THE TRIUMPH AND BETRAYAL OF ROBERTO DI MATTEO, CHELSEA'S MOST SUCCESSFUL BOSS EVER

He lasted just 262 days – 262 days that transformed the fortunes of Chelsea Football Club and finally laid to rest Roman Abramovich’s holy grail. Yes, by winning the Champions League, Roberto Di Matteo made everything Roman had done – and all the millions he had invested worthwhile. But six months later the Russian owner of Chelsea rewarded him for his brilliance…with the sack.

Roberto Di Matteo : robbed of his job.

Di Matteo was the manager who took the club to its greatest ever triumph – one which marked him out as the club's most successful manager ever - that balmy night in Munich which now seems an age ago.


Even then, as Roberto celebrated, you could clearly see from the body language that Roman didn't really want to acknowledge his part in the triumph. He never really rated him; he only saw him as a stop-gap and was really forced into giving him a full-time shot at the job until he could get his own full-time next man in (ie Guardiola).


But what Di Matteo achieved that night in Munich was extraordinary - almost miraculous, as he urged on his men to a triumph they really had no right to expect. They were playing the hosts and favourites and emerged with the cup with the big ears against all odds (including beating Barca on the way).


Fast forward six months (to now) and Di Matteo has tried to implement Roman's desire for Chelsea to play a la Barca - with three little guys in Mata, Oscar and Hazard - and passing from the back (which meant keeping David Luiz at centre-back instead of the more reliable Ivanovic).


He has had three months (from August and the start of the new season) to implement a brand new, revolutionary change in playing approach and, as the players inevitably needed time to gell and get used to each other and the new system, he found it difficult to achieve overnight. His reward was to bestabbed in the back. Betrayed for not beating or drawing with Juve away - and let's not forget this is the team who could well go on to win the Champions League. OK, there have also been a couple of dodgy results in the league too, but as Istress again, he was trying to overhaul a way of thinking; from the time of Drogba and Co, when brute force won the day, to a more sophisticated style of play. There were always going to be lean spells as the change took shape.


In essence, he was expected to work another miracle from August to November (changing the mentality and style of play) after already working one in Munich in May. His sacking was the end game – a shocking way to treat someone who had done so much for a football club close to his heart.


RDM deserved better – and Chelsea fans certainly deserve better than the interim, defensively minded joker who will surely now take their team back to the dark ages…even if it is only for six months.


Forget the dreams of being the new Barca for the next few months – Rafa Benitez will underpin his team with a dour defensive edge. Ironic that when Roman wanted to move forwards with entertaining football, he ended up with a man whose philosophy is to bring about the exact opposite.


I wouldn’t be surprised if RDM is laughing in his beer at that irony tonight and probably saying, ‘They deserve each other!’


FRANK WORRALL @weeklysport

FRANKIE'S FLUTTERS

THE CHAMPIONS League returns in football this week and the tie that sticks out is Manchester City's visit to Real Madrid on Tuesday.
Last season City failed to even make the group stages but this time round I am convinced they will do much better - even though they have the unenviable task of coping with Borussia Dortmund and Ajax, as well as Madrid in their group.
I take them to grab a draw - 1-1 or 2-2 in the Bernabeu - to emphasise their credentials.
OK, Madrid have got Ronaldo but have they really got as many other players who are better than City's? I would argue not.
I can see Tevez scoring and Aguero too, if fit.
The only thing I would say that worries me about City is Mancini's continued reliance on the lumbering Edin Dzeko. The striker cost £30million but is too slow of thought and action. Balotelli is your man, Roberto, rather than Dzeko if you want to replace Aguero or Tevez at some stage.

ANDY MURRAY WE SALUTE YOU

IT was wonderful witnessing Andy Murray making tennis history in New York on Monday.
The Scot became our first British Grand Slam champion since Fred Perry in 1936 as he beat Novak Djokovic at Flushing Meadow.
The feat was all the more remarkable because of three factors.
Murray has had to win his Slam in an era that has seen regularly tackling three of the best tennis players of all time in Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and the aforementioned Djokovic.
He has also had to carry the constant weight of being the Brit who would surely break through after all those years of heartache and disappointment since the reign of Perry.
And, thirdly, he has had to overcome his own demons and self-doubts - including the fact that he witnessed the Dunblane massacre as a schoolboy when he was just eight, surviving by hiding under a desk.
No wonder he has seemed such an introverted, serious young man over the years.
Andy Murray - we salute you. Enjoy your success and all the acclaim that comes with it.
You deserve it, sir.

