season. Rafa Benitez has just come to terms with his interim status at the club and with the Spaniard sure to leave the club in the summer, Chelsea face a major decision regarding their hire and fire policy. The Blues have lost out on most of their intended targets like Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp, forcing the press to light up proceedings by linking Jose Mourinho with a dramatic return.

Another ex-Chelsea manager is also seemingly interested in returning to his old stomping ground after Gianluca Vialli voluntarily dropped his name into the hat. The Italian enjoyed a successful spell at Stamford Bridge at the turn of the century, winning five trophies with the club during his short-spell. But player power was again the downfall of the manager as Vialli was sacked in 2001 after falling out with the dressing room.

Only Chelsea could manage to raise a kerfuffle over managerial positions with such regularity and the Blues are now in a state where they are contemplating replacing their interim manager with another interim manager. Rafa Benitez’s fondness for pre-meditated attacks through press conferences has set off a smoke bomb within the club, with the Stamford Bridge faithful pouring further vitriol on the beleaguered Spaniard.

The fans were in full voice in airing their displeasure at Benitez during the West Brom game yesterday, using placards and banners to get back at the manager for his criticism of the supporters. And, in true Benitez style he said this to the press post-match: “I was really pleased that the fans got behind the team and the reaction from everyone was good. I don't know if my words had an effect. You could see the players playing with more confidence,” before adding that he never questioned the support of the fans during his on-screen rant.

Chelsea are faced with a brand new challenge which has hitherto been unheard of at Stamford Bridge. The senior players in the Blues squad aren’t convinced with their boss Rafael Benitez after a series of poor performances from said players, with the sleuths at the Mirror grabbing hold of a secret Chelsea insider to leak the information that none of the Chelsea players have faith in the interim manager.

Chelsea have picked up just one win in their last four Premier League games, with the Blues surrendering a lead against Reading and Newcastle in the space of few days. They are still in 3^rd place in the standings but only four points covers 3^rd to 6^th spot where Everton, Arsenal and Tottenham are all battling with Chelsea for the two Champions League spots. The shock exit from the Capital One Cup followed by a draw against Brentford in the FA Cup has heaped plenty of pressure on Senor Benitez and as always the Chelsea players have taken it upon themselves to rectify the situation.

The managerial sack race has kicked into gear with Nigel Adkins becoming the latest manager to face the cull after being relieved of his duties by Southampton. The decision comes as a surprise to most as Adkins had steadied the ship on the South-coast, lifting the Saints to 15^th place after a poor start to life in the Premier League. Argentine Mauricio Pochettino will take over the reins at the club starting with Monday night’s game against Everton.

The cut-throat nature of the game is again on show as Adkins has amazingly turned around the fortunes of the club in the last three years, taking them from the third-tier of English football to the Premier League with two successive promotions. There have been rumblings about Adkins future ever since they clinched promotion last year, with the 47 year old’s lack of experience in the top division ultimately going against him.

Rival managers get ready to quake in their boots. Potential replacements find yourself some other work. Sir Alex Ferguson has declared that he has no intention to leave Manchester United anytime soon, in fact to the contrary has strongly hinted that he could be at the club for the next three years!

It’s a ritual amongst the media houses to link potential managerial candidates with the job at Manchester United every year. This year Pep Guardiola, who is all set to make a comeback from his exile; Jose Mourinho, who is most likely to quit Real Madrid at the end of the season; and David Moyes, whose contract expires in summer have emerged as the leading candidates to succeed Sir Alex as the next Manchester United manager.

Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich is known for having an itchy finger, and the Russian billionaire wasted no time in sacking his 8th manager, giving Champions League and FA Cup double winner Roberto di Matteo the old heave ho just 5 months since offering the former Chelsea caretaker manager a new 2 year contract.

Chelsea have had a poor 4 weeks by their illustrious standards, and their showing in Turin last night was particularly appalling as they were beaten 3-0 on the night by Juventus, and truth be told the scoreline could have been a lot worse. The Blues have lost top spot in the Premier League, having gone win-less in 4 games, and are on verge of making an early exit from the UEFA Champions League unless Shakhtar Donetsk do them a favour and beat Juventus at the Donbass Arena in a fortnight's time.

Holland have turned to Louis van Gaal to take over the National team until the 2014 World Cup as the Dutch FA have moved quickly to appoint a successor to Bert van Marwijk, who left the job following the team's horror show at the Euros. This would be Van Gaal's 2nd stint at the job as he was in-charge of the team between 2000 and 2002. Although it marked one of the lowest points in recent Dutch history as they failed to qualify for the 2002 World Cup.

The 60 year old veteran manager has been on the lookout for a job ever since departing Bayern Munich last year and considering his vast experience, which includes spells at Ajax, Barcelona and AZ Alkmaar, the Dutch will hope that they can turn a corner with the man who was once a gymnastics teacher.