Post by QPR Report on Feb 11, 2009 7:51:05 GMT
This from When Saturday Comes (WSC)
Corporate Chelsea sack Scolari
Tuesday 10 February ~
The radio reporter standing outside Stamford Bridge last night commented that fans “wanted to see the Chelsea of old”. Presumably this golden-era, “old” Chelsea is the one of three years ago rather than 30 years ago, or memories of Jose Mourinho as manager rather than Ray Wilkins as a player – he left on relegation in 1979. Nothing, of course, will ever be the same at Stamford Bridge since Roman Abramovich bought the club and no one is keener to remind us of this fact than the current Chelsea regime, in close collusion with sections of the media.
Nowhere is the tension between “old” and “old-old” Chelsea clearer than Tony Cascarino's column in the Times. This former Chelsea “legend” (eight goals in 40 games) has been holding forth today: “It doesn’t matter if you’re a manager who’s lifted the World Cup and you’re only seven months into your job. It wouldn’t surprise me if Chelsea’s stars had begun to lose faith in Luiz Felipe Scolari because top players are like Roman Abramovich, the club’s owner: they demand the best.” The message is clear, Chelsea are the very pinnacle of the footballing world – the fact that it is Tony Cascarino making this point makes it particularly jarring.
Scolari is the latest victim of a new boardroom machismo. Football was obviously changed radically by Abramovich's arrival at Chelsea but the corporate business and marketing-driven language of Premier League club executives has also increased since. By sacking Scolari, Chelsea are making a statement, that their standards are higher than others – very few other clubs could (or would) sack a manager of Scolari's stature after less than seven months in charge.
Indeed very few other clubs expect success every season or feel that they need it to capture as much of the international TV market as possible. Clearly, Abramovich is in complete control at Chelsea. Despite the rumours of player revolt and a divided dressing room, many reports suggested that Chelsea's owner ignored the advice of the ceremonial chief executive and chairman, Peter Kenyon and Bruce Buck respectively, in sacking Scolari. Kenyon, invariably a man for Chelsea's dirty work, is reportedly currently on holiday in Barbados.
Abramovich and his regime have been ably assisted in creating this vision of new Chelsea. Many of this morning's papers have written off Avram Grant as a temporary managerial appointment for the club on account of his name not being big enough, or his reputation sufficiently illustrious. All the top-division records set by clubs and players are now referred to in terms of the Premier League only, and enough time has now passed for many fans not to find this irritating or strange or, indeed, to know any different.
Luckily, the past is not as easy to hide and other reminders of older incarnations of Chelsea keep cropping up, even in speculation over the next manager. One the most potentially amusing rumours is that of a temporary joint role for captain John Terry and current caretaker Ray “Butch” Wilkins. And of course, one of main reasons that Scolari was sacked was the fear, in both playing and business terms, of missing out on a Champions League place. Their quarter-final first-leg of that competition is against Juventus on February 25, the club now managed by Claudio Rainieri, sacked by Roman Abramovich, then handsomely compensated, in 2004.
www.wsc.co.uk/content/view/2742/38/
The Times - Chelsea were 'divided' under Luiz Felipe Scolari, says John Terry - Matt Hughes
Chelsea are confident of naming Guus Hiddink as their temporary manager this week, but the Russia coach could be taking on more than he is bargaining for after John Terry revealed the extent of dressing-room divisions at Stamford Bridge.
Speaking for the first time since Luiz Felipe Scolari’s shock sacking on Monday, the Chelsea captain expressed sympathy and admiration for the departed manager, although he added the important caveat that only “two or three” of his team-mates felt the same.
Terry’s carefully chosen words, as he took a detour from discussing England’s friendly international against Spain this evening, go some way to confirming what has long been suspected: that a series of cliques have developed in the camp.
Related Links
Hiddink happy to be chameleon coach
Bullet still rules in 'Wild West' London
Hiddink to be new Chelsea manager
Multimedia
Video: Scolari dismissed
Terry and Frank Lampard have made a point of standing up for Scolari, publicly and privately, all season and Ashley Cole was also sympathetic. But the tone of Terry’s comments suggests that the rest of the team were not. Didier Drogba, Michael Ballack and Petr Cech are known to have had doubts, telling Roman Abramovich, the owner, of their reservations at an informal meeting last Thursday to which Terry was not party.
“I have sympathy for Scolari,” Terry said. “He had my support, that’s for sure. Two or three other players will say the same thing, I’m sure. Unfortunately we weren’t playing well and it falls on his head. Maybe they should look at some of us. We underachieved. It’s unfortunate because the manager is a great man, but the overall picture needs to be looked at. The powers at the club need to look at that.”
