Chelsea sack assistant Ten Cate after firing Avram Grant

Filed in archive Transfer rumours on May 29, 2008

Chelsea assistant manager, Henk Ten Cate, has followed his former boss Avram Grant through the exit door at Stamford Bridge.

This is no great surprise although only a couple days ago, Ten Cate was quoted as saying, "Half an hour before Chelsea made the message about Grant officially known, I was called by the chief executive Peter Kenyon. He informed me that the departure of Grant will not affect me. I'd rather go on that than all those newspaper reports. That appointment was long planned and therefore separate from recent developments. In January I had one such evaluation and then we said we would do again after the season. I have a contract until 2010."

It would appear then that although the news is no surprise to anyone else, it may have come as a bit of a shock to Ten Cate himself!

There had been stories circulating that he would be staying at Stamford Bridge because Frank Rijkaard was going to get the job and he has worked with him before. That story has drifted away as it becomes less likely that Rijkaard will take the Chelsea hot seat.

The current names in the frame are Roberto Mancini, Felipe Scolari, Guus Hiddink and Mark Hughes. Others mentioned have been Carlo Ancelotti, Marcello Lippi and Didier Deschamps. In fact, I would guess that if you regard yourself as a top European manager you would be mightily upset if your name hadn't been linked to the vacancy. If I was in that position I would phone the tabloids anonymously to tell them that I was being chased by Abramovich, just for the sake of appearances.

So the ridiculous charade and media circus continues. Scolari turned down the England job because of the possible intrusion of the English press. The furore being conducted around the Chelsea job is hardly likely to entice him to get the plane to Heathrow.

I don't know who will get the job and I am rapidly beginning not to care! I promise not to write about it again until someone is actually appointed.