At 19:02 UTC on 6 May, just after a goalless draw at Burnley, Kiran bought 62 more shares in Chelsea for 726.94 SVC. At 19:56 he resigned as their manager.

Nicky had quit Strasbourg 80 seconds before Kiran resigned. Thirty seconds after Kiran left, Nicky was in the Chelsea dugout. Fourteen seconds after that, Kiran was in Strasbourg's. The two men had swapped clubs in 124 seconds.

Four months later Kiran is back at Chelsea, and they are winning again.

The fan

He has never hidden why he wanted this job. When he took over on 31 January 2025, he wrote his own press release:

As a life long Chelsea fan, it's a huge honour to be managing a club I dearly care about. It feels like a dream to actually be here.

The records back up the devotion. His first Chelsea spell, on launch day, lasted 95 minutes. After three games at Tottenham, he left Spurs and started at Chelsea in the same second. Chelsea finished sixth in Season 1, then fourth in Season 2 with 64 points and only 21 goals conceded. By February 2025, Neoscythe was already saying he "has done the business for Chelsea since he took charge".

He also worried about losing the job. In January 2026, unandaluz told him "a random manager took your position at Chelsea while you were inactive." Kiran replied: "What the heck is going on with this game". When taddy2011 explained it was a joke, he answered: "Thank goodness 😭".

The wobble

Season 3 was harder. In his 25 league games that season, Chelsea scored 15 goals and took 31 points. They finished 12th.

At the same time, the game was getting harder for him to use. In March he told Discord he always played on mobile, then asked how to buy POL now that he couldn't "transfer for free". When someone told him how much he would need, he said: "I only manage one club 🤣 so 33 pol would probably be more than enough". Earlier that night he had written:

They must think I'm made of money 😭

He made no transfers at all between 24 January and 11 September. His last Discord post was on 4 April, and he has never explained the move. One detail is in the records: he had held Strasbourg influence since 4 January 2025, a week before Season 1 kicked off.

Four months away

Strasbourg finished fifth in France in Season 3 with Kiran in charge at the end. They had been 11th and eighth in the two seasons before. Season 4 went worse: three wins and seven goals in 12 league games, with no goals in his last three.

Chelsea struggled without him. Nicky lasted one game and Tyrese twelve. Arne_Lock, confirmed by a vote in July, took 12 points from 12 league games. His side scored six goals and lost their last three without scoring.

Voting himself home

On 2 September, hours before a 2-0 home defeat by Bournemouth, a ballot opened to make Kiran manager again. Four accounts voted for him: Kiran himself, Nickx, Zacufo and protagonist. protagonist holds 220,275 of Chelsea's 253,605 influence shares, about 87%. The vote finished 227,518 to nil.

At 15:18:40 UTC on 6 September, three things happened in the same second: Kiran left Strasbourg, Arne_Lock left Chelsea, and Kiran became Chelsea manager. Roland1nh0FinalBoss took over Strasbourg 21 seconds later.

Since then: - League: seven wins, one draw, two defeats, so 22 points out of a possible 30 - Goals: 14 scored, four conceded, six clean sheets - Biggest wins: 2-1 away at London Red and 1-0 at home to Strategos's Crystal Palace - Setbacks: 1-0 defeats by Nottingham and at Liverpool, plus a cup exit at Brighton

Chelsea are eighth on 34 points. Only three points separate the six clubs from third to eighth.

How he plays

He has used a 4-2-3-1 in seven of his last ten matches and a Passing style in seven. Most of the planning is in his late-game orders. His submitted plan has six conditional switches from the hour onwards. In one match situation the team drops to Normal at 65 minutes, then to Defensive at 75, 80 and 85. In another they keep passing, and David Neres and Tyrique George come off the bench. Three of his wins have been by a single goal.

Ruthless seller, true believer

In his first spell he signed nine players and sold eight, for a net spend of 45.31M SVC in fees. Five of his signings are in the current matchday squad, including Neres, bought from Napoli for 39.43M five days after his return.

He doesn't keep players out of sentiment. Marc Cucurella was sold to Sevilla Red for 10.14M four days before Kiran first arrived. Kiran bought him back for 46.73M, then sold him to Napoli for 52.58M in September. When he sold Jadon Sancho to Donetsk for 40.07M, GreenFuryx called it a betrayal. Kiran replied:

SHOULD'VE BEEN QUICKER

When he believes in a player, he backs him with his own money. He started buying influence in Estêvão Almeida on 29 January 2025, two days before taking the Chelsea job, and had 38,355 shares by May. Chelsea paid 49.47M for the player that July. The stake has paid Kiran 259.54 SVC in dividends. Estêvão, now rated 79, is not in the current squad of 18.

What drives him

It isn't the pay. His manager's wages across three clubs add up to 699.99 SVC. His influence dividends total 27,451.79 SVC. He is a fan who invests, and he was buying Chelsea shares even on the night he left.

There is one problem going into the weekend. Kiran last logged in on Tuesday night, before Abdul-Nasir Adarabioyo picked up a four-day knock against Burton. The team he has submitted for Saturday's trip to Leeds still names the centre-back.