Without naming names, Terry also criticised several of his team-mates’ performances this season, arguing that he and the players should take a greater share of the responsibility for Scolari’s dismissal.
“We’ve not been performing well individually and collectively as a squad, and that falls on the manager’s head, which is unfair because a few of us feel we could have done better in our time with the manager,” Terry said. “We started off very well, but things dipped in form and results. That’s unfortunate for Mr Scolari.”
Hiddink will not be in charge for Saturday’s FA Cup fifth-round tie away to Watford, which will be supervised by Ray Wilkins, the assistant first-team coach. The Dutchman will return to Moscow from Russia’s training camp in Turkey today for talks with the Russian Football Union, which confirmed last night that it would allow him to combine two jobs until the end of the season.
Hiddink is expected to earn £2 million for 15 weeks’ work at Chelsea and is considering bringing in Johan Neeskens, who served as his assistant when he was in charge of Holland and Australia, as his No 2. “I must say that this is an exceptional situation,” Hiddink said. “If it was any other club aside from Chelsea my answer would be a straight ‘no’. But Chelsea is different because I have good relations with the owner. This would be a full managerial role, a day-to-day job, but only for the next two or three months.”
Chelsea also insist that Hiddink will be only a temporary appointment, but sources close to him conceded that he would be willing to discuss continuing to combine both jobs next season, with the proviso that he will stay in charge of Russia.
If Hiddink joins Chelsea, but then leaves the club in the summer, they will turn their attentions to Carlo Ancelotti, the AC Milan coach, who turned down an approach last summer. “If the position is open in July he may consider it,” Umberto Gandini, the Milan vice-president, said.
Links to other Times Stories re Chelsea/Scolaria axing
Hughes
Guus Hiddink happy to be the chameleon coach | The bullet still rules in 'Wild West' London | Debate: were Chelsea right to sack Scolari? | Matt thingyinson: Ghostbuster wanted for London address | Simon Barnes: Chelsea's quick-fix culture | Scolari sacked after meeting Abramovich | Who's next for poisoned chalice? | Divided dressing-room led to difficulties in the boardroom | Joys from Brazil fail to materialise | Giles Smith: Mourinho back at Chelsea? We can but dream | Chelsea's timeline to disaster
www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/premier_league/chelsea/article5705427.ece
Corporate Chelsea sack Scolari
Tuesday 10 February ~
The radio reporter standing outside Stamford Bridge last night commented that fans “wanted to see the Chelsea of old”. Presumably this golden-era, “old” Chelsea is the one of three years ago rather than 30 years ago, or memories of Jose Mourinho as manager rather than Ray Wilkins as a player – he left on relegation in 1979. Nothing, of course, will ever be the same at Stamford Bridge since Roman Abramovich bought the club and no one is keener to remind us of this fact than the current Chelsea regime, in close collusion with sections of the media.
Nowhere is the tension between “old” and “old-old” Chelsea clearer than Tony Cascarino's column in the Times. This former Chelsea “legend” (eight goals in 40 games) has been holding forth today: “It doesn’t matter if you’re a manager who’s lifted the World Cup and you’re only seven months into your job. It wouldn’t surprise me if Chelsea’s stars had begun to lose faith in Luiz Felipe Scolari because top players are like Roman Abramovich, the club’s owner: they demand the best.” The message is clear, Chelsea are the very pinnacle of the footballing world – the fact that it is Tony Cascarino making this point makes it particularly jarring.
Scolari is the latest victim of a new boardroom machismo. Football was obviously changed radically by Abramovich's arrival at Chelsea but the corporate business and marketing-driven language of Premier League club executives has also increased since. By sacking Scolari, Chelsea are making a statement, that their standards are higher than others – very few other clubs could (or would) sack a manager of Scolari's stature after less than seven months in charge.
Indeed very few other clubs expect success every season or feel that they need it to capture as much of the international TV market as possible. Clearly, Abramovich is in complete control at Chelsea. Despite the rumours of player revolt and a divided dressing room, many reports suggested that Chelsea's owner ignored the advice of the ceremonial chief executive and chairman, Peter Kenyon and Bruce Buck respectively, in sacking Scolari. Kenyon, invariably a man for Chelsea's dirty work, is reportedly currently on holiday in Barbados.
Abramovich and his regime have been ably assisted in creating this vision of new Chelsea. Many of this morning's papers have written off Avram Grant as a temporary managerial appointment for the club on account of his name not being big enough, or his reputation sufficiently illustrious. All the top-division records set by clubs and players are now referred to in terms of the Premier League only, and enough time has now passed for many fans not to find this irritating or strange or, indeed, to know any different.
