Did Chelsea success help bring down Redknapp and Dalglish?

Andre-Villas Boas was the man who started the season at Chelsea, yet his time in charge was a brief one fans would rather erase from their memory.

Any early promise was negated by a New Year slump, and when he was sacked he had the lowest win percentage of any Chelsea manager under Roman Abramovich.

The Russian owner's lack of patience was roundly criticised at the time - 'How are Chelsea ever going to build and be successful if they don't give a manager time?', 'Did Roman push the panic button?' - were just two of the typical questions.

Any body questioning Abramovich's decision has gone quiet, but even the man himself could not surely have expected the end to the season and impact Roberto di Matteo had.

It started with turning around their 3-1 deficit against Napoli and ended with an FA Cup and Champions League triumph - it was a fairytale end to the season for Chelsea and their fans.

Now for the question, has it and will it encourage chairmen to dispense with the services of their managers in future?

The trigger-happy hire and fire phenomenon is not new, it was present before Abramovich and will remain one day when he is no longer involved with the Blues.

Di Matteo was even the victim of it at West Brom. Results started to dip and he was replaced by Roy Hodgson.

Yet any club having a mid-season wobble will be able to reference Di Matteo's impact at Chelsea for proof of just what can happen if a chairman or owner is brave enough to bite the bullet.

Even post-season you cannot help but wonder if the success of changing their manager inspired others to do the same.

Two high-profile casualties were Kenny Dalglish at Liverpool and Harry Redknapp at Tottenham. Many Liverpool fans agreed Dalglish had to be sacked after an abysmal season performing far below expectations and finishing eighth.

Yet a Carling Cup win, a run to the FA Cup final and European qualification gave him hope, but American owners FSG pushed the trigger for the second time in their short reign at Anfield.

Harry Redknapp was a lot more harsher done by, fourth for Spurs was a good result on the face of it, but circumstances dictated there was no Champions League football as a reward. In that sense Di Matteo's success may just have had a direct effect on Redknapp's sacking, even though Harry said after the even he believed he would have been fired regardless.

Martin O'Neill's replacement of Steve Bruce was another hire-and-fire which had success, early success in any case. His first two months in charge were as good as any body else in the league, but after that they dipped. Di Matteo will have to prove next season he is no flash in the pan.

Yet for chairmen and clubs wanting a quick fix, Di Matteo has proved just what can be achieved. Redknapp and Dalglish may have been sacked regardless, but FSG and Daniel Levy may just have looked over to Chelsea and taken note of what can happen if you fire an under-achieving manager.

Don't get us wrong, the reasons for Redknapp and Dalglish's firings were multi-faceted, but you can't help wonder if the desire to get rid was intensified by the proven success of a Russian oligarch man who dared to gamble the roulette wheel of sporting fate.

There is no way of really knowing if the pair were affected by Di Matteo's success, but managers should continue to look over their shoulders next season - the Chelsea boss included - because if this season proved anything, it was that Roman's way can be right, like it or not.

Will we see more hiring and firing than ever next season?

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