Slipperduke
The Camden Cad
Every managerial appointment at every football club in the world carries a certain amount of risk, but the decision to bring in Luiz Felipe Scolari as the new manager of Chelsea is like pouring petrol over a smouldering barbeque. On the face of it, it's a great way to get the fire burning again. Besides, what could possibly go wrong?
I hope for Chelsea's sake that, in a year from now, they still have their eyebrows, because the potential for success with style at Stamford Bridge is greatly increased by the presence of Scolari. You only have to watch Portugal in these European Championships to see the way he demands the game to be played. Finally, Chelsea will use their limitless resources to fund a footballing revolution, attempting to mesmerise their opponents with neat, quick passing and allowing their skilful players to express themselves to their heart's content. No more pumping it up to Didier Drogba! Actually, no more Drogba!
Unlike Grant, there can be no concerns about Scolari's ability to control the players. The big Brazilian doesn't do democracy. He does Philocracy, where his word is final. He is similar to Jose Mourinho in that he is ruthless with trouble-makers and fiercely loyal to those that he trusts and that's an encouraging sign for the Stamford Bridge faithful. His arrival also explains why he has apparently been encouraging Cristiano Ronaldo to leave Old Trafford. "If your enemy is double your strength, divide him," wrote his favourite author, Sun Tzu in 'The Art of War'.
But if any Chelsea fans are celebrating the appointment and assuming that a first league title in three years is around the corner, a few words of caution. For all of his exploits with Portugal and Brazil, Scolari hasn't actually managed a league team since 2001 and he has never managed a club side in Europe. He doesn't speak English and he doesn't suffer fools gladly. And, in case you hadn't already realised, in a Philocratic state, anyone who disagrees with Big Phil is a fool.
The major worry is that he turned down the chance to manage England in 2006, saying that he wouldn't want to subject himself to the scrutiny of the UK press. Ah, but this is a man who managed Brazil, you might be thinking. He dealt with their ferocious football hacks, didn't he? Unfortunately, it's not the football hacks who are the problem. The front-ends of English newspapers have an unhealthy fascination with the private lives of football celebrities, especially if they're wealthy foreigners with big reputations. Sven Goran Eriksson was stunned at their ferocity and the lengths they would go to humiliate him. Fabio Capello barely lasted a month before he found paparazzi pictures of his topless wife staring back at him from the Sunday papers. Scolari was known to be particularly livid about an article that compared his wife unfavourably with Eriksson's glamorous on-off partner Nancy Del'Olio.
If he can deal with the meddling in the corridors of power, the truculent dressing room, the pressure of expectation, the language barrier, the new teams and new players and the sudden shift to day-to-day management, then he has a chance of making Chelsea the attractive, successful and above all, marketable brand that Roman Abramovich has been demanding. But if he thinks that those newspapers are no longer going to be interested in his wife, or his house, or his children, or his past, just because he's managing Chelsea and not England, then he is in for a shock. Scolari has a lot more to deal with than just a few moody players.
I hope for Chelsea's sake that, in a year from now, they still have their eyebrows, because the potential for success with style at Stamford Bridge is greatly increased by the presence of Scolari. You only have to watch Portugal in these European Championships to see the way he demands the game to be played. Finally, Chelsea will use their limitless resources to fund a footballing revolution, attempting to mesmerise their opponents with neat, quick passing and allowing their skilful players to express themselves to their heart's content. No more pumping it up to Didier Drogba! Actually, no more Drogba!
Unlike Grant, there can be no concerns about Scolari's ability to control the players. The big Brazilian doesn't do democracy. He does Philocracy, where his word is final. He is similar to Jose Mourinho in that he is ruthless with trouble-makers and fiercely loyal to those that he trusts and that's an encouraging sign for the Stamford Bridge faithful. His arrival also explains why he has apparently been encouraging Cristiano Ronaldo to leave Old Trafford. "If your enemy is double your strength, divide him," wrote his favourite author, Sun Tzu in 'The Art of War'.
But if any Chelsea fans are celebrating the appointment and assuming that a first league title in three years is around the corner, a few words of caution. For all of his exploits with Portugal and Brazil, Scolari hasn't actually managed a league team since 2001 and he has never managed a club side in Europe. He doesn't speak English and he doesn't suffer fools gladly. And, in case you hadn't already realised, in a Philocratic state, anyone who disagrees with Big Phil is a fool.
The major worry is that he turned down the chance to manage England in 2006, saying that he wouldn't want to subject himself to the scrutiny of the UK press. Ah, but this is a man who managed Brazil, you might be thinking. He dealt with their ferocious football hacks, didn't he? Unfortunately, it's not the football hacks who are the problem. The front-ends of English newspapers have an unhealthy fascination with the private lives of football celebrities, especially if they're wealthy foreigners with big reputations. Sven Goran Eriksson was stunned at their ferocity and the lengths they would go to humiliate him. Fabio Capello barely lasted a month before he found paparazzi pictures of his topless wife staring back at him from the Sunday papers. Scolari was known to be particularly livid about an article that compared his wife unfavourably with Eriksson's glamorous on-off partner Nancy Del'Olio.
If he can deal with the meddling in the corridors of power, the truculent dressing room, the pressure of expectation, the language barrier, the new teams and new players and the sudden shift to day-to-day management, then he has a chance of making Chelsea the attractive, successful and above all, marketable brand that Roman Abramovich has been demanding. But if he thinks that those newspapers are no longer going to be interested in his wife, or his house, or his children, or his past, just because he's managing Chelsea and not England, then he is in for a shock. Scolari has a lot more to deal with than just a few moody players.
