Who next for Blues?

Skysports.com looks at candidates for Stamford Bridge hotseat

Last updated: 9th February 2009  

Who next for Blues?

Hiddink: Current favourite for Chelsea job

NAMES IN FRAME
Following the departure of Luiz Felipe Scolari, Sky Bet make Guus Hiddink the 3/1 favourite to take over at Chelsea. Avram Grant is the 4/1 second favourite while José Mourinho is an outsider at 16/1.
Next permanent Chelsea Manager
Hiddink G 3/1
Grant A 4/1
Rijkaard F 9/2
Mancini 8/1
Zola 8/1
Eriksson 8/1
Mourinho 16/1
Deschamps 16/1
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Luiz Felipe Scolari has been sacked as Chelsea manager - and already speculation is mounting as to who will succeed him.

Sky Sports News understands Avram Grant could be in line for an amazing return while Gianfranco Zola and Steve Clarke, currently at West Ham, are also being touted as candidates.

Skysports.com runs the rule over the names in the frame to take charge at Stamford Bridge.

GUUS HIDDINK

The Dutchman, currently employed as Russia coach, was reportedly high on Chelsea's wish-list before they settled on Scolari in the summer. Regarded as one of the most astute tacticians in world football Hiddink's efforts in taking Russia to the semi-finals of Euro 2008 mark him as an obvious candidate for Chelsea's billionaire owner Roman Abramovich. Unlike Scolari, the Dutchman has also made his name at club level, having guided PSV Eindhoven to three Eredivisie titles as well as the semi-finals of the 2004-05 Champions League.

GIANFRANCO ZOLA

A legend during his playing days at Chelsea, Zola would be a hugely popular choice among the Stamford Bridge faithful. Despite his relative inexperience in club football he has forged a good reputation since taking over as manager at West Ham this season with former Blues assistant Steve Clarke by his side.

JOSE MOURINHO

Chelsea's most successful manager having led them to back-to-back league titles, the Portuguese is the most exalted of all Blues managers. Sacked at the start of last season, Mourinho has since stated he would one day like to return to management in England. A return to Stamford Bridge would, however, seem unlikely with an apparent falling out with Abramovich leading to his departure, while he remains contracted to Inter Milan - who currently lead Serie A by seven points.

ROBERTO MANCINI

The 44-year-old Italian was sacked by Inter Milan at the end of last season despite leading them to the past three Serie A titles. He remains a high-profile candidate despite remaining out of work and has history in England having played at Leicester at the start of the decade.

FRANK RIJKAARD

The former Barcelona boss has been out of work since leaving the Catalan club at the end of last season. During his five-year spell at Camp Nou, the 46-year-old led Barca to two league titles as well as UEFA Champions League success when they beat Arsenal 2-1 in the 2005-06 final.

ROBERTO DI MATTEO

Another former Blues favourite, Di Matteo is best remembered for scoring the fastest FA Cup final goal as the Blues beat Middlesbrough 2-0 in 1997. He was named as manager of League One club MK Dons in the summer and has them on track for promotion in his first season with the team currently sitting second in the table.

AVRAM GRANT

The Israeli was replaced by Scolari in the summer after taking the Blues to their first Champions League final where they lost on penalties to Manchester United. His softly-spoken mentality, and the fact he succeeded Mourinho, meant Grant was never truly accepted by Blues fans.

Comments (39)

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Joshua Tan says...

There is no one better than the special one!! Bring back Jose and Chelsea will gain more glory and trophy!!

Posted 23:30 10th February 2009

John Heron says...

The sacking of Mourinho was Chelseas biggest mistake and him being forced to play players he didnt feel were right for the team (Shevchenko) was a big part in his fallout with Abramovich, I dont think they would get Mourinho back after what has happened and I dont think Hiddink is right for them either as he has been away from club football for too long, I think Rikjaard would do well at Chelsea. Abramovich's problem is he wants instant success the team needs to be picked apart and rebuilt to compete with Man Utd.

Posted 22:11 10th February 2009

Siby Kuriakose says...

The best person for the Chelsea job is obviously Jose. He is Chelsea's Special One and will remain like that for years to come. But realistically speaking.....Guus Hiddink will be the better person for the job whether it be as a caretaker till the end of the season or for next season too. But then he will have to share russia's national side job along with managing chelsea. Franck Rijkaard is another person who could do well....grant is not an option...the only reason he did well was because steve clarke was there as his assistant......even bringing steve clarke back as cartaker won't be a bad option....he knows chelsea inside out and can plug chelsea's defensive problems easily. I would love to see Steve Clarke back at Chelsea in the future but for the present none better than Guus Hiddink.

Posted 20:43 10th February 2009

Ben Searle (chelsea fan) says...

