Ranking all 16 Chelsea managers since 2003 from worst to best
Stamford Bridge has been home to something of a managerial carousel ever since Roman Abramovich took over Chelsea in 2003 – and that trend has continued under Todd Boehly.
Chelsea have gone through 16 (relatively) permanent managers in that time, plus several interim and caretaker bosses in between appointments, with Enzo Maresca the latest appointment to the Stamford Bridge hot seat.
We’ve ranked every Chelsea boss since 2003 to have managed a minimum of 10 games, meaning no Steve Holland or Ray Wilkins, but Rafa Benitez and Guus Hiddink.
16. Graham Potter
Having impressed at Brighton, Potter was lured to Stamford Bridge after the sacking of Thomas Tuchel in September 2022. It’s hard to think of a more ill-advised move for both player and club.
The Englishman never got going at Chelsea, not helped by the mad trolley dash of signings in the January window, but Chelsea had slipped into the bottom half by the time Potter was put out of his misery in April 2023.
He hasn’t managed since either. We don’t blame him for needing time to recover.
15. Frank Lampard (interim)
One win, two draws and eight defeats in 11 matches in the spring of 2023. Let’s move on quickly…
14. Andre Villas-Boas
We’re sorry, Andre, we liked you, but someone has to be the worst, and with a 48% win rate you are objectively the (joint) worst.
Plus, Chelsea paid a world-record €15million to snare you from Porto. It really didn’t work out, but that doesn’t mean you weren’t a very good right-hand man.
TRY A QUIZ: Can you name every Chelsea player to appear under Andre Villas-Boas?
13. Luiz Felipe Scolari
Big Phil was supposed to be a lot of fun and for a brief period, it looked like it was going to be. Deco arrived, Milan were swept aside 5-0 in pre-season and Chelsea lost only twice in the Premier League in the first half of the season.
But then the wheels started to fall off. The Blues were thrashed 3-0 by Manchester United and lost 2-0 at Anfield, and suddenly they looked like they might not make the top four, which was all it took for anyone in those Abramovich days.
As a side note, at his unveiling, Scolari was asked whether his decision to join Chelsea was financial and replied: “Yes, that is one of the reasons. I’m 59 and I don’t want to work as a coach until I’m 70. I want to retire in four or five years, so it was a financial matter but there are other things.”
He is now 73 years old… and is onto his ninth job since leaving Chelsea.
12. Avram Grant
We have no idea how Grant took Chelsea to a Champions League final. But he did.
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TRY A QUIZ: Can you name Chelsea’s top scorer for every Premier League season?
11. Claudio Ranieri
Ranieri did a great job prior to Abramovich’s arrival but spent just one season working for the Russian and in truth always seemed like something of a stopgap until a bigger name could arrive, despite being backed with £120million’s worth of new signings in the summer of 2003.
While he was unable to win a trophy with Chelsea, his achievements in 2003-04 on closer inspection were still pretty impressive.
The Blues finished second in the Premier League to Arsenal’s Invincibles while setting club records for the fewest goals conceded and highest points tally, also knocking the Gunners out of the Champions League on their way to the semi-finals.
But the defeat to Monaco at that stage highlighted Ranieri’s weaknesses, and David Platt’s analysis seemed a fair summation of the Italian: “Building a team that can win the title and actually steering this team to the title are two different matters entirely.”
10. Frank Lampard
Yes, we’ve put Frank Lampard – super Frank – below some very unpopular names. And yes, he brought through some brilliant academy players like Mason Mount and Reece James during a time when the club were banned from signing new players.
But super Frank didn’t win anything, did he? To us, a successful Chelsea manager, especially of the Abramovich era, has at least one major trophy to their name. He also had exactly the same points per game average as Villas-Boas.
Sorry, Blues, but Lampard falls down there.
9. Mauricio Pochettino
While Pochettino had Chelsea purring by the end of the 2023-24 season, salvaging sixth place and European football for the Blues, his sole year at Stamford Bridge failed to win over the fans.
Having spent £500million on transfers, the much-vaunted coach seemed baffled by his side’s inability to defend set pieces or hang onto leads.
Yes, Chelsea had an extremely inexperienced squad, but Pochettino’s job was to get Chelsea back into the Champions League – not scrape into the Conference League.
His ‘mutual’ departure looked harsh, but the outcry was more down to the continued instability at the club rather than Pochettino’s own achievements in the role.
8. Rafa Benitez
Tarnished by being generally loathed by Chelsea fans, Benitez still deserves plenty of credit for winning the Europa League and managing to get Fernando Torres to score some goals.
READ: 18 Chelsea signings who were meant to be the business… but weren’t
7. Guus Hiddink
A steady hand on the tiller Abramovich turned to twice to stabilise Chelsea.
After things went south under Scolari, Hiddink took over and led the Blues to 11 wins out of their remaining 13 Premier League fixtures while also lifting the FA Cup.
Were it not for some dodgy refereeing against Barcelona, Chelsea would have also made the Champions League final.
Let’s not mention his second spell after he inherited a squad left depressed by Jose Mourinho and signed Alexandre Pato.
6. Roberto Di Matteo
He won the Champions League. He actually won the Champions League. F*cking hell.
5. Maurizio Sarri
Context is key with Sarri, who took over a Chelsea squad which became disaffected under Antonio Conte with less than a month until the start of the Premier League season and a remit to change the playing philosophy of the club – all while there was uncertainty surrounding the Blues’ hierarchy.
Amid a backdrop of public anger and abuse from the terraces, he guided Chelsea back into the top four, lost the League Cup final on penalties to Pep Guardiola’s robots and thrashed Arsenal in the final of the Europa League.
It could have been the start of something interesting. In the end, it was another short-lived experiment.
4. Antonio Conte
Conte almost single-handedly brought the back three into vogue in England while Chelsea romped to the title in his first season.
Admittedly, things went awry the following year, but he still went out on the high of upsetting Manchester United in the FA Cup final.
Plus, he seems like quite a likeable nutcase.
3. Thomas Tuchel
Chelsea’s second Champions League-winning manager has done far more than Di Matteo in the league, hence his higher ranking.
He took Lampard’s relatively leaky team and – despite a slight drop-off in the second half of the 2021-22 season – turned them into a highly capable unit.
But Todd Boehly took exception to Tuchel telling him to keep his nose out and sacked him at the start of 2022-23. Plenty of Chelsea fans would love to see the German back at the Bridge.
2. Carlo Ancelotti
Couldn’t this have lasted a bit longer?
Chelsea played some of the most exciting football the Premier League had seen while winning their first league and cup double in Ancelotti’s first season, setting competition records for most goals scored, most home goals and best goal difference.
Like his compatriot Conte, he failed to replicate that success in his second campaign and ultimately paid the price. But that first season was special.
READ: Where are they now? Carlo Ancelotti’s 10 signings as Chelsea manager
1. Jose Mourinho
Even taking into account how it ended (twice), it just had to be, didn’t it?