HE LASTED seven months, just three less than his predecessor. One was a World Cup-winning manager while the other had steered Chelsea to their first ever Champions League final.
And yet, like Avram Grant before him, Luiz Felipe Scolari has been removed from the Chelsea office. It has been less than two years since the Jose Mourinho era at Stamford Bridge, but it seems no man is capable of filling the Portuguese’s stylish trench coat.
Scolari and Grant each had a winning percentage of more than 55 per cent, better than 4 of the 5 Chelsea managers before them. And yet, those four men– Glenn Hoddle, Ruud Gullit, Gianluca Vialli and Claudio Ranieri, kept their jobs for a combined 11 years.
What’s changed then?
Money. Big money. £3.8 billion to be exact. That was Roman Abramovich’s estimated personal wealth back in 2003 when he bought the London club. When the Russian oligarch arrived, he brought with him a hunger for success that was insatiable and impatient in equal measure.
Alex Ferguson, talked of his surprise at the Brazilian’s dismissal, and said: “It is a sign of the times. There is absolutely no patience in the world now.”
Maybe Ferguson has a point. Unfortunately, after investing more than £600 million and seeing the vision of his “Chelsea project” jeopardised, Abramovich had to act. It was swift, ruthless, and in all likelihood, rash.
Over a short span of time, Chelsea have fallen from a great height. Back-to-back league titles, Carling Cup and FA Cup victories, seem an almost distant memory.
Mourinho’s last league game in September 2007 was a 0-0 draw at home to Blackburn. Four of his starters on that day also started on Saturday for Scolari.
He might be in a different country with a different team, but Mourinho’s presence in West London is still strongly felt. Of his nine “untouchables”, only Claude Makelele is no longer at Chelsea. The core of the team, remains distinctively Mourinho’s.
The burly, moustachioed Scolari, or Big Phil as he is affectionately known, was never going to match the dashing Mourinho in the charisma department.
When asked if he was “the Special One” at the beginning of the season by the media, it was a humble Scolari who said: “Yes, I am special for my friends and for my family, no more.”
But what about as a manager, someone prodded. To which he replied: “As a manager? So-so.”
Grant, in his first press conference as Chelsea manager, was similarly self-effacing in an assessment of himself when compared to Mourinho. He said: “I am a normal person.”
It appears, 17 months on, that Chelsea are still waiting for another special someone to take over.