There was no way that Phil could fill void left by Clarke

Scott Minto
10 Feb 2009

Will the Chelsea players have woken up this morning feeling sad for Luiz Felipe Scolari? Will they have felt for a guy who, on the face of it, arrived at Stamford Bridge with great credentials, tried to be everyone's friend but was not able to adjust to the Premier League? Or will they not care one bit, carry on as normal and just wait for the next appointment?

It depends on which player you look at as to the reaction you get. It's quite clear that while some have carried on their usual high standards, others have let the Brazilian down badly.

I was surprised but not shocked that the club chose to act now. They felt that they had to swiftly stop the team sliding out of the top four in the Premier League and also possibly out of Europe.

Scolari might have been given the chance to get past Juventus in the Champions League. If he'd have failed, being out of Europe before the quarter-final stage and struggling to finish in the top four in the Premier League, then he would definitely have gone.

But the fact he wasn't even given the chance to win the trophy that Roman Abramovich wants more than any other shows there was a feeling amongst the hierarchy that Scolari wasn't the man to take the club further.

So where did it go wrong? The start of the season was so exciting that it persuaded Frank Lampard to forget about the lure of playing abroad and sign the most important contract of his career.

The additions of Deco and Jose Bosingwa changed the style of play. Convincing wins against Portsmouth, Manchester City, Aston Villa and Middlesbrough must have made even Sir Alex Ferguson doubtful of winning the title for a third year running.

But Steve Clarke going to West Ham was a big loss to the club and maybe that was Scolari's first big mistake. Clarke felt a bit marginalised and saw a chance to have a greater input with the Hammers. I doubt there's a better No2 in the game, certainly not in the Premier League.

Ray Wilkins has a great footballing brain and had total respect from the players but you wonder how much input he's had at Stamford Bridge.

Also, in pre-season, Scolari said about how he wanted to be flexible and have three or four formations during the season. I didn't see any of that. His reluctance to create a partnership with [Didier] Drogba and [Nicolas] Anelka up front, only putting them together in a 4-3-3 formation, contradicted what he'd said earlier.

And perhaps he was just too soft with certain players. There were growing rumours that some of the squad felt that they were not working hard enough on the training pitch and wanted to take part in extra running sessions. The way the team disintegrated against Manchester United in January was clear evidence that something was badly wrong with the fitness of the team.

There's a fine line between being protective and letting players get away with things. Footballers have big egos but respect the right type of authority, just ask anyone who has played under Ferguson or Jose Mourinho.

The Chelsea players can still end the season on a high. The Premier League is out of their reach but the FA Cup and Champions League are still real possibilities but they need to turn their form around as quickly as possible.