Over the past few weeks, as it's become more and more apparent that Jose Mourinho will return to Stamford Bridge for his second spell at the reigns of Chelsea Football Club, there's been much hand-wriging over whether he's been a success at Real Madrid and whether or not he'll fail in his second go-around with the Blues.
Instead of waiting and seeing what happens next year to define whether or not he's been successful, it's better to establish our criteria for the level of performance we expect from a new manager. He has a good squad, and there are more reinforcements coming in this summer -- so what are you hoping for next year?
I figure we can do this like the community ratings and then assess the new manager at the end of next year based on what we've decided here and now. No moving the goalposts mid-season to redefine success!
This isn't quite as subtle as I like, because it can't account for things like being drawn against top clubs in cup competitions (nobody would blame Chelsea if they somehow ended up with Bayern Munich in the first knockout round of the Champions League and lost, for example), but such are the perils of multiple choice questions. Anyway, I figured I'd share my answers now that you've each added yours.
I would be happy with the following:
- Six points from 1st place in the league
- Any result in the Super Cup
- Quarterfinalists in the Champions League
- Quarterfinalists in the Carling Cup
- Semifinalists in the FA Cup
The league is by far my top priority, and if we can get closer to winning than six points behind the leaders, I'd be inclined to forgive underperformance in other areas. But these are the minimum results I'd like to see in all competitions -- anything below them should probably be classified as a failure unless there are extraordinary circumstances.
What think you? I hope you've already voted, but feel free to have your say in the comments as well.