Source: Daily_Mail
MARTIN SAMUEL: Performing seals are great at Abramovich's Chelsea - just so long as they win
So much for sexy football. It turns out that there is nothing more tedious than not winning and Roman Abramovich is learning this rather obvious lesson the hard way. [LNB]In Jose Mourinho, Abramovich had a manager who knew how to win, but his victories were not always pretty to watch. This was not good enough, apparently. Roman, we were told, was not amused. [LNB]So, after a bizarre interlude, he got in the man who spliced Ronaldo, Ronaldinho and Rivaldo to win a World Cup for Brazil, and sat back to watch the firework display. [LNB]One disappointing bang and a misfiring Catherine wheel of early-season form later, one imagines Abramovich and his Chelsea[LNB]board would now crawl across broken glass to secure a manager capable of grinding his way to the top of the table, while everybody in the main stand falls asleep.[LNB]Looking at what has unfolded at Chelsea, the requirement would seem to be to win the League, while balancing a ball on one's nose like a performing seal. Mourinho was too boring, Scolari too beatable.[LNB] No Plan B: Once teams worked out Scolari's game-plan, Chelsea faltered[LNB] Get me Guus: Chelsea owner Abramovich targets Hiddink after Scolari axe[LNB]'Lucky Guus' ticks all the right boxes for Abramovich and Chelsea[LNB]SACKED! Poor results cost Scolari as Chelsea sensationally axe coach[LNB]Blues swing the axe on the man Kenyon described as one of the best in the world[LNB]Fans want Chelsea legend Zola to step in to replace sacked Scolari at the Bridge[LNB]Who's next: Sportsmail's guide to who will replace Big Phil at Stamford Bridge[LNB]Chelsea's last four managers set to cost the club an amazing £40million[LNB]CHELSEA FC NEWS FROM ACROSS THE WEB[LNB]Even by the standard of new Premier League ownership, this is a directionless farce, and it is one entirely of the owner's making because he has to trust his fortune to a manager with vision if he is to succeed. He had that man in Mourinho, but he grew to fear his strength.[LNB]Beware the boss who wants to have fun. Beware the guy who says working for him is going to be a blast. Abramovich is said to be that sort of owner. He wants to be entertained, he wants the spectacle, he wants to see his investment out on the field doing tricks.[LNB] Tough man to please: Scolari was given the elbow after failing to entertain the ruthless Abramovich[LNB]Scolari's reign has exposed that as a myth. It transpires Abramovich wants the same as any director or supporter. He wants his team to win; and when they do not, he wants to nail the guy responsible.[LNB]Scolari did not do a good job at Chelsea. His team set off at a sprint, but quickly tired and his methods were one-dimensional. Once Chelsea's rivals had worked out the game-plan, they were easy to stop, and Scolari did not seem able to provide an alternative.[LNB]So there is mitigation for this decision, yes; or there would be if Chelsea did not seem to be a club that has completely lost its bearings. That is what Mourinho gave them: a man who knew where he was going. Abramovich's wealth was a hugely important part of the process but, as has been found since, financial investment alone provides no guarantee if the ship is rudderless.[LNB]The ludicrous employment of Avram Grant, a man with no credentials for the job otherthan a cultural bond with Abramovich, started the drift away from sanity, and if Scolari's appointment seemed a sound move, his failure to return Chelsea to the efficient unit created by Mourinho may yet prove catastrophic, if the club slips out of the top four.[LNB] Ludicrous: Grant eyes the Champions League trophy after suffering defeat in Moscow[LNB]Scolari's c.v. was stellar, but it was still a risk to give him his first club position in Europe. An international manager for close to a decade, he would have been used to expanses of thinking time between matches to put right weaknesses and miscalculations. [LNB]In the Premier League, matches, not to mention body blows, come thick and fast andScolari never seemed able to recover from them.[LNB]His Brazilian heritage may have appealed to Abramovich and at the start of the seasonChelsea were splendid to watch but, by the time of Saturday's goalless draw with Hull City, this was a team satisfying none of Abramovich's criteria. Winning? No. Entertaining? No. This season, Chelsea have failed to win in nine of 19 games atStamford Bridge.[LNB] The Special One that got away: Mourinho [LNB]In conversation a week ago, Frank Lampard, a consistent influence in midfield under asuccession of managers, said that Chelsea players used to stand in the tunnel at home games, feeling invincible, never considering defeat. [LNB]Recently, he said, there has been uncertainty. Would they win? Would they score?Scolari's failing is that he has not been able to make any impact on that mindset.[LNB]'The years we won the League,' Lampard recalled, 'we would win games 1-0, not playing well. Rio Ferdinand said to me that the Manchester United players would watch our games, hoping we'd get beat, and we might play poorly enough to getbeat, but then we'd nick it, and it was the most frustrating thing for them.[LNB] Invincibles: Lampard (left) and Terry (right) celebrate Premier League glory in 2005 under Mourinho's tutelage[LNB] TODAY'S POLL Who do you think should replace Scolari as the new manager of Chelsea?[LNB]VOTE POLL RESULTS Close[LNB] All polls[LNB]Click to view yesterday's poll results[LNB] 'Manchester United have been best at doing that this season and that is why they are top. We need to get into that mode. We have to take responsibility.' [LNB]Indeed, Manchester United's recent run of 1,212 minutes without conceding a Leaguegoal has included a run of eight 1-0 wins in 13 matches. That is Mourinho form. That is what Chelsea had, but it was not pretty enough for some people in the owner's box. [LNB]They wanted excitement: and now they have got it.[LNB] Get me Guus: Chelsea owner Abramovich targets Hiddink after Scolari axe[LNB]'Lucky Guus' ticks all the right boxes for Abramovich and Chelsea[LNB]SACKED! Poor results cost Scolari as Chelsea sensationally axe coach[LNB]Blues swing the axe on the man Kenyon described as one of the best in the world[LNB]Fans want Chelsea legend Zola to step in to replace sacked Scolari at the Bridge[LNB]Who's next: Sportsmail's guide to who will replace Big Phil at Stamford Bridge[LNB]Chelsea's last four managers set to cost the club an amazing £40million[LNB]CHELSEA FC NEWS FROM ACROSS THE WEB[LNB][LNB] [LNB]
