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Steve McMahon

A few weeks ago, I mentioned how Blues owner Roman Abramovich should keep his faith in Villas-Boas and allow him to work his magic at Chelsea.

Following last Saturday's 1-0 loss to West Brom, Abramovich finally had enough and ended the Portuguese's reign the following day, a decision which raises more questions than it answers.

Why appoint a young manager who has a vision of rebuilding the club and not give him sufficient time to have a real go at things? Even the most-experienced manager would have taken longer than eight months to impose his ideas on his players, let alone Villas-Boas who, for all he's achieved with Porto, is still at the infancy stages at what could still prove to be a long career in management.

Many applauded when Abramovich decided to give a young, highly-rated tactician a shot at the big time, taking charge of one of the Barclays Premier League's biggest clubs. Now, they just appear undecided on whether they want to focus on immediate results or long-term success.

Villas-Boas' inability to get many of his senior players on his side ultimately proved to be his downfall. Now that he's gone, the likes of Didier Drogba, John Terry and Frank Lampard should follow him out.

During my playing days, never once did a manager arrive at a new club and have to win his players over. The manager is the boss - simple as that!

There is no point bringing in a new manager if his reign is still going to be undermined by Drogba, Lampard and Terry. The only way to end this problem that is plaguing Stamford Bridge is to boot all three of them out.

On the flipside, the one manager who would have no problem keeping them in check is Jose Mourinho, and at the moment, I feel he is the only person that should be considered for the vacant seat at Chelsea.

Still, Chelsea should take a good, hard look at Manchester City, who have set a brilliant example in showing how the manager should always be the boss.

Carlos Tevez captained City for much of last season, and had it not been for his goalscoring exploits, one could argue they wouldn't have qualified for this year's Champions League, and attracted the likes of Sergio Aguero and Samir Nasri to the club.

Yet, the moment he took one step out of line, Roberto Mancini refused to let him anywhere near his first-team, and the City board fully backed their manager.

Tevez has since returned to Manchester after a long 'vacation' in Argentina, apologised to Mancini with his tail between his legs, and is desperately trying to force his way back into his manager's plans.

Even Mario Balotelli, for all his impressive performances this season, has not been spared some hefty fines for his frequent misbehavior.

Unfortunately for Villas-Boas, he did not enjoy the same kind of support from his superiors, and is now browsing the newspapers for job vacancies.

While Mourinho appears to be the best choice to take over at Chelsea, one wonders if it would be ideal for the club in the long run.