Chelsea sack Ten Cate

Chelsea have let go of Henk Ten Cate and it will come as a bit of a surprise to the Dutchman.

This is what he had to say on Tuesday:

“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.”

Some people are saying this latest development makes it more unlikely that Frank Rijkaard will become the new Chelsea manager, but I’m not too sure.

Although Roberto Mancini is the favourite to take over after being sacked from Inter, what Chelsea need now is a manager that can get them playing the attractive football that Abramovich craves, and I don’t believe Mancini or any of the other names being mentioned can deliver, but Rijkaard certainly can.