Luckily, the past is not as easy to hide and other reminders of older incarnations of Chelsea keep cropping up, even in speculation over the next manager. One the most potentially amusing rumours is that of a temporary joint role for captain John Terry and current caretaker Ray “Butch” Wilkins. And of course, one of main reasons that Scolari was sacked was the fear, in both playing and business terms, of missing out on a Champions League place. Their quarter-final first-leg of that competition is against Juventus on February 25, the club now managed by Claudio Rainieri, sacked by Roman Abramovich, then handsomely compensated, in 2004.
www.wsc.co.uk/content/view/2742/38/
The Times - Chelsea were 'divided' under Luiz Felipe Scolari, says John Terry - Matt Hughes
Chelsea are confident of naming Guus Hiddink as their temporary manager this week, but the Russia coach could be taking on more than he is bargaining for after John Terry revealed the extent of dressing-room divisions at Stamford Bridge.
Speaking for the first time since Luiz Felipe Scolari’s shock sacking on Monday, the Chelsea captain expressed sympathy and admiration for the departed manager, although he added the important caveat that only “two or three” of his team-mates felt the same.
Terry’s carefully chosen words, as he took a detour from discussing England’s friendly international against Spain this evening, go some way to confirming what has long been suspected: that a series of cliques have developed in the camp.
Related Links
Hiddink happy to be chameleon coach
Bullet still rules in 'Wild West' London
Hiddink to be new Chelsea manager
Multimedia
Video: Scolari dismissed
Terry and Frank Lampard have made a point of standing up for Scolari, publicly and privately, all season and Ashley Cole was also sympathetic. But the tone of Terry’s comments suggests that the rest of the team were not. Didier Drogba, Michael Ballack and Petr Cech are known to have had doubts, telling Roman Abramovich, the owner, of their reservations at an informal meeting last Thursday to which Terry was not party.
“I have sympathy for Scolari,” Terry said. “He had my support, that’s for sure. Two or three other players will say the same thing, I’m sure. Unfortunately we weren’t playing well and it falls on his head. Maybe they should look at some of us. We underachieved. It’s unfortunate because the manager is a great man, but the overall picture needs to be looked at. The powers at the club need to look at that.”
Without naming names, Terry also criticised several of his team-mates’ performances this season, arguing that he and the players should take a greater share of the responsibility for Scolari’s dismissal.
“We’ve not been performing well individually and collectively as a squad, and that falls on the manager’s head, which is unfair because a few of us feel we could have done better in our time with the manager,” Terry said. “We started off very well, but things dipped in form and results. That’s unfortunate for Mr Scolari.”
Hiddink will not be in charge for Saturday’s FA Cup fifth-round tie away to Watford, which will be supervised by Ray Wilkins, the assistant first-team coach. The Dutchman will return to Moscow from Russia’s training camp in Turkey today for talks with the Russian Football Union, which confirmed last night that it would allow him to combine two jobs until the end of the season.
Hiddink is expected to earn £2 million for 15 weeks’ work at Chelsea and is considering bringing in Johan Neeskens, who served as his assistant when he was in charge of Holland and Australia, as his No 2. “I must say that this is an exceptional situation,” Hiddink said. “If it was any other club aside from Chelsea my answer would be a straight ‘no’. But Chelsea is different because I have good relations with the owner. This would be a full managerial role, a day-to-day job, but only for the next two or three months.”
Chelsea also insist that Hiddink will be only a temporary appointment, but sources close to him conceded that he would be willing to discuss continuing to combine both jobs next season, with the proviso that he will stay in charge of Russia.
If Hiddink joins Chelsea, but then leaves the club in the summer, they will turn their attentions to Carlo Ancelotti, the AC Milan coach, who turned down an approach last summer. “If the position is open in July he may consider it,” Umberto Gandini, the Milan vice-president, said.
Links to other Times Stories re Chelsea/Scolaria axing
Hughes
Guus Hiddink happy to be the chameleon coach | The bullet still rules in 'Wild West' London | Debate: were Chelsea right to sack Scolari? | Matt thingyinson: Ghostbuster wanted for London address | Simon Barnes: Chelsea's quick-fix culture | Scolari sacked after meeting Abramovich | Who's next for poisoned chalice? | Divided dressing-room led to difficulties in the boardroom | Joys from Brazil fail to materialise | Giles Smith: Mourinho back at Chelsea? We can but dream | Chelsea's timeline to disaster
www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/premier_league/chelsea/article5705427.ece