Is Mourinho really the answer?

Chelsea supporters, whose views have been at best marginalised and at worst totally ignored in the decade since Roman Abramovich arrived in London, are celebrating being heard at last after Rafa Benitez gave the strongest hint yet that he will handing over to Jose Mourinho when his contract ends in June.

But will it prove a hollow victory?

Interim manager Benitez will lead his team against Tottenham at Stamford Bridge tonight knowing three points will secure Champions League football a week before he also takes Chelsea to a Europa League final; an impressive achievement under the circumstances and one which at any other club would guarantee at least a shot at earning the job permanently.

However owner Abramovich, swayed by the chants from the Matthew Harding Stand and perhaps pricked by nostalgia, looks certain to opt for the Special One instead.

It is, on the face of it, the first time since the Russian arrived at Chelsea in 2003 that he has allowed emotion to play any part in any decision regarding the management of his team.

He was ruthless, for instance, in dismissing Claudio Ranieri even though the Italian had taken Chelsea into the top two and to the semi-finals of the Champions League; and he was even colder when axing the popular Carlo Ancelotti, who had guided Chelsea to their first ever FA Cup and Premier League double.

Before that he also showed the same lack of emotion in firing even the great Mourinho despite everything the Portuguese had achieved in his first spell at Stamford Bridge.

So what’s changed? Because it certainly looks like the Special One is coming home. “The next year there will be another manager,” Benitez said yesterday. “I think everybody knows who will be here.”

Later Benitez was asked, rather cheekily perhaps, if he would talk to his successor about the players he will leave behind.

“You think he will ask me?” was the Spaniard sardonic response; and his smile told the rest of the story.

Whatever happens, then, it won’t be Benitez who takes Chelsea forward, even though players such as David Luiz, Juan Mata, Eden Hazard and Oscar — the men regarded as the ‘new Chelsea’ and the players on whom Abramovich was urging Andre Villas-Boas to base his team at the expense of the old guard — have been fulsome and public in their praise of the way he has changed the balance and tactics of the team.

There may well now be an expectation that some of those changes will be reversed; that Lampard will be handed a new contract, that Terry will be restored to the team and the captaincy and that the spirit of the old Chelsea will prevail.

But there’s the problem.

Benitez has made significant progress in completing the job that AVB began, preparing Chelsea for metamorphosis; slowly turning David Luiz into a future captain, polishing the midfield into a diamond that can survive without Lampard. But now Mourinho will arrive, no doubt spend big in the transfer market and start the job again.

It may well work; the Special One’s history tells you it will; and for certain Chelsea will be a positive, united force in the early days. But there’s a nagging fear that it may not last.

Mourinho left Stamford Bridge, remember, for three reasons: because he fell out with Abramovich, because his pragmatic style was not attractive enough for the owner and because his boorish behaviour dragged the club through the mud on too many occasions. And, let’s be honest, only one of those issues has altered at all in the ensuing years.

In his absence, Chelsea have continued to be successful; but the question that remains unanswered is whether the club can continue to progress without eventually opting for some managerial stability.

“I think you have been talking about that for years,” said Benitez. “In England stability was a key factor in the success of some clubs, not so much in other parts of Europe. But as a manager I would say it’s always easier to have more time to impose ideas and tactics. But it’s not my job to criticise anyone.”

What is undeniably Benitez’s job, however — and even Mourinho will be hoping he completes it successfully — is to beat Tottenham and secure Champions League football for his successor; but after that it’s goodbye.

“When you are in a team and enjoy working with the players and the staff; it’s alway a little bit sad when you have to go,” Benitez concluded.

It’s fair to say Chelsea supporters won’t be weeping with him; but they may find an underlying sense of uneasiness amidst the celebrations.