Andre Villas-Boas always knew he would have to be prolific in terms of results rather than words to keep the Chelsea manager's job he was axed from on Sunday after less than nine months in charge.

Owner Roman Abramovich's experiment to bring in an upcoming manager rather than the established names he had employed in the past failed for the same reason that proved the undoing of the Russian's other six appointments.

Trophies are the currency the west London club deals in and with Chelsea way off the Premier League pace in fifth and facing an imminent Champions League exit, the sacking many had forecast finally happened following a seventh league defeat on Saturday.

"When you come to Chelsea, you know one thing that you need (is) to bring results and show that the team is going the right way," Avram Grant, dismissed by Chelsea in 2008 after taking it to the Champions League final, said.

"It's all about results ... The results were not so good and the football was not so good - I (would) always like that there (was) more patience but we could expect this, no?"

When he was appointed last June, Villas-Boas was tasked with bringing "greater successes in major domestic and European competitions" to the club, who showed him the door saying "the results and performances of the team have not been good enough".

With an earnest expression and ability to articulate his thoughts in a second language better than his peers sometimes manage in their native tongue, the intelligence of the man known as "AVB" was never in doubt, even if his authority was.

At 34 years old, the Portuguese was the youngest man managing in England's top flight and reports of rifts with Stamford Bridge's senior players, who are about the same age as him, circulated for months. Midfielder Frank Lampard has described his relationship with the Portguese as having "not been ideal", while newspapers reported last month that several players had questioned their manager's tactics.

The surprising decision to leave the experienced trio of Lampard, Michael Essien and Ashley Cole on the bench for last month's 3-1 Champions League last-16 first-leg defeat at Napoli added further fuel to the speculation his days were numbered.

When Abramovich spent several days at the club's training ground last month, the manager's future looked even more bleak, especially when Villas-Boas declared he did not require the full backing of his squad, only the support of the owner.

That support has finally gone at a time when the 2010 Premier League champion is in danger of not even qualifying for next season's Champions League, the competition Abramovich is known to yearn for more than any other.

Chelsea has never failed to finish in the top four since the Russian billionaire bought the club in 2003 and has put former assistant Roberto di Matteo in charge on an interim basis to try to ensure that continues.