Fabio Capello, Chelsea Manager?

There's a hot rumour going around today about Fabio Capello wanting to become next Chelsea manager, which is... uh, yeah. I have to admit I haven't been following the manager thing as closely as I might have - Roberto di Matteo seems to be amusing himself by trolling the media and after preparing for the Champions League final, following the transfer rumours and looking for photos of David Luiz the managerial speculation hasn't been a particularly high priority for myself or, by extension, the site.

But it's going to get very important very soon, and this is an interesting enough rumour that I feel obligated to comment. Capello would be a fascinating choice to succeed Andre Villas-Boas as permanent Chelsea manager this summer, for a number of reasons. I still believe he's a very good manager - his failure with England seems to me to be mostly to do with the fact that England aren't very good at football rather than any major flaws in his leadership, and the FA seemed to go out of their way to undermine him. Capello's club record speaks for itself, and the those who've played under him seem to have a great deal of respect for the man.

It's also create an amusing media storm, because, like every other England manager who's failed to meet the expectations of a nation specialising in self-delusion every two years, Capello has been vilified for the team's performance at the 2010 World Cup, where they were comprehensively outplayed and then knocked out by the second best team in the world, apparently an unforgivable offence.

But ultimately, despite the fact that I think Capello's a good manager and could help the team (while amusing me), I think this would be a bad idea. He is old and expensive, looking for one last big chance to leave his mark on the footballing world before riding off into the sunset. That means he's going to want guarantees, and that pretty much ensures he'll want a long, rich contract. Us being us, we'll inevitably sack him in the middle of it and end up presented with another silly bill.

All of this is to say that I'd really like to avoid another big name multi-year deal. I think Fabio Capello's almost certainly a better manager than Roberto di Matteo, but he's not worth the present and future financial cost nor the disruption of a team that seems to be doing pretty well. I'm glad the Chelsea higher-ups are ignoring his reputation in England (if they are indeed pursuing him), but I don't like the idea of actually employing him.

Then again I really wanted us to hire Andre Villas-Boas last year. I may just be an idiot.