Sacked Chelsea managers and what they did next, after Thomas Tuchel is fired by the Blues following poor start
THOMAS TUCHEL is the latest Chelsea boss to lose his job.
The German tactician, 49, was ruthlessly dismissed by new owner Todd Boehly after a drab defeat in the Champions League to Dinamo Zagreb.
But Tuchel shouldn’t be too disheartened – as coaches have bounced back and found life AFTER departing Stamford Bridge.
Some went on to manage fierce rivals, while others have disappeared into obscurity.
And one lucky boss is lapping up life in the Caribbean paradise of Curacao.
Claudio Ranieri, 2000-04
The Italian boss was already in charge when Abramovich bought the club in 2003.
Ranieri survived just one season, helping the club secure their highest ever Premier League finish at that time as runners-up.
Famously, he would go on to miraculously lead Leicester City to the title in 2016.
In recent seasons Ranieri’s returned to Italy, where he managed Roma and was head coach at Sampdoria.
Last season, he desperately tried to save Watford from relegation – but left when the club was demoted to the Championship.
Jose Mourinho, 2004-07 and 2013-15
The Special One is one of two managers who have been invited back to Stamford Bridge.
In his first stint, he won consecutive league titles (the double in his second season) before things turned sour in his third and he walked away from his contract after falling out with Abramovich.
Jose won La Liga with Real Madrid, Serie A and the Champions League with Inter, before returning to West London and winning the Premier League in his second season.
Again, it all went wrong in his third season and he was sacked after the club lost nine of their opening 16 games.
After that, Mourinho went to fierce rivals Man Utd – winning the Carabao Cup and Europa League.
Following a quick minute at Spurs, Jose is with Roma in Serie A who are enjoying somewhat of a renaissance after lifting the Europa Confrence League last season.
Avram Grant, 2007-08
The Israeli football manager – a close friend of Abramovich – was brought in to replace Mourinho to reportedly get the best out of Andriy Shevchenko, who Jose dropped.
However, Grant struggled to win over the fans, despite leading the club to a Champions League final in 2008 – eventually losing to Manchester United on penalties.
A good spell at Portsmouth was followed by an ill-fated one at West Ham.
Grant’s last job in football was in 2018, managing NorthEast United of the Indian Super League.
Luis Felipe Scolari, 2008-09
‘Big Phil’ came to England with a glowing reputation as one of the game’s grandmasters of football management.
But he was fired by Chelsea after just seven months – with the club failing to sustain a title challenge and trailing Manchester United.
Scolari seemed to lose his mojo, failing at Uzbekistani champions FC Bunyodkor – with the language barrier being his biggest obstacle.
However, he led Palmeiras to the Copa do Brazil in 2012, but poor form in the Brazilian championship saw him sacked there.
Most notably, as boss of Brazil at the 2014 World Cup Scolari oversaw their embarrassing 7-1 defeat to Germany.
Scolari has also managed in China, and is now back in Brazil where in the past four years he’s had jobs at Palmeiras, Cruzeiro, Gremio and Athletico Paranaense.
Guus Hiddink, 2009 and 2015-16
The second man to enjoy two spells at the Bridge, the Dutchman was brought in in 2009 as interim boss to restore some pride for the remainder of the season.
He led the club to a Champions League semi-final, where they were unfortunate to lose to Barcelona. In his last game in charge in 2009, he won the FA Cup.
Hiddink returned to the rescue in 2015 after Mourinho’s second spell left the club in tatters – guiding Chelsea to a mid-table finish after an unbeaten first 12 games before departing once the season was over.
From August 2020, he bossed Caribbean minnows Curacao, but this year took up an assistant manager role with the Australia national team.
Carlo Ancelotti, 2009-11
After earning a glowing reputation at AC Milan, Ancelotti was hired by Abramovich to bring the title back to Stamford Bridge.
And the Italian succeeded in his first season, adding the FA Cup in a remarkable first year.
But a trophyless second season saw ruthless Roman wield the axe and Ancelotti was reportedly told he was getting sacked in the corridor at Goodison Park after a defeat to Everton.
Ancelotti then scored glam jobs at PSG, where he won the title, Real Madrid, who he won the Champions League with, and Bayern Munich – who were German champions during his tenure.
Following a spell at Everton, he returned to Real Madrid – winning last season’s Champions League.
Andres Villas-Boas, 2011-12
AVB was touted as the ‘next Mourinho’ after earning his stripes at Porto, like his predecessor.
But nine months into the job, the young boss was handed his P45 following a disappointing defeat to Watford and the belief that he struggled to assert control over his squad.
Villas-Boas took over the reigns at Spurs briefly, before he was fired there.
He regained credibility on the management stage with Zenit Saint-Petersburg – winning the Russian Premier League and the Russian Cup in consecutive seasons.
In 2016, AVB took over Shanghai SIPG for a season and turned them into title contenders.
Most recently, he bossed Marseille – who flopped in last season’s Champions League and duly sacked him in 2021.
Roberto Di Matteo, 2012
When Villas-Boas was fired, his assistant Di Matteo stepped up for the top job.
And he had a remarkable first few months as interim boss, inexplicably winning the FA Cup and Champions League.
He was handed a two-year deal, but let go the following season after a string of poor results.
Aside from finishing runners-up with West Brom in 2010, and earning the club promotion, his career as manager hasn’t hit the heights it did with the Blues.
Di Matteo’s last manager role came in 2016 at Aston Villa, and lasted just four months after he was sacked for a string of poor results.
Rafa Benitez, 2012-13
Another year, another interim boss – this time it was former Liverpool man Rafa Benitez handed the reigns.
His task for the remainder of the season was to steady the ship that was wavering in choppy waters under Di Matteo.
And he won the Europa League, as well as helped the club to a top four finish before waving goodbye.
Benitez walked away from his job at Chinese Super League side Dalian Professional.
Then he took up a short post at Everton, but was sacked after a dismal run and replaced by former Blues man Frank Lampard.
Antonio Conte, 2016-18
Like Ancelotti, Conte started off life in West London in blistering fashion – landing the Premier League title in his first season.
In his second, Chelsea won the FA Cup, but it all began to fall apart when Chelsea missed out on Champions League qualification.
He was fired, and would later reportedly cost the club £30million in legal fees and compensation.
Conte moved to Inter Milan in 2019, where he managed to break the stranglehold Juventus had over Serie A – winning the title.
Since last season, Conte has managed Spurs – turning the club into genuine Premier League challengers. How Chelsea must look on in an envy now.
Maurizio Sarri, 2018-19
Chelsea fans certainly weren’t Sarri to see the chain-smoking Italian lose his job in 2019.
Despite winning the Europa League and finishing third in his first season in charge, he struggled to win over the fans – with his brand of ‘Sarriball’ failing to entertain the Stamford Bridge faithful.
He left the club after 337 days, and landed the Juventus job in 2019.
Sarri won his first major trophy in Italian football by leading the Old Lady to the Italian championship.
But the day after they were knocked out of the Champions League last 16 by Lyon in 2020, he was sacked… again.
Today, he is boss of Lazio.
Frank Lampard, 2019-21
In his first full season at Blues boss, Lampard ensured Chelsea finished in the top four.
He also was a runner-up in the FA Cup – losing in the final to Arsenal.
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But the following season, the wheels seemingly came off when Chelsea won just two of nine games and he was let go.
Despite that, he should be fondly remembered for bringing youth stars through, including Mason Mount, Reece James and Tammy Abraham.
Lampard is now at Everton, where he has enjoyed a mixed bag of results.