Whenever Roman Abramovich makes a decision on a Chelsea manager's future, barely anyone bats an eyelid, any more, with the Russian oligarch going through nine managers (although Jose Mourinho was sacked twice) in his 13 years in charge of the club.
However, if new reports breaking in Spain are true, even the most hardened, disillusioned of modern football fans will be left shaking their heads at the Russian's trigger happy nature.
According to MARCA , Antonio Conte's relationship with Abramovich has deteriorated over the last few months, following an underwhelming transfer window and shaky start to the new season and now Abramovich has reportedly decided to sack the Italian and has already been looking for replacements.
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The Spanish newspaper's report also claims that Conte and Abramovich are not even on speaking terms and all communications between the pair go through club director Marina Granovskaia, who also deals with aspects of the club's transfer business.
After a terrific first season, Antonio Conte could now be on his way out of Stamford Bridge. Images: PA
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Abramovich was also apparently unhappy with the way Conte bluntly dealt with Diego Costa over the summer, sending the Spain international a txt message to inform he was no longer needed at Stamford Bridge, despite helping to fire the club to two Premier League titles in three seasons. The pair fell out in January after a training ground bust up and Costa was eventually sold back to Atletico Madrid, this summer.
Tuesday night's shambolic 3-0 Champions League defeat against Roma didn't help matters, either, with the Blues turning in arguably their worst performance of the Conte era as they slumped to an emphatic loss in the Italian capital.
However, despite an inconsistent beginning to the current campaign, Conte did only just lead Chelsea to a Premier League title and FA Cup final five months ago and the Blues are also well placed to qualify for the last 16 of the Champions League and are sitting in the top four of the league table. Is there any point in dismissing him so soon and if so, who replaces him who can turn things around?
Conte's team are currently nine points adrift of league leaders Manchester City, having lost three of their opening 10 games of the season. However, while there may be some similarities between Chelsea's difficulties this season and how they imploded during their last title defence, under Jose Mourinho, in 2015, the Italian's champions do seem to be more resilient than Mourinho's were, as they displayed when they came from behind against Watford to win 4-2 recently.
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Perhaps the former Juventus and Italy boss can change his boss' mind with a victory over Mourinho on Sunday.
(H/T Metro)
Topics: Football News, Football, Chelsea FC, Premier League, Antonio Conte