Luiz Felipe Scolari became the highest profile managerial casualty of the season earlier this month, but the Brasilian belied his reputation as a no-nonsense manager prepared to thump journalists or players if required, during his spell at Chelsea. Scolari started well and had a perfect record when we attended a game that Newcastle manager Joe Kinnear was determined would not be beautiful. Newcastle tactics were ugly and dreadful as a spectacle, but they were effective.

This match was symptomatic of the problems that ultimately cost the World Cup winning coach his job. “They played for a draw one million percent,” said Scolari who was gentlemanly and magnanimous even when things did not go his way. “It’s the tactic; Newcastle don’t shoot one on goal in ninety minutes. Seventy percent the ball for us, but we not score a goal. If we score a goal, maybe we score three or four, but today we not win one point; we lost two points. They have strategy to draw and they draw.”

Unlike many mangers Scolari never looked to the blame the referee, or the opposition’s spoiling tactics, or even the international break for disrupting his preparations. “No, not international; it’s my mistake, mistake for my team; not for mistake the other coach and the other team,” he said. Chelsea had an impressive away record at the time, but their home form left cause for concern and Scolari knew it. “Sometimes more easy to win away than at Stamford Bridge, because away sometimes the fans pressure is for their teams to attack,” he said. “Here they don’t want to attack.” It was ultimately a problem that the former Portugal coach could not find a solution to. Scolari was later accused of not being able to take the big decisions, partly because he dropped an in-form Nicolas Anelka to make room for Didier Drogba only to find the Ivorian talisman unmotivated or injured and seemingly desperate to leave Stamford Bridge, so Scolari dropped him from the squad for certain matches. Drogba also missed the match against Newcastle and Scolari had to field a question about him. “It is not only Drogba,” he said. “My team is not only one player. If we lose because we lose one player, we are not a team and we are a team.”

Scolari left Chelsea in fourth place, seven points adrift of leaders Manchester United, who have a game in hand, and about to face former manager Claudio Ranieri’s Juventus in the last sixteen of the Champion’s League. He may not have been an unqualified success, but the unexpectedly gentlemanly Luiz Felipe Scolari’s sacking comes at an odd time. Despite yet another 0-0 against Hull this time, it happened almost as soon as the January transfer window closed, meaning that the new manager, who turned out to be Guus Hiddink, could not address any perceived weaknesses in the squad – not that Scolari had been given much leeway to address those problems as unlike previous managers Scolari was given no funds to improve the squad, but lured Ricardo Quaresma to Stamford Bridge on loan from Inter. Seven months was not long enough for Scolari to stamp his authority on the team, or complete an overhaul of the squad. Meanwhile, Hiddink will have to juggle the responsibilities of managing Chelsea for the remainder of the season with his duties as Russia’s coach, although that will hardly prove taxing. It remains to be seen whether Hiddink can deliver silverware and sexy football that even Abramovich’s huge wealth seemingly can’t buy.

by Satish Sekar © Satish Sekar (February 12th 2009)