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The prevailing opinion following the sacking of Liam Rosenior is that no manager worth their salt would go anywhere near Chelsea. Absolute nonsense; it\u2019s the perfect job for Andoni Iraola.<\/p>\n
Rosenior was sacked after just 106 days at the helm in a fever dream<\/strong> of LinkedIn language, player disrespect and an alarming downturn in results and performances which made his job \u2018untenable\u2019.<\/p>\n He was doomed to fail<\/strong>. It may have been the worst appointment in Premier League history under a set of owners working tirelessly to attain matching status for their stewardship of a top-flight football club.<\/p>\n A four-year disasterclass which started with Champions League-winning Thomas Tuchel at the helm has seen BlueCo stumble from one mistake\u00a0to the next<\/strong> to turn one of the biggest clubs in Europe into a laughing stock.<\/p>\n READ MORE: McFarlane set for six-year Chelsea deal as Fernandez votes with his feet vs Leeds<\/strong><\/p>\n As Emmanuel Petit declared while warning fellow former Blues midfielder Cesc Fabregas to steer clear of Stamford Bridge amid reports of his success at Como catching BlueCo eyes, \u201cthey\u2019re a mess.\u201d<\/p>\n But instead of that being the reason for managers to snub Chelsea advances \u2013 as has been widely suggested by fans and pundits alike \u2013 it\u2019s precisely because BlueCo have very little idea what they\u2019re doing and have turned a title-winning machine into a failed football experiment that makes Chelsea a hugely attractive proposition for upwardly mobile managers.<\/p>\n Antonio Conte\u2019s return is indeed a \u2018crazy idea\u2019<\/strong>and managers of a similar ilk who require the club to beat to the sound of their drum would need a 427 foot barge pole to touch Chelsea. But for managers (or rather coaches) with credit in the bank yet to experience life at a top-tier football club, like Fabregas but specifically Iraola, the BlueCo project represents an ideal opportunity.<\/p>\n Amid reports claiming Iraola \u2013 who\u2019s leaving Bournemouth at the end of the season \u2013 is a \u2018leading candidate\u2019 for BlueCo this summer<\/strong>Fabrizio Romano revealed on Sunday that the inclination is mutual.<\/p>\n \u201cIraola would be more than happy to continue in the Premier League,\u201d Romano said<\/strong>. \u201cIraola would be keen on the possibility of becoming the new Chelsea manager.\u201d<\/p>\n Of course he would. It\u2019s the freest of free hits. Fail and he\u2019s the latest and best example of an unworkable Chelsea project, and can leave with a very strong reputation built through his work at Rayo Vallecano and Bournemouth still very much intact.<\/p>\n Succeed and he will be hailed as a managerial messiah after miraculously cobbling together a mismatch of young players recruited on a whim with his hands tied behind his back by a set of owners who have already done him the service of ensuring that all blame from the fans at Chelsea will be firmly laid at their door.<\/p>\n For all Chelsea\u2019s problems, he will have some very talented players to work with. If BlueCo had given Enzo Maresca the goalkeeper and centre-back he wanted in the summer, there\u2019s a very good chance we would now be talking about further progress at Stamford Bridge.<\/p>\n After trophies arrived in their droves under Roman Abramovich, Chelsea fans will be sick of being told they\u2019re \u2018not far off\u2019, but guys, you\u2019re not far off.<\/p>\n They ripped the European champions apart in the Club World Cup final<\/strong> nine months ago and have just booked their place in yet another Wembley final with a performance of grit, determination and no little quality<\/strong> to show what this group of players are still capable of. Iraola will have watched that display and fancied his chances of getting a serious tune out of this group and the additions to come this summer.<\/p>\n Even without European football and the growing debt, more players will be signed. Chelsea can\u2019t help themselves. And with BlueCo already changing tack by looking to hire a more experienced manager after Rosenior, perhaps a loosening of the age restriction on signings might also arrive following their \u2018period of self-reflection\u2019 to gift Iraola more much-needed leadership in the dressing room. They might even ask him who he wants.<\/p>\n Far from being a job he should avoid, Chelsea is a golden opportunity Iraola would be mad to turn down.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n