He's gone - Chelsea sack Scolari

Chelsea just sacked their head coach Felipe Scolari. The sacking came in the wake of this weekend's 0-0 result at home to Hull. He only got appointed Chelsea coach at the start of the season, replacing Avram Grant who had taken Chelsea to second place in the English Premier League & runner-up spot in the UEFA Champions League in the previous season. On both ocassions, Chelsea had finished second to Manchester United. Grant paid the price because those second place finishes had not been considered good enough by the Chelsea fraternity. So out went Grant, in came Scolari. That was last year. And now, it's Scolari's turn to be shown the door, with the Hull result appearing to be the last straw for the club. So I now have lost count of how many coaches have taken charge of Chelsea over the last 5 years.

The funny thing is, there's still 3 months left to go in the current season, so even if Chelsea are currently out of form, there is definitely plenty for Chelsea to play for. Hence the shock lies more in the timing of the sacking than the fact that the sacking took place. Under Scolari, Chelsea started the season with a bang with stylish attacking football. Then they started floundering & performance & results have deteriorated. Still, there's plenty to play for between now & the end of the season.....

This is not just simply another coach who has been dismissed from his post. We are talking about a World Cup-winning coach - Scolari coached Brazil (Ronaldo, Ronaldinho et al) to win the World Cup in 2002. It seems not even someone of his stature is safe from the demands of European club football at the highest level. I think this is the latest of a disturbing trend of impatient, "results come first" mentality that is rife in football at the highest level. Few coaches these days are given enough time to build a team. As far as the top club sides are concerned, results are paramount, & if the result are not good enough, out goes the coach. The incoming coach doesn't always guarantee improvement in results; in some cases, the new coach fares worse than his predecessor. When that is the case, that coach also gets shown the door, & another coach is sought. And the same cycle of hiring & firing coaches start again. If turnaround of coaches or managers are high, is that conducive to cohesive team building & squad spirit? I think not.