BENITEZ NDIYE KOCHA BOMU ZAIDI KUWAHI KUTOKEA ZAMA ZA ABRAMOVICH

It's official. Rafa Benitez has endured the worst start to his tenure at Chelsea of all nine Roman Abramovich-era managers.

Many of Chelsea's dissenting fans may feel vindicated to know that the much-derided Spaniard has the worst record of the group with a paltry 56 per cent win rate at the club.

Although Andre Villas-Boas had the same win rate, Benitez has seen his side lose four games of the first 16 under his control, whereas the now Tottenham manager only lost three. 

It's official: Rafa Benitez has made the worst start to his career at Chelsea under Roman Abramovich

The special ones: Jose Mourinho (left) and Carlo Ancelotti each had a win rate of 81 per cent in their first 16 games at the helm 

Request: Chelsea fans have been opposed to Benitez since he replace Roberto Di Matteo

CHELSEA MANAGERS' FIRST 16 GAMES IN ABRAMOVICH ERA

Manager	Games	Wins	Draws	Losses	Goals for	Goals against	Win %
Claudio Ranieri	16	12	2	2	32	14	75
Jose Mourinho	16	13	2	1	26	4	81
Avram Grant	16	12	3	1	33	7	75
Felipe Scolari	16	11	3	2	37	7	69
Guus Hiddink	16	11	4	1	26	13	69
Carlo Ancelotti	16	13	1	2	37	10	81
Andre Villas-Boas	16	9	4	3	34	18	56
Roberto Di Matteo	16	11	4	1	37	14	69
Rafa Benitez	16	9	3	4	40	15	56

Perhaps unsurprisingly, according to the Opta stats, Jose Mourinho was the most successful in his early reign at Stamford Bridge.

The man they call the 'Special One' won an impressive 13 of his first 16 games (81 per cent). So too did the double-winning Italian Carlo Ancelotti, but he lost one more game than Mourinho in the early stages of his career in west London. 

Interestingly, Benitez's Chelsea have scored the most goals in his short spell in charge than any of the others, with an 8-0 home win over Aston Villa helping them on their way to an unsurpassed 40. 

Villas-Boas conceded the most goals in his first 16 games at the helm, as he watched his side let 18 goals in. Mourinho's Chelsea were incredibly stingy, conceding just four goals.

Benitez has been the subject of chants and banners from the Chelsea faithful, who have not hidden their disdain at his appointment after he replaced the Champions League-winning Roberto Di Matteo earlier this season. 

Previous bosses: Andre Villas-Boas (right) made a similarly poor start to his reign, as Felipe Scolari (left) won 11 of his first 16 games in charge 

Short spell: Guus Hiddink (right) had a relatively successful stint as Chelsea manager

Hero: Di Matteo was sacked despite delivering the Champions League to Roman Ambramovich

Shrugged off: Avram Grant lost only one of his first 16 games in charge after succeeding Mourinho

He and misfiring striker Fernando Torres have been targeted in recent weeks at Stamford Bridge after a string of disappointing results.

Any remaining title hopes for the Blues were left in tatters on Wednesday evening when Chelsea spurned a two-goal lead to allow Southampton back into the game to draw 2-2., leaving them 13 points behind leaders Manchester United.

Benitez did little to endear himself any further to the home support when he replaced crowd favourite Frank Lampard with Torres in the second half. 

Waving goodbye: Claudio Ranieri was in charge when Bramovich took charge of the club

Satisfied? Abramovich has had nine managers since taking control of Chelsea in 2003

Chelsea fans were also distraught to see the club's chances of winning the Capital One Cup decrease drastically as Swansea stunned the Blues with a 2-0 win at the Bridge on January 10. 

Worse still for Benitez, one of his four losses in charge came against west London rivals and Premier League basement boys Queens Park Rangers.

Benitez has found it extremely difficult to get results at Stamford Bridge and has only managed two victories from seven home games.

The interim manager is likely to be moved on by Abramovich in summer, but with top target Pep Guardiola snubbing the Russian billionaire's riches to move to Bundesliga outfit Bayern Munich, it is unclear who will take charge if and when the former Liverpool boss departs. 

BENITEZ STRUGGLES TO FIND FORM AT HOME 

Chelsea have managed just two victories - albeit high-scoring ones - from their seven home matches in all competitions under Rafa Benitez, who has been jeered by Chelsea fans at every game.

It is now three matches since Chelsea last tasted victory at home and the natives are getting restless.

Ahead of Arsenal's visit to Stamford Bridge on Sunday, Sportsmail takes a look at Chelsea's home-sickness under Benitez.

November 25: Chelsea 0 Manchester City 0 (Barclays Premier League)
Chelsea kept their first clean sheet in 11 matches but Benitez (right) was jeered and booed by the home fans, angry that Roberto Di Matteo had been sacked.

November 28: Chelsea 0 Fulham 0 (Barclays Premier League)

Another uninspiring goalless draw from Chelsea, who toiled against a well-organised Fulham side. Benitez and Fernando Torres bore the brunt of the fans' frustrations.

January 2: Chelsea 0 QPR 1 (Barclays Premier League)

Chelsea's west London rivals QPR won at Stamford Bridge for the first time in two decades with a goal from former Chelsea midfielder Shaun Wright-Phillips.

January 9: Chelsea 0 Swansea 2 (Capital One Cup, semi-final first leg)

Chelsea were punished for another poor performance and Benitez was showered with more abuse from the stands, mainly for not bringing on new striker Demba Ba, as Swansea took charge of the tie.

January 16: Chelsea 2 Southampton 2 (Barclays Premier League)
Chelsea were cruising at 2-0 with goals from Ba and Eden Hazard but they allowed relegation-battling Southampton to hit back and claim the draw.

 

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Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2264430/Rafael-Benitez-makes-worst-start-Chelsea-manager-Roman-Abramovich-era.html#ixzz2IKvPmiWB
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Friday, January 18, 2013