Luiz felipe scolari never really fitted in at the bridge. after a good start to the season things fell to pieces and we lost confidence and belief. despite wanting the special one back i think as i dont believe abramovich has the courage to apoligize, i think we should not rush into any decision and keep ray wilkins as a tempory manager or perhaps sign a manager with a good track record in europe such as rijkaard. i think it would not be the greatest idea to sign huddink as he has not managed a big club before.but the board quite clearly now nothing about football and think they can bring in big names and get success instantly and dont give managers a fair chance to turn things around. i would say it was harsh sacking grant but i cant say i would want him to be scolari's successor.and maybe if we get someone who knows something about football on the board we could get a decent success as a manager instead of(excluding jose) the usual fast signings which 90% of the time are completely hopeless.

Posted 18:54 10th February 2009

John Eagles says...

Look every one is raving about the Mourinho years, but come on do you honestly think that in the extremely, "never-going-to-happen" unlikely event that a man of Abramovich's standing is going to go cap in hand to a man like The Special One, or that Jose being the proud out spoken man that he is would accept ANY offer made by Abramovich???!!!? Truth be told, any manager coming in needs to carve into his contract a minimum life span, and control of all football related decisions. Roman needs to step back, and consider that he is a business man first, Club owner second, and leave such decisions to those are employed to do so. Who do I want to take the reigns now, to be honest take a look at what's happening there, the real question is who would want to?? And would we be sure that they haven't taken the post for a quick meal ticket, knowing that the very likely possibility is that Roman will take the decision to sack them before they can implement anything anyway??????

Posted 15:53 10th February 2009

Lee A says...

I think that Avram Grant should come back to Chelsea till they find a long term manager that will take the club and start to invest in young players lets face it most of Chelsea players and not that young tlaking about football years they are at the top of thier carea in a year or 2 they will not be effective anought to fight for the tittle ,avram knows the quad allredy he has worked will the players and was a penelty away from winning the campions cup so at the mean time if Chelsea want to achive anything this year they will have to let the 'Avram Who 'back .....

Posted 15:41 10th February 2009

Muhammed Badjan (Manchester United fan) says...

I know it will difficult for Abramovich to accept some of the facts particularly bringing in the "Special One" back. However, if he succeed in getting over, the Chelsea magnatel must keep himself out off technical/tactical issues (which I doubt) and confine only to money matters because that is what he seems to know seen to be doing extremely well. EPL lovers have greatly missed Jose and like someone put it, Mourinho's ghost is still at Stamford Bridge.

Posted 14:50 10th February 2009

Mighty Mike (Chelsea fan) says...

Chelsea FC has been a flop of recent. Why? Because interference costs us a lot. For over 50 years, we could not lift the Premiership. Morinho came and saved our blushes. We hailed him as the best manager in the world and in the following season, he won it again. Now our ambitions grow higher and went for the ultimate price- the champions league. I had no doubt that given the chance, he would have landed the trophy for us, but for the sake of one man, and i mean one man, all the pedigree that had been built are lost. I have read comments suggesting that big name managers such as Guss, Mancini, Ericsson, Rikkard etc could save chelsea from this mess, but to be honest with you, non of these will do any good. The chelsea board should have realized that Morinho had achieved all that was there to be won. What more was missing? Only the champions league, and i belief, given time, he would have won it too. Any manager who comes must perform better than him before he can be rated as successful and that will grind the mettle from them to achieve. Big Phil was rated as a success and a big time manager before his appointment but over time, i came to realized that he lacked man management techniques which is undoubtedly the most important competence a manager must acquire, and which Morinho incidentally has. There was a moment when chelsea fans complained about Phil always substituting Jo Cole even when Deco deserved to be changed and acusing him of favouring Deco to Jo. A match following these complaints, he substituted Deco instead of Jo Cole and from this moment, i realised how weak he is. I am not surprised he is sacked because i could tell he had doubts about his own abilities in the midst of such challenging tasks. On his appointment, good things were said about him - like winning the SA champions league, the Brazil league titles, the World cup and taking Purtugal to the qrt finals of Euro. These all proved futile now.

Posted 13:59 10th February 2009

Lee Taylor says...

How about taking Dennis Wise as caretaker manager until the end of the season then bring back Jose in the closed season, bring in three or four good young players and be ready to challange on all fronts next season?

Posted 12:58 10th February 2009

Sean Marron says...

There is only one man for the job.........Jose! Roman, make him the highest paid manager in the world and give him whatever control he wants over the club. Jose would a bigger signing than any player there is around at the moment. Come on you Chels!

Posted 12:48 10th February 2009

Eugene Aberhi says...

i want to say dropping 16 points at home is not good,it is really shocking to hear that scolari has been sacked,and they are searching for coach,i plead to the board of the club to us a better coach to get back on track.

Posted 12:43 10th February 2009

Arjun Bisht says...

