Chelsea's Search for a New Leader: Past or Future?

The demise of manager of Luis Felipe Scolari has been rather a rapid one over the last few months. I recall us demolishing Middlesborough at the Riverside with some of the best flowing attacking football seen in a few years at the club and many of the fans I spoke to were extremely optimistic about what trophies may lie ahead in May.

Rather than looking back at how and why ‘Big Phil’ as he was affectionately known lost his way the focus must be on securing the short term future of my beloved Chelsea Football Club. Many fans of yester-year, like the ones who held the Zola and Di Matteo banner up at the Hull game, would want a legend back at the club to rejuvenate a stagnated and aging outfit and repay the fans’ trust back in the board and chairman.

But are they ready for the massive challenge of competing for major honours and the day- in, day-out pressures of one of the most high profile clubs? My heart says yes as it will bring the spark back into the club, and in the case of Zola, a man who I believe was the brains of the operation Steve Clarke who himself is a legend and knows the club inside out.

If the club is looking for a short term measure then Guus Hiddink could well be a good option to steady the ship and hopefully get us back on track. With vast knowledge and experience of the European game he could well get bitten by the Chelsea bug, as Jose did, and want to stay on full-time after the current season because his experience and affection for the club may grow deep.

Avram Grant, although having an exceptional record in his spell with a win percentage of over 66% would not one of my first choices. What sign does that give off to our rivals if we go back cap in hand to a man who we sacked well under a year ago. If going back to relive our glory years is on the agenda then why not a certain Mr Mourinho?

No doubt the vast majority of blues fans’ will look forward and hope to see his cheeky smile back in the home dugout. As a stop gap however Grant may be a fair choice. Knowledge of the club and players means he could slip in but as for a permanent replacement a big mistake.

Frank Rijkaard for me is a sensible choice, unemployed, well respected, experienced, won major honours, nurtured talent such as Lionel Messi and Sergio Busquests to name a few at Barcelona. I guess he would spark up the incidents of a few years ago against the Catalan club but his track record his proven and his hunger for a "big" job will be there after being out of the game for a while.

Managers’s live and die on their record you could say and Scolari’s was by no means bad but the way the team was playing over the last few months ultimately was one of the factors in his downfall.

If the new manager brings efficient and determined football back to the Bridge the results should come as there are an abundance of world class players’ at the club so with the right leadership and man management skills the successor, whether short term or long term should be able to challenge for all three competitions left for us to win.

My heart says Zola, Di Matteo, and Clarke but my head says Rijkaard, Hiddink, and maybe a surprise like an O’Neil or a Moyes. Much like the England Cricket team’s wicket-keeping position the role as Chelsea manager could well be a poison chalice so maybe someone who knows how to drink from the chalice would be the right option to lead the club forward into a new era of success and stability.