When Luiz Felipe Scolari walked out of Stamford Bridge, Ray Wilkins was quick to scotch rumours that his dismissal had anything to do with ‘player power’. If Butch was to be believed, then the decision was purely made by owner Roman Abramovich, although this source suggests that it came down to deciding between Big Phil and this troublesome Blues player.

The Daily Telegraph report the latest claims being made by Thierno Seydi, a representative of none other than Didier Drogba. According to him, Deputy Drog and Scolari had differences which were not going to be reconciled in a hurry, causing Chelsea to have to make a decision between manager and player. Unbelievable scenes!

Thierno Seydi, Drogba’s representative, said: “The fact that he was told to sit on the bench had nothing to do with sport. It was just a problem between two men who couldn’t work together.

“One had to go and Chelsea decided to part with Scolari.

“They said that Didier made history at the club and that he could still bring a lot to the team, so they decided to let the coach go and to keep Didier.”

The agent also goes to claim that the Chelsea striker has been the subject of bids from Inter and (surprise, surprise) Manchester City, although the club have refused to sell him. It’s little wonder, with the supporters knowing all too well that there aren’t too many defenders who can handle the forward when he’s at the top of his game. What do Blues fans make of these latest revelations?

Get a free £10 bet on Chelsea by joining William Hill now.

After fears about the potential outbreak of ‘respect’ throughout Britain, a Premiership Manager’s Press Kit has been launched this week to try and maintain the high level of match officials who leave the game each year. [Read the rest of this entry »]

Up to now, Luiz Felipe Scolari has seemed like a placid character, stood with his hands in his pockets and watching his team turn in some great performances which has seen them hit the top of the Premier League. However, the Brazilian was riled by the press on Tuesday, when they quizzed him about the future of a certain forward. [Read the rest of this entry »]

You can get odds of 200/1 that Chelsea win the Premier League, FA Cup, Carling Cup and Champions League next season, yet Luiz Felipe Scolari thinks that his team can achieve this. Sounding a little too much like a certain Portuguese predecessor, the former Brazil manager claims that his squad can win plenty of silverware next term, despite the fact that they won absolutely zilch last campaign (apart from a few runners-up medals).

[Read the rest of this entry »]

What a difference a new manager makes. Luiz Felipe Scolari put in an impressive performance on Tuesday in front of the press pack, revealing [Read the rest of this entry »]

Not content with having a team capable of winning the Champions League, bar any slipups, Big Phil Scolario seems obsessed with filling his Chelsea squad with members of the national teams that gave him his reputation.

Having inherited Alex, Belletti, Ricardo Carvalho, Henrique Hilário and Paulo Ferreira, Scolari has set about signing Deco and allegedly had a hand in bringing Porto right-back Jose Bosingwa to Stamford Bridge. Now it has been revealed that another one of Scolari’s international ’students’ is in talks to head to Fulham Road.

Real Madrid striker Robinho is reported to be in contact with Scolari’s Chelsea over a £25million move. How credible this claim is depends on your stance on agents, with Robinho’s agent Wagner Riberio leading the claim in Spanish paper AS:

It’s true that Chelsea are interested in signing Robinho. They have been after him for a while and there has been much more contact since Scolari became the new coach.

I met with [Chelsea director, Frank] Arnesen in London and he confirmed to me that Chelsea wanted my player for next season.

The move apparently depends on Real’s outcome in the Cristiano Ronaldo saga. If Ronaldo arrives at the Santiago Bernabéu, Los Blancos will let Robinho move to Chelsea.

It can also be seen as a way of making Real sweat on Robinho’s contract talks. The agent was again in the press this week saying that Real do not value his player high enough and the club stalling in contract negotiations demonstrates this:

Robinho’s priority is to continue at Real Madrid. But he cannot stay in a place in which they don’t recognise his talent and at the moment Real Madrid are not doing that and I’m not talking about money

We don’t like this attitude and we want Madrid to start valuing Robinho because at the moment they’re not.

Whether or not Robinho will arrive at Stamford Bridge remains to be seen, but regardless of the outcome, the agent will have his nice slice of the pie.

Chelsea and Arsenal apparently are the latest clubs linked [Read the rest of this entry »]

AC Milan are in pole position to beat Chelsea and Manchester City in the race to sign a world-beating Brazillian star. [Read the rest of this entry »]

You could never accuse the football world of living in a bubble [Read the rest of this entry »]

You can bet that when Sven-Goran Eriksson hooked up with Benfica representatives this week, they didn’t just chew the fat about the good old days when the Swede led them to three league titles and the 1990 European Cup final. The BBC reports that the soon-to-be-ex Manchester City manager appears to be on the brink of leaving the north-west of England and instead head to sunnier climes to take charge of the Portuguese club for the third time in his career.

A Benfica statement confirmed talks had taken place, but said: “No details of the contract, namely salaries and timing, have been discussed.”

Eriksson said: “I’m considering the offer and it could be a step forward in my career – let’s see what happens.”

The haste in which Sven has courted this potential suitor effectively brings an end to his one-season reign at Manchester City. He certainly had an impact on the club right away, with the ‘Ol’ Blue Eyes is Back’ posters being plastered all over the city. The former England manager has brought in some quality talent this season and laid some decent foundations for whoever comes in as his replacement. It just seems odd that Shinawatra has agreed a three-year deal with Sven and decided to renege after one year.

Watch Manchester City live online

Goodness, that has a familar ring to it. Perhaps it’s because Luiz Felipe Scolari was in line to replace Sven-Goran Eriksson as England manager two years ago, before the Brazilian decided he could do without the hassle of being hounded by the press on a 24 / 7 basis. Nevertheless, Manchester City owner Thaksin Shinawatra is dangling a rather large carrot in the direction of the Portugal coach, and The Times reports that he’s rather determined to land his man.

Clearly, the reported £3.2million a year is not going to be a sticking point for ‘Big Phil’, although the upping of sticks to Manchester is obviously a rather large consideration, as too is the task in hand of trying to assemble a team worthy of playing in the Champions League. ‘Frank’ has also made it clear that he wants an answer pretty soon, although Scolari is concentrating on Euro 2008 right now and is likely to stall.

Scolari, 59, is expected to pursue a new challenge once his contract with the Portuguese federation expires in July, but he said last week that he would not make a decision until after the tournament. That leaves City with the prospect of being without a manager for the whole of June – as they were last summer after the dismissal of Stuart Pearce – although it has emerged that Eriksson may be given an unwelcome stay of execution to take his squad on an end-of-season trip to Thailand and Hong Kong.

Whatever you think of Eriksson, it must be said that he’s handled the matter with complete dignity, refusing to be drawn on his future with the club. Indeed, if Scolari decides that the gig isn’t for him (can’t think why he’d wanted to work with a deluded megalomaniac – there’s no pleasing some people!), the Swede could end up seeing out his three-year contract after all.

Watch Manchester City live online