Abramovich lifts the
Champions League trophy

Roman Rule: How long till football clubs become Americanised franchises and is "Hire and Fire" the future? 

On the evening of the 19th of May 2012, Didier Drogba converted the deciding spot kick in a tense penalty shootout to seal one of the most famous final victories for Chelsea Football Club in their extensive history. 

Approximately 11 months later, the situation is less elation and more damage limitation. Following a turbulent season in which FA Cup and Champions League winning coach Roberto Di Matteo was cruelly sacked in November, following a key defeat in Italy to European powerhouse Juventus, despite sitting top of the Premier League in October after an emphatic 4-2 win over London rivals Spurs. 

Ex-Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez came in, slapped with a "Interim Manager" tag and instructed to hold the team together until the long overdue appointment of ex-Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola, provided he made himself available following his self imposed exile, with Benitez's appointment met with the chagrin of Chelsea fans everywhere. Guardiola has now signed a 3 year deal with German giants Bayern Munich, to take over as manager at the beginning of the 2013/2014 season, leaving Chelsea to back Benitez until the end of the season and leaving Mr Abramovich with a severed amount of egg on his face.

Chairman Bruce Buck and
Chief Executive Ron Gourlay: Whos in charge?

The often overused expression of "transition season" has been far too commonplace in Abramovich's tenure as Chelsea owner and is set to be labelled this yet again if this yields yet a trophy-less season. Despite Chelsea's managerial hot seat being as stable as a North Korean peace treaty in recent years, no one can argue that he has delivered undoubted success. 3 Premier League Trophies, 3 FA Cups, 2 League Cups and 1 Champions League (2 Community Shields if we are pushing it) coupled with 9 managers (10 if we included Ray Wilkins 1 game in temporary charge), show the level of achievement Abramovich has instilled into the club. 

With a mass influx of American owners and chairman into the Premier League (Randy Lerner at Aston Villa, John W Henry at Liverpool, Stan Kroenke at Arsenal not to mention the Glazer family at Man Utd) are these historic English clubs being simply regarded as franchises to deliver instant success coupled with a lack of emotional involvement? In the modern NFL, the average coaching tenure is only 3.2 seasons, exemplified by the fact that their season only running from September to early January. Bruce Buck, an American lawyer, is the current chairman at Chelsea Football Club and a key adviser to Abramovich himself. The fact of the matter is a man coming from no footballing background has become the no.2 person at one of the biggest clubs in the country, where he has a say in the "Hiring and Firing" of these beloved managers and players in the modern game. Men like Roberto Di Matteo and Jose Mourinho. Has football finally bitten the bullet and become a huge, global,  financial juggernaut where clubs are franchises? The emergence of newly founded franchise clubs like MK Dons, AFC Wimbledon and Rangers, where they simply change location or enter bankruptcy, out of the wreckage of their former teams would suggest so.

50 Million Pound man: Was Torres signed by Abramovich?

If the Premier League goes the way of the NFL or Major League Baseball, then the most worrying aspect of that would be the role of the "General Manager". Similar to the controversial position of "Director of Football" or "Technical Director", this position concerns with off the field matters such as Player and Staff Contracts, Transfers and Head of Scouting. At a club where Abramovich, reportedly, played an important role in the signings of Andriy Shevchenko and Fernando Torres for combined fees of £85 Million, is the threat of an owner or chairman, appointing themselves a General Manager and organising transfers and contracts, possible in the Premiership? Even more concerning would be the fact that a huge majority of the time GM's have no professional playing or coaching experience. Out of 30 Major League Baseball teams, only 5 of their General Managers played professionally and only a few others playing at College or High School level. None of them have any coaching experience whatsoever. 

Football Clubs could be heading the way of McDonald's or Starbucks, something that would be regarded as utterly ridiculous 15 or 20 years ago. The future of football is on a knife edge, with the vast influx of foreign owners growing in English football across all the divisions. Would a salary cap bridge the gap between teams who have and teams who haven't? Possibly. Is FIFA's long awaited protocol of Financial Fair Play a way to remove the possibility of quick buying and selling of teams? Perhaps. Roman's ruble's have undoubtedly pushed Chelsea into the position they are in today, but is he looking to expand his dictatorship further into more worrying territory?