Roberto Di Matteo sacked. Are Chelsea becoming a laughing stock?

Have to say, it's really sad times for Chelsea. Surrounded by racism allegations against the club captain John Terry, who was banned for 4 matches by the English FA, then in the match against Manchester United, Chelsea were caught in a spat with the referee and even alleging the referee of racial abuse towards John Obi Mikel and Juan Mata, though nothing has been proved against the referee Mar Clattenburg. Juan Mata even saying he never heard a thing. And in more recent news, Chelsea have sacked their manager Roberto Di Matteo after a string of bad perfornances

Roberto Di Matteo's time a Chelsea (4th March - 21 Nov 2012)
Matches - 42
Won       - 24
Draw      - 9
Lost        - 9
Win %    - 57.14

So, Roberto Di Matteo has lasted for 262 days, which is more than that of past Chelsea managers, namely Villas-Boas (256), Grant (247) & Scolari (223)

Is it a wise decision?
As we all know, it is the club owner Roman Abramovich who makes all the major decision. Let's not forget that Di Matteo came at Chelsea when they weren't doing that well. Somehow Di Matteo managed to get the required results and achieved something that not even Jose Mourinho could achieve at the club, that is, to win the Champions League. In addition to that he even won the FA Cup. It ended as a satisfactory season for the blues last season thanks to Di Matteo.

Considering the current season, Chelsea sit in 3rd position in the League with only 4 points off the leaders Manchester City. Surely that is not that bad after only 12 games into the season. In the Champions League, nothing's over as yet. They need to win the final group game and there is a huge possibility that Shaktar will beat Juventus at their home stadium. If that happens then Chelsea go through. As of the League cup, they just knocked of Manchester United out of it.

Honestly, nothing was going that bad. Chelsea are in it in every competition. They made a wrong decision years ago when they sacked the fan favorite Jose Mourinho. They made a bad decision again. Sacking managers mid-season isn't good for any club. It disrupts the stability and the season starts going haywire. 

The only reason I see for the sacking of Di Matteo is the recent form, that is, the last 8 games, when in they lost 4 and drawn 2, winning only 2 games, and also cause they think they are in danger of going out of the Champions League after losing to Juventus 3-0. Even Manchester United and Manchester City were out of the Champions League at the group stage. They didn't sack their respective managers as they have realized it only harms the teams. Honestly, I wish Di Matteo had been given a little more time.

Successor?
Recently, with Chelsea's bad form in the light, many reports suggested that Pep Guardiola could join Chelsea as he is still unemployed. Other reports even suggests the former Liverpool manager Benitez to be the next Chelsea manager, but I'm not sure if that will happen. Not to forget our very own Jose Mourinho. Jose stated many times that he would love to manage a Premier League team again. Many look at him as a successor for Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United, but he recently did mention that he would love to play against SAF again instead of replacing him. With SAF still looking good at Manchester United, I think the only option for Mourinho is to join another Premier League team. And here another opportunity beckons with the Chelsea managerial spot up for grabs. I'm sure Chelsea fans wouldn't mind him getting back at Stamford Bridge. Apart from these well know managers I can't see anyone else who can show that caliber for the tedious job. But you never can predict anything in football. It always surprises you.

Gerrard's 100 England cap.. but Ibra steals the show

Very few people get to represent their country for the 100th time. Steven Gerrard is one of them. Before him only 5 other players have made 100+ appearances for England. Peter Shilton with the most appearances with 125, followed by David Beckam, Bobby Moore, Bobby Charlton and Billy Wright.

Although 100 caps for any player is incredible, great. But can we say the same for Steven Gerrard? Legend? The answer is No. Yes, he is a remarkable player but most of his better performances have come for club rather than country. One may remember Gerrard's goal against AC Milan in the 2005 Champions League final, or the goal against West Ham in the FA Cup final in 2006.. which has great significance and won trophies for Liverpool. Can you say the same about Gerrard's performances for England? Probably not

This what Gerrard had to say, 'To be here on the eve of 100 is an unbelievable achievement for me and my family. When I speak about it the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.

'There have been great players before me and ones I've played with who haven't got to that milestone. It's very flattering.'

Talking about England's 5-1 victory against Germany in Munich in 2001,

'I'd probably say that's the strongest England team I've played in,' said Gerrard. 'It had great balance between young and  experienced players. We had some world-class players.

'I know the "Golden Generation" gets spoken about, which is  something I don't really like, but when you look at that team from front to back it was really strong.

'That group of players under-achieved at big tournaments. That team should certainly have got to a semi-final.

'We were unlucky at times in the penalty shootouts but that's certainly a regret. That group of players should've done better.' 

He also admitted that he doesn't consider himself a hero for England and suggests that the only heroes that England had were the 11 players who won the World Cup in 1966. So it was Gerrard who captained out England against Sweden at the Friends Arena on the 14th of November 2012, marking his 100th appearance for England. Sweden won the game 4-2, nevertheless, it was a captains performance against Sweden with his swift passing also assisting England's 2nd goal. 

But probably a night to forget for all English fans as the star of the show was the Swedish captain, Zlatan Ibrahimovic who scored all the 4 goals for Sweden, and the most memorable one was the overhead kick out from 30 yards into an empty net. After the game, Gerrard himself admitted that it was probably the best goal he had ever seen.

Gerrard's current stats
Debut : Vs Ukraine on 31th May 2000

First goal : Vs Germany in the 5-1 win in 2001

Appearances : 100
Goals : 19