Roberto Di Matteo
The former West Brom manager and Blues player was promoted from assistant to manager on a temporary basis following the dismissal of AVB.
Yet no one could have predicted what the Italian would oversee in 2012, with a dramatic Champions League adventure from start to finish.
First off Di Matteo guided Chelsea to a 4-1 win over Napoli in the second-leg after a 3-1 defeat in the first.
A 3-2 aggregate win in the semi-finals against favourites Barcelona set up a final with Bayern Munich that was eventually won on penalties – Drogba netting the decisive kick in his last game for the club.
Coupled with FA Cup triumph over Liverpool and Abramovich could hardly not give Di Matteo the job permanently, although a string of bad results saw him sacked by November.
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