Chelsea dressing room 'unrest' prompted huge change and Roman Abramovich first

Back on this day in 2012, Chelsea made the decision to part ways with Andre Villas-Boas by giving him the sack.

The change came swiftly after a disappointing 1-0 loss to West Brom, which saw the Blues drop to fifth place in the Premier League after managing only five victories from their last 15 matches across all competitions. Villas-Boas was hired on a hefty deal — about £13.3 million — as Carlo Ancelotti's successor by the club's owner at the time, Roman Abramovich in June 2011. He was tasked with rejuvenating an ageing squad after pulling off a spectacular quadruple win with Porto.

However, his tenure began facing early pressures and rumours of tension within the dressing room coupled with a dip in form caused the club to take action just before an FA Cup journey to Birmingham and a looming Champions League clash against Napoli. The club announced: «Unfortunately the results and performances of the team have not been good enough and were showing no signs of improving at a key time in the season.»

Chelsea headache solved by Mauricio Pochettino as Nicolas Jackson truth revealed vs Brentford

Brutal Chelsea message epitomises mess as Mauricio Pochettino squad truth made abundantly clear

Recognising their ongoing participation in the Champions League and the FA Cup, as well as their hunt for a spot in the Premier League top-four, Chelsea's statement added: «The club is still competing in the latter stages of the UEFA Champions League and the FA Cup, as well as challenging for a top-four spot in the Premier League, and we aim to remain as competitive as possible on all fronts. With that in mind, we felt our only option was to make a change at this time.»

Assistant manager Roberto Di Matteo was put in temporary charge but