What a job Roberto Di Matteo has done since he took over from Andre Villas-Boas in early March. 4th place is still in our sights, an FA Cup final with Liverpool is just weeks away, and a second 'perfect' performance in the Nou Camp could see us into the Champions League final for only the second time. However, next season is a year of complete rebuilding, and although I have great respect for Di Matteo, he isn't the man for that job.
The squad will have a complete re-vamp, Bosingwa, Kalou and Drogba are all out of contract, while the future's of Malouda, Essien and Cole all remain unclear. In all honesty, this job should have happened before the start of his season, who knows what would have happened under Villas-Boas, sadly that wasn't to be.
Chelsea need a manager who isn't afraid to ring the changes, commands respect from players and knows where to find the right players. The last part hinges on whether the board give control of player signings to the manager or let somebody in the executive seats dictate which players the manager has to deal with.
What Di Matteo has done since he has been moved from assistant, to first team coach, is make the old guard feel wanted again. Cole, Lampard and Drogba all run themselves into the ground last night against Barcelona, would they have done that if Villas-Boas was in charge? I think not.
Although Di Matteo has changed the formation to a more suitable 4-2-3-1 than Villas-Boas' 4-3-3, their hasn't been a major revamp of the team. Players like Kalou have come in from the wilderness, others like Romeu have foundselves unwanted.
Is Di Matteo, with his limited experience in football management, good enough to rebuild a team and launch a title challenge next season? I don't think so.
My choice for next manager would be current French coach Laurent Blanc, Blanc showed in his first game in charge that he isn't afraid to make bold decisions, he famously banned any of the failed World Cup squad to take part in his first game against Norway, and although France lost that game 1-0, several young players got their chance to prove themselves internationally.
I know Blanc has limited club level experience, he spent just three seasons at Bordeaux before taking the France job, but he did end Lyon's dominance in Ligue 1, by winning the title. He also has a 60% win ratio with France and Bordeaux.
One day, Di Matteo could return to Chelsea, and he will go on to become a great manager one day, but the board and fans shouldn't get carried away with what has been achieved this season. Yes Di Matteo has done excellent, but what needs to be done next year is something too big for him.
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