A strange turn of events at Chelsea where Luiz Felipe Scolari has been sacked and Avram Grant, the man Scolari replaced, has emerged as one of the candidates on Chelsea’s shortlist to replace the former World Cup-winning manager. Whether Grant gets the job is purely speculation but it’s just another sign of how funny football can be.
Scolari joined the Premier League club this past summer and was expected to lead the club to titles at home and in Europe, but after a poor run of form has seen Chelsea slip to fourth in the Premier League table, seven points behind leaders Manchester United who have game in hand all-but ending the club’s title ambitions. The team has looked toothless in attack on several recent outings, which is a surprise as they started the season quite brightly.
Other names being linked with the job are the usual suspects such as Guus Hiddink but that is also unlikely as Roman Abramovich would not make too many friends in Russia if he were to steal a valuable asset away from the national team.
Could the dream team be Gianfranco Zola and Steve Clarke ? The duo have worked wonders at West Ham this season, turning the club into a solid top 10 team after many were wondering if they would stay up with their financial troubles. Many doubted Zola’s ability to succeed and while it is far to early to call this season a success, there is no doubting that West Ham are in better shape than they were before Zola and Clarke took control. Clarke has brought a steely focus to the defensive side of the team. On the other side of the ball, they attack in a Zola-esque manner of smart passes and flicks.
Beyond that Zola is a legendary figure in the club’s history and would bring a renewed optimism to the fans. Clarke is also a long-time Blue, having spent 20 years at Stamford Bridge as both a player and coach before moving to West Ham United in September.
There is plenty of discussion going on at our sister site EPLTalk.com, so be sure to check out their coverage of this story as well.
What do you think? Who should be the next boss at the Bridge?
Zola and Clarke to Chelsea.. not gonna happen this season.. but i dare say it will in the future. West Ham would do well to offer them both a more secure financial package at end of season.
Chelsea shouldn’t have got rid of Grant the way they did because they would have been better off with him.
With the world cup next year Scolari knows he will soon be in charge of a national team, the Blues just didnt give him enough time.