Well not often do we find a manager winning the Barclay’s manager of the month award and the fans not getting too happy with the incident. But such a queer situation must have arisen for the supporters of Chelsea with Rafael Banitez winning Barclay’s manager of the month award for April.
The Chelsea fans did not hide their displeasure at the appointment of Benitez from the first day and were regularly present at the stadium with “Rafa Out” banners. They even honoured Rafa’s predecessor Roberto Di Mateo by chanting his name at the 16th minute of every game to mark the number 16 jersey worn by Di Mateo. While this has got something to do with Rafa’s remarks against Chelsea during his Liverpool days, his questionable rotation policy did not help either making Chelsea’s performance inconsistence for most of the season.
But as his term as an interim manager is coming to an end, he has grabbed himself a manager of the month award which is bound to leave a sour taste in the mouth of the supporters. But it is fair to say that Rafa has fully deserved the award for the month where his team have played some wonderful football and grabbed some very vital points. Among the four league matches that Chelsea have played in April, they have been on the winning side of the scoresheet for three times against Sunderland, Fulham and Swansea, playing with absolute authority against the later two. Only at his former home Anfield, Rafa has failed to grab a win for Chelsea but that was under controversial circumstances and had he been a bit fortunate, his side would have snatched all three points on that day.
In other competitions also Chelsea have proved their mettle, ousting Manchester United from the FA Cup before going down themselves to Manchester City, albeit a spirited performance. They have also progressed in the Europa Cup, overcoming opponents like Rubin Kazan and FC Basel, registering an away win against the latter.
As it looks right now, Jose Mourinho is again headed back to Chelsea taking over the charge from Rafa Benitez at the end of the season. But this manager of the month award for Rafa would certainly have deeper implications posing a lot of questions about the diabolical Chelsea management.
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