The Troubles at Chelsea

If Chelsea owner Roman Abramovic still had an ounce of interest, love or concern for his club then Phil Scolari's sacking was inevitable, it was just a matter of when rather than if.

It just so happened to be mid-season when the axe finally fell on the Brazilian coach but no-one would have been surprised had the decision been put on hold until the summer.

Sacking Scolari, mid-season, like Jose Mourinho, is a strange one. Clearly the chiefs at the Bridge lost faith and trust in the 2002 World Cup winner but questions dangle over the whole saga.

What if Abramovic had forked out the extra few million to secure Robinho's services in August? What if Deco hadn't picked up that injury in the warm-up to the Manchester United home game? What if tenacious midfielder Michael Essien had never returned from international duty with a season-long injury? What if Steve Clarke hadn't packed his bags and set off to the east of London to aid Gianfranco Zola at West Ham? What if Didier Drogba had ignored that Burnley coin and stayed injury free?

Chelsea fans began to turn on Scolari after a disappointing goalless home draw with Hull

Luck wasn't on Big Phil's side and now he's getting the tabloid headlines 'Big Phail Scolari', it all seems a tad harsh on a very experienced football man.

Chelsea managers are always going to be compared to Mourinho and in many ways Scolari's sacking can be compared to the Portuguese's, if that's the only similarity between the two who have taken up the hot seat under Abramovic's watchful eyes.

The Special One left due to a fall out between him and the owner but, it seems, on face value, that Scolari's relationship was fine between himself and the boardroom boys. That's if there was even a relationship as Scolari revealed, around a month ago, that he had only met Abramovic 'two or three' times since he took over in July.

But what if Scolari demanded what he was shown in the brochure that lured him away from the luxury of international management to the nitty and gritty day-in-day-out domestic football? Perhaps the 60 year old demanded the transfer budget he was promised in signing his Chelsea contract and was utterly refused it, having to make do with an unhappy and inconsistent Ricardo Quaresma on loan.

This is all just speculation but I find it difficult to find the logic behind sacking such a highly regarded coach just seven months into the job, for football reasons alone. So Chelsea aren't living up to expectations, sitting fourth in the league and not looking like they will progress much higher this season but the bookies still have Chelsea high favourites for third position and a chance of them slipping out of the top four was very slim.

Roman Abramovic and Guus Hiddink have a close relationship

This point has even stronger emphasis when you begin to hear the rumours that Chelsea are lining up a 'loan' or 'interim' managerial signing to take them up to the summer troublesome free. The name rumoured is Guus Hiddink, a well respected and talented manager - but then again so is Scolari.

This short term option surely makes Carlo Ancelotti the favourite to take over at Stamford Bridge in the summer, after Roman Abramovic's attempts to bring the Italian in after Avram Grant's departure last summer failed miserably, especially when you realise that the AC Milan manager has a clause to let him go at the end of this season.

There's no doubting that Chelsea hero Gianfranco Zola will be on the wish list for Chelsea fans who still remember the days when he graced the Stamford Bridge turf but maybe the Chelsea club owners are concerned that it's a little too early for the Italian to start gracing the Stamford Bridge dugout.

Whatever goes on behind the scenes at Chelsea and whatever decision they come to regarding a new temporary or permanent coach, they have to have plans for a long term manager to start his work sooner rather than later as the rocky ship in west London needs to steadied quick.