Chelsea need to win something this season...hopefully the champions league. and the man whom i see doing that is guus hiddink. He guided low rated russia and south korea sides to the semi finals of the euro 2008 and world cup 2002 respectively. if he has a squad like chelsea's at his disposal, he can do the right things as he is a brilliant tactician. he also gets along well with abramovic, and that is the key...at the moment..to remain at the bridge. come on chelsea.

Posted 11:56 10th February 2009

Ir Smooth says...

Am a Chelsea fan and for me sacking Felipe Scolari is the best thing to do, the man isn't doing anything as a coach ever since he came to the bridge. Well i wouldn't want Chelsea to make the mistake of signing back Grant, he is not good for the job what chelsea need now is a good manager that can take them very far and play differnt formation unlike Big Phil who have just one style of play. Roman should think well so he won't end up signing and sacking coaches.

Posted 11:13 10th February 2009

Peter Allen (Chelsea fan) says...

They should never have sacked Jose, let's hope somebody at Chelsea see sense and bring him back before it's to late

Posted 11:10 10th February 2009

Simon Beer says...

I really hope they have the trouble they deserve trying to recruit a top level manager. They have just sacked their third very good manager in a row. The only one that was given any time and budget to shape the team was Jose. Despite a record anyone else would have been proud of he got sacked when he couldn't make his system work as well with Roman's lap dog Shevchenko (and to a lesser extent Ballack). Grant did well for you considering he came in on Jose's legacy, not given a chance by fans, team and owner though. Scolari has not had the time or the budget to make a team that plays his kind of football. The real stupidity is that Scolari is the only one that in time would have given Roman the attacking football he clearly desires, but he had the wrong team to build from. In my opinion you will be lucky to get anyone who isn't purely in it for the chance of three years wages for six months work. I'm sure Sven will put his name in the hat for a start.

Posted 11:04 10th February 2009

John Farmar (Chelsea fan) says...

I Think the best manager to us is Avram Grant. last year he do great job with the team, i think he can help to the team.

Posted 10:40 10th February 2009

Paul Barton says...

Abramovich needs to swallow his pride and get Mourinho back If possible.The best manager we have ever had and he got the tin tack.On top of that we need to get rid of Arnesen,tenebaum,Kenyon and Buck and bring people In who have Chelsea at heart.We have become a laughing stock since Mourinho went and If the stories are correct that Hiddink and the toad are coming In then I can see only failure on the horizon.My choice as manager after Mourinho would be Martin O'neill eccentric or not get him In before the manc's get him when Fergie retires!

Posted 10:25 10th February 2009

Graeme Ashcroft says...

You would think Chelsea are in a relegation battle the way some people are talking and the way that they are going through managers. Here is a one for you all - how do you think Roy Keane would do at Chelsea? Think hard about it and he makes the most sense of all the free managers available, trust me.

Posted 09:46 10th February 2009

Andrew Evans says...

I think that the Chelsea board need to take a long look in the mirror. Sacking Mourinho was a huge mistake, sacking Grant was embarrassing (I think Chelsea scored more points than United during his stint but had made a bad start under Mourinho that season) and then they decided to throw £6m a year at a guy with limited club management experience who spoke hardly any English! I do find it funny though that these 'money men' come in and chop and change every 5 minutes to try to get immediate results - the most succesful teams in Premier League history are Man Utd and Arsenal (who coincidently have the two longest serving managers.....mmmm funny that eh?). I do feel a bit sorry for Scolari though as I don't think what he got was what was promised. I think Abramovic practically guaranteed him Robinho and then didn't deliver, he gave him no money in the window and left him with a ageing squad of has beens. Terry is suffering for the warrior like way he plays as I'm sure he has an issue jumping at the moment, Ballack doesn't care as long as he gets paid (could be why Mourinho didn't want him!), Drogba is a joke with his constant wanting away, Anelka drifts in and out of games (although there's no doubt he could be a great player), Ashley Cole's form is shocking - he's a long way off his best. The list is endless, Scolari should have been given some money to revive that squad and I'm sure he wouldn't have wanted Bridge to go. Ultimately he wasn't able to work with what he had, but I also think they'll struggle to find anyone who can.

Posted 09:25 10th February 2009

John Clarke (chelsea fan) says...

Chelsea need a manager with passion, aggression and oner that can take control of the dressing room. Young enough to learn new ideas and be able to build a team of fighters who are proud of the blue shirt they wear and not the numbers on the wage packet. That man is Stuart Psycho Pearce. Yeah he may not have the experience of some of the others at club level but the reality is neither did Scolari. Get Pearce in and he can give the team the clear out it needs, Kalou, Malouda, Mikel and Ballack who are not the quality that we hoped they would be and are average players. Ballack on saturday I dotn think covered a 100 yards off the field ! ! The jury still out on Deco for me aswell.... a couple fo free kicks early in the season does not a legend make. PSYCHO !!! PSYCHO !!! PSYCHO !!! PSYCHO !!! PSYCHO !!! PSYCHO !!!

Posted 09:23 10th February 2009
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