Chelsea unexpectedly contacted former Thai club coach to replace Conte
The Daily Mail (UK) reported that Chelsea's board of directors is targeting Fulham coach Slavisa Jokanovic to replace Antonio Conte when the 2017-2018 season ends.
Chelsea have been playing poorly recently. That has caused them to drop to 5th place in the Premier League table with only 53 points after 29 matches, 5 points behind 4th-placed Tottenham. If they do not improve their performance soon, “The Blues” will have a hard time competing for a place in the Top 4 when the season ends.
In the Champions League, Chelsea were held to a 1-1 draw by Barcelona in the first leg. This result put them at risk of being eliminated from Europe's most prestigious tournament because Barca had a stronger squad and played the second leg at home.
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Coach Jokanovic is targeted by Chelsea to replace Conte. |
In addition to Chelsea's poor performance, coach Conte also made billionaire Roman Abramovich "irritated" when he often complained about the team's transfer budget even though he was given 239.5 million pounds to strengthen the squad in the 2017-2018 season.
Too disappointed with coach Conte, Abramovich is planning to replace the Italian strategist. The names that the Russian billionaire has put in his sights include Luis Enrique, Louis van Gaal, Carlo Ancelotti (free), Maurizio Sarri (Mapoli).
Recently, Abramovich has put former Chelsea player Slavisa Jokanovic in his sights. Jokanovic previously played for the Stamford Bridge team from 2000-2002. Currently, he is leading Fulham.
Since taking up coaching in 2007, Coach Jokanovic's most notable achievements were helping FK Partizan win the Serbian National Championship twice, the Serbian National Cup twice, and leading Muangthong United to the Thai League championship.