Very few eyebrows were raised when Guus Hiddink was appointed Chelsea boss for the second time. There has certainly been an upturn in results and body language on the pitch. Even Diego Costa has started scoring again.
But spare a thought for Real Sosobad manager Daniel Shafron who put himself forward for the position. In a letter of application to Blues chairman Roman Abramovich, Shafron noted how he has led the east London club to double promotion two years after inception. He went on to say that he prides himself on his “organisation and tactical prowess” and described the signings of Matthew Geppert, Ashley Stanton and Hambling as “special” moments in his tenure.
Shafron has shown great willingness towards the cause, masterminding a 6-2 success over Temple Fortune, with a “terrible hangover” and he has “restructured the set-up, playing an attractive brand of football and scored an average of 2.75 goals a game”. Louis Van Gaal take note.
He went on to say that he would have been “prepared to balance the role with his day-to-day profession of property investment and development”. He finished by requesting that Chelsea “place on trial Josh Cohen, Elliott Coulton and James Law whom he considers adequate replacements for Ivanovic, Terry and Hazard – none of whom would moan, come with any trouble or cause any unrest”.
Only a fortnight later, Shafron received a polite response from Chelsea, to their credit, thanking him for expressing an interest in the role. Written by Elena Volkova from the office of Abramovich, the note commended Shafron on his “playing philosophy and achievements” with Sosobad, as well as his “strong professional background”.
Shafron gets 10 out of 10 from me for chutzpah. What tempted him, I wonder. Perhaps it was the fact that Abramovich has slightly deeper pockets than Sosobad chief Josh Hambling.
* Eli Guttman has returned to club management after recovering from Israel’s latest failure to reach a major tournament.
He signed a three-and-a-half year deal with Hapoel Tel Aviv and will be joined by another new face after the club signed former Barcelona and Manchester City academy midfielder Gai Assulin.
I caught a glimpse of Guttman’s voting form for the Ballon D’Or this week, won, of course, by the magician that is Lionel Messi. Guttman put down Cristiano Ronaldo as his first choice followed by Gareth Bale and Thomas Muller. Just how he excluded the Barcelona ace from his list is
beyond me.
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