FRANK WORRALL

GO NOW HODGSON - BEFORE WE FAIL TO QUALIFY FOR THE WORLD CUP

DON'T say I didn't warn you...when Roy Hodgson was appointed England manager in May, I wrote in this very column that the FA had plumped for the man who was a safe pair of hands and who would come cheap.
I pleaded that if, early in his reign, if it was clear he was going to fail, the FA and Hodgson himself should at least have the decency to jointly hold up their hands and admit the recession England manager for these recession times had been a mistake.
That Hodgson shouldn't have been employed in the first place.
That, OK, he is a lovely guy, a decent ambassador - but he has been appointed above his level.
That if he was out of his depth, he would make a swift exit before things got worse.
Well, I believe we are now at that stage - less than five months into Hodgson's tenure.
The lucky 1-1 draw with Ukraine at Wembley last night showed up Hodgson's deficiencies.
The visitors are hardly world beaters - I would suggest that most teams in FIFA's top ten rankings would defeat them (unbelievably, England are ranked THIRD but under Hodgson a ranking of 15 to 20 would be more realistic).
Yet England huffed and puffed and, to be honest, I thought Ukraine deserved to win.
Sure, the Jermain Defoe goal that never was should have stood. No way did he foul that big lumbering brute who got in his way as he headed for goal.
But you could as easily argue that it was just karma for the perfectly good Ukraine goal that was disallowed when England had the last laugh against them in Euro 2012.
That it equalled things out.
But last night Ukraine were the better team - and it didn't help that Hodgson fluffed his lines.
He called in every excuse during Euro 2012 (he had not had enough time for the team to gell, he was beset by injuries and he needed patience).
We gave him patience but he rewarded us with a team that would have set the world alight in prehistoric times - a dinosaur outfit bedevilled by his own insistence on sticking to a rigid, dull 4-4-2 format.
Last night his team was slightly more fluid but not good enough overall.
Again, the old bloke was at it - blaming the injuries that had robbed him of the likes of Rooney and Terry.
But, putting that to one side, he hardly helped himself with some truly questionable personnel decisions.
Can you explain to me why Aaron Lennon wasn't in the squad - that he is behind even Raheem Sterling in the pecking order is a joke.
Also, what was the point of going to all that aggro in getting Michael Carrick back in the squad - and then not using him from the start?
Surely, Hodgson accepted England's problem was their lack of ball retention in the Euros...but then he goes and leaves out the man who is widely accepted as England's best passer and retainer of the ball!
And why wasn't Rio Ferdinand marshalling that woeful backline in the absence of Terry?
The truth of it all is this: Hodgson is a dinosaur himself so how can we realistically expect England to move with the times?
Would England play like they did last night - with the same personnel - if say Pep Guardiola or even Roberto Mancini were in charge?
The main worry is this: in a lightweight group England may struggle to grab even the runners-up spot if Hodgson stays in command. I am already assuming Ukraine will take one of the two spots up for grabs - but what if Poland or the very real threat that is Montenegro also prove too canny for Dinosaur Roy?
It would take a real act of faith and bravery to boot out Hodgson now...but dare we gamble any further with him? If he wasn't good enough for Liverpool, can he really be good enough for England?
Yes, I know it could prove tricky replacing him now the season is underway.
But wait a minute...isn't there a chappy out there who is out of work and readily available - and who might be able to turn things around?
But appointing Harry Redknapp now would be an even braver move - and an acceptance from the FA suits that they got it wrong in the first place.
Come on David Bernstein...you're 70 and are about to leave as your legacy the failure of Roy Hodgson, the man you stubbornly - and wrongly - went for despite all the evidence that he wasn't up to the job.
You still have a chance to go down in history as the man who then admitted he had messed up - and saved England - by bringing in 'Arry, the man who took us to Rio with smiles and style.

FRANK WORRALL