Chelsea's Premier League record under interim managers

Chelsea have a uniquely familiar relationship with interim managers among Premier League clubs.

The various caretaker managers to have been briskly ushered into the hot seat at Stamford Bridge have taken charge of more than two seasons' worth of Premier League games between them. No other club in the history of the competition can come near to such a tally.

The notoriously trigger-happy Roman Abramovich may have gone but the new regime led by Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital appear to be just as reactionary - if not more so, as Bruno Saltor takes the place of the departed Graham Potter on a temporary basis.

The former Brighton skipper is just the latest in a line of Chelsea bosses that have strictly lived game-by-game.

David Webb

The most habitual employers of caretakers managers were also the first ever to use the trick in the Premier League era. Long before Abramovich caught a glimpse of Stamford Bridge from a helicopter flying across London, Ken Bates was firmly at the helm and became the first owner to fire a manager in the inaugural season of the Premier League.

Ian Porterfield was the only manager that didn't see out the 1992/93 campaign, relieved of his duties the day after Valentine's Day with the Blues hovering in 11th after a ruinous run of form over the festive period.

David Webb, scorer of the winning goal in the 1970 FA Cup final, steadied the ship for the final three months of the season. The London-born former full-back didn't lose a single game at Stamford Bridge but failed to improve upon a mid-table finish, ultimately making way for Glenn Hoddle during the offseason.

Graham Rix

Graham Rix only took charge of one Premier League match at the turn of the century after Gianluca Vialli's hasty departure, a 2-0 loss at home to Leicester City. Yet, it's incredible he was even in a position to temporarily hold the fort alongside Ray Wilkins while Claudio Ranieri looking on from the Stamford Bridge stands.

Just a year before glumly watching Muzzy Izzet and Stan Collymore find the net in front of a crowd still chanting Vialli's name, Rix had been in prison for statutory rape. Rix only served six of a 12-month sentence awarded in March 1999 and allegations of 'racist bullying' while a Chelsea youth team coach have recently come to light.

Guus Hiddink (part one)

Guus Hiddink is one of the few individuals that became a coach before he was a player. After ditching ideas of becoming a farmer in his native Netherlands, Hiddink took up a role as an assistant at De Graafschap before his manager spotted his playing talent. 15 years later, Hiddink retired from playing and returned to his primary passion, coaching.

Towards the end of his spell as one of Europe's leading tacticians, Hiddink replaced Luiz Felipe Scolari at Chelsea in February 2009. While piling up 34 points from a possible 39 in the league, the Harley Davidson enthusiast led the Blues to the Champions League semi-finals - losing the second leg to eventual champions Barcelona in a hotly controversial tie - and a triumphant FA Cup final.

This is really where the cult of the interim in west London was born.

Roberto Di Matteo

Roberto Di Matteo furthered the myth of temporary success with an interim spell that was so good he was appointed on a permanent basis. The former Italy international may have collected just 18 points from the final 11 league games of the season after Andre Villas-Boas was jettisoned but he crucially oversaw a miraculous Champions League triumph in 2012.

Trailing Napoli 3-1 from the first leg of the round of 16 in Naples, goals from three pillars of the team - Didier Drogba, John Terry and Frank Lampard - forced the tie into extra time at Stamford Bridge. Branislav Ivanovic popped up with a 106th-minute winner, starting an unlikely run which culminated in the club's first-ever European Cup.

Di Matteo also won the FA Cup that May but could only last until November before Chelsea's imminent Champions League group stage exit signed his P45.

Rafa Benitez

Di Matteo was informed of his departure at 4am after a 3-0 loss to Juventus. Barely 16 hours later, Rafa Benitez was presented as an unlikely - and deeply unliked - interim option.

Amid a constant fug of distrust from his own club's fanbase, Benitez couldn't avoid Chelsea becoming the first reigning champions to bow out of the Champions League in the group stage but he did oversee a Europa League triumph for the west Londoners.

Benitez actually averaged fewer points per game (1.96) than Di Matteo had recorded (2.00) in the 2012/13 Premier League season but steered Chelsea into third place before his old sparring partner, Jose Mourinho, returned on a permanent basis.

Guus Hiddink (part two)

The bat signal went up for the veteran Dutch coach again in 2015 - although, Chelsea were in a far stickier situation compared to Hiddink's first spell in charge. By the time Mourinho's venomous toxicity had finally forced Abramovich's hand, the Blues were 16th, just one point above the relegation zone.

Hiddink couldn't quite replicate the trophy heroics of his previous temporary tenure but lost just three of his 22 league matches - only that season's surprise champions Leicester City recorded fewer defeats in the same period.

Full Premier League record of Chelsea's interim managers

LISTEN NOW

Southampton's Operations and Sustainability Manager Caroline Carlin and LWFC supporters club founder Jo Goodall join Shebahn Aherne to have football's climate conversation about what football clubs are doing to reduce their carbon footprint. Pledgeball's Heather Ashworth also gives an update on the Pledgeball League table.

If you can't see this embed, click here to listen to the podcast!