John Obi Mikel names the manager Chelsea players purposely got sacked by calling Roman Abramovich

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Chelsea have had their fair share of manager drama over the years.

Didier Drogba didn't like Luiz Filipe Scolari back in the late 2000s, meanwhile Mauricio Pochettino was controversially sacked just last year.

Avram Grant, Jose Mourinho (twice) and Roberto Di Matteo also all had controversial and notable departures from Stamford Bridge

Andre Villas-Boas also had a turbulent spell at Chelsea, and speaking to Stadium Astro, John Obi Mikel has been discussing the Portuguese manager's time in west London.

According to Mikel, Villas-Boas upset the applecart at Chelsea when he decided to bench a number of stalwarts, and the former midfielder says that the players actively tried to get Villas-Boas sacked, claiming that it was very easy to do so.

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Chelsea players got Andre Villas-Boas sacked

Mikel spoke about Villas-Boas' time at Chelsea.

The Nigerian says that Villas-Boas had a big ego at Stamford Bridge, and that he should never have tried to force the core of the team out.

Ultimately, Mikel says that the Chelsea squad knew how to get a manager sacked, and they did just that with Villas-Boas.

"AVB, what were your impressions of him when he joined? What did you know about him? Everyone said he was the next Mourinho," Mikel was asked.

"Yeah, he was. Only if he didn't come in with such a big ego and wanting to be the main man trying to force the core of the team out straight away," Mikel said.

"You don't come in from day one and say 'you, all of you, I'm putting you on the bench.' And you don't explain to them why they're not playing.

"You don't come in and say, Frank, you're out, JT, you're out. That's not going to work, you need those guys to be there. AVB didn't do that.

"We know how to get managers to leave the football club, for us, it was easy to get rid of him, just lose a few games and call the owner. For Roman we were the most important people at the football club, that's how it should be, the players are the most important people, not the manager. The players have to be happy."

Chelsea record after sacking Andre Villas-Boas

While it's never nice to see a manager lose his job, especially in this way when his players actively turn on him, sacking Villas-Boas was one of the best things Chelsea ever did.

Indeed, while the Chelsea players didn't act professionally when trying to get their manager sacked, what followed made it all worth it.

Roberto Di Matteo would replace Villas-Boas that season, and he would take Chelsea on something of a miracle run in the Champions League and the FA Cup.

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Sadly, Di Matteo wouldn't last too long beyond that season as he was sacked just months after winning the Champions League, but for those few months, he managed to get the best out of this group of players and achieve something historic.

Villas-Boas would ultimately end up at Tottenham where he was also promptly sacked after just 18 months.

Chelsea have had their fair share of managerial drama, but the Villas-Boas chapter does sound particularly toxic, especially towards the end.

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