Chelsea interim manager Roberto Di Matteo has been given so much kudos but so few guarantees
Amid the maelstrom of Chelsea’s triumph in Barcelona, Roberto Di Matteo sought out a rare moment of serenity and solitude.
Tucked away from prying lenses beside the tunnel at the Nou Camp, he read a text message from his son and began to compose himself, calling his wife Zoe and their children to share the sheer dizzying import of having led a team to the Champions League final. “I just needed a few minutes on my own, to calm down,” he explained.
While most interim managers would look covetously at the turnaround that Di Matteo has engineered at Chelsea, few would envy his groaning in-tray of ominous assignments. In the space of just three weeks, the Italian must survive Sunday’s highly-charged west London derby with QPR, a confrontation with fourth-place rivals Newcastle on Wednesday night, an FA Cup final next Saturday, pivotal league clashes with Liverpool and Blackburn, and — most dauntingly of all — the epic European encounter with Bayern Munich on May 19.